e.

"It must be very unpleasant!" quoth he. "I wonder what they would say
if I was to let you loose?"

"I wish you would," I answered. "It's a great shame, and I don't like
it."

"But I dare not," he replied, putting on a pretended serious face,
though he could not hide the twinkle of his laughing eyes; "they are
such precious fierce fellows. But don't you think that you might buy
yourself off? I'll see if I can arrange the matter with them."

I saw that there would be no use contending against my tormentor, and I
was more hurt than I choose to acknowledge; so I wisely agreed to pay
any moderate sum to be released. The arrangement was soon made; and
Yool and Cockle, having unlashed my limbs, begged my pardon, and
complimented me on the daring and agility I had displayed on this my
first climb aloft.

This adventure, as I took the treatment I received good humouredly, made
me capital friends with all the seamen, and I found that there were not
kinder-hearted or better men on board than Yool and Cockle. I observed
that Jerry took the opportunity when his father was below to play off
the tricks imagined by his fertile brain, though he was sometimes
discovered and reprimanded; but he put on so penitent an expression, and
had such comical excuses to offer, that Captain Frankland saw that it
would be worse than useless to punish him. Indeed, punishment would
scarcely have corrected such faults as he had. Gerard, from being
small, and having delicate features, though they were full of rich
humour, looked younger than I did; but he was in reality older, and had
much more experience of the world. His constitution was considered
delicate, which was the reason his father took him to sea at first; but
now he liked the life so much, he told me, that he had resolved to
follow it as a profession. We both of us slept in a cabin which we had
to ourselves, near the captain's. Gerard was learning navigation; and
Captain Frankland told me that I must study hard to catch him up, so
that we might work together. He superintended our studies; but Silas
Brand was our chief master, and somehow or other, in his quiet way, he
managed to impart a considerable amount of information in a pleasant and
rapid manner. It appeared to me that he always said the right thing at
the right time, so as to impress it on the memory. Our first officer,
John Renshaw, was a very worthy man, but totally unlike my Cousin Silas.
He was tall and thin