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The sentence was interrupted by more feet approaching outside, then a heavy knocking at the door. The two men automatically moved over to Madden's side and faced the entrance. "Light a lamp, Deschaillon," directed Madden crisply, "Yis, two of 'em I want to watch 'em fall out o' th' tail o' me eye." The Frenchman struck a match for his task. Madden invited the men to enter.
While the American was in the engine room, the cockneys in the cook's galley had found intoxicants, had poured raw whiskey into their empty stomachs and the result was the quickest and most complete intoxication. When Madden regained the deck he found his crew singing, laughing, fighting, quarreling in an absurd medley. Deschaillon roared out a French song.
The two men caught the spokes and set their weight to it. Greer remained silent. "Zis ees bad!" exclaimed Deschaillon. "Zis wheel will not go around!" "What's the matter, do you think?" cried Leonard. "Zee gear ees clogged, I think me." "Go get a lantern and some men, Hogan anybody who isn't lifeless. We've got to do something!" The Frenchman obeyed, hurrying off into the darkness.
The strong imagination of wealth ran around the table like wine. Deschaillon responded first. "Voila! One meellion francs! I weel buy a pond near Paris and raise bull frogs. I weel buy a decoration and be a knight. I weel " "I'll start an undertaker shop!" glowed Galton, "and my old mother shall have a bit of ground to raise flowers."
He saw it was seaweed. Presently more strands came beating down on the spume to sting him. The youth was crouching in his oilskins for protection, when he was surprised by a hand laid on his arm. He looked around and saw it was Deschaillon and the silent Farnol Greer. "Eet makes bad weather," remarked the Frenchman, peering at the dark rolling Alps about the dock.
Madden stared penetratingly at this outbreak. "Pour water over him, Deschaillon, Hogan," commanded the American briefly. As his two helpers hurried out after buckets, Leonard came close to the sufferer. "Where is it?" he asked shortly. "Where what?" Madden stooped over him. "Where's that medicine chest? What did you do with it? You wouldn't have started that tirade unless you had it."
"And have you two fellows come to get these things?" inquired Leonard in a hard voice. "No, no, no," trilled out Deschaillon. "Eem-possible!" "We sthrolled around to till ye, and bide wid ye a bit, and whiniver th' romp starts, me and Dash here ar-re going to swing partners, eh, Dash?" "Oh, beg pardon," apologized Leonard frankly, "but I had just been warned and I was looking for trouble "
"They're fishin'," surmised Deschaillon, "off in th' boats fishin'; they're weethout food also." This wild surmise was the only reasonable hypothesis that had been struck on. Another group of men rushed for the jury mast to show the fishermen that their presence was desired. At any rate the faint breeze was very slowly bringing the two vessels together.
The crew came forward behind the navvy, on the qui vive over this new undertaking. "Faith, and hadn't ye betther sind one o' th' min, sir," suggested Hogan, "an if he drowns, sir, Oi would take it to be a sign that it's a dangerous swim." "An' the sharks, Meester Madden," warned Deschaillon. As Madden kicked off his clothes, he observed Caradoc stripping likewise.
After the first taste Smith put it by, grumbling. Leonard, who was hungry, consumed about half of his. Beef stew and boiled white fish formed the menu. Perhaps there is nothing quite so slippery and disheartening as boiled white fish grown luke warm or cold. The navvies ate ravenously enough, but Hogan and Deschaillon were not so wolfish. Mike speared a bit on his fork and regarded it sadly.
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