at are seen mostly in whaling vessels, which are thus protected
forwards in order to resist the pressure of the ice in those arctic
regions whither they go to and fro; but, in spite of her build, which
resembled more that of a Dutch galliot--such as Fritz's eyes were
accustomed to see in the ports of the North Sea--than an American
merchantman, with her freshly painted hull, whose ports were picked out
in white, and her tall shapely spars all newly varnished, the _Pilot's
Bride_ looked as dapper and neat as her namesake. Eric certainly
thought this, no matter what his brother's opinion might be, and
believed there was every reason for Captain Brown taking the pride in
the vessel that he did.

"There you are," said the skipper to the brothers, taking them with him
to survey her from the jetty when all her preparations were finished,
the vessel only waiting his mandate to haul out into the river--"did you
ever see sich a tarnation duck of a beauty in all yer born days, hey?"

"She looks very pretty," observed Fritz admiringly.

"Blow thet!" exclaimed the skipper with a laugh. "Folks would think you
were talkin' 'bout a gal; but, what ken a longshore fellow know 'bout a
shep!" he added compassionately. "What d'ye say 'bout her Mas' Eric,
hey?"

"I say she's a regular clipper, captain," answered the lad in prompt
sailor fashion, much to the skipper's delight. Eric's encomium was all
the more appreciative from the fact of his having been familiar with the
ship through part of her last voyage. Then, she was all battered and
bruised from her conflict with the elements during her cruise in
southern seas; so, now, her present transformation and gala trim made
the difference in her appearance all the more striking to him, causing
her good points to shine out with all the greater display and hiding
most of her drawbacks.

"Ah, thet's your sort of 'pinion I likes," said the skipper in reply to
Eric's tribute to the vessel's merits. "Yes, suttenly, she's a clipper,
if ever there wer one; an' a beauty to the back of thet, I reckon, hey,
sonny?" and he gave the lad one of his thundering pats of approval
across the shoulders with his broad hand that almost jerked him off the
jetty.

"I guess," he added presently, "the only thing we've got to do now is to
shep a tol'able crew aboard; an' then, I kalkerlate, mister, she'll be
the slickest whaler this v'y'ge as ever loos'd tops'les an' sailed out
o' Narraganset Bay!"

"Will