consciously obeyed, and instantly Quirk drew out his
handkerchief, and, spluttering with a loud noise, flourished it
vehemently in the air. On this, even the self-possession of the marines
gave way; and instead of being angry, they burst into uncontrollable
fits of laughter, which were joined in by all the spectators, who were
crowding aft to see the fun.

At that moment Mr Spry rushed on deck, using his handkerchief exactly
as Quirk had been doing. When the whole scene burst on him, his fury
knew no bounds. He rushed to his station at the head of his men, which
the monkey seemed in no way disposed to vacate, nor did he till his
quick eye caught sight of the toe of the officer approaching him, when,
with a loud chuckling "Quacko! quacko! quacko!" he leaped nimbly up the
ringing.

It was some time before order was restored; and even while his drill was
going on, a merry peal of laughter reached the ears of the fuming
lieutenant from different parts of the deck, in which he felt certain he
could recognise the voices of Adair and his two friends. The moment the
drill was over, instead of acting like a wise man, and passing the
matter over as an occurrence in no way intended to annoy him, he went
aft and made a formal complaint to Captain Lascelles. As every man who
chooses to encourage a toady can have one, so even had Lieutenant Spry,
in the person of one of his men, who had watched the proceedings of the
midshipmen, and now came forward as a witness against them. All three
were summoned to the cabin, and they could not, of course, deny the
charge. The captain had considerable difficulty in keeping his
countenance, as Paddy, acting as spokesman of the party, pleaded their
cause. He did not mend it when he confessed that the trick had been
played in consequence of the way the lieutenant had treated him.

"It is mean, and unchristian, and altogether wrong, to harbour revenge,
young gentlemen," said the captain. "I cannot now take cognisance of
Mr Spry's conduct on the occasion to which you allude; and I conclude
that he will be satisfied if you apologise to him. As the conduct of
which you have been guilty was public, so also must be your punishment.
Go up, each of you, to one of the mast-heads, and remain there till I
call you down. Adair, do you go to the mizen-mast; Rogers, take the
mainmast; and Murray, the foremast. I have settled that matter, I hope,
to your satisfaction, Mr Spry," observed the captain,