deck after
the gale had begun--the only exception being Mr Macdougall, who had
turned in for a caulk when we were lying-to. Had it not been, however,
for the praiseworthy exertions of Pat Doolan, the Irish cook, I do not
believe we should have been able to hold out so long.

The willing fellow, despite the series of liquid avalanches that were
constantly flooding the ship as she took in the green seas over her
bows, managed in some wonderful way or other to keep his galley fire
alight, supplying us with a grateful cup of hot coffee at intervals
through the harassing night; and, late in the afternoon, when we were
all utterly exhausted, he served out to each of us, much to our
surprise, a pannikin apiece of the most delicious pea-soup I ever
tasted--"It was enough," as one of the men said on receiving the welcome
refreshment, "to have put life in a post!"

This was while our struggle with the elements yet lasted; but as soon as
that was over, and when all fear of peril was dispelled by the lulling
of the gale, the inevitable reaction after such protracted exertions
without any recuperative rest became painfully apparent, and I was not
at all sorry when Captain Billings told the hands belonging to the port
watch that they might go below.

"And I fancy, Mister Leigh," said Jorrocks to me, "we can go down and
turn in too; for we ain't a going to have another such a blow in a hurry
again for a month of Sundays!"

Nor did it look like it either, the stars twinkling away in a cloudless
sky, and the night being perfectly bright and clear, although there was
no moon, while the rollers were rolling less angrily, as if the ocean
were hushing itself down into repose at last.

There was nothing, therefore, to keep me on deck any longer; so,
following the example of my old friend Jorrocks, I speedily sought my
bunk, and, turning in, did not wake again until nearly noon on the
following day--the good-natured skipper having given orders to Mr
Macdougall not to disturb me when the starboard watch was relieved in
the early morning, saying that I had earned my rest fairly by rolling
two days' duty into one, which, indeed, I believe I had!

I was up on deck again, however, in time to "tak' the soon," as the
Scottish mate termed it in his north-country accent, for I was anxious
to see how far the gale had driven the vessel off her proper course.

It was our thirteenth day out, counting from the time we "took our
departure," as nav