“Go in and shake hands with the captain; he’s in his cabin.”
“No, he isn’t. I heard him go on deck, sir. But you didn’t answer me.”
“I told you that you couldn’t fight with a boy like that. Look at your clothes.”
“Oh yes, I know, sir. I’m all over feathers; but you don’t say anything about what I asked: was I to let him knock me about and crow over me?”
“Well—er,” said the doctor, “you might have kicked him.”
“And that would have been cowardly, and he would have kicked me again. It’s worse to fight with the feet than it is to fight with the hands.”
“Humph! Well, yes, I suppose it is,” muttered the doctor; “but never mind that. Go on deck as soon as you’re decent, and talk to the captain there.”
“I can’t, sir.”
“Then will you go to him when he comes down?”
Steve shook his head, and the doctor began to grow warm.