Jack hereupon lost patience, and in his turn took up the trumpet.
“Come here, you black son of a gun,” he exclaimed.
“Come on board and make friends, or we'll blow you and your——”
“Stop! stop! you foolish boy,” I said; “you will but alarm the man, with your wild words and gestures.”
“No! but, see,” he cried, “he is paddling towards us!”
And sure enough the canoe was rapidly approaching.
Presently a cry from Franz alarmed me. “Look! look!” he shrieked, “the villain is in Fritz's cajack. I can see the walrus' head.”
Ernest alone remained unmoved. He took the speaking-trumpet:
“Fritz, ahoy!” he shouted; “welcome, old fellow!”
The words were scarcely out of his mouth when I, too, recognized the well-known face beneath its dusky disguise.
In another minute the brave boy was on board, and in spite of his blackened face was kissed and welcomed heartily. He was now assailed with a storm of questions from all sides: “Where had he been?” “What had kept him so long, and why had he turned blackamoor?”
“The last question,” replied he, with a smile, “is the only one I will now answer; the others shall be explained when I give a full account of my adventures. Hearing guns fired, my mind was instantly filled with ideas of Malay pirates, for I never dreamed that you could be here in the yacht, so I disguised myself as you now see me, and came forth to reconnoitre. When you addressed me in Malay you only added to my terror, for it left not a doubt in my mind that you were pirates.”
Having in our turn described to him our adventure with the cachalot whale, I asked him if he knew of a suitable spot for the anchorage of the yacht.
