ght of early
day, not knowing what to do with ourselves until somebody told us what
to do and bearing, I fancy, a strikingly strong resemblance to a flock
of lambs in some strange pasture deserted by their dams!

I make a mistake there, however, for the muttered growling exclamations
I heard uttered by one of the warrant-officers, who came past where we
stood clustered together, certainly sounded uncommonly like the name of
the lambs' mothers I have just mentioned, showing that its `eidolon'
remained.

The observation made by this officer, who, to my surprise, I
subsequently found was the boatswain, brought our old police friend, the
master-at-arms, on the scene.

"Here, boys," said he to us, "you must bestir yourselves, and not stand
star-gazing there, like so many country bumpkins at a fair! Tom
Bowling, if you're the son of your father, you ought to know that you've
got to unsling your hammock when the `lash up and stow' is sounded! And
you, too, my Irish-Italian friend over there, roll up your hammock, my
lad!"

"Sure, an' is it manin' me yez afther?" inquired Mick Donovan,
unhitching the lanyard of his hammock from the hook above in a brace of
shakes. "Faith, it's makin' a rowly-powly puddin' of it I will, sor,
entirely!"

The `Jaunty' grinned at Mick's naive remark, but soon mastered the
difficulty of teaching us by passing the job on to other hands.

"Ah, perhaps you'd better `go through the ropes,' my lads, properly, and
begin at once at your `bag and hammock drill,' as all new boys should;
though sometimes, they wait till they get uniforms first," said he,
hailing, as he spoke, one of the first-class boys standing by the police
office, detailed to act as messengers, like our friend Larrikins. "Boy,
there! See if you can find one of the instructors handy, and tell him,
with my compliments, I should like to see him for a minute!"

"Yes, sir," replied this chap, saluting. "I seed Mister Saunders by the
fore-hatchway jist now."

"He'll do," said the master-at-arms. "Carry on, my lad. Look sharp!"

The next instant, back came the boy with one of the instructors in his
wake, a stalwart seaman, dressed in the usual bluejacket rig, with a
petty officer's badge.

"These boys here, Mr Saunders," said the master-at-arms, pointing us
out with a collective sweep of his long brawny arm, "are all novices,
who came aboard yesterday, and don't know what to do with themselves
till they join the ship's compan