"‘aye, aye, my merry lads, it’s a lively leak this; hold a cannikin, one of ye, and let’s have a taste. by the lord, it’s worth bottling! i tell ye what, men, old rad’s investment must go for it! he had best cut away his part of the hull and tow it home. the fact is, boys, that sword-fish only began the job; he’s come back again with a gang of ship-carpenters, saw-fish, and file-fish, and what not; and the whole posse of ’em are now hard at work cutting and slashing at the bottom; making improvements, i suppose. if old rad were here now, i’d tell him to jump overboard and scatter ’em. they’re playing the devil with his estate, i can tell him. but he’s a simple old soul,—rad, and a beauty too. boys, they say the rest of his property is invested in looking-glasses. i wonder if he’d give a poor devil like me the model of his nose.’