“And he didn’t find out anything, either.”

“Neither did we.”

He looked at me kind of pitying and says, “Oh, we didn’t, eh. How about finding out they really were following us? How about finding out one of them wasn’t sure Topper was aboard? How about making certain they really are some kind of pirates, and don’t mean us any good? Pretty fair night’s work, seems to me.”

“Guess that’s right,” says I, “but now we know it, what do we do?”

“I was wondering,” says he.

“Better tell Mr. Browning,” says I.

“Maybe he won’t like our butting in. He didn’t tell us anything, and it looked like he was trying to keep Mr. Topper quiet so we wouldn’t hear how worried he was. Nobody ever loses any money by keeping his mouth shut.”

“Maybe not,” says I, “but what then?”

“Why,” says he, “we know something’s up and we’re warned. The thing to do is to keep our eyes and ears open until we find out what it’s all about. Guess we better mind our own business, except when we’re alone and can get some fun out of it.”

“All right,” says I, “just as you say.”

It wasn’t more than ten minutes later when the dinghy came back with Mr. Topper and Mr. Browning and Naboth. Mr. Browning asked us if we’d been in for a swim, and we told him we had, and we guessed we’d turn in for the night. I was feeling kind of sleepy and Catty said he was, too. So we went below and opened our berths and rolled in. It felt mighty good. The air was cool and fresh and the yacht swayed just enough in the current to give it a dandy kind of soothing motion, and I’d have been asleep in two minutes if Naboth and Rameses III hadn’t started a rumpus in the galley. They were arguing at the top of their voices.

“I tell you he could do it,” says Naboth. “A whale could swaller a man if he wanted to, and anyhow this here Jonah was a skinny man accordin’ to all the pictures I ever seen of him. Why, you ol’ lunkhead, a feller as skinny as Jonah could go slippin’ and slidin’ down a whale’s gullet as smooth and slick as soft soap. I’ve seen whales.”

“I’ve seen more whales ’n what you have, says Rameses III, and no whale I ever see could swaller anythin’ bigger’n a two months old pickaninny baby like they use for alligator bait in Africy. Naw. A whale might swaller up a man after it had chawed 

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