“You talk as if the ship were a stable,” cried Herc. “I suppose that’s how the beef kegs got the name of harness casks.”
“No; I guess Hicks talks that way because there are so many kickers on board,” chuckled Ned.
“Not to mention a few donkeys,” Herc shot back at him.
“Well, you ought to know, Red Head,” spoke the bos’un’s-mate, and there was another laugh.
“I hope we get a chance to take a run ashore,” said Ned, “but if we are put to cleaning ship, I guess there’s not much chance of that.”
“Oh, well, Red Head loves cleaning ship, don’t you?”
“About as much as you like that stuff the Sawbones (doctor) serves out,” retorted Herc with a grin.
“There’s Diamond Head!” came a shout some time later, during which interval the fleet in a long orderly line had been steaming by rugged shores of surpassing tropic beauty.
“I see the diamonds!” yelled Herc, calling attention to some bright patches of mica that glittered in the sunlight.
The masts of shipping and the black smoke of steamers began to show in the distance.