"Somebody sing," suggested a voice.
"I'll sing," answered Hickey.
"No; let Dynamite. He's the only sweet-voiced warbler in the crew. What will it be, Dynamite?"
Dan cleared his throat.
"The harbor's past, the breezes blow,
Yeo ho, lads, ho! Yeo ho! Yeo ho!
'Tis long ere we come back, I know,
Yeo ho, lads, ho! Yeo ho!"
The jackies greeted the effort with a howl of delight; then all joined in with a shout that brought people from their beds to the flat roofs of their houses, from which they peered down wonderingly on the strange procession.
"But true and bright from morn till night my home will be,
And all so neat and snug and sweet, for Jack at sea;
And Nancy's face to bless the place, and welcome me;
Yeo ho, lads, ho! Yeo ho!
"The bo's'n pipes the watch below,
Yeo ho, lads, ho! Yeo ho! Yeow!"
The song ended in a roar of laughter that was taken up from the housetops, running down the narrow street like a wave at sea.
At that moment the bluejackets were nearing the bazaar of the Nubian with whom Sam Hickey had had the trouble. For some reason Sam's donkey was taken with a sudden attack of the sulks. Sam prodded the beast and yelled at him; donkey boys punched the animal with their fingers to stir him up, but still the animal refused to move.