Page:The Pinafore Picture Book.djvu/87

 "Ah!" said Mr. Bobstay, "Sir Joseph's a true gentleman; courteous and considerate to the very humblest."

"Well spoke! Well spoke!" they all cried. (They should have said "spoken," and would have done so if their education had been properly attended to.)

You see, these poor ignorant sailors were not shrewd enough to understand that Sir Joseph had his reasons for flattering them so outrageously. He longed for "popularity," and determined to acquire it at any price, and it is quite clear that, as far as the crew of the Pinafore was concerned, he had fully achieved his object.

"Hold hard!" said another of the crew, Bill Bowling by name, "we are not as humble as all that. Sir Joseph has explained our true position to us, and if he says that a British sailor is any man's equal, why it's our duty to believe him!"

"That's right enough!" muttered all the sailors, except Dick Deadeye, who knew better.

"You're on the wrong tack," said he, "and so's Sir Joseph. He means well, but he don't know. When people have to obey other people's orders, equality's out of the question."

I really believe that if the crew had not been