us dismissed, but he was still not satisfied apparently at his
word being doubted; for, as he passed us, working his way forward by a
series of short tacks, he kept on muttering half aloud, much to our
amusement, "It's all through that blissid Scotch sawbones wid his long
`dog nose' as he calls it, sayin' it wor whisky. I'm as shober as a
jidge, faith--as shober as a jidge!"

No more unfortunate circumstance, however, could have occurred for the
corporal of marines, in spite of the doctor having let him off so
easily, for, through our overhearing this dialogue between the two, the
yarn he had told of meeting his "cousin Bridget" soon got round the
ship, and the men could always put him in a rage whenever they liked by
an allusion to the "taypot" and his cousin's friend "Missis Wilkins."

We stopped a little longer listening outside the sick bay, but soon gave
up the pastime, nothing occurring to interest us during the medical
examination of the new hands, a fresh batch of whom came aft, by the
way, at Four Bells; for all of them were quickly passed by the doctor
and were detailed for duty aloft and below, where many jobs were at a
standstill for want of men.

This enabled the commander to press on with the work of rigging the
ship, the crossjack, or "crochet" yard being sent up by the aid of the
mizzen burton hooked on in front of the top; after which the jack was
slung and the trusses fixed on, the spar brought home to the mast, the
lifts and braces having been fitted before swaying, as is the case with
all the lower yards in men-of-war.

The mizzen-trysail mast, on which the spanker is set, was also got up by
means of the same tackle; and, what with hoisting in some of the main
deck guns and sails and other gear, the afternoon quickly passed.

I was not sorry when dinner-time came, Five Bells in the first dog
watch, for I was pretty well tired to death with this, my first day's
experience on board the _Candahar_, in running up and down the decks
fore and aft as Commander Nesbitt's special messenger. It was, however,
a very good introduction to the life I should have to lead for the next
few years of my career; for, as a junior officer, I would be at the beck
and call of everyone on the quarter-deck and "hardly able to call my
soul my own,"--as Dad had more than once warned me beforehand.

Still, I must say, notwithstanding certain drawbacks, which subsequent
experience brought to light in due course, I liked it