'I make a practice of tasting any new dish I come across,' he continued.
'When we get to China,' Charlie said, 'Ping Wang will have the pleasure of offering you puppy-dog pie.'
'I don't think that you will find Chinese food so bad as you imagine,' he said. 'Certainly it will be better than what we had to eat on the Sparrow-hawk.'
While they were looking at a heap of dead fish, the captain shouted to them to come over to the starboard side; and on doing so they beheld a shoal of small fish being chased by big ones. To escape their pursuers the small fish jumped out of the water, and were instantly seized by the gulls, a flock of which were hovering around. The gulls had a splendid feast, several hundred of small fish being eaten by them before the Twilight steamed away from the shoal.
It was not long before the Twilight arrived at Aden, where they all went ashore for a short time.
After they left Aden the days were extremely monotonous, for there was nothing to be seen but the ocean.
'I shall be jolly glad when the voyage is at an end,' Charlie declared when they had passed Ceylon without catching a glimpse of it.
'So shall I,' Fred answered, 'but it won't be much longer, and then the fun will begin.'
'I hope,' Ping Wang said, 'that you will not mind being dressed as Chinamen.'