"Thank you, captain. I should like to go on board of your vessel."
"Come along, then, my jolly fellow," added the captain, as he reeled towards the vessel. "You are a smart little—hic—you are a smart little fellow. If you hadn't—hic—licked them boys, I should—hic."
Noddy thought he did "hic;" but with the assistance of the sailors, the captain got on board, and went down into his cabin. His first movement was to bring out a bottle of gin and a couple of glasses, into which he poured a quantity of the fiery liquor. He insisted that Noddy should drink; but the boy had never tasted anything of the kind in his life; and from the lessons of Bertha and Ben he had acquired a certain horror of the cup, which had not been diminished by the incidents of the evening. He could not drink, and he could not refuse without making trouble with his intoxicated host.
But Mollie saw his difficulty, and slyly substituted a glass of water for the gin, which he drank. Captain McClintock was satisfied, and overcome by his last potion, he soon sank back on the locker, and dropped asleep. With the assistance of the mate he was put into the berth in his state-room, to sleep off the effects of his debauch.
"I'm so grateful to you!" exclaimed Mollie, when all her trials seemed to have ended.
"O, never mind me."
"Where do you live?"
"Nowhere."
"Have you no home?"
"No."