“Lord bless you, no.”

“Will it upset?”

“No fear of that.”

“Will not the sea swallow us?”

“No, miss. How can the sea swallow us? She rides like a cork, and there is the skipper bailing her out, to make her lighter still. No; I'll tell you, miss; all we have got to mind is two things; we must not let her broach to, and we must not get pooped.”

“But why must we not?”

Why? Because we mustn't.”

“But I mean, what would be the consequence of—broaching to?”

Jack opened his eyes in astonishment. “Why, the sea would run over her quarter, and swamp her.”

“Oh!! And if we get pooped?”