"Shut up!" said the young geologist, with firmness.
The captain gave an audible gasp.
"Shut up?" he inquired weakly.
"Yes," said the leader, "and give us your sextant, if you have one."
"Well, I'm damned," said Prowse, after a long and striking pause. "May I inquire if you've took command? For if so, and you require my services to peel pertaters and sweep the deck, just say so, and let me out."
"Will you be civil if we let you out?" asked the astronomer kindly.
"Civil?" said Prowse, choking; "what do you think?"
"We don't think you will be," replied the astronomer, "from the tone of your voice."
"I'm sure he won't be," said the geologist.
"I think we'd better keep him where he is," said the rest anxiously; "why, the man's nothing but a raging lunatic."