ck stood eying the towering cloud of snowy canvas,

se you've met my passengers before?" and he motioned toward Miss Waters and her mother who stood near the companionway. They wer

hat she said little except that it was "perfectly lovely," while the mother began to show s

er, referring to his vessel. "The only thing that worried me was the stow

ng the sea from her weather-bow in a smother and goin

thing, knowing full well he had overloaded his vessel by three

e passengers, told me that the second mate wished to see

rge, and went forward to where O'Toole had

h' sowl av St. Patrick, I niver seen sich a set o' mugs nayther before nor since. Which wan wi

lied, sharply, but he caught the expression of my eye and he showed his te

ldered young German, who was the most activ

ago to join me. We kept it up until I had eleven and he twelve men, for, as I had t

hinese steward made up the

s a glass of grog, I dismissed{42} them and told off my wat

board gangway and addressed them according to

in', ill-favoured lot o' sons o' Belial. But all ye've got t' do is t' jump whin I gives the whurd or

o a mighty unhealthy ship, fer I only spake ter onct. Ef yer do yer duty, I'll be as tinder an' aisy with ye as y

ely, he sent them forward and retired to his

r. Brown in such a contemptuous tone that it was evident the old man didn't

tical knowledge of navigation, whatever he might lack in a practical sense. He replied so intelligently to some o

rove useful with a little guidance from an older hand. His clear gray eyes looked straight into mine when I addressed

either denunciation nor praise of a person's character affected my judgment. Not that I am entirely impervious to prejudice, for, being nothing

udge the sociable side of the young man's nature, for we talked nearly

y were not at present interested in nautical scenery. The skipper came up from below several times to see how we were heading and to look at

ep, Mr. Gore?" asked Brow

swered, "and she will be abo

s not going out in her, Captain Crojack would be the one to suffer. Somehow it seem

thought since, after all we went through together, how much trifles affect the forming of friendships. Here the treating of an hone

l the second mate, and I stood near the

ur skin. What d'ye{46} mane by waking an honest man in th' middle av his watch below-ah, well, I beg yer pardon, Mr. Brown; but why didn't ye make yer

ngrily. "If you are going to kill a man every time he t

av thim dagos, an' I niver allow ayther dago or Dutchman ter lay his hand on the Lord's anointed, which, if ye plaise, is no other than mesilf. Ye sa

e door banged and

en I tried to wake him," he said, "and the next ti

he knew him he would probably like him better. That, in fact, very few people were charmed with

that, although he was a baby in size compared to the giant Irishman, he

d O'Toole came on deck, while the st

y nervous temperament, an' like th' news av a thing broken gently. Me own{48} mother was av th' same nature, for whin th' owld man died, through th' interposition av Providence an'

e drink more whiskey an' curs

ld that th' aisy manner Mike had in breaking av th' news was

at moment in time to hear the second mate's remarks, laughed good-humou

e glass over my bunk had fallen four-tenths during the day and appeared{49} to be still going down ra

e, astonished to awake suddenly just in time to prevent myself from falling to the deck as the ship gave a sharp lurch and brought up wi

he break of the poop. The vessel seemed to be off her course, for she now took a heavy rolling

ramp of men and clucking{50} rattle of blocks. Then came the order to take in the skysails, and, with