272 NIGHTS IN THE GALLKY. 



he was, too. One day they had a good laugh at the old feller ; it was 

 towards the evening ; they had been standing in shore all day, and 

 they turned the hands up at sunset to tack ship and shorten sail, to 

 stand out under easy sail all night. It was blowing rather fresh, with 

 a good swell running ; she had both courses on her, with double- 

 reefed topsails, and top-gallant-sails. Up comes the skipper, I for- 

 get his name, and tells the first-leaf ten ant to turn the hands up, 

 shorten sail, and about ship. ' Ay ! ay H Sir/ ' Stations,' cries the 

 skipper. ' Ready, oh ! ready.' ' Down with the helm.' < The helm's 

 down, Sir/ reported the quarter-master. ' The helm's a lee raise 

 tacks and sheets haul well taut mainsail haul down with the 

 main-tack, lads head-braces, quick, belay the main-tack fore-tack 

 . head-bowlines let go and haul round with the head-yards, lads 

 belay the fore-brace fore- topsail yards, well belay the fore-topsail 

 brace haul taut the weather-braces.' Now it was ' Hands shorten 

 sail top-gallant yardmen, aloft ; stand by to take in your top-gallant 

 sails man the fore and main clew-garnets jib down haul man the 

 foretop-mast staysail haulyards stand by to hoist the foretop- 

 mast staysail, when we shorten sail.' ' Ay ! ay ! Sir,' answered 

 the second-lea ftenant, who was carrying on fore'd. ' Are you ready 

 fore'd ?' sung out the skipper. ' All ready, Sir,' says the second-luff. 

 ( Shorten sail, hoist away.' Away went every thing. Old John 

 Law (that was the stutterer's name) was stationed with another 

 fauksleman in the lee fore-chains, to clear away the fore-sheet. All 

 at once he jumped over the hammock-nettings, and went aft on the 

 quarter-deck, like a mad feller ; when he got there, he began to point 

 to the helm, and then overboard, stammering and stuttering till every 

 one was in a roar of laughter, the captain and all ; but he still went 

 on, trying to speak : at last the first-leaftenant said, ' Sing it, arid be 



d d to you' (for no one could tell what was the matter) ; directly 



the first-luff told him that, he began, ' There is a man overboard 

 overboard overboard, there there there (pointing to the lee- 

 quarter), down down with the helm, down down ; be quick, or 

 you'll lose him ; be quick be quick.' The moment he had finished 

 his song the helm was clapt down, the life-buoy let go the main- 

 yard squared, and the lee cutter lowered his hammock was taken 

 down to the galley, the blankets warmed, and every thing ready. At 

 last they picked him up, looking just as if he was dead, every body 

 thought he was ; but the surgeon ordered him to be taken into the 

 galley, stripped, and laid in the warm blankets, before the fire ; and 

 after rubbing him well with flannels, and pouring warm wine down 

 his throat with a squirt for about an hour, they managed to bring him 

 to ; but he would have been drowned as sure as the world if the first- 

 leaftenant hadn't thought to tell old Law to sing it. After that he was 

 always called the singer. Well, this was something out of the way, 

 and amused them all, and kept them alive for a bit; but they soon 

 began to be precious tired of cruising, without taking a single prize. 

 In this way they kept backing, and filling, standing in shore all day, 

 and drifting out under easy sail all night. This lasted for about a 

 fortnight; when, one morning, just after they had tacked ship, and 

 made sail, to stand in as usual for the day, the man at the mast-head 



