"My! but that's bad!" cried Bonny, with an anxious look on his face. "I only hope he wasn't a beak. They've been watching us pretty sharp lately, and I know the old man is in a regular tizzy wizzy for fear we'll get nabbed."
Before Alaric could ask why they should be nabbed, Won Lung, the proprietor of the establishment, who also acted as interpreter, came to where they were standing, greeted Bonny as an old acquaintance, looked curiously at Alaric, and announced that thirty-six of his boarders had procured tickets for a passage to the sound on the Fancy.
"We can't take but twenty of 'em on this trip," said the young mate, decidedly. "And with their dunnage we'll have to stow 'em like sardines anyway. The others must wait till next time."
"Mebbe you tlake some man in clabin, some mebbe in fo'c's'le," suggested Won Lung, blandly.
"Mebbe we don't do anything of the kind," replied Bonny. "The trip may last several days, and I know I for one am not going to be crowded out of my sleeping quarters. So, Mr. Lung, if you send down one man more than twenty he goes overboard. You savey that?"
"YEP, ME SABBY. ALLEE SAME, ME NO LIKEE."
"Yep, me sabby. Allee same me no likee."
"Sorry, but I can't help it. And you want to hustle 'em along too, for we are going to sail in half an hour. Got the stuff ready?"