United States or Ireland ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"Stand by there!" shouted `old Hankey Pankey' to Adams, who had our return signal rocket all ready, slung on to a handspike for a stick. "Here's my cigar, set fire to it with that."
But, sailors can't afford to waste any time in `crying over spilt milk'; it would be a poor lookout for them, aye, and for our country too, if they did! `Old Hankey Pankey' was of a like opinion.
Yer oughter be ashamed on yerself, yer ought, axing fur charity from poor sailors like we you with this fine walkin'-stick here, good enough for `old Hankey Pankey' hisself!" With that, Larrikins, wrenching the malacca from the unwilling hands of the old fellow, gave it a shake in the air as if he were going to apply it to the shoulders of its owner.
"Three cheers now, my lads!" he called out at the end of his harangue, which was interspersed with a lot of `ahem'-ing and `haw'-ing, `old Hankey Pankey' not being much of a speaker "three cheers for the old flag that has never been licked yet in the long-run!"
So far, I was only one of the crowd, loading and firing my Martini as I advanced or halted on the word of command being given by `old Hankey Pankey'; who, plucky as a lion, was in the forefront all through, his uniform cap tumbled off and his face all blackened with powder, `potting' this chap with the revolver that he held in his left hand, or sticking another Somali through the gizzard with his sword, which was always thrust out straight before him as he went onward, and always `at the point.
Plucky as a lion, however, the captain rallied us; and, dividing the column into three portions, taking command of the middle division himself, while Captain Oliver of the Merlin, and Lieutenant Dabchick of our ship, headed the two others, we advanced with a cheer to storm the stockade, `old Hankey Pankey' aiming for its front face, and the other sections of our force for the flanks of the fortification.
Miss Pankey was generally brought back from an aunt's at Rottingdean, in deep distress; and Master Bitherstone, whose relatives were all in India, and who was required to sit, between the services, in an erect position with his head against the parlour wall, neither moving hand nor foot, suffered so acutely in his young spirits that he once asked Florence, on a Sunday night, if she could give him any idea of the way back to Bengal.
But, neither I nor any one else had much time for such reflections that morning as we silently paraded before `old Hankey Pankey' and the other officers; and, after a careful inspection of our arms, we started in a bee-line for Arabuku, the men massed four deep, with the guns in the centre of our column and flanking parties on the right and left, `old Hankey Pankey, of course, let him alone for that, leading the van.
"The devil!" ejaculated Lieutenant Dabchick, in his flurry using a stronger expression than he would probably have done had `old Hankey Pankey' been on the quarter-deck, rushing into the chart-house on the bridge and snatching up a telescope, which he brought to bear on the horizon in the direction indicated by Adams in the foretop above, whose point of vantage, of course, gave him a wider range of view.
At last it was the children's bedtime, and after prayers they went to bed. As little Miss Pankey was afraid of sleeping alone in the dark, Mrs Pipchin always made a point of driving her upstairs herself, like a sheep; and it was cheerful to hear Miss Pankey moaning long afterwards, in the least eligible chamber, and Mrs Pipchin now and then going in to shake her.
Word Of The Day