'Op was on the bridge with 'im, an'
'e told me--'cause 'e's a free-knowledgeist an' reads character--that
Antonio's face was sweatin' with pure joy. 'Op wanted to kick him. Does
Antonio say anything about that?"
"Not about the kicking, but he is great on the gun-practice, Mr. Pyecroft.
He has put all the results into a sort of appendix--a table of shots. He
says that the figures will speak more eloquently than words."
"What? Nothin' about the way the crews flinched an' hopped? Nothin' about
the little shells rumblin' out o' the guns so casual?"
"There are a few pages of notes, but they only bear out what you say. He
says that these things always happen as soon as one of our ships is out of
sight of land. Oh, yes! I've forgotten. He says, _'From the conversation
of my captain with his inferiors I gathered that no small proportion of
the expense of these nominally efficient cartridges finds itself in his
pockets. So much, indeed, was signified by an officer on the deck below,
who cried in a high voice: "I hope, Sir, you are making something out of
it. It is rather monotonous." This insult, so flagrant, albeit well-
merited, was received with a smile of drunken bonhommy'_--that's
cheerfulness, Mr. Pyecroft. Your glass is empty."
"Resumin' afresh," said Mr. Pyecroft, after a well-watered interval, "I
may as well say that the target-practice occupied us two hours, and then
we had to dig out after the tramp.
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