“I dunno, sir. He’s used to snakes, o’ course, and they knows him.”
“But we must have seen him go, Tom. We have been about all the time.”
“Must ha’ been when we was out at the back, sir, ringing the bell. That’s it, sir; you woke him up, and he turned grumpy like and went somewheres else so as not to be disturbed.”
“That must be it, Tom, and you have hit the mark. There, slip up the stairs quietly and see if he is in one of the hammocks.”
The sailor’s face crinkled up till it resembled the shell of a walnut; then he twisted his shoulders first to the left, then to the right, and followed up that movement by hitching up his trousers, staring hard at his young officer the while.
“Well, Tom, look sharp!” cried the latter.
“Ay, ay, sir!” replied the sailor.
“Why don’t you go?” cried Murray severely. “What are you thinking of?”
“Snakes, sir,” said the man laconically.
“Bah!”