"I certainly recognize that nose," said Toney, pointing to an individual whose face was covered with an impenetrable thicket of black beard, leaving only two twinkling eyes and his nasal protuberance visible.
"That extraordinary nose belongs to William Wiggins," said the Professor.
"To Rosebud?"
"No longer Rosebud," said the Professor. "As soon as he came on board the sailors called him Old Grizzly. He will be known by no other name at sea, for when the jolly tars are in the nominative case, the designation they give a man always clings to him. Hereafter we may as well cease to call him Wiggins, and speak of him as Old Grizzly."
"He must have been at enmity with the barbers for the last four weeks," said Toney.
"When he determined to seek his fortune in the auriferous regions of the far West, he made a solemn vow not to allow a razor to come in contact with his countenance until he had dug two barrels of gold, which he said was enough for any one man. So his beard must continue to grow longer until he gets his two barrels of gold."
"It will be long enough before he gets the gold," said Toney.
"Pun away boldly," said the Professor; "we are now on the water. But come, let us go below, and look after our goods and chattels."
During the night the ship anchored in the bay; and next morning the pilot was sent off, and she stood out to sea.
Coming on deck at an early hour in the morning, Toney and the Professor were watching the silvery spray darting off from the bow, when they heard a singular sound, as if proceeding from some huge sea-monster seized with a fit of the colic. Looking along the bulwarks, they beheld poor Hercules, with outstretched neck and dilated eyes, pouring out libations to the inexorable god of the seas. And soon, with pallid cheeks, M. T. Pate appeared, followed by the Long Green Boy, Old Grizzly, and Moses, who, with many others, silently glided to the side of the giant, who, as he stood thrusting out his head and neck with certain indescribable jerks, and towering above his companions, engaged in similar exercises, resembled some tall and bulky Shanghai rooster, with all his numerous progeny around him, grievously afflicted with that terrible visitation of the poultry-yard which hen-wives denominate the gapes.