Tom Rafferty, for this was his name, looked up in astonishment at the unexpected form of the attack.
"Well done, my lad!" said a hearty voice.
Jack turned toward the speaker, and saw a stout man dressed in a blue coat with brass buttons.

He was dark and bronzed with exposure to the weather, and there was something about him which plainly indicated the sailor.
"Well done, my lad!" he repeated.

"You know how to pay off your debts." "I try to," said Jack, modestly.

"But where's my papers ?" The papers, which he had dropped, had disappeared.

One of the boys who had seen the fracas had seized the opportunity to make off with them, and poor Jack was in the position of a merchant who had lost his stock in trade.
"Who took them papers ?" he asked, looking about him.
"I saw a boy run off with them," said a bystander.
"I'm glad of it," said Tom Rafferty, sullenly.
Jack looked as if he was ready to pitch into him again, but the sailor interfered.
"Don't mind the papers, my lad.