I Forbid the Banns! — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

2 “T FORBID THE BANNS!” can help dropping back to the water after it has skimmed along for thirty or forty yards ?”’ Mr. Cyril Southcote pointed airily with his left hand over the ship’s side, where, with a flicker of fins, a dozen flying fish shot out of the water and fled along the surface. A watchful sea bird, not being impressed with the absolute obligation on the part of nature to help out the resources of human philosophers, made a swoop for the flying fish and secured a fine specimen. The little group on the deck of the steamship Car- narvon Castle watched the transaction, and a general laugh arose. “That young ’un,’” remarked Captain Waring of the Royal Bayonetteers, sending a puff of cigar smoke in the direction of the fish, which was very rapidly being assimi- lated into the digestive system of the bird. “That young ’un managed to help dropping back to the water, anyway.” “Tt wasn’t exactly the one I had my eye on when I made the remark,” said Southcote, as airily as ever. “But you see what happened to it, because it was not clever enough to act conventionally, and as it was expected to act.” “It got chawed up a bit,” said Waring sententiously. “ Quite so; you perceive the moral ?” “Oh, come into the smoking room and have another game of poker,” said Waring. ‘It’s time for us to have a deal at poker when he begins to talk of morals.” Julian Charlton gave a little laugh, but showed no inten- tion of moving. “Say that we don’t Peg ye even so obvious a moral as is pointed by your incident,” he remarked to Southcote. “Of course you are joking. Why, I do believe that Waring here must perceive how ay, my contention was illustrated.” (E(0) Gomichooks