human
Joe, said he, in the quiet tone that was habitual to him,
gpt
Nell and I have made up our minds to go to Australia.
human
To Austrailly!
gpt
Ay; I can't settle to work nohow since the dear old woman went away; so, as Nell is agreeable, and there's nothin' to keep me here, I've decided to up anchor and bear away for the southern seas.
human
Are 'ee in arnest, Bob?
gpt
Ay, Joe, in dead earnest.
human
An' you say that you've nothin' to keep you here! What's this?
gpt
Well, I'll be sorry to leave _her_, of course, an all my friends in Greyton, but friends will get along well enough without me, an' as for the boat, she'll never want a good coxswain while Joe Slag's alive an' well.
human
You're wrong there, mate, returned the bowman, quickly, while a look of decision overspread his bluff countenance,
gpt
Nonsense, Joe; you're jokin' now.
human
Yes, I'm jokin' if _you're_ jokin'; otherwise, I'm in dead arnest too-- in as dead arnest as yourself, if not deader. Wasn't you an' me born on the same day, Bob? Didn't our mothers crow over us cheek by jowl when we was babbies? Haven't we rollicked together on the shore ever since we was the height of our daddies' boots, an' gone fishin' in company, fair weather an' foul, to the present hour, to say nothin' o' the times we've lent a hand to rescue men an' women an' child'n i' the lifeboat? No, no, Bob Massey! if you lay yer course for Austrailly, Joseph Slag follers, as sure as a gun.