You know the way ; you 're all gentlemen o ' fortune , by your account . Well , I 'm ready . Take a cutlass , him that dares , and I 'll see the colour of his inside , crutch and all , before that pipe 's empty . '' Not a man stirred ; not a man answered . `` That 's your sort , is it ? '' he added , returning his pipe to his mouth . `` Well , you 're a gay lot to look at , anyway . Not much worth to fight , you ai n't . P ` r ` aps you can understand King George 's English . I 'm cap'n here by ` lection . I 'm cap'n here because I 'm the best man by a long sea-mile . You wo n't fight , as gentlemen o ' fortune should ; then , by thunder , you 'll obey , and you may lay to it ! I like that boy , now ; I never seen a better boy than that . He 's more a man than any pair of rats of you in this here house , and what I say is this : let me see him that 'll lay a hand on him -- that 's what I say , and you may lay to it . '' There was a long pause after this . I stood straight up against the wall , my heart still going like a sledge-hammer , but with a ray of hope now shining in my bosom . Silver leant back against the wall , his arms crossed , his pipe in the corner of his mouth , as calm as though he had been in church ; yet his eye kept wandering furtively , and he kept the tail of it on his unruly followers . They , on their part , drew gradually together towards the far end of the block house , and the low hiss of their whispering sounded in my ear continuously , like a stream . One after another , they would look up , and the red light of the torch would fall for a second on their nervous faces ; but it was not towards me , it was towards Silver that they turned their eyes . `` You seem to have a lot to say , '' remarked Silver , spitting far into the air .
`` Pipe up and XXXXX me hear it , or lay to . ''
'm ai crossed drew let remarked returning seen sounded spitting