'Holding them nicely, I think, David. They're not likely to come alongside before breakfast's ready, and that'll be a comfort, for I confess to being ravenous. Just fancy a professor being anything so vulgar. But there you are, I admit to the vulgarity; this morning breeze spurs a man's appetite.'
He felt in his waistcoat pocket, and drew out a metal case, somewhat bigger than a watch. With a movement of the finger he sprang the lid open, and exposed the face of a compass.
'H-hm! North-north-east,' he said. 'That's our course. Not for a moment will I allow those ruffians to set me off it.'
Perhaps a quarter of an hour elapsed from the time when sail had been set before Alphonse put in an appearance. He came clambering to the deck, his enormous hat set far back on his head, and showing the stubbly growth beneath it. In one hand he bore a smoking coffee pot, and with it beckoned to the Professor.
'I have the honour to announce breakfast!' he exclaimed, in his most pompous manner, and with his most portly bow. 'There is a cabin below decks, not big, monsieur, not very clean either; but serviceable, and possessed of a table. There I have laid the things.'
The whole thing seemed so impossible, that as they squatted before a table not more than a foot high, and ate rashers of bacon which were steaming hot, David could hardly believe that but an hour ago they had been fighting desperately. The change in their circumstances was so extraordinary. It was so entirely unexpected, and withal, so fortunate. And here they were, satisfying the inner man, for Alphonse was an excellent caterer. The boxes which the Professor had brought with him contained a multiplicity of things, including cameras and other instruments necessary for exploration. And amongst them was one fitted with all the implements to make a field kitchen. There was a charcoal stove, as well as one designed for the use of kerosene under air pressure, an instrument with which a good-sized kettle of water could be made to boil within a few minutes. Then there were pots and pans innumerable, while other boxes contained stores of groceries and tinned goods sufficient to keep every member of the expedition satisfied for a considerable period.