THE GAM. 189 



that's ship-shape that he'd make those Arabs dance 

 a break-down and teach them just a few new steps 

 into the bargain. 



" Come, Bilgy, my jolly sea-dog, tell 'em about 

 the coffee. That'll start their stanchions ! " 



" Yes, Bilgy, tell 'em how the steward hazed 

 them Ay-rab waisters ! " 



" Aye-aye, Bilgy, clew up your jawin' tackle, 

 an' you'll make these here jolly strangers grin 

 like so many right whales ! " 



" Come, tumble up, my lively hearty, out with 

 the twister! " 



" On one condition an' one only," said Bilge 

 Dennett, " an' that condition is this, mess-mates : 

 I'll spin the yarn, but only after that there man- 

 o'-war's-man's sung us another rare old chanty. 

 So, Four-decker, give us a broadside ! Can't you 

 bellow the ' Commodore ', or have you clean forgot 

 it, so long since you was a blue-jacket?" 



" The ' Commodore ' — give us the ' Commo- 

 dore,' " the sailors shouted, "give us the ' Commo- 

 dore', or we'll scuttle your old hulk and send you 

 plumb to Jimmy Squarefoot." 



The blue-jacket — or, as some would say, the 

 jolly — was proud of his former service in the 

 navy, so proud, in fact, that he thought he had 

 stepped down a ratline or two in reducing himself 



