When they went on deck after dinner, the stranger followed; and by invitation of Doctor Bronson, he drew his chair near them.
In the course of the rambling talk that ensued, Fred wondered if there were any pearls in the Gulf of Siam. Frank quickly responded that it was Ceylon, and not Siam, where the most of the pearls of commerce were to be found.
The remark about pearls led to a discussion of the mode of gathering them. Very naturally something was said about the methods of going beneath the waves of the sea.
The stranger joined in the conversation, and it was not long before he developed much more than a casual knowledge of the business under consideration.
"I may as well introduce myself," he remarked, "and then we will be able to talk freely. I am known as Captain Johnson, and have been around the Eastern seas for the past twenty years. I am an Englishman by birth, and have been captain of a ship trading between London and Singapore; but at present I am a wrecker."
Doctor Bronson replied to this introduction by handing his own card to Captain Johnson, and introducing the two youths by name.
The boys showed by the expression of their faces that they were not altogether familiar with the peculiarities of the stranger's occupation; evidently he perceived it, for he proceeded to explain what a wrecker was.
"Properly speaking," said he, "a wrecker is a man who lives on a dangerous coast, and makes a living by assisting wrecked vessels, and saving what can be saved from their cargoes. My occupation is something like his, but not exactly; he works above the waters, while I go below them."
"Go below the water to save a ship!" said Fred, in astonishment. "How can you save a ship in that way?"