CHAPTER XVI
A SURPRISE, INDEED
"I expect you'll be getting your whole head knocked off some of these days," growled Sam Hickey.
"It has not been knocked off yet," answered Dan with a laugh, "though it has had a considerable list to starboard on occasions."
"I should say it had. I'm glad those niggers are in the brig. They——"
"Don't use that word, please. I never liked it. And, besides, they are not Africans; they are Hawaiians."
"They ought to have been shot. Anyhow, all black looks the same color to me."
The lads were lounging on deck in the forecastle. It was Wednesday afternoon, when all hands ordinarily take a half holiday, except those who are on duty. The battleship "Long Island" was plowing up the waters off the coast—"coasting," they call it on shipboard. The officers on the bridge were taking sights at the ranges—light houses—with their sextants, while the young midshipmen, under the direction of the ship's navigator, were mathematically working out the ship's position.
"I never could understand why they have to go to all that trouble," said Sam.