r own way.
But, first of all, how did you manage to get here without being seen by
any of the men?"

"Well, sir," said Joe, "it wasn't very easy, and that's a fact. I
wanted to have a word with you durin' the first watch, but you was
talking with Sir Edgar; and, if you hadn't been, it'd ha' been all the
same, because I couldn't ha' left the forecastle without bein' missed.
So I had to wait until our watch was relieved and had gone below; and
then I had to wait again until they was all asleep, when I slips out of
my bunk, careless-like, leavin' the blankets all heaped-up so that
they'd look, in the dim light, as if I was still there. Then I creeps
up on deck, very quiet, but ready primed with a hexcuse in case any o'
the watch wanted to know what I was doin' on deck in my watch below.
But the lookout was comfortably perched between the knight-heads,
smokin', with his back to the deck, so he didn't see me; and, as for the
other two, I expects they was in the galley, takin' a snooze, for I
didn't see anything of 'em. So I slips aft, in the shadder of the
long-boat, and dodges round abaft the mainmast until I got the companion
between me and the man at the wheel, when I climbs up on the poop, and
crawls along the deck on all-fours to the companion-way; then down I
comes, without even Mr Forbes seein' me."

"All right, Joe," said I. "But I shall have to go on deck and let the
mate know, when you are ready to go for'ard again, or he might catch
sight of you and pounce upon you without knowing who you are; which
would simply ruin everything. However, we can arrange that presently.
Now, let me know what it is that you have to tell me."

"Well, sir, it's just this," returned Joe. "These here carryin's on of
mine, and the way that you've been down upon me of late, has done the
trick; and, to-night, durin' the second dog-watch, the bosun tackled me,
and, after a good deal of box-haulin' about, told me what their little
game is, and asked me if I'd jine 'em."

"Go on, Joe," said I; "tell me everything that passed, as nearly as you
can."

"Well," continued Joe--who, it may be well to explain, had, as usual,
been behaving most outrageously all day--"I'm boun' to confess that I
laid it on pretty thick to-day; and so did you, sir,"--with a quiet
chuckle--"but not no thicker than what I deserved. So, along in the
second dog-watch, Rogers comes up to me where I was smokin', sulky-like,
under the lee of the long-boat, away fr