"They are making signals to us," said Felix to the captain. "There goes a white cloth on a pole."
A little later a boat put off pulled by four men, with another in the stern sheets. The captain rang to stop the screw; for he was curious to know what the men wanted.
"Let the boat come alongside," said he.
There was not force enough to do any mischief if the Moors had been so disposed. Don was sent for to do the talking; but the first person Louis saw was Jules Ulbach, who had been Mazagan's assistant in his operations. Louis talked with him in French. His first statement was that his employer had been shot in the shoulder, and had gone down with the wreck. The spokesman for the steamer did not deem it advisable to contradict this statement.
Then Ulbach begged for a passage to some port from which he could return to Paris. A few words passed between the captain and Louis, and the request was peremptorily refused. The Frenchman begged hard, declaring that the island was a desolate place, and he should starve there. The men had come to beg some provisions, as they had not a morsel to eat.
"Give them all they want to eat," replied the captain when the request was translated to him.
"The Guardian-Mother!" suddenly shouted Felix at the top of his lungs.
All hands gave three rousing cheers, to the astonishment of the Frenchman and those in the boat. Pitts came out of the galley to ascertain the cause of the demonstration, and he made out for himself the bow of the ship passing the point of the cape. A plentiful supply of food was put into the boat, and the Maud continued on her course.