"These fools o' mine have got their shirts out, and
are liable to make mistakes to-night."
"What, _me?_--a poor tailor with a hackin' cough!" But to himself:
"So much the better," he says, and up he speaks again. "Beggin' your
pardon humbly, Commander; but I might put you in the way of the
prettiest haul. There's a gang of chaps enjoyin' theirselves down at
the 'Sailor's Return,' off the Quay, and not a 'protection' among
them. Fine lusty fellows, too! They might give your men a bit of
trouble to start with--"
"Why are you telling me this?" the officer interrupts,
suspicious-like.
"That's my affair," says Hancock boldly, seeing that he nibbled.
"Put it down to love o' my country, if you like; and take my advice
or leave it, just as you please. I'm not asking for money, so you
won't be any the poorer."
"Off the Quay, did you say? Has the house a Quay-door?"
"It has: but you needn't to trouble about that. They can't escape
that way, I promise you, having no boat alongside."
The little officer turned and whispered for a while with two of the
soberest of his gang: and presently these whispered to two more, and
the four of them marched away up the hill.
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