Something that was said above his head rang so well with his thoughts just then that he made a sudden movement, and almost broke his nose against a beam.
"What have ye in th' bottle, Jock, my lad? Douse my pipes! but have ye got into the Admiral's cellar?"
"Nothin' but cold spring water, messmate," was answered, cheerily. "But I fain 'twere what had once been inside this bit of glass. I'm sick of the mealy wet they give us on the Roebuck."
"Water's water the world over, when it comes to drinkin'," was the answer. "I wouldn't spoil the thirst I have on me for my morning's grog for the best spring water in this curst land we've come to."
"Hist! here," said the water-drinker; "I've got something else, me hearty, that will make your tongue curl. It's a meat pie and a big hunk of cheese. I prigged it out of the kitchen window up at the big house yonder."
"Let's off where we can get a taste and smell, messmate. It will be hard to take with us."
"Stay! here comes the Captain! Hide your prog; we'll come back for it. Don't be caught red-handed, man!"
George saw the bottle and a bundle wrapped in an old bit of straw matting thrust under the boards of the pier.
The two men hastened to the float and joined five or six of their companions, who were waiting there.
Presently a man with a cocked hat came down, walking quickly. He gave a few curt orders, and the sailors manned one of the boats and pulled for the first of the outlying vessels.