“Sorry! I should think you are. So are we all. It’s a shame, that’s what it is, Gnat.”
“It seems to be a pity, because we might run against them some time.”
“Run against them! Why, of course. The scent’s hot now. Oh, I only wish I was captain of this ship!”
“Wish you were, Smithy,” said Barkins, yawning.
“Oh, you’re awake at last, are you?”
“Of course I am. Who’s to sleep with you yelping about like that. I say, if you were skipper, we’d share the cabin with you, and have a jolly time of it—eh?”
“Oh, would you?” cried Smith. “We’d see about that. I tell you what, though, if I was skipper, this gunboat shouldn’t leave the station while there was a pirate on the east coast.”
“Well, there won’t be when we’ve done. I say—oh dear me!—how is it the legs of your trousers will get tangled when you want to put ’em on in a hurry.”
“’Cause you put ’em on with your eyes tangled up. Hear that?”
“What, you gabbling?”