Commodore Junk — page 280: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

DINNY’S HISTORY. 273 playing at Hector an’ Archillus, and bouncing as if ye were a. big ancient foighting man, and ye goo crawling up to yer captain that way!’ And then he whispers to me confidential- like, he does: ‘Och, Dinny, owld lad!’ he says, ‘it isn’t the foighting I mind; but I’m thinking of my poor mother,’ he says. ‘Ah, get out, ye coward!’ I says; ‘yeve thinking of yerself.’ ‘Divil a bit!’ he says; ‘it’s the powdher I’m thinking of. Id foight anny man, or anny two men in the camp ; but I can’t fale to care about an encounter wid tin tons o’ divil’s dust!’ Oh, I did give it him, sor!” ‘You had better have gone yourself than stood preaching to another,” said Humphrey, indignantly. ‘‘That’s jist what I said to meself, sor,” cried Dinny ; “but the baste wouldn’t listen. ‘Och!’ he says, ‘what would my mother’s falings be if she was to hear that instead of dying properly of a broken head she heard that I was blown all into smithereens, widout a dacent-sized pace left for the praste to say a blessing over?’ ‘Ah, Dinny Kelly!’ I says, ‘that’s a mane dirthy excuse, because ye’re afraid ; for the divil a bit wid your mother care what became of such an ill-looking, black buccaneer of a blagguard as ye are !’” “Why, you're talking about yourself!” cried Humphrey. ‘“‘ For sartin, sir. Sure, there isn’t another boy in the whole crew that I dare to spake to in such an onrespectful way.” “Why, Dinny, man, you did go?” “ Yes, sor, I wint, but in a way that I’m quite ashamed of. YT didn’t think I was such a coward. But there! I niver turned back from a shtick in me loife, and I faced the powdher afther all; but oh, it’s ashamed of meself intirely I am! A Kelly wouldn't have felt like that if it hadn’t been for the climate. It’s the hot weather takes it out of ye, sor. Why I felt over that job as a man couldn't fale in me own counthry.” ov Gomicbooks