United States or Uzbekistan ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"Ye see, Martin, lad," he said, while thus employed one day, many weeks after leaving port, "it's a great thing, intirely, to be able to help yerself. For my part, I niver travel without my work-box in my pocket." "Your work-box!" said Martin, laughing. "Jist so. An' it consists of wan sail-maker's needle, a ball o' twine, and a clasp-knife.
Adolay also helped to instruct, for when among the sail-maker's tools they found a number of the finer sort of needles and threads, as well as a few feminine thimbles, so to speak, she was able to show the women at once how to use them, and thus saved them from the trouble of puzzling out the matter for themselves.
Where are they? Darned if I know. What I knows, certain, is this we gets in here about eight o'clock this morning, and makes fast here, and ever since then them two's been as it were on the fret and the fidge, allers lookin' out, so to speak, for summun as ain't come yet. The old chap, he went across into that there sail-maker's loft an hour ago, and t'other, he followed of him, recent.
"Why, whenever I sews up a chap in his hammock as dies at sea, which I've often had to do as part of the sail-maker's duty in the many ships I've been in, I allers makes a p'int of sticking my needle through the corpse's nose, to prevent him slipping out of his covering."
The battle was indeed a tough one; for the fire had got a firm hold, not only of the materials already mentioned, but also of a mass of canvas and cordage in what must have been the sail-maker's department, and the smoke was growing so dense that it was becoming difficult for the firemen to breathe. "Here! Nazinred, Oolalik, throw the biggest lumps you can lift over there."
Starbuck a lance without the pole; a top-maul, and the smallest of the sail-maker's needles. Quick!" Accessory, perhaps, to the impulse dictating the thing he was now about to do, were certain prudential motives, whose object might have been to revive the spirits of his crew by a stroke of his subtile skill, in a matter so wondrous as that of the inverted compasses.
"Blast ye! old chaps, ain't ye any more manners than to be fighting over a dead man?" cried one of the sail-maker's mates, coming down from the spar-deck. "Bear a hand! bear a hand! and get through with that job!" "Only one more stitch to take," muttered Ringrope, creeping near the face.
We say nothing here of Boatswain's mates, Gunner's mates, Carpenter's mates, Sail-maker's mates, Armorer's mates, Master-at-Arms, Ship's corporals, Cockswains, Quarter-masters, Quarter-gunners, Captains of the Forecastle, Captains of the Fore-top, Captains of the Main-top, Captains of the Mizen-top, Captains of the After-Guard, Captains of the Main-Hold, Captains of the Fore-Hold, Captains of the Head, Coopers, Painters, Tinkers, Commodore's Steward, Captain's Steward, Ward-Room Steward, Steerage Steward, Commodore's cook, Captain's cook, Officers' cook, Cooks of the range, Mess-cooks, hammock-boys, messenger boys, cot-boys, loblolly-boys and numberless others, whose functions are fixed and peculiar.
My spare time on the outward voyage was occupied in reading 'Daniel Quorm, one of Mark Guy Pearse's books, and in attending religious meetings in the evening in the sail-maker's room. There were several relief crews on board for the various ships of the station; hence there were many Christians, and these evening gatherings were blessed by God, and made profitable to all.
He had found time to examine more closely the articles that the cabin contained, and when their singular host put his question, he pointed, with an ironical but mournful smile, to a footstool richly wrought in flowers of tints and shades so just as to seem natural. "This is no work of a sail-maker's needle!" said the captain of the Coquette.
Word Of The Day