Finally, as the
clocks in the immediate neighbourhood were striking the hour of eight in
the evening, Dick stepped over the rail of the _Concordia_ and formally
reported himself to the chief mate, thereafter repairing to the
forecastle and making his preparations for the night. He was the first
hand to join the ship, notwithstanding the fact that the entire crew had
been ordered to be on board not later than eight o'clock that evening;
and it was not until close upon midnight that the remainder found their
way down from the neighbouring public houses, all of them as surly and
quarrelsome as bears at the termination of their short period of
liberty. Fortunately for Dick, all hands were too far gone in drink to
admit of their quarrelsomeness going further than words, and eventually,
by about one o'clock in the morning, he was able to compose himself to
sleep, to the accompaniment of the snores and mutterings of his
companions--thirteen in number.

Many lads in Dick Maitland's position, and brought up amid refined
surroundings, as he had been, would have regarded with horror and
loathing such a situation as that in which he now found himself, and
would have been overwhelmed with self-pity at the cruelly hard luck
which forced them to herd with such uncongenial companions in such a pig
sty of a place as the _Concordia's_ forecastle just then presented; but
Dick was something of a philosopher, and was, moreover, full of "grit".
He held the doctrine that a man can make what he chooses of his
surroundings, and always find in them something of amusement or
interest, if he cares to look for it; and now he consoled himself with
the reminder that life in that forecastle, and among those men, whose
highest ideal of happiness seemed to be helpless intoxication, would
after all be but a brief experience, out of which it would be hard
indeed if he could not learn some useful lesson. With this philosophic
reflection, he curled himself up in his blankets and dropped into a
sound, dreamless sleep.

At six o'clock next morning the mate came thundering upon the fore
scuttle with a handspike, following up the resounding blows with a yell
of:

"All hands ahoy! tumble up there, you sleepers, and don't wait to curl
your hair. Hurry up, now, and give me a chance to see who are the
`smarties' among you!"

With low growls of disgust at such rude and untimely disturbance of
their slumbers the fourteen occupants of the forecastle rolled