rvice at sea by laying hold of the ropes that
triced up the mizzen-topgallant-sail, and hauling with the others, Mr
Mackay giving me a cheery "Well done, my lad," as I did so.

Tom Jerrold, who now appeared on the poop, and whom I had fought shy of
before, thinking he had behaved very unkindly to me in the morning, was
one of the first to spring into the mizzen-shrouds and climb up the
ratlines on the order being given to furl the sail, getting out on the
manrope and to the weather earing at the end of the yard before either
of the three hands who also went up.

Seeing him go up the rigging, I was on the point of following him; but
Mr Mackay, whose previous encouragement, indeed, had spurred me on,
stopped me.

"No, my boy," said he kindly, "you must not go aloft yet, for you might
fall overboard. Besides, you would not be of the slightest use on the
yard even if you didn't tumble. Wait till you've got your sea-legs and
know the ropes."

I had therefore to wait and watch Tom Jerrold swinging away up there and
bundling the sail together, the gaskets being presently passed round it
and the mizzen-topgallant made snug. When Tom and the others came down,
he grinned at me so cordially that I made friends with him again; but I
was longing all the time for the blissful moment when I too could go
aloft like him.

Previously to this, I had given Billy, the ship's boy, a shilling to
swab out our cabin and make it all right, so that neither Tom nor Weeks
could grumble at the state it was in; and Sam Weeks, at all events,
seemed satisfied, for he turned into his bunk as soon as Billy had done
cleaning up, having begged Tom Jerrold to take his place for once with
the starboard men, who had the first watch this evening instead of the
"middle watch," as on the previous night. This shifting of the watches,
I may mention here, gives all hands in turn an opportunity of being on
deck at every hour of the night and day, without being monotonously
bound down to any fixed time to be on duty throughout the voyage, as
would otherwise have been the case.

This alternation of the four hours of deck duty is effected by the dog-
watches in the afternoon, which being of only two hours duration each,
from four o'clock till six the first, and the second from six to eight
o'clock, change the whole order of the others; as, for instance, the
port watch, which has the deck for the first dog-watch to-night, say,
will come on again for the first