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Show 165 of the loading dock, while Karl's depression grew worse, deepened by exhaustion. "My name's Norris," the man said, shaking hands first with Andy and then with Karl. "Tell you what. After this ore gets unloaded, the Morgan's gonna get filled up with coal, then we'll take her across the lake to Detroit. If you fellas want to come along for the ride, I could use a little help in the galley, and the guys in the boiler room can always find work for an extra coal passer.' "Swell!" Andy replied. "I mean, what do you say, Karl?" Karl shrugged. Let Andy make the decisions. After they followed the cook on board the Morgan, he showed them where to wash up. Inside the galley, he let them polish off a plateful of cold ham and fried potatoes left over from the morning meal. Even after two cups of hot coffee Karl was so numb he could hardly function. "You can stretch out over there in the corner where it's warm," Norris told them after Karl and Andy had washed a tub full of greasy dishes. "I'm going topside again. We won't leave port for another six hours or so, not till the coal's loaded." Norris was barely out the galley door before Karl fell into a heavy sleep on the floor. He wakened an hour later because Andy was punching his shoulder. "Karl, get up," Andy told him. "You got to see this. They're loading the coal, and it's the dangdest thing." Karl heard the thunder of coal dropping into the ship's hold -- it was so loud he wondered how he'd slept through it. Shaking his head to clear away the grogginess, he followed Andy up a flight |
