nd look out for the coamin'--it's a bit extra high."

And, so saying, he led the way into a very handsome saloon under the
ship's full poop.

The craft was not a regular Indiaman--that is to say, she was not one of
the Honourable East India Company's ships,--but, for all that, she was a
very handsome and comfortable vessel, and her cuddy was most luxuriously
fitted up with crimson velvet sofas, capacious revolving armchairs
screwed to the deck alongside the tables, a very fine piano, with a
quantity of loose music on the top of it, some very handsome pictures in
heavy gold frames screwed to the ship's side between the ports, a
magnificent hanging lamp suspended from the centre of the skylight, with
a number of smaller lamps, hung in gimbals, over the pictures, a
handsome fireplace, with a wide tiled hearth, now filled with pots of
plants, a capacious sideboard against the fore bulkhead, a handsome
carpet on the deck, and, in fact, everything that could be thought of,
within reason, to render a long sea voyage comfortable and pleasant.
The saloon occupied the full width of the ship, the sleeping cabins
being below.

With pardonable pride Carter turned up the flame of the swinging lamp--
which was the only lamp burning at that hour of the night--to give me a
glimpse of all this magnificence.

I quite expected that, having, as it were, done the honours of the ship,
Carter would now turn down the lamp and leave me to myself; but he still
lingered in an uncertain sort of way, as though he would like to say
something, but did not quite know how to begin; so at length, to relieve
his embarrassment, I said:

"What is it, Mr Carter? I feel sure you want to tell me something."

"Well," said he, "it's a fact that I have got something on my mind that
I'd like to get off it; and yet I dare say you'll think there's nothing
in it when I tells you. The fact is, our present skipper's a very
curious sort of chap, as I expect you'll find out for yourself afore
many hours has gone over your head. Now, I want you to understand,
Mr--er--Grenvile, that I'm not sayin' this because he and I don't
happen to get on very well together--which is a fact; I'm not jealous of
him, or of his position, because I couldn't fill it if 'twas offered to
me--I'm not a good enough navigator for that,--but I think it's only
right I should tell you that, as like as not, he'll not only blow me up
sky-high for pickin' you and your men up, when he finds out