"Oh, bother, if you want to be a major-general, go ahead. Nobody will stop you."
"Hurrah, Major-General Tubbs!" cried Sam. "That sounds well, doesn't it, fellows?"
"We'll have to present him with a tin-plated sword," came from one of the crowd.
"And a pair of yellow worsted epaulets," added another.
And then Songbird Powell began to sing softly:
"Rub a dub, dub!
Here comes General Tubb!
He'll make you bow to the ground!
You must stop ev'ry lark,
And toe the chalk mark,
As soon as he comes around."
"There you are, Tubby; think of Songbird composing a poem in your honor," cried Tom. "You ought to present him with a leather medal."
"I—I don't like such—er—such doggerel," cried William Philander Tubbs angrily. "I think—"
"Well, I never!" ejaculated Tom, in pretended astonishment. "And Songbird worked so hard over it, too! Thus doth genius receive its reward. Songbird, if I were you, I'd give up writing poems, and go turn railroad president, track-walker, or something like that."
"You boys are simply horrid, don't you know!" cried Tubbs, and, pushing his way through the crowd, he walked to the other end of the boat.