ng back his hair, the demon of mischief put a
thought into Dicky Sharpe's head. To conceive, with Dicky, was to
execute. I happened to be descending from the main-deck, when I saw
Dicky standing at the door of the berth, with the rib-bone in hand, and
a wicked look in his eye. I instantly perceived the state of affairs,
and divined what was to happen. Away flew the bone across the deck,
with so good an aim that it made a cannon against the boatswain's nose
and his glass, breaking both one and the other with a loud crash, which
was followed by a volley of oaths. The steerage of a frigate, even when
a sunbeam penetrates through a scuttle, is not over and above
brilliantly lighted; and on the present occasion a purser's dip here and
there just enabled us to grope our way about the deck. Now it happened
that the carpenter at that moment was coming out of his berth, which was
nearly opposite the boatswain's.

"Oh! you blessed Chissel; I saw you heave that, you aggrawating
so-and-so," exclaimed Trundle, in a towering rage, exhibiting his
bleeding nose and broken glass.

"I never hove anything, and that you know, you so-and-so," answered
Ichabod, drawing near to his adversary.

"You did, though, you so-and-so," cried Trundle, doubling his fist, and
dealing Ichabod a hit on the eye which almost stove it in.

The blow was given back, and returned with interest, with expressions
not fit for ears polite, till the noses of both heroes were streaming
with blood, and their voices were hallooing away at the highest pitch.
Dicky was rubbing his hands in high glee at the successful result of his
experiment, when the captain, aroused by the hubbub, rang his bell to
know what was the matter. This sound, like that of Oberon's magic horn,
instantly paralysed the combatants; and the sentry having put his head
into the cabin, and made some report which apparently satisfied the
skipper, the two warriors, like a couple of lions growling defiance at
each other, retired to their berths, to staunch their bleeding wounds,
and wash away the stains of the fight from their faces.

Here the first thing which met the eye of the boatswain, as he stooped
to pick up the fragments of his glass, was the missile which had
inflicted the injury. Now, as the officers generally choose the long
ribs of beef for roasting, for which they pay one pound in six for the
good of the ship's company, and the boatswain had actually seen the
carpenter's servant