said the sailor to himself. "Having a look round.
There'll be a gang landed to-night as sure as my name's Bodger."

The thinker made a few more meshes and then had a glance down on the
boat and her crew, his eyes dwelling longest upon the young officer, who
had taken out a small glass, through which he began to examine the town.

"Middy," said Bodger. "Smart-looking lad too. What's their game now?"
he continued, as the boys drew closer together. "They'll be up to some
game or another directly. Shying old fish at that youngster's uniform,
or some game or another. Strikes me that if they do they'll find that
they've caught a tartar. Just what they'd like to do--shy half a dozen
old bakes' tails at his blue and white jacket. I might say a word to
him and save it, but if I did I should be saving them young monkeys too,
and--look at that now!--if that arn't Master Aleck's boat coming round
the pynte! They sees it too--bless 'em! Now they'll be arter him,
safe. That'll save the middy, but it won't save Master Aleck. Strikes
me I'd better put my netting away and clear the decks for action."

Tom Bodger's clearing for action consisted in turning himself aside so
that he could drag a neatly-folded duck bag off the fender, and stuffing
his partly-made net and twine, with stirrup, mesh, and needle, inside
before tying up the neck with a piece of yarn.

But his eyes were busy the while, and he watched all that went on,
Aleck's boat running in fast, the boys whispering together, their leader
sending off a couple towards the town end of the pier, and eliciting the
mental remark from the sailor:

"Going arter Big Jem for twopence. Are we going to have another fight?
Well, if we are he arn't going to tackle two on 'em, for I'm going to
see fair with my stick and the crew o' that cutter to look on to form a
ring."

By the time he had thought out this observation it was time for him to
carefully ascend to the top of one of the great mooring-posts, the
flattest-topped one by preference. How it was done was a puzzle, and it
drew forth the observations of the cutter's crew, while the midshipman
in charge shouted "Bravo!" But somehow or other, by the use of his
hands and a peculiar hop, Tom Bodger brought himself up perpendicularly
upon the top of the post, steadied himself with his stick, and then held
his head aloft.

That was enough. Aleck was near enough in to recognise the figure and
comprehend the signal, which i