“I wish you’d hold your tongue, John,” cried Perry angrily.
“All right, sir. Cut it out, if you like. We’re in savage lands, and there’s no magistrates to stop it, for all I know. But there, sir, that’s all I can do as I see.”
“How are you getting on?” cried the colonel, joining them. “All packed now?”
“Yes, sir,” said John Manning, drawing himself up stiffly.
“Did you oil the rifles and pistols?”
“Oh yes, sir; I went all over the armoury. Everything’s in perfect order.”
“And the cartridges?”
“Some in every package, sir; so that you can always get a few.”
“That’s right.”
By this time the captain had had an abundance of the most portable and useful provisions packed, simplicity having been especially studied; and on the evening of that fifth day, it was felt that nothing more could be done.