“Yes, sir, if you will recall it.”
“Humph! Yes, I suppose you did. But I was thinking. Suppose he plays us false.”
“Why should he, sir?”
“To be sure, why should he, Mr Anderson? All the same, we must be careful.”
Meanwhile, Murray was being cross-examined by his brother midshipman, who looked out of temper, and expressed himself sourly upon coming aboard.
“You have all the luck,” he said. “You drop into all the spirited adventures, while I am packed off with prosy old Munday.”
“Oh, nonsense! It is all chance. But didn’t you see anything, old chap?”
“Yes—muddy water; dingy mangroves; the tail of a croc as the filthy reptile slid off the tree roots into the water. That was all, while there I was cooking in the heat, and listening to old Munday prose, prose, prose, till I dropped off to sleep, when the disagreeable beggar woke me up, to bully me about neglecting my duty, and told me that I should never get to be a smart officer if I took so little interest in my profession that I could not keep awake when out on duty.”
“Well, it did seem hard, Dick, when he sent you off to sleep. I couldn’t have kept awake, I know.”
“I’m sure you couldn’t. But there: bother! You couldn’t help getting all the luck.”