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Now, while the bottle was making its long voyage, Stephen Gaff and his son Billy were exposed to the vicissitudes of strange and varied fortune. We left them sound asleep in the stern of the little boat, tossed on the troubled breast of the Pacific. They never knew how long they slept on that occasion, but when they awoke the sun was high in the heavens, and the breeze had considerably abated.
Tom secured the gear, and climbing aloft and out the gaff, fastened the block directly over the lazarette-hatch, just forward of the binnacle. Then he overhauled the rope until it reached the deck, and descended. "Come up here on the poop," called the captain; and he came. "Shall I go down and hook on, sir?" he asked zealously. "Make a hangman's noose in the end of the rope," said Swarth.
One, which lay near us, with the Peruvian flag at her gaff, had painted upon her stern, "Iowa, of San Francisco," and I overheard a conversation between two of the men, on the subject of the apparent anomaly. A forecastleman, addressing a petty officer, inquired how she could hail from San Francisco, then belonging to the United States, and fly the Peruvian flag.
Having carried out our plan for eluding the brig, and being by this time well to windward of the spot where we parted company with her, I considered we might now with safety bear away upon our course, which we accordingly did directly after breakfast, setting our balloon gaff- topsail once more, and getting the spinnaker to the bowsprit-end again.
"How will you have it?" inquired the teller blandly. "In coppers," said Mrs Gaff stoutly. "Coppers!" exclaimed the teller in amazement. "Yes, coppers." "My good woman, are you aware that you could scarcely lift such a sum in coppers." "How many would it make?" she inquired with an air of indecision. "Four thousand eight hundred pence."
And, indeed, that was an odd sight the big fish slowly sailing round and round the pool, with the gaff still attached and the handle floating parallel with its side. "It will take some time, though," said she. "I think you'd better go away home and get dry clothes on. I'll manage him by myself."
"Well, but," pursued Mrs Gaff, becoming confidential, "tell me now, d'ye think it would be enough to let me make some grand improvements on the cottage against Stephen and Billy's return?" "Why, that depends on what the improvements is to be," returned Haco with a profound look. "Ay, just so. Well, here are some on 'em. First of all, I wants to get a noo grate an' a brass tea-kettle.
Well, one of the first things the lad does, when he gets on board her, is to lengthen his gaff, perhaps, put a cloth or two in his mizzen, and call it a spanker, settle away the peak till it sticks out over his taffrail like a sign-post, and then away he goes upon a wind, with his helm hard-up, bragging what a weatherly craft he has, and how hard it is to make her even look to leeward."
Before being a monk I was a sailor and a carpenter and I have worked at many other trades as well. Let us to work." Immediately he drew the holy man into an outhouse filled with all things needful for fitting out a boat. "That for you, father!" And he placed on his shoulders the sail, the mast, the gaff, and the boom.
"There is not one of us that will blow the gaff, or if he does, I will take him where I am going " "And he'll do it too," cried Fil-de-Soie.
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