Had the bo'sun

good form without knowing it, which is the best
form of all?

He remembered that you have to prove you don't know you have it
before you are eligible for Pop [an elite social club at Eton].

With a cry of rage he raised his iron hand over Smee's head;
but he did not tear. What arrested him was this reflection:

"To claw a man because he is good form, what would that be?"

"Bad form!"

The unhappy Hook was as impotent [powerless] as he was damp,
and he fell forward like a cut flower.

His dogs thinking him out of the way for a time, discipline
instantly relaxed; and they broke into a bacchanalian [drunken]
dance, which brought him to his feet at once, all traces of human
weakness gone, as if a bucket of water had passed over him.