-chambers, I see, and--in
fact she's a proper life-boat, and she's roomy enough to take all hands
of us if anything should happen. What say, chaps, shall us try it?"

This last to the other men, who had stood around listening to everything
that was said.

The party, five of them in all, slouched over to the rail and stood
looking down into the life-boat with an air of stolid indifference, as
she rose and fell alongside. Then they turned and looked inboard at the
long-boat, which stood upright in chocks, on top of the main hatch, with
the jolly-boat stowed, keel-up, inside her. Finally one of them said:

"Yah, ve'll do id; she's wort' de drouble. Gome on, poys, led's ged do
vork; we haven'd done moosh dese lasd dwo days, und id von'd hurd us.
Shoomp ub dere, zome of you und ged de sholly-boad oud of dad!"

"Now," thought I, "what sort of a craft is this that I've blundered
aboard of? She's Liberty Hall afloat, by the look of it--Jack as good
as his master! There seems to be something a bit queer here--something
that I can't quite understand at present, but I'll find out what it is
before long. Which of those fellows is the skipper, I wonder--or, if
neither of them is, as I am very much inclined to think, where is he?"
And then I suddenly recalled to mind the question--"Are you a
navigator?"--which had been put to me before I received permission to
come aboard. For a moment I thought of demanding an explanation before
permitting the life-boat to be hoisted in; but I changed my mind and
resolved to defer my investigation until later. I flattered myself that
if anything should prove to be really wrong aboard the brigantine I had
wit enough to enable me to deal with it.

Meanwhile, the five men, having summoned three others from the
forecastle to their assistance, got to work with the exasperating
deliberation characteristic of the British merchant seaman to be found
in the forecastles of small craft; and first of all they got the jolly-
boat down on deck and ran her aft, out of the way; then they cleared out
a number of warps, cork fenders, and other lumber from the long-boat,
lifted her out of her chocks, and finally, unshipping the gangway,
launched her overboard, fisherman-fashion, and dropped her astern,
riding to her painter. Then they got their mast and yard tackles aloft,
arranged the chocks in place on the main hatch, and with a tremendous
amount of fuss, with the assistance of snatch-blocks, the windl