“Where ’bouts—where ’bouts, sir?”
“I did not see a shark, Jem, but the place swarms with them, and I thought it was a risk.”
“Well, I do call that a trick,” grumbled Jem. “Hit my nut such a whack, I did, and just in the worst place.”
“Better than having a leg torn off, Jem. Well, what were you going to say?”
“Bottom of the boat’s nearly knocked it all out of my head,” said Jem, rubbing the tender spot. “What I meant to say was that I was stolen.”
“Well, I suppose we may call it so.”
“Stolen from my wife, as I belongs to.”
“Yes, Jem.”
“And you belongs to your mother and your Uncle Josiah, so you was stolen, too.”
“Yes, Jem, if you put it in that way, I suppose we were.”