There's a little bit there you ain't done."
[Illustration: "You keep on, Nugent, don't you mind 'im."]
"Keep your head out of the way, unless you want it knocked off," said the
incensed captain.
"Ho!" said the aggrieved Bill. "Ho, indeed! D'ye 'ear that, mates? A
man musn't look at 'is own bunk now."
The captain turned as though he had been stung. "This is my bunk," he
said, sharply.
"Ho, is it?" said Bill. "Beggin' of your pardon, an' apologizing for
a-contradictin' of you, but it's mine. You haven't got no bunk."
"I slept in it last night," said the captain, conclusively.
"I know you did," said Bill, "but that was all my kind-'artedness."
"And 'arf a quid, Bill," a voice reminded him.
"And 'arf a quid," assented Bill, graciously, "and I'm very much obliged
to you, mate, for the careful and tidy way in which you've cleaned up
arter your-self."
The captain eyed him. Many years of command at sea had given him a fine
manner, and force of habit was for a moment almost too much for Bill and
his friends. But only for a moment.
"I'm going to keep this bunk," said the captain, deliberately.
"No, you ain't, mate," said Bill, shaking his head, "don't you believe
it. You're nobody down here; not even a ordinary seaman. I'm afraid
you'll 'ave to clean a place for yourself on the carpet.
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