"Take the dog to the butcher, and let him mind him until the end of the voyage."
"Yes, sir."
"Madam, I am glad to have been of service to you," continued the captain, making a polite bow to Miss Jones and going on the bridge.
Tommy took the dog to the butcher and received a severe talking to from the purser, who said:
"Are you a fool, or are you putting on?"
"Really, sir, I thought that you were in earnest."
"Thought my eye! thought my grandmother!" replied the purser. "If I thought you were trying on any more larks with me, I'd tan your hide, my lad, and don't you forget it!"
Tommy shrank away, somewhat abashed, wondering why people would say what they didn't mean.
But he had made a friend of Mrs. Stocker, who in the end proved of great service to him.