"
"I mind it, Captain--I mind it well. And what a trouble there was
with the owners when we got back again!"
"Yes, yes," the Captain said; "it was worse work than having a brush
with a Barbary corsair. I shall never forget that day. When I went to
the office to report, the three owners were all in.
"'Well, Captain Dave, back from your voyage?' said the littlest of
the three. 'Made a good voyage, I hope?'
"First-rate, says I, except that the supercargo got killed at Lemnos
by one of them rascally Greeks.
"'Dear, dear,' said another of them--he was a prim, sanctimonious
sort--'Has our brother Jenkins left us?'
"I don't know about his leaving us, says I, but we left him sure
enough in a burying-place there.
"'And how did you manage without him?'
"I made as good a shift as I could, I said. I have sold all the
cargo, and I have brought back a freight of six tons of Turkey figs,
and four hundred boxes of currants. And these two bags hold the
difference.
"'Have you brought the books with you, Captain?'
"Never a book, said I. I have had to navigate the ship and to look
after the crew, and do the best I could at each port. The books are
on board, made out up to the day before the supercargo was killed,
three months ago; but I have never had time to make an entry since.
"They looked at each other like owls for a minute or two, and then
they all began to talk at once. How had I sold the goods? had I
charged the prices mentioned in the invoice? what percentage had I
put on for profit? and a lot of other things.
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