perceive
that it was not going to be anything pleasant, his countenance assumed
an expression of defiance accordingly. He changed his mind, though,
before he reached him, and turning short round shouted instead--

"Where is the second mate? Where is the whole watch?" and he looked
furiously about him, as if surprised, although he knew very well how
they were occupied, and that it had been decided not to weigh anchor
until later in the day, when they would have the evening breeze.

"Ay, ay, sir!" was heard from the mate in the long-boat; and he raised
himself and came forward with the letter he had been reading in his
hand.

"Stand by to man the windlass! Pipe all hands!" ordered the captain, and
roared the command again gratuitously through the trumpet.

The crew turned out from their several retreats with sour looks. They
had expected to be left alone until after tea-time, when there would
have been a general interchange of news on the forecastle; and now there
came instead a hail of orders from the speaking-trumpet, as if the
captain had all of a sudden become possessed.

There was already a good deal of discontent prevailing among the crew,
both on account of the bad food which they had to put up with, and on
account of their leave ashore at Monte Video having been, as they
thought, capriciously refused; and it was therefore something more
nearly approaching to a howl than a song that was now heard from the
capstan and from the party who were hoisting the heavy mainsail. The
customary English chorus--

"Haul the bowline,
The captain he is growling;
Haul the bowline,
The bowline haul"--

was sung with offensive significance; and though, at the last heavy
heave with which the enormous anchor was catted up to the bows, the mate
tried to create a diversion in the feeling by a cheery "Saat
'kjelimen--hal' paa," the concluding words of the song--

"Aa hal i--aa--iaa--
Cheerily, men!"--

were delivered in a scornful shout.

"You'll have a chance of cooling yourselves presently, my lads," said
Salve, coming up at the moment from his own heavy work with the
cross-jack; "when we weather the point, all the lee-sails have to be
set"--and the remark had the effect which he desired of intensifying the
prevailing irritation.

In spite of the vertical heat, the hail of orders from the captain's
trumpet continued, accompanied by reprimands and fault-finding all
round, until the crew were