'It's first-class tea. I've never had any complaints about it until now. I'm very sorry that you don't like it, for you need something warming after your long swim. But look here, if you are tee-totalers, what did you come aboard the Lily for?'
'We made a mistake. We mistook her for another boat.'
The skipper looked at Charlie searchingly. 'Did you think she was a revenue cutter?' he asked.
'Oh, no; we mistook her for a mission ship.'
Now, coper skippers have the same hatred for mission ships that they have for revenue cutters, for the former, by selling tobacco at low prices, keep the North Sea fishermen away from the copers, and so have spoiled their traffic in intoxicant drinks.
'You thought she was a mission ship, did you?' the skipper growled. 'Well, you made a fine mistake.'
'We know that now,' Charlie replied.
'Then why are you sticking here? Jump overboard, and swim back to the Sparrow-hawk.'
'I should be drowned,' Ping Wang declared.
'Well, that wouldn't be much of a loss. There are too many Chinamen already.'