NIGHTS IN THE GALLEY. 2J5 



deck to bring to the best bower-anchor.' He reported all ready. 

 " Man the bars/ says the first-leaftenant, and a devil of a pull \ve 

 had, for it's devilsh good holding ground at Smyrna. ' Thick and 

 dry for weighing/ sings out the first luff. ' Hold well on below 

 heave lads heave together cheerly.' And we did heave cheerly, for 

 we all liked the skipper and first-luff very well, they were both good 

 sailors and good fellows. Well, after heaving away for a long time, 

 we at last got it out of the ground. f It's all your own now, lads ; 

 run away with it.' Awav we ran heave and a wash. 'Paul the cap- 

 stan man the catfall pay out the cable/ sung out the boatswain. 

 ' All ready with the cat, Sir/ reported the second-luff, who was on 

 the fauksle. f Walk away with the cat/ And up it went to the 

 tune of Jack Robinson. ( Then man the fish/ And up we ran it 

 just as quick as we'd done the cat, for the first-leaftenant made us do 

 our duty, and never would forgive any skulking/' 



"Perfectly right/' says Will Gibbon; "if a hofficer forgives a 

 skulk, he punishes the good sailors/' 



"To be sure he does," says Tom Bennett; "and our first-luff 

 never did he treated us all devilish well ; but he knew his own duty, 

 did it, and made every body do theirs ; and I've been five-and- 

 thirty years aboard of a man-of-war, and I always found those ships 

 the most comfortable for the men where there was the strictest disci- 

 pline ; but howsumnever, I'm digesting, as that d d sea-lawyer the 

 sergeant o' marines says, when he's telling a rigmarole yarn that's no- 

 thing to do with what one's talking about." 



"What do you mean by calling me a sea-lawyer?" said the ser- 

 geant of marines, who was standing very near our group of Solo- 

 mons, employed in some (no doubt) very edifying conversation with 

 the captain's cook ; " what do you mean by calling me a d d sea- 

 lawyer, you hignoramus, you as what can't read Johnson's Dictionary ! 

 I pity your ignorance, you barbarian/' said the sergeant, with a look 

 of (as he would call it) inheffible contempt. 



" Come, sargeant, don't begin to spin a yarn, 'cause you launch so 

 many five-deckers as would break a feller's jaws to repeat them, and 

 makes a feller almost deaf to hear them," said Tom Bennett. 



" Don't stand palavering with that feller, but go on with your 

 yarn." 



" Pray who do you call a feller ? but what can you expect from 

 a pig but a grunt ?" said the sergeant, turning his back upon them, and 

 appealing to the captain's cook, who he had often been heard to 

 affirm was the only man of any "laming" on board. Our galley 

 rangers, saved from the sergeant's long ships, were at liberty to listen 

 to Tom, who was immediately called upon to resume his yarn : 



"Well, lads, where did I leave off? for I'm d d if I haven't 

 been digesting now till I've forgotten where I was." 



" Oh ! you had just fished your anchor." 



" Ay, ay ! I remember now. Well, then, we hove short on the 

 small bower, and waited quietly till nine o'clock, when the skipper 

 comes on board and orders us to hands up anchor ; it was now quite 

 dark, but a fair wind, and the pilot knew the channel ; so away we 

 went, and in about two hours we were just going to run in as we 



