. A few minutes later
San Domingo emerged from the companion with the news that luncheon was
ready.

"Very well," said I. Then to Simpson, who had charge of the deck: "Keep
your eye on the commodore, Mr Simpson, and if he should signal, let me
know. And, by the way, you might set the topgallant-sail; I think she
will bear it."

"Ay, ay, sir!" answered Simpson with a grin at the "Mr" which I had
given him. "Away aloft there two hands and loose the to'ga'nt-sail.
Cast off the clewlines and buntlines, and see all ready to sheet home
and hoist away!"

Followed by Keene I dived through the companion, descended the ladder--
which was in reality a staircase,--and entered the little vessel's main
cabin. This was the first time that either Keene or I had been below,
and as we passed through the doorway giving access to the apartment, and
looked round it, we began to understand the meaning of the negro's
ecstatic grin as he stood aside to permit us to enter. The cabin was a
very roomy one for so small a vessel, being about fifteen feet long, and
about the same width at the fore end, tapering away aft, of course, in
accordance with the shape of the vessel. It was not, however, the size
of the cabin so much that arrested our attention as the general effect
of extreme elegance which the apartment presented. The man who was
responsible for its fitting up must have been an individual of
distinctly sybaritic tastes. To begin with, the lockers that ran fore
and aft on either side were luxuriously soft and comfortable to sit
upon, and were upholstered in rich crimson velvet, with thickly-padded
backs of the same material, carried high enough to afford a soft cushion
for the back of the head of the sitters to rest upon. They were wide
enough to form a most comfortable couch, and were evidently intended to
serve that purpose, for at each end they were furnished with a great
pile of richly embroidered silken cushions. The lining of the cabin
above these couches, or lockers, was of bird's-eye maple, highly
polished, and divided up into panels by pilasters of polished satinwood,
the centre of each panel being occupied by a large circular port or
scuttle of very thick, clear glass, set in a stout gun-metal double
frame so arranged that the ports could be opened for the admission of
air. Above these ports handsome rods of polished brass, with ornamented
ends, were screwed to the panelling, and from these rods depended
miniature