ed equal to the
ry-nossris at the Zoo--I seed that beast once at a Sunday-school treat--
an' her nose has been tryin' for some years past to kiss her chin, w'ich
it would 'ave managed long ago, too, but for a tooth she's got in the
upper jaw. She's on'y got one; but, my, that _is_ a fang! so loose that
you'd expect it to be blowed out every time she coughs. It's a reg'lar
grinder an' cutter an' stabber all in one; an' the way it works--
sometimes in the mouth, sometimes outside the lip, now an' then straight
out like a ship's bowsprit--is most amazin'; an' she drives it about
like a nigger slave. Gives it no rest. I do declare I wouldn't be that
there fang for ten thousand a year. She's got two black eyes, too, has
old Liz, clear an' bright as beads--fit to bore holes through you w'en
she ain't pleased; and er nose is ooked--. But, I say, before I tell
you more about 'er, I wants to know wot you've got to do with 'er? An'
w'at's your name? I've gave you mine. Fair exchange, you know."

"True, Tommy, that's only right an' fair. But I ain't used to lookin'
up when discoorsin'. Couldn't you come down here an' lay alongside?"

"No, old salt, I couldn't; but you may come up here if you like. You'll
be the better of a rise in the world, won't you? The gangway lays just
round the corner; but mind your sky-scraper for the port's low. There's
a seat in the winder here. Go ahead; starboard your helm, straight up,
then 'ard-a-port, steady, mind your jib-boom, splice the main-brace,
heave the main-deck overboard, and cast anchor 'longside o' me!"

Following these brief directions as far as was practicable, the sailor
soon found himself on the landing of the stair, where Tommy was seated
on a rickety packing-case awaiting him.

"Now, lad," said the man, seating himself beside his new friend, "from
what you tells me, I think that chimney-pot--"

"Chimley," remarked the boy, correcting.

"Well, then, chimley-pot Liz, from your account of her, must be the very
woman I wants. I've sought for her far an' wide, alow and aloft, an'
bin directed here an' there an' everywhere, except the right where,
'till now. But I'll explain." The man paused a moment as if to
consider, and it became evident to the boy that his friend was labouring
under some degree of excitement, which he erroneously put down to drink.

"My name," continued the sailor, "is Sam Blake--second mate o' the
_Seacow_, not long in from China. I didn't sh