| 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 |
| 1 | 50 | 101 | 151 | 201 |
|
'Here, you! What's YOUR name?' he cried to one of the hands, a
lean-flanked, clean-built fellow from some far western island, and of a
darkness almost approaching to the African.
'Sally Day,' replied the man.
'Devil it is,' said the captain. 'Didn't know we had ladies on board.
Well, Sally, oblige me by hauling down that rag there. I'll do the same
for you another time.' He watched the yellow bunting as it was eased
past the cross-trees and handed down on deck. 'You'll float no more
on this ship,' he observed. 'Muster the people aft, Mr Hay,' he added,
speaking unnecessarily loud, 'I've a word to say to them.'
It was with a singular sensation that Herrick prepared for the first
time to address a crew. He thanked his stars indeed, that they were
natives. But even natives, he reflected, might be critics too quick
for such a novice as himself; they might perceive some lapse from that
precise and cut-and-dry English which prevails on board a ship; it was
even possible they understood no other; and he racked his brain, and
overhauled his reminiscences of sea romance for some appropriate words.
'Here, men! tumble aft!' he said. 'Lively now! All hands aft!'
They crowded in the alleyway like sheep.
'Here they are, sir,' said Herrick.
5
1
Page
Quick Jump
|