Involuntarily, every fellow put his hands into his pocket; and then, if not before, they recalled the suggestion of the coxswain, made before they took their places in the cutter, that they should bring their money and their pea-jackets; but then, it seemed simply absurd that the boat had been smashed by his contrivance.
“Was it for this, Sanford, that you told us to bring our money?” said Burchmore.
“I should say a fellow ought always to carry his money with him. No one can tell what will happen to him when he goes away from the ship,” replied the coxswain. “You can see that it’s lucky you have it with you. We might have to spend the summer here if we had no money. When will a steamer go from here to Christiania, Norway?”
“Next Friday—just a week from to-day,” replied the Norwegian, very seriously.
“A week!” exclaimed Burchmore.
“That is not long; a week is soon gone.”
“But we can’t stay here a week,” protested Tinckner.
“I don’t want to do it,” added Sanford; “but if we have to do it, I suppose I can stand it as well as the rest of you.”
“We can’t any of us stand it,” said Wilde. “Who’s going to stay a week in such a place as this? I’m not, for one. I’ll swim up to Christiansand first.”
“Can’t we hire a boat, and go back to Christiansand?” Burchmore proposed. “It is not more than twenty miles, and it would be a fine sail among these beautiful islands.”