"For which you have just earned five more demerits!" advised a stern voice close to his ear, as he was abruptly seized from behind and lifted clear of the lifelines.
* * * * * * * * * *
Oh! A stern voice handing out demerits and stopping Darby from enjoying life? Time to meet the stick-in-the-mud member of the Chums of Chance! Imagine this: three characters are introduced in the first fourteen lines of a novel and you already know who the best character is (Darby!) and who the worst character is (this demerit wielding chunder dud!)! Even if you're the total opposite of me and you're into rules and regulations and stopping people from sucking the marrow out of life, you'd still think, "Well, I now know who the worst and best characters are in this book! That little snot Darby is a chaotic little troublemaker who is bound to be the downfall of all mankind! Based on the use of the word 'more' modifying the word 'demerits,' this isn't the first time the little scoundrel has been caught putting the crew's lives in danger with his chaotic outbursts of pure joy! While this new character here is the model of decent and respectable citizenry! Good show! Can't fault somebody for a good tut!"
Earlier when the lifelines were mentioned, I just thought, "Oh, that's just more nautical terms for parts of ships I probably don't really need to understand." But now I see that there was a reason for using that term! Here, Darby is ecstatically enjoying his existence! He is embracing all that life has to offer! And then here comes this dour kid, pulling him away from that joy, "lifting him clear of the lifelines." I bet this kid's name will be Hal Monitor.
Man, I really dislike this new kid! Boo! Hiss! Suck it!
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