ather Cape
Horn.

By the time all this was done it was quite dark, and getting on close to
`six bells' in the second dog-watch, the sun sinking to rest early in
those latitudes; so, as none of the men had got their tea yet, or
thought of it, for that matter, although they'd had nothing since their
dinner at midday, Hiram Bangs, calling me to follow him, started for the
galley, to see about the coppers.

We found, however, that the seas we had taken aboard had washed the fire
out and made a regular wreck of the place, everything being turned
topsy-turvy and mixed up into a sort of "hurrah's nest."

Indeed, the only wonder was, that the galley itself had not been carried
incontinently over the side, when the ship had canted over on her
beam-ends; and, it would have been, no doubt, but for its being so
securely lashed down to the ringbolts in the deck--a precaution which
had saved it when everything else had been swept to leeward.

At all events, there it was still, but in a pretty pickle; and Hiram and
I had a hard job to light up the fire again under the coppers, all the
wood and coal that had not been fetched away by the sea being, of
course, wet and soddened by the water.

"I guess," said Hiram, after one or two failures to get the fuel to
ignite, in spite of his pouring a lot of oil on it, so as to neutralise
the effect of the damp, "I'll burn thet durned old kiver of my chest ez
got busted t'other day in the fo'c's'le; fur it ain't no airthly good,
ez I sees, fur to kip pryin' folk from priggin' airy o' my duds they
fancies!"

With this, Hiram started off for the fo'c's'le, taking one of the ship's
lanterns with him, to see what he was about.

He returned a minute or two after, looking quite scared.

"Say, Cholly," he exclaimed--addressing me as all the rest in the
fo'c's'le always styled me, following the mode, in which poor Sam
Jedfoot had pronounced my name, instead of calling me "Charley,"
properly, all darkeys having a happy facility for abbreviation, as I
quite forgot to mention before--"Say, Cholly, guess I'll kinder make yer
haar riz! What d'yer reckon hez happened, b'y, hey?"

"What, Hiram?" replied I, negligently, not paying any particular
attention to his words, having started to work at once, chopping up the
box cover, which he had thrown down on the deck at my feet. "What has
happened, Hiram--whatever is the matter now?"

"Thar's matter enuff, I reckon, younker," said he solemnly, in his de