He smiled.
There was an explosive sound to my right.

I knew what it meant.

Dennis had "burst." And then I never felt less like laughing in my life.

Visions of insubordination, disrespect, mutiny, flogging, and black-hole, rushed through my head, and I had serious thoughts of falling on my knees before the insulted pilot.

With unfeigned gratitude I record that he was as magnanimous as he was magnificent.