"No, sir. I s'pose not."
Mr. Henderson sighed. Bob was so frank to acknowledge a fault that it was hard to punish him.
"I don't know what's going to become of you," he said.
"Well, that was my last land joke, dad."
"Your last land joke? What do you mean?"
"I'm going to sail with Captain Spark soon, and I'll not have time for any more."
"That's so, and I'm glad of it. If you try any jokes on the sailors you may find they know a trick or two themselves."
"Oh, I'm going to turn over a new leaf."
"It's about time."
Bob really intended to mend his ways. This, perhaps, was due as much to a fear of what the sailors on the ship might do to him if he played any pranks on them as it was to a desire to reform.