THE CAST- A WAY. 158 



distance, her skipper had cried out to the British 

 captain, "Ahoy, monsieur! Ahoy! J'ai voire 



coopier 



t 



No cooper was seen, but the cooper's canoe 

 followed close in the wake of the sloop. 



Just then two heads appeared above the fisher- 

 man's hatch-way. A moment more, and a third 

 head came in view. 



It was the cooper — pale and sick and haggard, 

 but still alive — carried in the arms of his 

 preservers. 



" Hurray ! Hurray ! " our sailors answered 

 when they fully took in the situation. Then they 

 danced as wildly as the Englishmen, hugged each 

 other like school-girls, and all but wept for joy. 



" Hip, hip ! " shouted Mattapoisett Joe, forget- 

 ing his bruises. 



" Hurr-a-a-a-a-a-a-y ! ! ! !" yelled the whole 

 crew, and I yelled with them. 



That night after supper I gave orders to my 

 men to put on their Sunday clothes, and to dress 

 our boats with all the bunting they could carry. 



Weatherf ace was to bring his fiddle or be put in 

 irons. Little Tom Bunker was to bring his accor- 

 dion or suffer a similar penalty. The cabin-boy, 

 a mere creeper on the face of the earth, was to 

 remain behind as ship-keeper. 



