140 THE CAST-AWAY. 



French town ! There's a bottle half-full. Put it 

 under the canoe. When we come back we'll 

 finish it off, and then well be half -full, eh, my 

 hearties ? " 



With that the twenty ruffians burst through 

 the door, — all but one, the English cooper, who, 

 for half-inebriated reasons of his own, preferred 

 to remain behind in the boat-house. 



Now the palm wooded summit of " Mt. Blanc," 

 looking down from the altitude of three thousand 

 feet, has seen many a wild time in old Victoria. 

 Often and often has the little island of Mahe*, 

 though biggest of all the Seychelles, been fairly 

 made to shake under the riotous revelling of 

 whaling crews ashore. But of all the fierce nights, 

 this black and starless evening was among the 

 fiercest ; and of all the disorderly gangs ashore on 

 Mahe, these Yankees of mine and these British 

 tars from the " lime-juicer " were far to the fore. 



" You know the old saw, ship-mates," sang out 

 Mattapoisett Joe, " We must all hang together or 

 we'll all hang separately ! " 



" Aye-aye," said Jack Burkett, " splice helbows 

 heverybody. Hey, my lively 'earties. Splice 

 helbows hall 'ands ! " 



And so they did; nineteen tipsy sailors all lock- 

 ing arms and careering wildly through the town. 



