But before he could reach him another accident happened. In his dancing about, the colonel trod most unexpectedly on a small log of wood, his heels flew out from under him, and down he came with a mighty splash in a little pool of sea-water that had been left in a hollow of rock by the last receding tide.
There the colonel lay, like an enormous turtle, helpless for a moment with rage and astonishment, and all the while sputtering fiercely and crying out.
“What on earth ails you, colonel?” asked Captain Sam, hurrying to his assistance. “You haven’t gone crazy, have you?” And he helped the colonel to his feet with a great effort.
“Pepper!” roared the purple-faced colonel. “Pepper!”
“Pepper!” cried Captain Sam. “What about pepper?”
“Everything about it!” sputtered the colonel. “It’s in the chowder! Taste it and see.”
“What’s that?” cried Captain Sam. “If those young scamps have peppered the chowder I’ll thrash every one of them myself. Here, let me see,” and, picking up the ladle which the colonel had dropped, he cautiously tasted the chowder.
“Why, there’s no pepper in it,” he said. “It’s just right. I don’t taste any pepper.”
As, indeed, he did not, the colonel having got it all.
“You must have a strong imagination, colonel,” he said.