THE MATE'S STOKY. 7 



morning the captain sent for me, told me not to speak 

 about what he had said last night, but that he had 

 been told that his days were numbered. He pointed to 

 the log-book, in which he had put down, that he had 

 seen his wife come into the cabin, and that she spoke 

 to him, and told him something about himself. He then 

 requested me to sign his statement in the book, and 

 ordered me not to say a word to any of the men as long 

 as he lived. I told him not to think anything about it, 

 as such things were only imaginations, and were caused 

 by the stomach being a little out of order. I did not 

 think it at the time, although I thought it would quiet 

 him by telling him so. 



" We lay-to all that day ; the captain came on deck 

 once, but spoke to no one. In the afternoon I went down 

 to him to ask about getting a little sail up again ; I found 

 him reading his Bible, a thing that I had never heard of 

 his doing before. He put it down and came on deck j 

 ordered me to get up the fore-topsail ; I went forward to 

 see about it, and the skipper walked on to the poop ; the 

 helm was still lashed, and no one was there but him. I 

 was giving the men orders to go aloft, when I heard a 

 crack astern, and felt a jar through the whole ship. I 

 turned round and found the pitching had caused the 

 heavy boom of the trysail to break the guy that fastened 

 it, and it was swinging from side to side with every lurch 

 of the ship. I ran aft with all the men, and with great 

 difficulty made it fast again; it took us some time to 

 settle, and I then went down to tell the captain. His 

 cabin was just as I had left it before, and no one in it ; I 



