"What is your name?" Walter enquired of the little fellow as they all followed him below. "I could never remember that," he said, when the lad replied with a very long Greek name. "I guess we will have to call you Ben for short."
The band of chums were very hungry and they seated themselves around the table before the steaming cups of coffee and waited impatiently for the food to be brought on, but the little Greek lad took a position behind their chairs and waited.
"Hurry up, Ben, and bring the breakfast," the captain ordered.
"Breakfast there," the lad replied.
The old sailor repeated his order but Ben replied as before.
"I reckon he don't understand," the captain remarked, "Go up and tell your father, owner, or whoever he is, to come down."
The lad was back in a minute with the smiling Greek.
"We want our breakfast," the captain explained, "the boy don't seem to understand."
"He understands all right, but, I see the cook does not comprehend. It is the custom to have coffee only in the morning on sponging ships."
"Nothing but coffee for breakfast?" roared the old sailor.