The captain drew back his huge sword. "See ... you ... around," the crewman said. The sword whistled down. The captain wiped the sword on the crewman's blouse. His legs were still stiff. He needed a little exercise. He began to walk toward the dead end of the corridor, keeping a weather eye behind him. "... Bombs away!" The crewman hurtled onto his shoulders from the steampipe above. The captain fell flat, and his sword went skittering away, rattling loudly on the steel deck. "Umph!" he said. "Boy!" the crewman said, "I shore thought you'd _never_ come back down here." The captain was stunned. He could feel the crewman lashing his hands together behind him. "What were you doing up there?" the captain said at length. "I clumb up there when I a-hyeared ya a-comin' like a herd o' elephants. I thought ta come down here an' wait hit out 'til th' assembly bell." "My intentions exactly," the captain said, testing his bonds. There was no escape from them. "Your voice sounds familiar." "Yeah. Hit should. I'm Henderson, th' officers' messman." "Lord give me strength," the captain said. "Now, iffen you'll jest roll over on yer back, Captain." "What for, my boy?" "I kinda thought that first off I'd like ta pour this little bottle of hydrofluoric acid on ya." "That's very clever," the captain said. Then he reconsidered. "For a crewman, that is." X The first mate looked over at the bosun. "Uncomfortable?" "Yes," the bosun said. "Fine, I thought you'd be." He took out his penknife and began to whittle on a piece of wood. After a while he said, "You haint mindin' me puttin' hit off this away?" "No," the bosun said, "suit yourself." The first mate sent a shaving skittering with his knife blade. "Shucks," he said, "there hain't really no hurry." The bosun raised his head from his chest and shook the hair out of his face. "Not really, when you consider it," he said. "Yep, that's right." The first mate began to work on the point of the stick; he sharpened it down to needle fineness, and then he carefully cut in the barb. "Hain't very strong wood; them barbs are cut against the grain, an' they're liable ta split off when I try ta pull 'em out." "I hope not," the bosun said. The first mate said, "Yep, I'm shore afraid they're a-gonna do jest that little trick." "Look," said the bosun, "this hair's gettin' in my eyes. I wunder if you'd mind kinda snippin' it off?" "Not a-tall," the first mate said. He walked over to the bosun, grabbed a handful of hair and sawed it off with the penknife. "That better?" "It shore is. Thanks." "Not a-tall." The first mate threw down the stick on the table. "Really should uv cut that before." "I suppose so," the bosun said. "'Course I warn't hable to see what uz in th' priest's mind." "No, that's true," the bosun agreed. The first mate walked over and picked up the typewritten instructions. "You're a-gonna get a fine Castin' Off," he said.