Cugel snatched bait from the two port worms, scrambled across the deck, jumped down upon the starboard sponson and debaited the starboard worm. The Galante barely drifted through the water, to idle motions of the worms’ flukes.
Captain Baunt called out again: “Drofo, muffle your worms!”
“Muffle worms!” came Drofo’s response, and then: “Cugel, muffles all around! Quick now!”
Cugel muffled the starboard worm, but fell into the water and was slow with the port muffles, prompting a complaint from Captain Baunt. “Drofo, hurry the muffles! Are you conducting a rite for the dead? Boatswain, ready the anchor!”
“Muffles going on!” sang out Drofo. “Look sharp, Cugel!”
“Anchor at the ready, sir.”
The worms were muffled at last, and the Galante barely drifted through the water.
“Let go the anchor!” called Captain Baunt.
“Anchor in the water, sir! Bottom at six fathoms.”
The Galante lay placidly to anchor. Cugel eased the worms in their cinctures, applied unguent and fed each worm a measure of victual.
After the evening meal Captain Baunt assembled the ship’s company on the midship deck. Standing halfway up the companionway ladder he spoke a few words in regard to Lausicaa and the town Pompodouros.
“Those of you who have visited this place before, I doubt if there are many, will understand why I must issue warnings. In a nut-shell, you will find certain customs which guide the folk of this island to be at variance with our own. They may impress you as strange, grotesque, laughable, disgraceful, picturesque or commendable, depending upon your point of view. Whatever the case, we must take note of these customs and abide by them, since the folk of Lausicaa will definitely not alter their ways in favor of ours.”
Captain Baunt smilingly acknowledged the presence of Madame Soldinck and her three daughters. “My remarks apply almost exclusively to the gentlemen aboard, and if I touch upon topics which might be considered tasteless, I can only plead necessity; so I beg your indulgence!”
Soldinck cried out bluffly: “Enough of your breast-beating, Baunt! Speak up! We are all reasonable people aboard, Madame Soldinck included!”
Captain Baunt waited until the laughter had died down. “Very well then! Look along the dock yonder; you will notice three persons standing under the street-lamp. All are men. The faces of each are hidden behind hoods and veils. For this precaution there is reason: the ebullience of the local females. So vivacious is their nature that men dare not display their faces for fear of provoking ungovernable impulses. Female voyeurs go so far as to peek through windows of the clubhouse where the men gather to drink beer, sometimes with their faces partially exposed.”
At this information Madame Soldinck and her daughters laughed nervously. “Extraordinary!” said Madame Soldinck. “And women of every social class act in this fashion?”
“Absolutely!”
Meadhre asked diffidently: “Do the men propose marriage with their faces concealed?”
Captain Baunt reflected. “So far as I know, the idea never enters anyone’s head.”
“It does not seem a wholesome atmosphere in which to bring up children,” said Madame Soldinck.
“Apparently the children are not seriously affected,” said Captain Baunt. “Until the age of ten boys may sometimes be seen barefaced, but even during these tender years they are protected from adventurous young females. At the age of ten they ‘go under the veil’, to use the local idiom.”
“How tiresome for the girls!” sighed Salasser.
“And also undignified!” said Tabazinth with emphasis. “Suppose I noticed what appeared to be a handsome young man, and ran after him and finally subdued him, and then, when I pulled away his hood, I found protruding yellow teeth, a big nose and a narrow receding forehead. What next? I would feel a fool simply getting up and walking away.”
Meadhre suggested: “You could tell the gentleman that you merely wanted directions back to the ship.”
“Whatever the case,” Captain Baunt went on, “the women of Lausicaa have evolved techniques to restore the equilibrium. After this fashion:
“The men are partial to spraling, which are small delicate bidechtils. They swim at the surface of the sea in the early morning. The women, therefore, arise in the pre-dawn hours, wade out into the sea, where they capture as much spraling as possible, then return to their huts.
“Those women with a good catch set their fires going and hang out signs, such as: FINE SPRALING TODAY, or TASTY SPRALING TO YOUR ORDER.
“The men arise in due course and stroll about the town. When at last they work up an appetite, they stop by a hut where the sign offers refreshment to their taste. Often, if the spraling is fresh and the company good, they may stay for dinner as well.”
Madame Soldinck sniffed and murmured aside to her daughters, who merely shrugged and shook their heads.
Soldinck climbed two steps up the companionway ladder. “Captain Baunt’s remarks are not to be taken lightly! When you go ashore, wear a robe or a loose gown and by some means muffle your face so as to avoid any unseemly or improper incident! Am I clear?”
Captain Baunt said: “In the morning we will moor at the dock and attend to our various items of business. Drofo, I suggest that you put this interval to good purpose. Anoint your animals well and cure all chafes, galls and cankers. Exercise them daily about the harbor, since idleness brings on impaction. Cure all your infestations; trim all gills. These hours in port are precious; each must be used to the fullest, without regard for day or night.”
“This echoes my own thinking,” said Drofo. “I will immediately give the necessary orders to Cugel.”
Soldinck called out: “A final word! Lankwiler’s departure with the starboard off-worm might have caused us enormous inconvenience were it not for the wise tactics of our Chief Worminger. I propose a cheer for the estimable Drofo!”
Drofo acknowledged the acclamation with a curt jerk of the head, then turned away to instruct Cugel, after which he went forward to lean on the rail and brood across the waters of the harbor.
Cugel worked until midnight with his cutters, burnishing irons and reamer, then treated pust, gangue, and timp. Drofo had long since vacated his place on the bow and Captain Baunt had retired early. Cugel stealthily abandoned his work and went below to his bunk.
Almost immediately, or so it seemed, he was aroused by Codnicks the deck-boy. Blinking and yawning Cugel stumbled up to the deck, to find the sun rising and Captain Baunt impatiently pacing back and forth.
At the sight of Cugel Captain Baunt stopped short. “Hurrah! You have finally decided to honor us with your presence! Naturally our important business ashore can wait until you have drowsed and dozed to your heart’s content. Are you finally able to face the day?”
“Aye, sir!”
“Thank you, Cugel. Drofo, here, at long last, is your worminger!”
“Very good, Captain. Cugel, you must learn to be on hand when you are needed. Now return your worms into cincture. We are ready to work our way into the dock. Keep your muffles ready to hand. Use no bait.”
