"My lads," I exclaimed, as they stood before me at attention, "I am more glad than I can express, not only to find that you, like myself, have managed to escape with your lives, but also that you are here, aboard this felucca.  For I fully intended to make the somewhat desperate attempt to escape in her single-handed; but the presence of you two men puts a very different complexion upon the affair.  What I might have been wholly unable to accomplish alone, we three can together manage with ease.  There is only one possible difficulty in our way: Can you tell me whether there happens to be any food and water aboard this craft?"