The assistant-paymaster called the men's names from a book. Each seaman stepped briskly forward to the chalk line, removed his cap, and, according to instructions, looked the accountant officer squarely in the face and gave his name and rating. Then, receiving his money in the crown of his cap, the recipient saluted and moved away to make room for the next man.
All was proceeding smoothly and with the regularity of clockwork when suddenly a diversion occurred.
The ship's company had a mascot in the shape of a young African monkey, that had been presented to the "Sunderland" by a French cruiser during a visit to an Algerian port. Although usually good-tempered "Mephisto" could and did exhibit fits of sulkiness and outbursts of insubordination that would have earned a lower deck man ninety days' "confined to detention quarters." But the monkey being a sort of chartered libertine, was idolized by the ship's company and mildly tolerated by the officers.
Mephisto was lazily sunning himself under the lee of the quarter-deck 6-in gun shield when his eye caught sight of the chief writer's silver watch, which that petty officer had occasion to consult.
Probably the monkey imagined that it was one of the tins of condensed milk for which he had great partiality.
Getting on his four feet Mephisto ambled across the quarter-deck, past the line of men drawn up at attention. Before he could cross the chalk line, a symbol for which he had no respect, the chief writer had replaced his timepiece.
Foiled in that direction the monkey made a grab at a pile of brand new copper coins, and before any of the officers and men could prevent, had made a rush for the weather-shrouds.
"Stop him!" yelled the commander.
A dozen men hastened to comply, jolting against each other in their alacrity to pursue the animal, which with marvellous agility had gained the extremity of the signal yard-arm.
Here he perched, hanging on with his hind paws while he tasted each coin with his teeth—at first with an expression of hopefulness upon his features that rapidly changed into one of profound disgust.