human
Captain! Captain Chubb! Do you hear that? Are you there?
gpt
Oh yes, here I am, my lad, came from out of the darkness.
human
And I should be precious deaf if I hadn't heard it.
gpt
Well, ought we to take the boat and try and save her?
human
How do you know it's a _her_, my lad? I should say it was a _him_. It's the cock birds and not the hens that shout like that.
gpt
Bird! cried Morny.
human
It was a human being.
gpt
Ah, it do sound something like it, my lad, but that aren't a human. It's one of them great long-legged storky chaps with the big bills, calling to his wife to say he's found frogs, or something of that kind. You wait a minute, and if she don't come you will hear him call `Quanko!'--There, what did I say?
human
Why, the captain seems to know everything, said Morny admiringly.
gpt
I say, how did you know that, sir?
human
Oh, said the skipper modestly,