'Four hours,' he said, and that was all there was to it." "Poor 'Lucky Bag,'" came from all sides as "Stump" paused to take breath.
"Then there was 'Big Bill,' the water tender," continued "Stump." "He was hauled up for appearing on the spar deck without a uniform.

When the skipper asked him what he had to say for himself, 'Big Bill' cleared his throat with a _woof_--you know how it sounds: the ship shakes and trembles when he does it--and the 'old man' fairly tottered under the blast.

'Big Bill' explained that he could not get a uniform big enough for him, because the paymaster could not fit him out.

The captain almost grinned when he heard the excuse, and 'Big Bill'-- well, he enjoyed the situation, I'll bet a month's pay." There was a little pause here, and we heard a great voice rumbling from below.

Then we knew that "Big Bill" was telling his intimates all about it, embellishing the story as only he could do.
We laughed sympathetically as the shouts of glee rose to our ears.