Scarron gave him a good stiff glass of grog, and asked for the message sent by the captain of the Lively Bee.
Bob laughed.
"Not likely. It's the cap'n as will get it, not you."
"What have you got on?" asked Scarron, for the first time noticing the flag wrapped around the boy's body.
Bob grinned, but did not reply. But when Tempest approached, the boy pulled his forelock and began to untie the rope.
When he had unwound several yards of it, and unfolded the flag, Tempest asked:
"Where did you get it?"
Again Bob grinned, and that delayed the answer.
"You said you'd like to know how many barkers that there Britisher had got, so I went and counted."
"You were on board the man-of-war?"