"'Where am I?' sais I.
"'In 44° 40' north,' said he, 'and 63° 40' west,' as near as I could
hear him.
"'And what country is dat are?' said I. 'My name is Jerry Boudrot.'
"'Where are you bound?' said he.
"'Home,'1 said I.
1 All colonists call England "home."
"'Well,' said he, 'at this season of the year you shall make de run in
twenty-five day. A pleasant passage to you!' and away he went.
"Oh, I was plague scared; for it is a dreadful thing to be lost at
sea.
"'Twenty-five days,' said I, 'afore we get home! Oh, mon Dieu! oh
dear! we shall all starve to death; and what is worse, die first. What
provision have we, boys?'
"'Well,' sais they, 'we counted, and we have two figs of tobacco, and
six loaf baker's bread (for the priest), two feet of wood, three
matches, and five gallons of water, and one pipe among us all.' Three
matches and five gallons of water! Oh, I was so sorry to lose my life,
and what was wus, I had my best clothes on bord.
"'Oh, boys, we are out of sight of land now,' sais I, 'and what is
wus, may be we go so far we get out sight of de sun too, where is dark
like down cellar. Oh, it's a shocking ting to be lost at sea. Oh,
people lose deir way dere so bad, sometimes dey nevare return no more.
People that's lost in de wood dey come back if dey live, but them
that's lost at sea nevare. Oh, I was damn scared.
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