"You surprise me."
"Devil a bit do I wonder at that, sir. We're a thieving, dishonest lot, sir, little as I thought it, sir."
Old Jack smiled at this.
"Well, well," he said, after a moment's reflection, "we'll go deeper into that question when we have seen your stowaway."
"This way, sir," said the worthy Tiller.
Old Jack followed him down below.
On reaching the hold, he found Joe Basalt kneeling up in a corner over the wretched stowaway, who was still in a deep swoon.
"How is he?" asked Tiller. "Any better yet?"
"No."
"Fainted again?"