"Cut him down," said the captain to one of the hands; "he's had enough. He'll lie quiet now."
The man at once untied the knot which I could not reach; I fell on deck, and felt terribly ill.
"Come along o' me," said the sailor. "Just stand here to leeward! You'll be all spry in a few minutes now. Hold up, matey! Why, you're a greenhorn, and no mistake! Shave my cat's whiskers, but you are!"
I felt too unwell to dispute the question. I considered that I had been most unkindly treated; that the captain and crew, including the mate most particularly, had been almost brutal! I longed to quit the ship and to return home. Even Granding and Smith's, I believed, would be more pleasant than the steamer. I began to hate the sea, the waves, the voyage! Was this the beautiful Ocean on which I had sailed so joyfully so often? What a mercy it was that I had been plucked in eyesight!
My eyes were open now, long before the usual nine days. I could see things in a different light. No doubt the Royal Navy was different from this "tramp" steamer, but it was all the same feeling at sea! Oh, my head! my head!
CHAPTER IV
BOUND TO CHINA—THE VOYAGE AND MY EXPERIENCES—
CASH IN HONG KONG—RUMOUR OF WAR
"I've been thinking about ye," said the skipper, two days later, when my head and legs became more easy, and obedient to my will. "When we reach Gib ye must make yer choice—and I think ye'd better stay with me."
"Yes, sir," I replied doubtfully; "I suppose I must."