“Good marnin’, Mr. Gore,” he continued, without taking his pipe from his mouth, “I’m havin’ steak an’ eggs fer th’ order, an’ may ye enjoy yer vittles. ’Twas a foine burd, that baste ye caught, fer within him ware no less than a hundred eggs. If ye want to take a slice av him over to Garnett an’ that Captain Webster, ’tis all ready fer ye. I’m clane homesick fer a bit av pig, an’ ’twill be a good deal if ye can make a trade. ’Tis uncommon warm.”
“O’Toole,” said I, “you’re a big, red-headed, ugly ruffian, and you’ve that to be thankful for. If you were anything else, I’d come down off this poop and knock the insolence out of you. If you want that pig, you go after it yourself, and don’t you go giving me instructions.”
The second mate grinned.
“’Twas no offence I meant, sir, but, sink me, if ye want ter try a small bit av a dispute, I’ll accommodate ye, sure,” and he rolled up a sleeve, showing an arm of power.
I knew he had been thinking of how I’d go in the small boat with Miss Waters, and it was none of his business. That and the hot morning made me quarrelsome. At the same time I had no intention of coming down off the quarter-deck, at least at his invitation. The steward was bringing the breakfast aft, and I had a means of evading the issue.
“You think too much and work too little, O’Toole,” I said, starting for the forward cabin in the wake of the meal.
“Go to th’ divil,” said the officer, and he whisked a match along the seat of his trousers and relit his pipe.
Brown had shaved and looked clean when he appeared at the table. I felt he had no business there, for it is always the third mate’s place to eat with the carpenter, steward, and the rest. I never like special arrangements for officers with a pull. The two ladies and Captain Crojack came in from the after cabin, Miss Waters dressed in a white muslin frock which fitted her splendid figure and made her bare arms and throat look all the whiter. Crojack had put on a clean duck suit, and took his seat with a quizzical look along his table.
“It’s a good thing to have passengers aboard ship at times,” said he, “for it calls forth the razor and brush. I remember the time when I could hardly tell who was who aboard this ship, for the matted hair and beards which hid the faces of the mates. That steak looks good. It won’t hurt you to eat as much as you can. The ‘doctor’ boiled a piece of silver with a chunk of the turtle meat, and it was as bright as glass after he was through. Turns black—jet-black—if the fish or turtle meat is poisonous. I’ve eaten dolphin boiled with a silver dollar and had it blacken. It broke out in boils all over me within two days.”
“The dollar?” I asked, with some concern.