“Go in stays! Will you ever speak English, Wainwright? Do you mean to insult me by using that gibberish to me when I have forbidden you to do so?”
“That is the proper nautical expression for what we are about to do,” replied the captain.
“Do you mean that you are going to turn the vessel?”
“That is substantially what we intend to do; but sailors would not understand me if I called it turning the vessel.”
“Do you presume to instruct me in the use of language, Wainwright?”
“By no means, sir; but I use nautical language as I was instructed to use it by Mr. Lowington and the other instructors in seamanship and navigation.—Mr. Greenwood, let the vessel go in stays,” continued the captain, turning to the first lieutenant.
“Man the fore and main sheets!” called the executive officer. “Ease down the helm!”
As the vessel came up into the wind in obedience to her helm, the fore and main sheet began to bang and thrash as the pressure was removed.
“Haul in on the sheets,” called the first lieutenant; and the order was repeated by the other officers in charge of the sheets.
“I’m afraid you will get hit by the sheet-blocks if you stand here any longer, sir,” said Mr. Marline to Professor Primback. “Excuse me, sir, but you had better go below, or the vessel will shake you up badly as she catches the wind on the other tack.”