'I do so loathe plunging into the accumulated filth of two, no, three days and nights. Ain't you coming?' 'With your leave I shall attend to the anatomy of this noble fish—Mr Martin, how do you do?—before the slightest change sets in.' 'You can't have the deck above half an hour, Doctor,' said Pullings. 'This is a saluting-day, you know, and everything has to be tolerable neat.' 'Mr Reade, my dear,' said Stephen, 'may I beg you to run—to jump—downstairs and bid Padeen bring me the large dissecting-case, and then go forward and tell the little girls to bear a hand, to lend a hand; but in their old, dirty pinafores.' Their old, dirty pinafores had already been put to soak; new pinafores were out of the question: they came aft naked, as naked as worms, their small black figures exciting no comment, since they were in and out of the water much of the day in this calm weather. They were valuable assistants, with their little neat strong hands, their total lack of squeamishness—they would seize a ligament with their teeth if need be—their ability to hold almost as well with their toes as their fingers, and their eagerness to please.
