"There, Tom! don't she ride easily?
"Now down mainsail, and stow it, before it is slatted to pieces by the wind, and lash the helm amidships. We shall ride here like a Mother Carey's chicken.
"Now let's sound the pumps, and then we will go below, and take things easy till this wind moderates; have a good, nice dinner; and then we will proceed upon our cruise. Well, Tom, do you think you have smelt salt water, boy?"
"Yes, uncle; but I like it, though, and the way you manage, in spite of the elements. We have not started a rope-yarn, and are lying here as snug as a bug in a rug."
And thus we will leave them, wishing them good weather, and a pleasant ending to their cruise.
CHAPTER IX.
VOCABULARY OF SEA-TERMS COMMONLY IN USE.
Aback.—A sail is said to be taken aback, when its forward surface is acted upon by the wind.