"Nothing," I said. "I couldn't think of a thing to do. I just sat
there."
"Till morning?"
"No. I lost consciousness before morning. I came to while it was still
dark, in the ship."
Blake was looking at me with a puzzled frown. He said, "The hell. You
mean--"
And then Charlie let out a sudden yip and dived head-first out of the
bunk he'd been lying on, and grabbed the gun out of my hand. I'd just
finished cleaning it and slipped the cartridge-clip back in.
And then, with it in his hand, he stood there staring at me as though
he'd never seen me before.
Blake said, "Sit down, Charlie. Don't you know when you're being
ribbed? But--uh--better keep the gun, just the same."
Charlie kept the gun all right, and turned it around to point at me. He
said, "I'm making a damn fool out of myself all right, but--Hank, _roll
up your sleeves_."