“Will you answer me this one question, sir, first?”
“No. Well, yes, I will, if it’s a sensible one; and then I shall expect you to go at once to make yourself tidy and see the captain. Now, then, it’s very weak of me, but I’ll do it this once. What is it?”
“Suppose, sir—”
“Oh, hang your supposes; let’s have facts!”
“Suppose, sir,” continued Steve, watching the doctor intently the while, “you were a boy like I am.”
“What nonsense! Well, go on, boy.”
“And a big rough-headed Scotch lad, after annoying you in all kinds of ways, hit you in a most insulting manner. What would you do?”
“I’d try and knock his head off!” cried the doctor hotly. “I—that is—I mean—I don’t approve of fighting—I—hang the boy! How stupid of me! I mean I think I should have complained to the captain, and asked him to have the fellow flogged.”
“Captains on board ships like this can’t have the boys flogged,” said Steve drily.
“Punished, then.”