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At the four corners of this, stout posts, selected from some of the deck-beams of the Nancy Bell that had been secured for the under- structure of the raft, were set up in holes excavated of such a depth that they would firmly resist any lateral pressure brought to bear against them by the wind; and, round the top of these uprights, a scantling of deal had been nailed on, thus making the framework of a good-sized cottage.
We must all pull together," the decks repeated. "Pull lengthways." "Very good," said the stringers; "then stop pushing sideways when you get wet. Be content to run gracefully fore and aft, and curve in at the ends as we do." "No no curves at the end. A very slight workmanlike curve from side to side, with a good grip at each knee, and little pieces welded on," said the deck-beams.
He was not hunting them, this much was plain, and it seemed wise to be quiet and avoid drawing attention to themselves. They saw Blackbeard ignite a torch at the lantern and poke it into one pot after another. Flames began to burn, blue and green and yellow, and lurid smoke rolled to the deck-beams overhead.
"Straight up and down is not bad," said the frames, who ran that way in the sides of the ship, "but you must also expand yourselves sideways. Expansion is the law of life, children. Open out! open out!" "Come back!" said the deck-beams, savagely, as the upward heave of the sea made the frames try to open. "Come back to your bearings, you slack-jawed irons!" "Rigidity! Rigidity!
As to this, the seamen know nothing about pearls, but the thing was done, and had to be made the best of; so they made the rope fast to the lower deck-beams, cut off the remainder and unrove it from the block, and went back to their ship.
The sunlight streaming down through the open companion suffered a temporary eclipse; a pair of legs, encased in enormous sea-boots, presented themselves to our admiring gaze, and finally a huge fellow of fully six feet in height, and broad in proportion, came towards us, bowing and stooping in the most awkward manner, partly by way of salutation and partly to avoid striking his head against the low deck-beams.
"Talking of strain," said a low, rasping, unpleasant voice, are any of you fellows you deck-beams, we mean aware that those exceedingly ugly knees of yours happen to be riveted into our structure ours?" "Who might you be?" the deck-beams inquired. "Oh, nobody in particular," was the answer.
Waal, I'm going to send some hands down below to trim a few of them bales you see there up level with the tops of the beams; then we'll lay a couple of thicknesses of planking over all, which 'll make a tol'able floor; and then I'm going to have a sail nailed fore and aft to the deck-beams, dividing the space into two, one for the women-folks and one for the men; and another sail hung athwart-ships 'll make all sorter snug and private; and I guess you'll have to make yourselves as comfortable as you can down there.
He decided that the deck-beams of the brig would be the most suitable for his purpose; and to obtain these it was necessary to break up the deck a long and arduous job, only to be accomplished with hard labour and the assistance of an elaborate system of tackles.
The walls of the cabin, the deck-beams, and the underside of the deck were also painted white with gilt mouldings; a few pictures one of which was the portrait of a lady were securely fastened to the walls; the floor was covered with fine matting, and a large writing-table with three or four solid, substantial-looking chairs completed the furnishing of the apartment.
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