“Yes, sir, the gun’s gone off a quarter of a hour ago.”
“There, be off! Call me in time to dress for parade.”
“Yes, sir; of course, sir. Very sorry, sir. My mistake, sir. But don’t you see how it was?”
“No; I’m too sleepy to see anything; but don’t make any more such mistakes.”
“No, sir—cert’nly not, sir; but don’t you see, sir, how it was, really?”
“No; unless you’d had too much coffee!”
“Well, sir, then, as you will keep on thinking it was coffee or something else, I must, for my character’s sake, sir, explain.”
“Not this morning, Brigley, thank you; some other time.”
“Won’t take a moment, sir,” persisted Jerry. “You see, I’d got thinking, sir, through having had a hawkward experience of the sort, that you might do something of the kind; and I was actually meaning to walk in and stop you, when there was that tremenjus noise, and I thought you’d made it.”
“And I did not!” said the lieutenant, angrily. “Now be off!”