“Yes, yes, yes,” cried the captain. “There, I beg your pardon, Mr Jones. Don’t take any notice, Oakum. It’s enough to make any man mad. How am I to face Mr Parkley and Mr Pugh when they come off in the morning?”
“Lads on’y gone off to have a good drink, p’raps, sir,” suggested Oakum.
“Drink? No. They’ve been got at and bribed, or persuaded not to go. The scoundrels! I’ll have them before the nearest magistrate and punish them for this.”
“Got to ketch ’em first,” growled Oakum to himself.
“Look here, when did you find this out?” exclaimed the captain.
“When you heerd me shout,” said Oakum. “’Pollo here thought he heard a noise, and we came and looked.”
“And I see de boat go astern wif all de men in, sah,” said ’Pollo, importantly.
“It’s a planned thing, or the men would not have gone off like that,” said the captain. “Mark my words, John, that foreigner’s at the bottom of this. Did either of you see him come near the ship?”
“I did, sah,” cried ’Pollo.
“You did?” exclaimed the captain.