Part 26 (1/2)
”Got the wreck, have yer!” came in almost a grunt from Jack Lesher.
”Sure enough!” He staggered down to the beach. ”Don't see why you stay here when you might be aboard of her.”
”It is cooler here,” answered Nellie.
”How many sailors were saved?” asked Grace.
”Nine were saved, besides Lesher and myself,” answered Dan Baxter.
”You see, we picked up some of the men from one of the other boats.”
”Then your party numbers eleven in all,” said Dora.
”Yes,” came from Jack Lesher. ”An' I am the cap'n of the lot,” and he bobbed his head in satisfaction. He had partaken of just enough liquor to make him foolish.
”I wish d.i.c.k and old Jerry would come back,” whispered Grace to Dora.
”I do not like Mr. Lesher at all.”
”I never liked him,” replied Dora. ”When he gets intoxicated he is a bad fellow to deal with.”
”Reckon we'll make ourselves comfortable here,” said Lesher, staggering to a hammock d.i.c.k had put up for the girls to rest in. He pitched into the hammock, carrying a bottle of liquor with him. Another drink was taken, and soon he was fast asleep, snoring loudly.
CHAPTER XIX
HOT WORDS AND BLOWS
”What a shame!” said Nellie, pointing to the slumbering mate.
”That shows what liquor will do,” came from Dora.
”Oh, you mustn't blame him too much,” returned Dan Baxter, who also liked the taste of the liquor. ”Remember that we have been living a dog's life since we came on sh.o.r.e, while you have been living on the best the s.h.i.+p affords.”
”I wouldn't touch liquor if I was starving!” cried Grace.
”And neither would the Rover boys,” added Dora.
”Oh, you think the Rover boys are regular saints!” grumbled the bully. ”You don't know what they would do behind your back.”
”If they said they wouldn't drink they wouldn't,” cried Nellie, her eyes flas.h.i.+ng. ”We can trust them every time.”
”I suppose the Rover boys run this place to suit themselves,” went on Baxter, eying the house and the general appearance of the camp sharply.
”We all run it together,” came from Grace.
”Isn't Captain Blossom, in command?”
”After a fas.h.i.+on, yes. We haven't tried to decide that point yet.
Have you a leader in your camp?”