“Now tell me this. Do you know what you were going to do when the captain knocked you backwards?”
Don was silent.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” said the boatswain. “You were going to strike him again. That’s the truth, is it not?”
Don remained silent.
“It is the truth. Well, have you any idea of what a bit of madness that would have been here?”
Don shook his head.
“Why, my good lad, you could not commit a greater crime. It means death.”
“Does it, sir?”
“Does it, sir! Why, goodness me, my lad, you must be half mad.”
“People are sometimes, sir, when they are hit.”