The captain sat up and rubbed his shaggy head. “I dink a million years, but more like idt iss a day. You zee, my crew one terrible superstitious bunch of foreigners, and I vind t’at some of dem get ahold of some licker. I dink to myself dat maybe somebody hide it in dat hole down dere, so I go down to look. Well, at dere time de ship she roll and roll and dat lumber not too steady, I see, and I say to myself, ‘Captain Jan Vulfer, you beeg fool,’ but I go all der same. I not dell my crew dat I go. Vell, ven I am in dat hole der boat give vun beeg rock and down come de lumber, making of me a prisoner. I yell and pound but nobody come near me. Vun leetle candle dat I had vent oudt, and I been dere until I hear you boys and den I pound some more.”
“Yes,” said Jim. “We thought somebody was caught under the lumber and we dug you out. Good thing we came along when we did, or you would have died in there.”
The skipper nodded solemnly. “You bet you! You nefer know how much I appreciate vot you done.” He looked around the ship. “Dot cowardly crew must haf thought I was took avay py spooks and dey run avay from der ship. By golly, I get dem back!”
“I guess that’s the answer,” said Don. “Suppose we get you something to eat, captain?”
The captain jumped to his feet with alacrity. “Done!” he shouted. “Vot you got to eat? If you run short, ve got plenty on der _Plack Mummy_.”
“We have plenty,” laughed Jim. “Want to come aboard the sloop, captain?”
The captain assented and they helped him over the rail to the sloop, where Jim quickly prepared a substantial meal for him. While he ate he told them that he was a skipper for a local firm from Maine, who shipped lumber, and that he had been given an especially unruly crew on this last voyage. He was determined to get them back to the ship. Meanwhile, he assured the boys of his gratitude to them.
“Look at your hands,” he said, “all filled up mit blisters. By golly, you fine fellows to work like der dickens for me.”
“Nonsense,” laughed Terry. “You wouldn’t expect us to go away and leave you there in that hold, would you?”
Captain Vulfer shrugged his heavy shoulders. “Maype lots of fellows vouldn’t go down in dot hold ven dey hear dot hammering. I bet you my life idt sounded mighty like spooks, eh?”