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And here be it said, that the appearance of the Boat-swain, with his silver whistle to his mouth, at the main hatchway of the gun-deck, is always regarded by the crew with the utmost curiosity, for this betokens that some general order is about to be promulgated through the ship. What now? is the question that runs on from man to man.
The document finished after several failures had been retrieved and burnt by the careful Mr. Travers the boat-swain heaved a sigh of relief, and handing it over to him, leaned back with a complacent air while he read it. "Seems all right," said the soldier, folding it up and putting it in his waistcoat-pocket. "I'll be here at eleven to-night."
"Drag it," said Mrs. Waters, briefly. "Suppose he isn't dead?" said the boat-swain, with a gleam of hope. "Fiddlesticks!" said Mrs. Waters. "Do you think I don't know? Now, don't waste time talking; and mind you dig it deep. I'll put a few cabbages on top afterwards I've got more than I want." She re-entered the house and ran lightly upstairs.
"Unshackle, unshackle!" shouted Spike to the boat-swain, who was the first man that appeared on deck. "The bloody sloop-of-war is upon us, and there is not a moment to lose. We must get the brig clear of the ground in the shortest way we can, and abandon everything. Unshackle, and cast off for'ard and aft, men." A few minutes of almost desperate exertion succeeded.
"Take your time; there's no hurry," he muttered. "I want to pull myself together. Frighten 'er enough, but not too much. When she screams I'll come in." Mr. Travers slipped inside and then thrust his head out of the window. "Won't she think it funny you should be so handy?" he inquired. "No; it's my faithful 'art," said the boat-swain, "keeping watch over her every night, that's the ticket.
The fellow soon came up, however, puffing like a porpoise that has risen to the surface to blow. "Hand it over to me at once," said Spike, stretching out his unoccupied hand to receive the prize; "we have little time to lose." "That's sooner said than done, sir," answered the boat-swain; "a box has driven down upon the bag, and there's a tight jam.
"I'm hanged if I do," said the soldier, emphatically. "Accidents will happen, and then where should I be?" "If they did," said the boatswain, "I'd own up and clear you." "You might," said Mr. Travers, "and then again you mightn't. So long, mate." "I I'll make it two quid," said the boat-swain, trembling with eagerness. "I've took a fancy to you; you're just the man for the job."
She put her hand on his shoulder, and noticing with pleasure that he shuddered at her touch led the way to the gate. The boat-swain paused for a moment, as though about to speak, and then, apparently thinking better of it, bade her good-bye in a hoarse voice and walked feebly up the road. Mrs.
How disagreable is the act of leaving harbour in a merchant ship! Even sailors dislike it, and growl between their teeth, like captive bears. The chains of the anchor clank gratingly on the ear. The very chorus of the seamen smacks of the land, and wants the rich and free tone that characterises it in mid-sea. Hoarse are the mandates of the boat-swain! his whistle painfully shrill!
"She clings to me," continued the boat-swain, with a rapt expression of face, "in her gratitood, and, proud of my strength and pluck, she marries me." "An' I get a five years' honeymoon," said the soldier. The boatswain shook his head and patted the other's shoulder. "In the excitement of the moment you spring up and escape," he said, with a kindly smile. "I've thought it all out.
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