Posted by John Wilson on May 30, 2001 at 00:01:22 from 202.154.157.7:
In Reply to: Re: What colour was posted by Mike Field. on May 28, 2001 at 14:57:09:
The colour of the Teasel and Titmouse:
The Teasel and Titmouse are both white, ie painted.
When the D’s are going down the river to the Teasel (CC, Chapter II, Disappointment; page 15 of Red Fox pb) “The boatman pointed ahead at a little white boat, tied to the branch of a tree”: the Titmouse. Further on (page 21) “the river went on bending and curling and twisting, and every other moment they thought they would be seeing their boat. They came in sight of her at last and did not know her, a neat white yacht, moored against the bank”: the Teasel.
In Chapter XIII, The Titmouse Disguised (page 163), the Admiral says “We can’t disguise the Titmouse as anything but a sailing dinghy” and Tom replies “The trouble is .... there aren’t such an awful lot of white dinghies”. On the next page they paint out the name Titmouse with “fresh white paint”.
When the D’s first meet Tom in the train (Chapter I, page 5), he sends a large paint-can “flying through the open window” before he scrambles in through the compartment door. Paint for the Titmouse (page 29)? The paint-can is “badly dinted but not burst”. What if it had burst inside the railway carriage compartment!