The regular watch were at their posts on deck as a matter of course,—the lookout in the bow, the boatswain’s mate with his quartermaster and other seamen just in front of the quarter-deck, while the rest of the boys climbed up the rigging, shaking their hats in final farewell to their friends ashore.
It was not long, however, before they were far enough out in the channel for the tug to leave them. Jack Perkins was in the bow in charge of the line; the Captain was at the wheel; Jack was waiting for the order to “let her go”, and, as soon as the words reached his ears, he cast off the line which slipped into the water and left the Bright Wing to her own resources. The Captain of the tug waved his hand in salutation, the sails filled, and a sense of living motion was felt by all on board as the Bright Wing rolled over slightly and began cleaving the water under the pressure of her sails.
Tom and Dick were standing near the rail, well forward on the windward side. “Gee!” cried Dick, “what a difference there is between sailing and being towed.”
“You bet,” said Tom, “something like being alive or dead!”
Soon after they had parted from the tug, the bugle sounded for mess inspection, and the scout master passed up and down the line. After that, all hands waited “at ease” until the cabin boy came up on deck and announced dinner to the ranking officer. The boys then marched aft by twos, followed by the officers, and stood at their places at the tables until after grace.
Dick, Tom, and Chippie, much to their disappointment, found themselves in different sections, so that they did not sit together at meals; but Dick sat next to his boatswain’s mate, who was Clarence Ellsworth.
“Say,” said Dick, when he got a chance to speak, “why do the boys go down to dinner before the officers? You’d think the officers would march down first.”
“Well, you see,” said Ellsworth, “those who go down first have to wait for the others, and the officers come down when everything is ready to pitch into the food. Something like getting into a boat,—we have to go down first to get things ready. (Law Number 5.) It’s the same for Sea Scouts and for all sailors everywhere.”
“Oh, I understand,” said Dick.
The boys’ table ran down the whole length of the berth deck—fore and aft—on the starboard side, while the smaller officers’ table was on the port side. Jack sat at the head, or forward end, of the boys’ table as chief boatswain’s mate. The talk was very animated and rather loud, for, of course, the boys felt the pleasant excitement of new surroundings and unaccustomed conditions. Some of them were shy and a little awkward on account of the strangeness of things they had never seen before; but, under the influence of good food and good humor, they all gradually unbent, and the boys of each section soon felt at home with one another. Of course it was the business of the boatswain’s mates to help this feeling along as much as possible, so that they could get the best work out of their men; for it is a rule, both on land and sea, that the best work is done when the men who work together do it in a friendly and a happy spirit. This, you will remember, is what Mrs. Perkins had learnt from her father, the captain of the Sally Smart. She had taught it to Jack, and Jack had taught it to the other boatswain’s mates.