o was
very kind to me. He had been showing me how to make the various knots
and bends of rope which are used in our service. I am afraid that I was
very stupid, but he showed me over and over again, until I learnt how to
make them. Amongst others, he taught me a fisherman's bend, which he
pronounced to be the _king_ of all knots; "and, Mr Simple," continued
he, "there's a moral in that knot. You observe, that when the parts are
drawn the right way, and together, the more you pull, the faster they
hold, and the more impossible to untie them; but see, by hauling them
apart, how a little difference, a pull the other way, immediately
disunites them, and then how easy they cast off in a moment. That
points out the necessity of pulling together in this world, Mr Simple,
when we wish to hold on, and that's a piece of philosophy worth all the
twenty-six thousand and odd years of my friend the carpenter, which
leads to nothing but a brown study, when he ought to be attending to his
duty."

"Very true, Mr Chucks, you are the better philosopher of the two."

"I am the better educated, Mr Simple, and, I trust, more of a
gentleman. I consider a gentleman to be, to a certain degree, a
philosopher; for very often he is obliged, to support his character as
such, to put up with what another person may very properly fly in a
passion about. I think coolness is the great characterstick of a
gentleman. In the service, Mr Simple, one is obliged to appear angry
without indulging the sentiment. I can assure you, that I never lose my
temper, even when I use my rattan."

"Why, then, Mr Chucks, do you swear so much at the men? surely that is
not gentlemanly?"

"Most certainly not, sir. But I must defend myself by observing the
very artificial state in which we live on board of a man-of-war.
Nothing would afford me more pleasure than to be able to carry on the
duty as a gentleman, but that's impossible."

"I really cannot see why."

"Perhaps, then, Mr Simple, you will explain to me why the captain and
first lieutenant swear."

"That I do not pretend to answer, but they only do so upon an
emergency."

"Exactly so; but, sir, their 'mergency is my daily and hourly duty. In
the continual working of the ship I am answerable for all that goes
amiss. The life of a boatswain is a life of 'mergency, and therefore I
swear."

"I still cannot allow it to be requisite, and certainly it is sinful."

"Excuse me, my dear sir; it is absol