"If he lets go she'll be took aback," said Simpkins, "and it'll be a lot of trouble."
"We don't care," said the men of science, and then the captain let go and rushed for the geologist. Simpkins broke from the astronomer and caught the spinning wheel just as the geologist knocked the captain down.
"Oh," cried the pathologist, "I believe you've killed him."
"I hope so," said the hero of the occasion, with rather a pale face, "I'm not going to be bullied by any coarse brute of a sailor."
"But he's the captain," said Simpkins.
But mutiny was in their hearts. They all talked at once, and the pathologist felt the captain's skull to see whether it was still sound.
"Will he die?"
"No," said the doctor, "he has a skull like a ram's. Take him below."
"And lock him in," said the astronomer. "And we can argue with him through the door."
It was a happy thought, and even Simpkins, in spite of his ingrained respect for the lawful authority of the most lawless skipper, approved the suggestion.