“Not I, Ned.”
“You would have been then, Mr Jack. Seems to me that you were quite an old gentleman then, and now you’ve got to be quite a boy.”
“Then I’m going backwards, Ned?”
“Not you, sir. You make me feel quite proud of you. Why, Bob Murray told me yesterday that you’d been right up all three masts as high as the sailors can get.”
“Yes, I went up with my glass to look out for canoes. What of that?”
“What of that, sir? Well, fancy you trying to do such a thing a few months ago!”
“Perhaps I am a little stronger now,” said Jack thoughtfully.
“Stronger, sir! I should just think you are. But I say, Mr Jack.”
“Yes?”
“About my arm. I should get licked now. Think it will ever come right again?”