"Ef she ar'n't, I'd like to know where you'd find on'."
"It's just jolly to have the real thing aboard—none of your tuppenny' a'penny pieces but a geno-wine leddy, thro' and thro'."
"Did you see how she was watchin' and smilin' while we was fixin' the tackle by the big mast."
"Yes, we all seed it. She's got the hearts of the chaps already, even if she be a married 'oman."
'Eave-oh-haw, 'eave-oh-hoh! 'Eave-oh-haw, yoh-hie! Sally's gone back to the washing tub And on ocean brine am I.
"Do you know, Ned, I've been on the North King ever sin' she was launched at Glasgow, seventeen year ago, and this is the first time a leddy has ever sailed aboard of 'er."
"If they're all like this 'un, I hope it won't be the last time, uther."
But, 'eave-oh-haw, and 'eave-oh-hoh! Yes, 'eave-oh-haw, yoh-hoo! For whenever her lad comes home again, His Sally will all'us be true.
And so the sailors echoed her praises, while they sang their songs and adjusted the rigging of the ship, even before they were three days out at sea.
Yes, Helen was on the North King, and her beauty and strong gentleness had captured the hearts of everyone, soldiers and marines as well. Already she was the acknowledged queen—queen of a mighty ship—for the North King had a splendid record. Never had she been defeated in battle, and her history dated back beyond the time when she was one of the vanguard in Nelson's memorable victory on the Nile.