“Where have you been, my man?”
“Down below, sir.”
“I said where have you been, my man?” said the lieutenant, sternly.
“Young gentlemen’s quarters, sir.”
“What was going on there?”
The bo’sun hesitated, but the lieutenant’s eyes fixed him, and he said, unwillingly—
“A fight, sir.”
“Humph! The new midshipman—Mr Belton?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Got well thrashed, I suppose?”