"What you say jus' then?" says he.
"You heared what I said."
"Say it again, sir, for my pleasure."
"I will," says the skipper, "an' glad to. I says I wish you belonged t' me."
"Is you sure about that?"
Skipper Harry couldn't very well turn back then. Nor was he the man t' withdraw. An' he didn't reef a rag o' the canvas he had spread in his kindly fervor.
"I is," says he. "Why?"
"It makes me wonder. What if you was my pa? Eh? What if you jus' happened t' be?"
"I'd be glad. That's what."
"That's queer!"