"Good!" cried Margaret and Frances, clapping their hands; at which the Crew, beaming with pleasure, touched his cap and bowed. In doing so, however, he forgot the wheel, and one of the spokes hit him such a crack on the right side of his nose that the wheel stopped spinning.
"Oh!" cried both children. "That must have hurt!"
"Not at all, thank your Ladyships," replied the Crew, smiling away just as cheerfully as ever.
"What a brave little sailor-man you are," said Frances, admiringly. "Most people would have wanted to cry after getting such a knock."
"Excuse me, Ladies," the Admiral here interposed, very politely. "Pray excuse me, but it is against the rules of the navy to speak to the man at the wheel."
"Oh, is it?" replied Margaret and Frances. "We're sorry. We didn't know that."
"Don't mention it," said the Admiral, pleasantly. "It's of no consequence." And turning to the Crew, he asked: "It didn't break your nose, did it? Because you had better mend it at once if it did. The glue is in the medicine chest."
"It's all right, sir, thank you," replied the Crew, tapping his nose with his knuckles. "Only dented. No harm done."
"Very well; then we'll proceed. Starboard!" he shouted once more.