"He'd be better in a beanery!"
Was McNeer's complaint. "I'll skin the guy alive!"
"Now, there, Jonathan!" the Skipper
Used to say, "Don't be a yipper.
I'm sure Bill does the best he can." But grief
Etched gray, fretful lines and horrid
On McNeer's space-weathered forehead.
"The best is none too good!" complained the Chief.
III
Two months out of Io City