ting the contents of the kettle, and seeing that it was
full, Will climbed up the steep ladder again; and was soon working
away, coiling down the ropes with the other lad, while the crew
hoisted sails and got the boat under weigh.

"Are there only two hands under the captain?" he asked the other
boy.

"There are two others," the boy said. "They will come on board
after we get out of the river, and you'll see they will be just as
drunk as they can stand."

"What, drunk at this time in the morning?"

"Yes, they got drunk last night and, as they won't have fairly
slept it off, they will be beginning again this morning. The old
man will look them up, and get them off."

"Who is the old man?"

"Old Eastrey, of course, stupid.

"I wish they were all on board. There's a fine breeze, and I hate
wasting four or five hours off the bar, waiting for the hands to
come off."

"I wonder the old man stands it," Will said.

"He can't help it," the other answered. "Scarce a smack goes out of
Yarmouth without half the hands being drunk, when she starts. They
don't get much chance afterwards, you see; and they sleep it off by
night, so it don't make any odds. Our skipper is always sober, and
that's more than many of them are. I have gone out when me and the
other boy were the only two sober on board."

"But isn't it very dangerous?"

"Dangerous? No," the boy said, "one of them is sure to be sober
enough to manage to stand at the helm and, though I've bumped
pretty heavy on the sands, sometimes, we generally strike the
channel. There is no fear of anything else. We never start, if a
gale is blowing; and the smacks are safe in anything but a gale.
They are too deep to capsize and, at sea, there's no more
drinking."

The smack dropped down the river and stood, off and on, near its
entrance. Will was delighted with the bright sea, dotted with ships
and fishing craft. The sun was shining, and there was just enough
wind to send the smack along briskly through the water, without
raising any waves sufficiently high to give her a perceptible
motion. At eight o'clock the captain went on shore in the boat,
with a man, to look after the absent sailors; leaving only one hand
and the two boys on board. At ten the boat was again seen, coming
out.

"One, two, three, four," the boy said, "he has got them both. Now
we shall be off."

The boat was soon alongside. The two drunken men were helped on
board and, at once, went below to sleep