'Tea or coffee, I don't mind which.'
The skipper threw back his head and laughed heartily, as if Charlie had said something that was witty. 'Do you really mean it?' he asked at length.
'I do.'
'Well!' the skipper gasped, and was evidently overcome with surprise.
After a few minutes' silence his spirits revived.
'I'll send you some tea down before long,' he said, and then went on deck without another word.
'Do you know what this ship is?' Charlie asked as soon as he was gone.
'If this is not a pleasure-boat, I do not know what it is,' Ping Wang answered.
'It's a coper.'
'A coper! What is that?'