n in his arms was greeted with
heartfelt and vociferous cheers; and, of course, when they were hauled
on board, and Gaff handed Billy to the skipper, in order that he might
the more conveniently wring a little of the superabundant water from his
garments, another and a still more hearty cheer was given; but Gaff
checked it rather abruptly by raising himself and saying sternly--

"Shame on you, lads, for not bein' able to swim. The child might ha'
drownded for all _you_ could do to help him. A soldier as don't know
how to shoot is not much wuss than a sailor as don't know how to swim.
Why, yer own mothers--yer own _sweet-hearts_--might be a-drownin' afore
yer eyes, an' you'd have to run up an' down like helpless noodles, not
darin' to take to the water, (which ought to be your native element),
any more than a blue-nosed Kangaroo. Shame on ye, I say, for not bein'
able to swim."

"Amen to that, say I," observed Haco with emphasis. "Shame on stout
hulkin' fellers like you for not bein' able to swim, and shame on them
as steers the ship o' State for not teachin' ye. You can put that in
yer pipes and smoke it, lads, an' if it don't smoke well, ye can make a
quid of it, and chew it. If I could make quids o' them there
sentiments, I'd set up a factory an' send a inexhaustible supply to the
big-wigs in parlymint for perpetooal mastication. There now, don't
stare, but go for'ard, an' see, two of you take in another reef o' the
mains'l. If the glass speaks true, we'll be under my namesake--
barepoles--before long; look alive, boys!"

It was something new to the crew of the "Coal-Coffin" to be thus checked
in an enthusiastic cheer, and to be rebuked by the object of their
admiration for _not being able to swim_.

Deep and long was the discussion they had that evening around the
windlass on this subject. Some held that it was absurd to blame men for
not being able, "when p'raps they couldn't if they wor to try." Others
thought that they might have tried first before saying that "p'raps they
couldn't." One admitted that it was nothing but laziness that had
prevented _him_ from learning, whereupon another opined that dirtiness
had something to do with it too. But all agreed in wishing earnestly
that they had learned the noble and useful art, and in regretting deeply
that they had not been taught it when young.

The boy, who formed one of the crew, silently congratulated himself that
he _was_ young, and resolved in hi