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Read Ebook: Leid und Freud einer Erzieherin in Brasilien by Binzer Ina Von
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Ebook has 818 lines and 28224 words, and 17 pages
"Who's he?"
"Mr. Lowington. He is in the cabin now. Where do you belong, Ole?"
"I don't belong anywhere," answered the waif, looking doubtfully about him.
"Where were you born?"
"In Norway, sir."
"Then you are a Norwegian."
"I reckon I am."
"In what part of Norway were you born?"
"In Bratsberg."
"That's where all the brats come from," suggested Sheridan.
"This one came from there, at any rate," added Mayley. "But where is Bratsberg, and what is it?"
"I came from the town of Laurdal," said Ole.
"Do the people there speak English as well as you do?" asked the captain.
"A what?" demanded the crowd.
"But how came you out here, alone in an open boat?" asked the captain, returning to his first inquiry.
Ole put one of his dirty fingers in his mouth, and looked stupid and uncommunicative. He glanced at the young officers around him, and then over the rail at the sea.
"Were you wrecked?" inquired the captain.
"No, sir; not wrecked," replied Ole. "I never was wrecked in my life."
"What are you doing out here, out of sight of land, in a boat half full of water?" persisted the captain.
"Doing nothing."
"Did you get blown off from the shore?"
"No, sir; a southerly wind wouldn't blow anybody off from the south coast of Norway," answered Ole, with a smile which showed that he had some perception of things absurd in themselves.
"You are no fool."
"No, sir, I am not; and I don't think you are," added Ole, again glancing at Captain Cumberland from head to foot.
The young tars all laughed at the waif's retort, and the captain was not a little nettled by the remark. He pressed Ole rather sharply for further information in regard to his antecedents; but the youth was silent on this point. While the crowd were anxiously waiting for the stranger to declare himself more definitely, eight bells sounded at the wheel, and were repeated on the large bell forward by the lookout. From each vessel of the fleet the bells struck at nearly the same moment, and were followed by the pipe of the boatswain's whistle, which was the signal for changing the watch. As the officers of the ship were obliged to attend to their various duties, Ole Amundsen was left alone with the captain. The waif still obstinately refused to explain how he happened to be alone in a water-logged boat, asleep, and out of sight of land, though he promptly answered all other questions which were put to him.
Mr. Lowington, the principal of the Academy Squadron, was in the main cabin, though he had been fully informed in regard to the events which had transpired on deck. The young commander despaired of his own ability to extort an explanation from the waif, and he concluded to refer the matter to the principal.
"How long have you been in that boat?" asked Captain Cumberland, as he led the way towards the companion ladder.
"Eighteen hours," answered Ole, after some hesitation, which, perhaps, was only to enable him to count up the hours.
"Did you have anything to eat?"
"No, sir."
"Nothing?"
"Not a thing."
"Then you are hungry?"
"I had a little supper last night--not much," continued Ole, apparently counting the seams in the deck, ashamed to acknowledge his human weakness.
"You shall have something to eat at once."
"Thank you, sir."
Captain Cumberland therefore conducted the stranger to the steerage, instead of the main cabin, and directed one of the stewards to give him his supper. The man set half a cold boiled ham on one of the mess tables, with an abundant supply of bread and butter. Cutting off a large slice of the ham, he placed it on the plate before Ole, whose eyes opened wide with astonishment, and gleamed with pleasure. Without paying much attention to the forms of civilization, the boy began to devour it, with the zeal of one who had not tasted food for twenty-four hours. Captain Cumberland smiled, but with becoming dignity, at the greediness of the guest, before whom the whole slice of ham and half a brick loaf disappeared almost in a twinkling. The steward appeared with a pot of coffee, in time to cut off another slice of ham, which the waif attacked with the same voracity as before. When it was consumed, and the young Norwegian glanced wistfully at the leg before him, as though his capacity for cold ham was not yet exhausted, the captain began to consider whether he ought not to consult the surgeon of the ship before he permitted the waif to eat any more. But the steward, like a generous host, seemed to regard the quantity eaten as complimentary testimony to the quality of the viands, and helped him to a third slice of the ham. He swallowed a pint mug of coffee without stopping to breathe.
As the third slice of ham began to wax small before the voracious Norwegian, Captain Cumberland became really alarmed, and determined to report at once to the principal and the surgeon for instructions. Knocking at the door of the main cabin, he was admitted. Dr. Winstock assured him there was no danger to the guest; he had not been without food long enough to render it dangerous for him fully to satisfy himself. The quantity eaten might make him uncomfortable, and even slightly sick, but it would do the gourmand no real injury. The captain returned to the steerage, where Ole had broken down on his fourth slice of ham; but he regarded it wistfully, and seemed to regret his inability to eat any more.
"That's good," said he, with emphasis. "It's the best supper I ever ate in my life. I like this ship; I like the grub; and I mean to go to America in her."
"We will see about that some other time; but if you don't tell us how you happened to be off here, I am afraid we can do nothing for you," replied the captain. "If you feel better now, we will go and see the principal."
"Who's he?" asked Ole.
"Mr. Lowington. You must tell him how you happened to be in that leaky boat."
"Perhaps I will. I don't know," added Ole, doubtfully, as he followed the commander into the main cabin.
Captain Cumberland explained to the principal the circumstances under which Ole had come on board, and that he declined to say anything in regard to the strange situation in which he had been discovered.
"Is the captain here?" asked the midshipman of the watch, at the steerage door.
"Yes," replied Captain Cumberland.
"Mr. Lincoln sent me down to report a light on the lee bow, sir."
"Very well. Where is Mr. Beckwith?"
"In the cabin, sir."
The captain left the main cabin, and entered the after cabin, where he found Beckwith, the first master, attended by the second and third, examining the large chart of the North Sea.
"Light on the lee bow, sir," said the first master.
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