We kind of sprawled on the floor in front of Jonas P. Dunn, and he scowled. Never did I see so many men who could scowl so easy.
“What’s this? What’s this?” says he, kind of snappy.
“Sh-sssh,” says Catty.
“What d’ye mean? What’re you shishing about? What ails you?”
Catty stood up and looked Mr. Dunn straight in the eye. “We’ve got something to tell you,” says he, “and it’s true. We know what we’re talking about. I think you’d better send the captain away while we tell you.”
“They said they had a message for you.”
“Is it a message?” says Jonas P.
“No,” says Catty.
“What you mean by tellin’ me you had a message for him, then?” says the captain.
“If we hadn’t you wouldn’t have brought us here. Now, Mr. Dunn, this is serious—and private.”