round-faced captor
good-humoredly.

"Oh, yes!" said Jack. "I've got one."

"You haf luck. Dell you vot, poy, it ees a beeg schvindle. Dey say
'passage feefty cent,' und you comes aboard, und you find it is choost
so. Dot's von passage. Den it ees von dollar more to go in to supper,
und von dollar to eat some tings, und von dollar to come out of supper,
und some more dollars to go to sleep, und maybe dey sharges you more
dollars to vake up in de morning. Dot is not all. Dey haf no more
shtateroom left, und ve all got to zeet up all night. Eh? How you
like dot, poy?"

Jack replied as politely as he knew how:

"Oh, you will find a stateroom. They can't be full."

"Dey _ees_ full. Dey ees more as full. Dere vill be no room to sleep
on de floor, und ve haf to shtand oop all night. How you likes dot,
eh?"

The ladies looked genuinely distressed, and said a number of things to
each other in some tongue that Jack did not understand. He had been
proud enough of his stateroom up to that moment, but he felt his heart
melting. Besides, he had intended to sit up a long while to see the
river.

"I can fix it," he suddenly exclaimed. "Let the ladies take my
stateroom. It's big enough."

"Poy!" said the German solemnly, "dot is vot you run into my arms for.
My name is Guilderaufenberg. Dis lady ees Mrs. Guilderaufenberg. Dis
ees Mees Hildebrand. She's Mees Poogmistchgski, and she is a Bolish
lady vis my wife."

Jack caught all the names but the last, but he was not half sure about
that. He bowed to each.

"Come with me; I'll show you the room," he said. "Then I'm going out
on deck."

"Ve comes," said the wide German; and the three ladies all tried to
express their thanks at the same time, as Jack led the way. Jack was
proud of his success in actually finding his own door again.

"I puts um all een," said Mr. Guilderaufenberg; "den I valks mit you on
deck. Dose vommens belifs you vas a fine poy. So you vas, ven I dells
de troof."

They all talked a great deal, and Jack managed to reduce the Polish
lady's name to Miss "Podgoomski," but he felt uneasily that he had left
out a part of it. Mrs. Guilderaufenberg and the others were loaded up
with more parcels and baggage than Jack had ever seen three women carry.

"Dey dakes care of dot shtateroom," said his friend. "Ve goes on deck.
I bitty anypoddy vot dries to get dot shtateroom avay from Mrs.
Guilderaufenberg and Mees Hildebrand and Mees Po