" what silly talk is this , young know - it - all ! we have no wives ? " said the captain . " or do you happen to have done away with them ? " asked the quartermasters . " no , all of us together did away with them , " answered the boy , and told them what he had heard and seen that sunday afternoon when he was on watch on the ship ; while the crew was ashore , and the captain was buying his deckload of wood . and when they sailed home they learned that their wives had disappeared the day of the storm , and that since that time no one had seen or heard anything more of them .
their wives had disappeared the day of the storm .
what did the men learn when they returned home ?
what did the men learn when they returned home ?