"I thought you'd like it," was the Admiral's unexpected reply.
"Oh! Yes. Thank you very much. I do," said Margaret.
"It's very pretty," added Frances. "Won't you ring them again?"
"I'm afraid we can't," replied the Admiral, regretfully. "It's against the rules of the navy. We only ring eight bells once a day at mid-day, or, on occasions like this, once extra for a treat, so—Ah! Happy thought! How's the sun?" he shouted.
"It's shining away like one o'clock," replied the Crew, touching his cap.
"Just like one o'clock?" inquired the Admiral in an insinuating tone.
"Well," replied the Crew, evidently anxious to accommodate, "it's a good deal like twelve o'clock, too."
"Good!" cried the Admiral, clapping his hands. "A poor excuse is better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. We'll ring 'em again. Eight bells!" he roared, so loudly that it made his eyes water.
So the Admiral and the Crew rang eight bells all over again, after which the Admiral threw his bell to the Crew, who very cleverly caught it and stuffed it into his pocket, and having gathered up the other seven bells and put them into his pockets, too, he laid his hands on the spokes of the wheel and waited for further orders.
"How's her head?" cried the Admiral.