So saying, he lit his pipe again, and commenced his story round the crackling winter fire.
CHAPTER XLII.
A LEAP FOR LIFE—THE BRAVERY OF A YOUNG MIDDY—THE TALE STARTLES ALL PRESENT—WHO IS HE?
“The last cruise I made in the Channel was in search of the Skeleton Crew, in the ‘Diamond’ frigate, ‘Trumps,’ as we sometimes used to call our gallant ship.
“We had been tacking and filling for several weeks on the western coast in search of Death-wing’s phantom ship of smugglers, and, during that time, we had had some pretty heavy weather.
“When we reached Flamborough Head, there was a spanking wind blowing from west-south-west; so we squared away, and without coming to at the Head made straight for old Hull, the general rendezvous and place of refitting for our squadrons in the German Ocean, because smugglers are plentiful there.
“Immediately on arriving there, we warped in alongside the quay, where we stripped ship to a girt line, and gave her a regular-built overhauling from stem to stern.
“Many hands, however, make light work.
“In a very few days all was accomplished.