An’ she smelled o’ oil an’ grease--”
Then all hands would roar out with will the refrain, pointing to the bos’n:
“Then up jumped the bos’n, up jumped the crew,
The first mate, second mate, the cook and steward too--
But the captain swore he’d have her,
An’ the mate ’e tried to grab her,
She couldn’t have ’em all, sir--
What could the lady do?”
Sometimes the gentlemen from aft would come forward and lend a hand with some new version of an old song, but more often they were content to listen from the sacred precincts of the quarter-deck.
Old Howard never interfered with hilarity, but rather encouraged it. I wondered at this, but remembered the cruise had only just begun. I had seen captains encourage men before. Sometimes it held a more sinister meaning than simple delight at their pleasure.