“Oh, bother the climbing!” cried Mark. “I wish there wasn’t a bit of rigging in the ship.”
“But we couldn’t get on without rigging, Mr Mark, sir,” said the little sailor taking the impatient words literally. “See how them sails is spread. Rigging’s a fine thing, sir; so’s a ship. You be a sailor, sir, and when you’re a skipper you have me for your bosun. I aren’t so big as old Small, but I’d put a deal o’ heart into it, and keep the men up to the mark.”
“Oh, I shall never be a captain,” said Mark impatiently.
“I don’t know so much about that, sir. All the lads says as it was wonderful the way you went up after the rat.”
“After the what!”
“Rat, sir. The lads calls that stowaway chap the rat because he made hisself a hole down in the cargo. Lor’ a me, think of a thing like that calling hisself a man!”
“But he has been half starved, Billy, and kicked about in the world. Perhaps if you’d been brought down as low you would have been as great a coward.”
“Hah! I never thought o’ that,” said Billy scratching his head. “I say, Mr Mark, sir, how you do put things. But no, sir, you aren’t right—leastwise not quite, you see; because if I’d been brought down like that, and felt as scared as he did, I wouldn’t have let anyone know, fear o’ being laughed at.”
“You don’t know and I don’t know, so we can’t discuss it,” said Mark. “Here, what are you going to do?”
“Ketch Master Jack and take him to his snuggery. He’s a-getting into bad habits since your dog’s come aboard, sir. Monkeys is a sooperior sort o’ animal, and the men’s been talking it over.”