"I've got it!"
"Got what?" inquired Trent.
"An idea."
"Extraordinary phenomenon; I'll have to make a note of it in the log. 'Seven p.m. Commanding Officer seized——'"
"Don't try and be funny, it's too pathetic. What I'm going to do is to give that skipper the biggest shaking up he's ever had. If I don't get even with him you can call me Von Tirpitz and I'll turn the other cheek."
"It sounds exciting."
"You'll see," answered Lawless, and, leaving Trent in charge of the bridge, he disappeared down the companion ladder.
A few minutes later a sound of hammering reached the Sub-Lieutenant's ears, and this went on, at intervals, for nearly a quarter of an hour. Presently Lawless emerged upon the after-deck, followed by two seamen carrying a barrel with what looked like a piece of stove-pipe protruding from it.
"There," said Lawless, mounting the bridge again. "Isn't it a daisy?"
"What is it—a patent incubator?" inquired Trent.