whom this grimy prospect did
not appear over-pleasant.

"Why, there'll be larruping," replied the boatswain, significantly, with
another expressive wink, and Tom was silenced; but, it was only for a
moment, as he looked up again the instant afterwards with his usual
bright expression.

"Perhaps it will be wisest to make the best of a bad job, Martin, eh?"
he said, cheerfully. "We have only to thank ourselves for getting into
this scrape, and the most sensible thing we can do now is to grin and
bear whatever we've got to put up with."

This exactly agreed with my own conclusions, and I signified my assent
to the sound philosophy of Tom's remark with my usual nod; but, as for
Jorrocks, he was completely carried away with enthusiasm.

"Right you are, my hearty!" he cried, wringing Tom's hand in the grip of
his brawny fist as if he would shake it off. "That's the sort o' lad
for me! You've an old head on young shoulders, you have--you'll get on
with the skipper, no fear; and me and my mates will make you both as
com'able aboard as we can; theer, I can say no better, can I?"

"No," replied Tom, in an equally hearty tone.

The _Saucy Sall_ being only of small tonnage, she had a correspondingly
small crew, seven men and a boy--including the skipper and Jorrocks, and
excluding ourselves for the present--comprising "all hands."

Of this number, one was aft now, taking his turn at the wheel, with the
skipper standing beside him, while a couple of others were lounging
about, ready to slacken off or haul taut the sheets; and the remainder,
whose watch below it was, were seeing to the preparations for dinner--a
savoury smell coming out from the fo'c's'le heads, that was most
appetising to Tom and me, who were both longing to have once more a good
hot meal.

Presently, the skipper shouted out something about "making it eight
bells," whereupon Jorrocks took hold of a marlinspike, which he had
seemingly ready for the purpose, striking eight sharp, quick blows on a
little bell hanging right under the break of the little topgallant
fo'c's'le, with which the old-fashioned coaster was built.

"That's the pipe down to dinner," he said to us in explanatory fashion.
"Come along o' me, and I'll introduce you to yer messmates in proper
shipshape way!"

Thereupon, we both followed Jorrocks into the dark little den in the
fore-part of the vessel, with which Tom had first made acquaintance the
night we went on board, after escaping