m forth, with the fist
clenched, indicating the necessary point of the compass by the thumb; "the
coast of Guinea might have lain hereaway, and the wind you see, was dead
off shore, blowing in squalls, as a cat spits, all the same as if the old
fellow, who keeps it bagged for the use of us seamen, sometimes let the
stopper slip through his fingers, and was sometimes fetching it up again
with a double turn round the end of his sack.--You know what a sack is,
brother?"

This abrupt question was put to the gaping bumpkin, already known to the
reader, who, with the nether garment just received from the tailor under
his arm, had lingered, to add the incidents of the present legend to the
stock of lore that he had already obtained for the ears of his kinsfolk in
the country. A general laugh, at the expense of the admiring Pardon
succeeded. Nightingale bestowed a knowing wink on one or two of his
familiars, and, profiting by the occasion, "to freshen his nip," as he
quaintly styled swallowing a pint of rum and water, he continued his
narrative by saying, in a sort of admonitory tone,--

"And the time may come when you will know what a round-turn is, too, if
you let go your hold of honesty. A man's neck was made, brother, to keep
his head above water, and not to be stretched out of shape like a pair of
badly fitted dead-eyes. Therefore have your reckoning worked up in season,
and the lead of conscience going, when you find yourself drifting on the
shoals of temptation." Then, rolling his tobacco in his mouth, he looked
boldly about him, like one who had acquitted himself of a moral
obligation, and continued: "Well, there lay the land, and, as I was
saying, the wind was here, at east-and-by-south or mayhap at
east-and-by-south-half-south, sometimes blowing like a fin-back in a
hurry, and sometimes leaving all the canvas chafing ag'in the rigging and
spars, as if a bolt of duck cost no more nor a rich man's blessing. I
didn't like the looks of the weather, seeing that there was altogether too
much unsartainty for a quiet watch, so I walked aft, in order to put
myself in the way of giving an opinion if-so-be such a thing should be
asked. You must know, brothers, that, according to my notions of religion
and behaviour, a man is not good for much, unless he has a full share of
manners; therefore I am never known to put my spoon into the captain's
mess, unless I am invited, for the plain reason, that my berth is
for'ard, and his'n a