heavy barrel on my breast, rolling with
the sea.

CHAPTER XIII

WE CONDUCT SEVERAL LEARNED ARGUMENTS WITH THE CAPTAIN OF THE PRISCILLA

Captain Welsh soon conquered us. The latest meal we had eaten was on the
frosty common under the fir-trees. After a tremendous fast, with
sea-sickness supervening, the eggs and bacon, and pleasant
benevolent-smelling tea on the captain's table were things not to be
resisted by two healthy boys who had previously stripped and faced
buckets of maddening ice-cold salt-water, dashed at us by a jolly sailor.
An open mind for new impressions came with the warmth of our clothes. We
ate, bearing within us the souls of injured innocents; nevertheless, we
were thankful, and, to the captain's grace, a long one, we bowed heads
decently. It was a glorious breakfast, for which land and sea had
prepared us in about equal degrees: I confess, my feelings when I jumped
out of the cabin were almost those of one born afresh to life and
understanding. Temple and I took counsel. We agreed that sulking would be
ridiculous, unmanly, ungentlemanly. The captain had us fast, as if we
were under a lion's paw; he was evidently a well-meaning man, a fanatic
deluded concerning our characters: the barque Priscilla was bound for a
German port, and should arrive there in a few days,--why not run the
voyage merrily since we were treated with kindness? Neither the squire
nor Temple's father could complain of our conduct; we were simply victims
of an error that was assisting us to a knowledge of the world, a youth's
proper ambition. 'And we're not going to be starved,' said Temple.

I smiled, thinking I perceived the reason why I had failed in my oration
over-night; so I determined that on no future occasion would I let pride
stand in the way of provender. Breakfast had completely transformed us We
held it due to ourselves that we should demand explanations from Joseph
Double, the mate, and then, after hearing him, furnish them with a
cordial alacrity to which we might have attached unlimited credence had
he not protested against our dreaming him to have supplied hot
rum-and-water on board, we wrote our names and addresses in the captain's
log-book, and immediately asked permission to go to the mast-head.

He laughed. Out of his cabin there was no smack of the preacher in him.
His men said he was a stout seaman, mad on the subject of grog and girls.
Why, it was on account of grog and girls that he was giving us t