ther Joe. "Many a sailor gets to wear a wooden leg in time.
Mine's hick'ry."

"So's mine," said Cap'n Bill with a air of pride. "I'm glad I've run
across you, Joe, for I often wondered what had become of you. Seems
too bad, though, to have to spend all your life under water."

"What's the odds?" asked Cap'n Joe. "I never could keep away from
the water since I was a boy, an' there's more dangers to be met
floatin' on it than there is soakin' in it. An' one other thing
pleases me when I think on it: I'm parted from my wife, a mighty
good woman with a tongue like a two-edge sword, an' my pore
widder'll get the insurance money an' live happy. As fer me, Bill,
I'm a good deal happier than I was when she kep' scoldin' me from
mornin' to night every minute I was home."

"Is Zog a kind master?" asked Trot.

"I can't say he's kind," replied Cap'n Joe, "for he's as near a
devil as any livin' critter CAN be. He grumbles an' growls in his
soft voice all day, an' hates himself an' everybody else. But I
don't see much of him. There's so many of us slaves here that Zog
don't pay much attention to us, an' we have a pretty good time when
the ol' magician is shut up in his den, as he mostly is."

"Could you help us to escape?" asked the child.

"Why, I don't know how," admitted Cap'n Joe. "There's magic all
around us, and we slaves are never allowed to leave this great cave.
I'll do what I can, o' course, but Sacho is the boy to help you if
anyone can. That little chap knows a heap, I can tell you. So now,
if nothin' more's wanted, I must get back to work."

"What work do you do?" Cap'n Bill asked.

"I sew buttons on Zog's clothes. Every time he gets mad, he busts
his buttons off, an' I have to sew 'em on again. As he's mad most o'
the time, it keeps me busy."

"I'll see you again, won't I, Joe?" said Cap'n Bill.

"No reason why you shouldn't, if you manage to keep alive," said
Cap'n Joe. "But you mustn't forget, Bill, this Zog has his grip on
you, an' I've never known anything to escape him yet."

Saying this, the old sailor began to stump toward the door, but
tripped his foot against his wooden leg and gave a swift dive
forward. He would have fallen flat had he not grabbed the drapery at
the doorway and saved himself by holding fast to it with both hands.
Even then he rolled and twisted so awkwardly before he could get
upon his legs that Trot had to laugh outright at his antics. "This
hick'ry leg," said Cap'n Joe, "is so