60() NIGHTS IN THE GALLEY. 



says J. * Luff you may yet, lad luff, and shake it out of her V 

 So I luffed her still more, when up she came in the wind. ' Meet 

 her, meet her, lad !' smartly sung out the hofficer. ' Meet her, it is, 

 Sir/ says I. But, before I could put the helm up a single spoke, she 

 gave a lurch to windward, and over she went. ' Good God !' cries 

 Sir. Tyrrell, ' she's gone ; it was my fault. What will the captain 



say ? he'll call me a d d lubber ;' and down he went in the 



whirlpool. I saved myself by making a strong push against the 

 mizen-rigging, as she was going down, and getting out of the 

 draught ; but I should have gone down had you been a minute later, 

 for it came so suddenly that I hadn't time to make any exertion. 

 ( Well, my man,' says the skipper, ' I'm very glad you are saved ; 

 and I wish all the poor fellers had been so, too. But Mr. Tyrrell is 



mistaken, I won't call him a d d lubber : any man may make a 



mistake, without being a lubber ; and he died as every sailor ought to 

 die, thinking of his character and his duty till the last.' " 



" Well, well, Bob," said Will Gibbon, " that's all very gooda 

 very good yarn ; but that's nothing to do with young Watts. I 

 thought you were spinning us a yarn tow he got made a skipper." 

 " Well, lad, you must let me spin my yarn my own way, or I shan't 



be able to do it all. I'm telling you just what my father " 



" That's right, Bob," said Jack Murray, "go on your own way. 

 Tell us any thing you like." 



" Well, lads, now I've been digesting (digressing) a little bit, as 

 the serjeant says, I'll take young Watts in tow again. I forgot to 

 tell you that the schooner's name was Lee Dandy Lion (Le Dent de 

 Leon.) Well, when they got to Oporto, the admiral received them 

 very well, as he always does when they bring him a prize ; for he 

 always snares in every thing that's taken on the station where his 

 flag is flying, whether he's present or not. By this time, young 

 Watts had pretty well recovered, though he was still very weak ; and 

 the captain called him into his cabin one day, and said, ' Now, Watts, 

 do you think you are sailor enough to take the Dandy Lion to Eng- 

 land ?' Yes, Sir/ says he, ' I do.' ' And do you think you are well 

 enough, because if you think remaining in this warm climate will re- 

 cover your health, you sha'nt suffer by staying ; for I'll write an ac- 

 count of your action to the Admiralty, and I've no doubt you'll be 

 made leaftenant for it, for you are sixteen now, and I was made a 

 leaftenant at fifteen/ ' I'd rather take her home, Sir,' says Watts ; 

 and I feel so much better, that I am sure the trip will do me good.' 

 So the captain told the admiral how young Watts had behaved, and 

 all about him, from the time he was first put on the quarter-deck. 

 And the admiral said, ' That's the sort of feller I want ; but I shan't 

 send him home yet, for I want small craft out here ; so we can smug- 

 gle his time a little. He can pass his examination to-morrow, and 

 I'll give him one of the vacancies in your ship, and then give you an 

 order to man that schooner with fifty men, a leaftenant, and two mid- 

 shipmen, will send his commission home, and the next packet will 

 bring out his confirmation.' The next day he went on board the se- 

 nior captain's ship I don't know her name passed his examination, 

 and the day after he got his commission as junior luff of the Seringa- 



