“Why, I am delighted,”—and so I really was. “But, my dear sir—I may lead you a dance, and, peradventure into trouble—a small vessel may catch a Tartar, you know.
“D—n the expense,” rejoined my jovial ally; “why, the hot little epicurean Wagtail, and Gelid, cold and frozen as he is, have both taken a fancy to me—and no wonder, knowing my pleasant qualities as they do ahem; so, for their sakes, I volunteer on this piece of knight-errantry as much as’—
“Poo—you be starved, Aaron dear,” rapped out little Wagtail; “you came here, because you thought you should have more fun, and escape the formality of the big ship, and eke the Captain’s sour claret.”
“Ah,” said Gelid, “my fine fellow,” with his usual Creole drawl, “you did not wait for my opinion. Ah—oh—why, Captain Cringle, a thousand pardons. Friend Bang, there, swears that he can’t do without you; and all he says about me is neither more nor less than humbug—ah.”
“My lovely yellowsnake,” quoth Aaron, “and my amiable dumpling, gentlemen both, now, do hold your tongues.—Why, Tom, here we are, never you mind how, after half a quarrel with the skipper—will you take us, or will you send us back, like rejected addresses?”
“Send you back, my boys! No, no, too happy to get you.” Another gun from the corvette. “Firebrands, you must shove off. My compliments, Wiggins, to the Captain, and there’s a trifle for you to drink my health, when you get into port.” The boat shoved off—the corvette filled her maintopsail. “Put the helm down—ease off the mainsheet stand by to run up the squaresail. How is her head, Mr Tailtackle?”
Timothy gave a most extraordinary grin at my bestowing the Mister on him for the first time.
“North-west, sir.”
“Keep her so”—and having bore up, we rapidly widened our distance from the Commodore and the fleet.
All men know, or should know, that on board of a man-of-war, there is never any “yo heave oh’ing.” That is confined to merchant vessels. But when the crew are having a strong pull of any rope, it is allowable for the man next the belaying pin, to sing out, in order t@6 give unity to the drag, “one-two-three,” the strain of the other men increasing with the figure. The tack of the mainsail had got jammed somehow, and on my desiring it to be hauled up, the men, whose province it was, were unable to start it.