Little Jacob and little Sol were as quiet as little boys could be expected to be, for they knew that Captain Solomon was very busy at first. But, at last, the things were all out of the Industry; and Captain Solomon had to go ashore to buy things for the ship to take home again. So he had the sailors let down a boat, and he looked around for the boys. And they were so close behind him that he didn't see them until little Sol touched him.
"Hello, boys!" cried Captain Solomon. "Want to go ashore with me?"
"Yes, sir," called out little Jacob and little Sol, together, so that it sounded as if there was only one boy.
"Well, hop in, then," said Captain Solomon.
And little Sol hopped in, and little Jacob hopped in; and Captain Solomon got in, and the sailors rowed them ashore. And they got out of the boat upon some wide stone steps that went down to the water, and the boys were very glad, for it was the first time that they had set foot upon the ground for a long time. And little Jacob was surprised to find that the ground seemed to be waving around just like the deck of the ship, so that he couldn't walk very well. And he spoke of it to little Sol, and Captain Solomon heard him, and he gave a great laugh.
"So it does," Captain Solomon said. "So it does. And so it will for the next three days, Jacob, if I'm not mistaken. It's queer ground, Jacob, isn't it, to be waving around so? Must be an earthquake."
And little Jacob looked up at Captain Solomon to see whether he was joking or not. For Captain Solomon was very apt to joke, but you couldn't tell whether he was or not unless you looked at him, and you couldn't tell, even then, unless you knew him pretty well.
And little Jacob decided that Captain Solomon was joking, so he smiled. "Yes, sir," he said. "It must be an earthquake. We were very lucky, weren't we, to be just in time for an earthquake?"
It was Captain Solomon's turn to look at little Jacob to see what he meant.
"Ha! Ha! Very lucky, indeed, Jacob," said Captain Solomon. "We're lucky dogs, Jacob."