The door was opened again, and Miguel, bearing the ship’s lantern in one hand and a plate of food in the other, came in.  It was rough food such as was served on rough ships, but Robert sat up and looked at it hungrily.  Miguel grinned, and laughed until the gold hoops in his ears shook.

“You, Peter Smith,” he said.  “Me terrible glad to see you again.  Miss my old comrade.  Mourn for him, and then when find him jump into the cold river to save him.”

“It’s true,” said Robert, “it was a long and painful parting, but here we are, shipmates again.  It was good of you, Miguel, to risk your life to save me, and now that we’ve had so many polite interchanges, suppose you save me from starving to death and pass that plate of food.”

“With ver’ good will, Peter.  Eat, eat with the great heartiness, because we have ver’, ver’ hard work before us and for a long time.  The captain will want you to do as much work in t’ree mont’ as t’ree men do, so you can make up the t’ree mont’ you have lost.”

“Tell him I’m ready.  I’ve already confessed all my sins to him.”

“He won’t let you work as sailor at first.  He make you help me in the cook’s galley.”

“I’m willing to do that too.  You know I can cook.  You’ll remember, Miguel, how I helped you in the Mediterranean, and how I did almost all your work that time you were sick, when we were cruising down to the Brazils?”

Miguel grinned.

“You have the great courage, you Peter,” he said.  “You always have.  Feel better now?”

“A lot, Miguel.  The bread was hard, I suppose, and better potatoes have been grown, but I didn’t notice the difference.  That was good water, too.  I’ve always thought that water was a fine drink.  And now, Miguel, hunger and thirst being satisfied, I’ll get up and stretch my limbs a while.  Then I’ll be ready to go to work.”

“I tell you when the captain wants you.  Maybe an hour from now, maybe two hours.”

He took his lantern and the empty plate and withdrew, but Robert heard him fastening the door on the outside again.  Evidently they did not yet wholly trust the good intentions of Peter Smith, the deserter, whom they had recaptured in the Hudson.  But the spark of hope lodged somewhere in the mind of Peter Smith was still growing and glowing.  The removal of the bonds from his wrist and ankles had brought back a full and free circulation, and the food and water had already restored strength to one so young and strong.  He stood up, flexed his muscles and took deep breaths.

He had no familiarity with the sea, but he was used to navigation in canoes and boats on large and small lakes in the roughest kind of weather, and the rocking of the schooner, which continued, did not make him seasick, despite the close foul air of the little room in which he was locked.  He still heard the creaking of cordage and now he heard the tumbling of waves too, indicating that the weather was rough.  He tried to judge by these sounds how fast the schooner was moving, but he could make nothing of it.  Then he strained his memory to see if he could discover in any manner how long he had been on the vessel, but the period of his unconsciousness remained a mystery, which he could not unveil by a single second.