"Don't let him buy you off with liquor and plum duff," I whispered, with my heart in my throat.
"We don't object to the grog, your honor; but we would like to know something more about the voyage," replied Jack, mildly.
"Steward!" shouted the mate.
"Here, sir," replied this official.
"Splice the main brace, all round. Give every man half a tumbler full, and let Sanderson have Phil's share; he belongs to the temperance society, and never splices the main brace," laughed the mate, as though he thought himself inexpressibly funny.
"Don't let him pull wool over your eyes, Jack," I whispered, turning my back to the mate.
"Thank your honor, kindly," continued Sanderson, whose heart seemed to be won by the rum.
"I know how to warm the heart of an old sailor," added Waterford, glancing at his companions on the quarter-deck.
"If you please, sir, some of the men think the bark is going a slaving," persisted Jack.
"Do they? What put that into their heads?"