low low, I'm his equal, either aloft or at the helm,
or in handling the lead. What say you, mates? Who'll speak for me? It
isn't because I want to boast, you know; but I do want to save poor Bill
Jackson from being pressed aboard a man-of-war!'

"`He speaks the truth, that he does!' exclaimed all the crew, who were
mustered on deck. `There are few of us can come up to him.'

"`I tell you, sir,' said Captain Gale, `I should be very sorry to lose
either Jackson or Poplar; but if you ask me which is the best seaman of
the two, I am bound to say that Poplar is; and besides, in him you get a
willing hand, who loves the sea, which I am sure poor Jackson does not.'

"`Then Poplar let us have, by all means,' answered the lieutenant,
telling Jackson that he was free, and ordering us all to be smart in
getting our traps ready to take with us.

"The captain, meantime, told me to bring him your papers, which I did,
though I well knew that they were no protection to you, and so he
discovered, and so I got your chest ready with the rest: and so you see,
Jack, you and I are man-of-war's men, and so, lad, let's do our duty
like men, and stand up boldly for our king and country."

Peter's hearty way of talking gave me spirits which I should not
otherwise have felt. I never had before stood on the deck of a
man-of-war, but I had heard a good deal about the cruelty and injustice
practised on board them, from some of my shipmates; and I had, with the
great mass of merchant-seamen in those days, and for many years
afterwards, formed a strong prejudice against them. From the system
which was practised in some ships, I naturally, with others, formed an
opinion of the whole navy; and when I first found myself a pressed-man
on board the _Syren_, I looked forward to a life of ill-treatment and
wretchedness till I could again obtain my freedom. I truly believe,
indeed, that had I not had Peter again as my counsellor, I should have
yielded to the force of my impression, and have been guilty of the very
conduct which would have brought me into trouble. I found a number of
pressed-men and discontented men, and not a few bad characters in the
ship, who were always ready to grumble at what was done, and whose great
aim seemed to be how they could oftenest shirk duty, most speedily get
drunk, and most readily break the rules and regulations of the service.
At first I was inclined to think them somewhat fine fellows, lads of
spirit, whose ex