"Oh, I say, do wake up and come on deck. It's such a lark."
"What is?" I said, rolling out of the berth, with my head feeling all
confused and strange, to stare at Barkins.
"Why, everything. You never saw such a miserable old rag-bag of a ship
in your life."
I hurriedly dressed and went on deck, to find the preparations complete,
and I could not help thinking that, if the pirates mistook the _Teaser_
for a man-of-war now, they must be clever indeed.
For on the previous day I had only seen the alterations in bits, so to
speak, but now everything was done, even to having a quantity of coal on
deck, and the clean white planks besmirched with the same black fuel.
The paint-pots had altered everything; the figure-head was hidden with
tarpaulin; the rigging, instead of being all ataunto, was what Smith
called "nine bobble square," and one sail had been taken down and
replaced by an old one very much tattered, so that up aloft we looked as
if we had been having a taste of one of the typhoons which visit the
Chinese seas. These preparations, with the men's clothes hanging to
dry, the boats badly hauled up to the davits, and the fish hanging over
the stern (after the fashion practised in west-country fishing-boats),
completely altered the aspect of everything. Then I found that the
officers were all in tweeds, with yachting or shooting caps; the bulk of
the crew below, and my twenty men and lads all carefully got up with
painted heads and pigtails complete, under the charge of Ching, who was
bustling about importantly, and he came to me at once and began
whispering--
"Captain say, Ching takee care allee men, and show himself evelywhere."
"Yes, of course," I said. "Yes. You wanted to say something?"
"Yes, Ching want say something."
"Well, what is it? Quick, I must go."
"Ching want you tell sailor boy be velly careful. Take care of Ching
when pilate come."
"All right," I said; "but they haven't come yet."
"Think big junk pilate."
"Which one? where?" I said.
He pointed forward to where, about five miles off the lee-bow, a great
junk was slowly sailing in the same direction as we were.
"Is that the one which passed us in the night?" I said.
"Yes."
"Why do you think she is a pirate?"
"Ching tink why she no sail light away and not stop while man-o'-war
clawl along velly slow. You tellee captain."
I nodded, and found that there was no need, for the captain was
carefully observing the junk from where he was hidden by a pile of
casks, and Mr Reardon was with him.
"Here, Mr Herrick," he cried, "your eyes are young. Have a look at
that junk. Take your uniform cap off, my lad, and, as soon as you have
done, take off your jacket and put on a coloured suit."