"The drill was very bad. Every fellow knows that."
"What if it was? Whose fault was it?"
"I don't know whose fault it was; but everything went wrong, and I suppose the new captain is not satisfied with the state of discipline on board. I should not be, if I were he."
"Two of your little lambs are cooped up in their state-rooms now for disobedience of orders."
"Who are they?"
"Hunter and Hyde."
"Two of the best fellows in the ship—never got a black mark in their lives," said Raymond.
"O, well! The new captain will put you pious fellows through a course of sprouts that will open your eyes. Shuffles is a liar and a hypocrite. He has his reward, while an honest fellow, like me, will stick to his bunk in the steerage till the end of the cruise."
"I don't believe Shuffles is a liar, or a hypocrite. You don't like him because he broke up your cruise in the Josephine."
"That's not the reason. I am willing to obey the orders of all the officers, but I don't like to see the crowd punished for nothing," replied Little, leading the auditor back to the original topic.