Donkin assured us it was all our "good
'eartedness," but we would not be consoled by such shallow sophistry.
We were men enough to courageously admit to ourselves our intellectual
shortcomings; though from that time we refrained from kicking him,
tweaking his nose, or from accidentally knocking him about, which last,
after we had weathered the Cape, had been rather a popular amusement.
Davis ceased to talk at him provokingly about black eyes and flattened
noses. Charley, much subdued since the gale, did not jeer at him.
Knowles deferentially and with a crafty air propounded questions such
as:--"Could we all have the same grub as the mates? Could we all stop
ashore till we got it? What would be the next thing to try for if we got
that?" He answered readily with contemptuous certitude; he strutted with
assurance in clothes that were much too big for him as though he had
tried to disguise himself. These were Jimmy's clothes mostly--though
he would accept anything from anybody; but nobody, except Jimmy, had
anything to spare. His devotion to Jimmy was unbounded. He was for ever
dodging in the little cabin, ministering to Jimmy's wants, humouring his
whims, submitting to his exacting peevishness, often laughing with him.
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