'Gammon,' said Gribbs. But he was observed to sigh.
'Are you 'ot in your 'ead?' asked the anxious and ancient one.
'I feels a little 'ot and rummy,' said Gribbs; 'but what I chiefly feels is a desire to eat grass.'
The old man groaned.
'Then it's got you. Mates, we ought to tie Gribbs up, or lock him in the sail-locker, or 'is clothes will be auctioned off before long.'
But Gribbs kicked at that, and just then eight bells struck.
'I'm turnin' in,' said Gribbs, 'and I'm all right.'
But at six bells in the first watch he was missing, as was discovered by old Brooks, the authority on calentures. He waked up Ned Tidewell, who was extraordinarily fast asleep.
'Where's Gribbs?'
'Not in my bunk,' returned Ned, who with Gribbs was one of the few who still dossed in the fo'c'sle.