Besides, as Barker was to leeward, the rigging where he was perched stood almost perpendicular, and his position must have been a very uncomfortable one.

Claudius was not given to jocularity as a rule, but he could not resist such a chance for astonishing a man who imagined himself to be enjoying an airy solitude between sky and water.

So he gently swung himself into the lee rigging and, leaning far down, cautiously lifted Mr.Barker's cap from his head by the woollen button in the middle.

Mr.Barker knocked the ash from his cigar with his free hand, and returned it to his mouth; he then conveyed the same hand to the top of his head, to assure himself that the cap was gone.

He knew perfectly well that in his present position he could not look up to see who had played him the trick.
"I don't know who you are," he sang out, "but I may as well tell you my life is insured.