"But his insolence, uncle; his gross insolence towards you—his inventions, his exaggerations of the truth?"
"Avast, there—avast, there—none of that, Master Charlie; Jack couldn't do anything of the sort; and I means to say this, that if Jack was here now, I'd stick up for him, and say he was a good seaman.
"Tip us your fin, then," said Jack, darting into the room; "do you think I'd leave you, you d——d old fool? What would become of you, I wonder, if I wasn't to take you in to dry nurse? Why, you blessed old babby, what do you mean by it?"
"Jack, you villain!"
"Ah! go on and call me a villain as much as you like. Don't you remember when the bullets were scuttling our nobs?"
"I do, I do, Jack; tip us your fin, old fellow. You've saved my life more than once."
"It's a lie."
"It ain't. You did, I say."
"You bed——d!"
And thus was the most serious misunderstanding that these two worthies ever had together made up. The real fact is, that the admiral could as little do without Jack, as he could have done without food; and as for Pringle, he no more thought of leaving the old commodore, than of—what shall we say? forswearing him. Jack himself could not have taken a stronger oath.