for the leftenant, and he persuaded the old man to drill us. He
said it would do us good an' amuse the passengers, an' we 'ad to do all
sorts of silly things with our arms an' legs, an' twice he walked the
skipper to the other end of the ship, leaving twenty-three sailor-men
bending over touching their toes, an' wondering whether they'd ever
stand straight again.

"The very worst thing o' the lot was the boat-drill. A chap might be
sitting comfortable at his grub, or having a pipe in his bunk, when the
bos'en's whistle would scream out to him that the ship was sinking, an'
the passengers drownding, and he was to come an' git the boats out an'
save 'em. Nice sort o' game it was too. We had to run like mad with kegs
o' water an' bags o' biscuit, an' then run the boats out an' launch 'em.
All the men were told off to certain boats, an' the passengers too. The
only difference was, if a passenger didn't care about taking a hand in
the game he didn't, but we had to.

"One o' the passengers who didn't play was Major Miggens. He was very
much agin it, an' called it tomfoolery; he never would go to his boat,
but used to sit and sneer all the time.

"'It's only teaching the men to cut an' run,' he said to the skipper one
day; 'if there ever was any need they'd run to the boats an' leave us
here. Don't tell me.'

"'That's not the way I should ha' expected to hear you speak of British
sailors, major,' ses the skipper rather huffy.

"'British _swearers_,' ses the major, sniffing. 'You don't hear their
remarks when that whistle is blown. It's enough to bring a judgment on
the ship.'

"'If you can point 'em out to me I'll punish 'em,' says the skipper very
warm.

"'I'm not going to point 'em out,' ses the major. 'I symperthise with
'em too much. They don't get any of their beauty sleep, pore chaps, an'
they want it, every one of 'em.'

"I thought that was a very kind remark o' the major to make, but o'
course some of the wimmin larfed. I s'pose they think men don't want
beauty sleep, as it's called.

"I heard the leftenant symperthising with the skipper arter that.
He said the major was simply jealous because the men drilled so
beautifully, an' then they walked aft, the leftenant talking very
earnest an' the skipper shaking his head at something he was saying.

"It was just two nights arter this. I'd gone below an' turned in when I
began to dream that the major had borrowed the bos'en's whistle an' was
practising on it. I