Poor Jerry. He had begun to flounder, because he wasn’t used to the strain of making up a good lie on the spur of the moment. But just then one of the crewmen came to his rescue.
“Hey, Cookie,” he said irritably as he poked his head inside the galley. “When do we eat? I’ve been sitting out here for five minutes.”
To the great relief of both Jerry and Sandy, Cookie instantly forgot his question and turned to covering his grill with sizzling slices of bacon and gently popping eggs.
“All right, boys,” he said. “Turn to.”
For the next hour or so, Sandy and Jerry flew back and forth between the mess hall and the galley, bringing the breakfasts of the crewmen and clearing the dirty dishes away. Then, when breakfast was over, Cookie set them to work washing the dishes. When this was done, Cookie opened a cupboard and took out a bucket and mop together with a long-handled, T-shaped instrument that looked something like a window washer’s rubber blade.
“Know what this is, Jerry?” he said, grinning.
Jerry James shook his head.
“This here’s what they call a squeegee. And she’s going to be your sweetheart until we get to Buffalo.”
Sandy laughed at the look of displeasure on his chum’s face, as Cookie gave them a demonstration of how the squeegee is handled. First he filled the bucket with soapy water. This he sloshed over the deck in the mess hall. Then, with the motion of a man raking a lawn, he worked the squeegee across the deck. The rubbery blade made squeaking noises as it moved.
“That’s how the squeegee got its name,” Cookie said. “Hear it? Squee ... gee ... squee ... gee....” He winked at Sandy. “Now, you, Sandy, you go over the deck with this mop after Jerry’s finished. Do the same in the galley. And remember, you do this after every meal.”