"Just like a landlubber," growled the gun captain. "You'll make a fine gun pointer, you will."
"I—I didn't know the thing was going off," complained Hickey.
"I suppose, if we were to fire the piece in earnest, you would jump overboard," sneered the captain. "Get up there, now, and do it right, if you want to stay in this division."
Sam took his place once more, the gun captain giving him suggestions and directions as to how to catch the moving target when it was moving upward as a ship does in riding a great swell.
"Bang!"
Sam had pulled the trigger, but this time he had done so intentionally. Instinctively the lad jumped, grinning sheepishly as he noted the smiles on the faces of his companions of the gun crew.
"Well, what is your score?"
"Score?"
"Yes. Did you hit the target?"
"I don't know."