e of
bread on the platter, and all the tea was drained to the last drop; and
then Bill stood up and thanked God for their good supper.

"And it was a good one!" cried out little Tommy. "A right good one.
And, Bill, I hope you may get many such aboard ship."

"Maybe," said Bill, "but they will not be like this, for there will be
none of you there; and after all it's not the grub, but it's them that
eats it with us that makes it pleasant."

Bill might have said more but he did not; for a good reason--he could
not just then trust his voice; so he jumped up and began to dance a
hornpipe, though he was not very perfect in the art of dancing.

"Never mind," he said, "I will learn something more about that too, when
I get to sea."

Bill was up betimes, dressed in his new suit. "Mother, I would like to
carry your basket for you," he said. "Maybe it's the last day I shall
be able to do it."

"No, no, Bill," she said; "I am not going out this morning, till you are
away. We will go down to the Point, and learn when the _Lilly_ is going
out of harbour. It is better to go on board now than to wait till she
gets out to Spithead."

It was a hard matter for Bill to wish all his brothers and sisters
good-bye, and harder still to part from his mother, but he did it in a
brave, hearty way. Old Joe Simmons, who had known him all his life, and
known his mother too, for that matter, since she was born, insisted on
taking him off.

"The _Lilly_ will be going out of harbour to-day, or to-morrow at
farthest, and the sooner you are aboard, my boy, the better," said old
Joe, taking Bill's bundle from Mrs Sunnyside. "Come along with me.
And now, Mrs Sunnyside, do you go back, there's a good woman, now.
I'll look after your boy, and see him all right aboard. I know three or
four of her crew who shipped from here, and I will speak to one or two
of them, and they will put Bill up to what he ought to do, so that he
won't seem like a green-horn when they get to sea. There's the captain
of the maintop, Jack Windy, son of an old shipmate of mine, and he will
stand Bill's friend, if I ask him. And there's little Tommy Rebow, who
has been to sea for a year or more; and I'll just tell him I will break
every bone in his body if he don't behave right to Bill. So, you see,
he will have no lack of friends, Mrs Sunnyside. There now, good-bye,
good-bye! Bless you, missus! Bless you! Don't fret, now; Bill will be
all right."

These words