"How about his accounts, Dogvane?" the Buccaneer asked.
"Ah! there, sir, I think you will find his ignorance most creditable. Accounts are a sort of thing that no high official could possibly be expected to understand."
"What does my sea lord say?" asked the Buccaneer.
"Rivet my bolts and split my plates! what do I say."
"Note, sir, the change," Dogvane exclaimed. "It used to be shiver my timbers, you see, sir, your first sea lord is quite in keeping with the progress of the age. These changes of course have not been brought about without much trouble and at great expense."
"What do I say, your honour!" cried the first sea lord, "why clear the decks for action and strike up the band."
"What!" exclaimed the Buccaneer, as the blood mounted to his face, "are we going to have a naval engagement? I have not seen such a thing, Dogvane, for these many years past."
The Buccaneer now looked on with surprise at the first sea lord, who, having thrown aside his cocked hat, folded his arms and danced round the deck on the circumference of a circle.
"What is all this, Master Dogvane?" the Buccaneer asked.
"He is going to dance you a hornpipe, sir. Your people are particularly fond of such things and they would come in crowds from miles away to see your first sea lord do the double shuffle."