noon
Then , too , that disappeared at length , and we were left alone in our little boat on the waste of waters ! `` I tell you we did feel a bit melancholy and down in the dumps then , especially as all hands knew the errand on which the old ship had gone and felt that we were out of the fun ! However , I did not give the men time to think of this too long ; for , acting under the directions given me by the skipper , I steered the pinnace towards the coast to windward of the Comoro Islands , intending after dark to creep up under the lee of Saint Juan , where I 'd been told the dhows mostly made for when the coast was clear ; and , what with trimming the sails and making taut the sheets , as well as stationing a special look-out in the bows and one in the stern behind me at the helm , I soon managed to turn the men 's attention away from the _ Dolphin _ , though some of them still seemed chop-fallen , being new to boat cruising and not relishing the work . `` Of course , I knew in what a responsible position I was -- almost like that of the captain of a ship ; for , I could order the men to do anything I pleased , and if they disobeyed me have them tried for mutiny , while I had the right to attack and capture any native vessels I suspected of having slaves on board -- so , soon after noon , when I piped all hands to dinner , I made them a little speech after the grub had been stowed away comfortably , pointing out that their circumstances were considerably better than they themselves appeared to think . In course , I said , our shipmates in the _ Dolphin _ had a bit the advantage of us in starting off on another chase , with perhaps the chance of a second scrimmage at the end of it , the same as we had all had together on the previous evening ; but then , I says , what we were doing was equally for the good of the service ; and , besides , as soon as the steamer had overhauled the slaver she was after she would have to go back to that beastly Zanzibar in the thick of fever time , remaining there probably for weeks , until she got rid of the slaves from the captured dhows , while , on the contrary , we would be down here cruising about on the free open sea and enjoying ourselves ! `` We lost nothing by remaining there , I said . If our old ship took the slaver she was now chasing , why , we would share in the prize-money just the same as if we 'd been on board her , without running the risk of any hard knocks or having some Arab 's dagger cutting daylight into us ; and if she did n't succeed in hunting down the dhow , which was more than likely , considering the long start the latter had got , why , then we would be well out of a wild-goose chase .