'Would ye come across my hawse without slacking weigh?
Clew up, d'ye see, clew up!' 'Why, Captain,' I said, 'I did not see you.

I was lost in thought.' 'All adrift and without look-outs,' quoth he, pushing his way through the break in the garden hedge.

'Odd's niggars, man! friends are not so plentiful, d'ye see, that ye need pass 'em by without a dip o' the ensign.

So help me, if I had had a barker I'd have fired a shot across your bows.' 'No offence, Captain,' said I, for the veteran appeared to be nettled; 'I have much to think of this morning.' 'And so have I, mate,' he answered, in a softer voice.

'What think ye of my rig, eh ?' He turned himself slowly round in the sunlight as he spoke, and I perceived that he was dressed with unusual care.