“I do,” said I, “young as I must have been at the time.”
“People say,” the captain went on, “they’ve never been tamed; but there he was, sure enough, in an immense great hencoop, that the doctor had made for him, and there you’d be in front of him often enough, though he would have cut the nose of anyone but yourself; and never a flying-fish was caught you didn’t get hold of, and take to him. The men got small share of these. But, bless you, Nie, you were the ship’s chief pet, and the men would have gone through fire and water for you any hour of the day or night.
“The jealousies there used to be about you, too, Nie! Why, lad, if it had been a young lady it couldn’t have been worse. Jealousies, Nie, ay, and more than jealousies, for our fellows didn’t need much to make them strip to the waist and fight. Fact is, when times were dull with us, I think they rather liked the excuse. I’ve heard a row got up for’ard just in the following fashion:
“You would be playing on Davis’s knee.
“‘Give us half an hour o’ the wee chap,’ Bill would say.
“‘Go along,’ Davis would reply, ‘you ’ad him all day yesterday.’
“‘He’s smilin’ to me,’ Bill would say.
“‘Smilin’ at you, you mean,’ Davis would answer derisively.
“‘Smilin’ at your ugly face. Why, that mouth o’ yours couldn’t be made any bigger ’athout shifting your ears back.’
“This would be enough.