190 A YEAR WITH A WHALER 



his regular night watches into the bargain. That 

 meant he got eight hours sleep during twenty- 

 four hours one day and four hours sleep during 

 the next. As the ship was in whaling waters 

 from now on, the crew had little to do except 

 man the boats. But Slim always had plenty 

 to do. While we smoked our pipes and lounged 

 about, he was kept washing paint work, slush- 

 ing down masts, scraping deck and knocking the 

 rust off the anchors. Any one of a hundred 

 and one little jobs that didn't need doing, Slim 

 did. This continued until the brig squared her 

 yards for the homeward voyage. Slim had more 

 than three months of it. The Lord knows it 

 was enough. When his nagging finally ended, 

 he was a pale, haggard shadow of his former self. 

 It almost killed him. 



