I
went fairly down by the head. I had a pretty fair guess that this would
bring the lash about my shoulders, an' I was right, but I got up wery
slowly an' broken-down-like, so that the baboons was fairly humbugged,
and stopped loadin' of me long afore I'd taken in a full cargo--so, you
see, boys, I've bin sailin' raither light than otherwise."

"But do you mean to tell me that the load you've bin carryin' is not too
heavy for you?" asked Moses.

"That's just what I does mean to tell you, lad. I could carry a good
deal more, an' dance with it. You see, they ain't used to men o' my
size, so I was able to humbug 'em into a miscalkilation. I on'y wish I
could have helped you all to do the same, but they're too 'cute, as the
Yankees say. Anyway, Moses, you don't need to trouble your head when I
gives you a helpin' hand again."

"Ah, that expression, `a helping hand,' sounds familiar in my ears,"
said Stevenson, in a sad tone.

"Yes, what do it recall, lad?" asked Molloy, extending himself again on
his broad back.

"It recalls places and friends in Portsmouth, Jack, that we may never
again set eyes on. You remember the Institoot? Well, they've got a new
branch o' the work there for the surrounding civilian poor, called the
_Helping Hand_. You see, Miss Robinson understands us soldiers out and
out. She knew that those among us who gave up drink and sin, and put on
the blue-ribbon, were not goin' to keep all the benefit to ourselves.
She knew that we understood the meaning of the word `enlist' That we'd
think very little o' the poor-spirited fellow who'd take the Queen's
shillin' and put on her uniform, and then shirk fightin' her battles and
honouring her flag. So when some of us put on the Lord's uniform--
which, like that of the Austrians, is white--and unfurled His flag, she
knew we'd soon be wantin' to fight His battles against sin--especially
against drink; so instead of lookin' after our welfare alone, she
encouraged us to hold out a _helpin' hand_ to the poorest and most
miserable people in Portsmouth, an' she found us ready to answer to the
call."

"Ah, they was grand times, these," continued the marine, with kindly
enthusiasm, as he observed that his comrades in sorrow were becoming
interested, and forgetting for the moment their own sorrows and
sufferings. "The Blue-Ribbon move was strong in Portsmouth at the time,
and many of the soldiers and sailors joined it. Some time after we had
held out a