Poor Dick, whose interest centered in the dark blue of the water beneath him, attempted a glare of indignation with poor results, while Don made no attempt to express the briefest kind of an “opeenion.”
“Faith, and this the celebrated mal de mer, is it?” said Gerald, gazing with mock curious interest at his wilted chums.
“That’s brutal, Gerald,” exclaimed Jack, “seasickness is bad enough, without any of your Celtic High School French.”
“Begorra, it’s about all of it I remember, and maybe I’ll never get a chance to use it again.”
“I wish it was catching, like the measles or mumps,” gulped Pepper in a fury, “and I’d give it to you all.”
“What, French?” asked his brother.
“Naw, seasickness,” yelled Pepper, and bolted for his stateroom to be soon followed by his two companions in misfortune. A couple of hours in their bunks with some little attention from their now rather repentant critics, and the steamer having passed again into still water the patients were soon restored to normal health, with, if possible, greatly increased appetities.
Two days later, Jack, who was ever on the alert for something new and had made friends with several of the officers, thus getting the run of the ship, was exploring the lower decks, and walked through the quarters of the third class passengers. These were largely made up of laboring men going “in” for the summer work. A few miners who had spent all their money in the Pacific coast cities, and were going back to try their luck again, and a few of the class whom the police of those and other cities had simply told to “move on.”
The steerage quarters were rather dark, and hearing voices Jack stepped aside into a narrow passageway between the bunks to let a couple of men pass. The two turned into the same passageway which concealed Jack, and the latter recognizing the voice of Dublin sank down into one of the further berths as the others sat down on a couple of bunks near the entrance.
“I tell ye it’s a better game than the other,” said Dublin, “and we’re goin’ in for anything we can make.”