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Updated: June 2, 2025
While the "sky-larking" was at its height, one of the fore-top-men an ugly-tempered devil of a Portuguese, looking on swore that he would be the death of any man who laid violent hands upon his inviolable person.
This was no sky-larking, however, for the captain on the poop, as well as Mr Saunders and myself up in the mizzen-top, had witnessed the whole of the strange occurrence the same as Tim Rooney, and all of us were equally astonished. As for Captain Gillespie, being a very superstitious man, he seemed strongly impressed by what had happened.
Several of the American masters ran out on the jib-boom, coveting the temporary security of being so far removed from the seat of the expected explosion, and all was alarm and confusion, until it was ascertained that two of the boys, little sky-larking vagabonds, had stolen some pistol cartridges, and had been making lightning, as it is called, by holding a lighted candle between the fingers, and putting some loose powder into the palm of the hand, then chucking it up into the flame.
I had become from habit so extremely active, and so fond of displaying my newly-acquired gymnastics, called by the sailors "sky-larking," that my speedy exit was often prognosticated by the old quarter-masters, and even by the officers.
"Who the dickens is that troubling my pigs?" roared the captain, clutching hold of the brass rail of the poop in front of him, and squinting forwards as well as he could in the dim light to where the clew of the main-sail just lifting disclosed the fore part of the deck- house with the long-boat on top. "None of your sky-larking there, d'ye hear? Leave 'em alone!"
I was within an ace of losing my hold and tumbling overboard. "Heaven have mercy on me what's that?" "It's that sky-larking son of a gun, Jem Sparkle's monkey, sir. You Jem, you'll never rest till that brute is made shark's bait of."
On the outskirts of the group of older loafers, the growing crop of men who would later take their places in the soap-box forum lingered; while sky-larking about the verge of the crowd were smaller boys who were learning no good, to say the least, in attaching themselves to the older members of the company.
Hitherto Owen Bell, even on a Sunday, had always made some excuse for not reading with Peter. At length one hot Sunday, when the ship was becalmed in the tropics, and even Owen felt no inclination for sky-larking, Peter got him to sit down while most of the crew were asleep, or occupied in some of the few shady spots they could find.
The man was blinded for a few moments by the fish, and his mates were well-nigh choked with laughter. "Come, come no sky-larking!" growled the skipper. "Play when your work is done, boys." Thus reproved, the crew began to clear away the mass of weeds and refuse, after which all hands prepared the trawl to be ready for going down again, and then they set to work to clean and sort the fish.
"Hallo! what's wrong there for'ard?" enquired Saunders, who had been pacing the quarter-deck with slow giant strides, arguing mentally with himself in default of a better adversary. "Only trod on Dumps's paw, sir," said Mivins as he hurried aft; "the men are sky-larking."
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