Out on the yards sailors were "bending on" the new sails, the sails Bob and Betty had seen being made at the sail loft. The whole work seemed to them a wonderful confusion of lines and ropes and pulleys and tackle. Captain Hawes tried to explain what each rope meant and how it was used. But there were too many; it was all too confusing. Each rope, he told them, had its own name; every sailor had to know them to be able to do his work.
The riggers built trim little rope ladders from the rail to the crosstrees by lashing small "ratlines" to the heavy "shrouds." The "stays" and "shrouds," of course, were to hold the great masts in place. The children wondered at it all, but didn't pretend to understand it, though Bob was especially interested, for climbing he understood, and such climbing was far ahead of anything the biggest boy in his school could do.
They delighted in the cook's kitchen, the "galley." Such a compact, neat little room, where the most ingenious shelves and lockers were arranged, in which to hold everything needed in the way of dishes and pots and pans. The stove was chained down solidly so that no storm might upset it and cause fire, the cook explained.
To Betty, the "galley" was the most interesting thing about the ship; it pleased her housekeeping instincts, though it did seem strange to see a sailor cook.
