As Lanny was speaking, Marvin's forehead began to sweat, and by the time Lanny finished his explanation, the farmer's son was as white as a sheet.
He never expected that to be a problem. No matter how he looked at it, the chances of the people on the tiny boat surviving were marginal—it was because of that that he chose to join the pirates, and became a cook on the Sea Lion in exchange for a chance to survive.
Who would have thought that they would miraculously be rescued? Had he known, he would have stayed on the boat, and would probably be basking in the sun on his farmer's farm.
Worse still, the survival of those people brought on a whole series of trouble. The account of the four joining the pirates was circulated, and thus, destroyed all possibility of the four of them ever returning to the civilized world. Unless they were pardoned by the queen, they would forever be identified as pirates.