pends
very much on the character of the mate himself; but on board the _Inca_
the discipline did not appear to be of the strictest. What with the
clatter of tongues, the "skreeking" of pulley-blocks, the rattling of
boxes against each other, the bundling of trucks over the staging, and
other like sounds, there was more noise than I had ever heard in my
life. It quite disconcerted me at first; and I stood for some minutes
in a state of half bewilderment at what I heard and saw.

After a while there was a sort of lull. The great water-butt that the
sailors had been lowering down the hatchway had reached the hold below,
and been rolled into its place, and this produced a temporary cessation
in the noises.

Just then one of the sailors chanced to set his eyes upon me; and, after
regarding me with a comic leer, cried out--

"Ho! my little marlin-spike! What might _you_ be wantin' aboard?--goin'
to ship, eh?"

"No," rejoined a second; "don't yer see he's a captain hisself?--got his
own craft there!"

This remark was made in allusion to my schooner, which I had brought
along with me, and was holding in my hands.

"Schooner ahoy!" shouted a third of the men. "Whither bound?"

This was followed by a burst of laughter from all hands, who were now
aware of my presence, and stood regarding me as though I was something
extremely ludicrous in their eyes.

I was rather abashed by this reception on the part of the rough tars,
and remained for some moments without knowing what to say or do. But I
was relieved from my uncertainty by the mate in the blue jacket, who,
approaching me, asked, in a more serious tone, what was my business
aboard.

I replied that I wanted to see the captain. Of course I believed that
there was a captain, and that he was the proper person to whom I should
address myself in regard to the business I had in view.

"Want to see the captain!" echoed my interrogator. "And what might be
your business with him, youngster? I'm the mate: won't I do?"

I hesitated a moment; but seeing that it was the captain's
representative who put the question, I thought there could be no harm in
frankly declaring my intentions. I replied--"I wish to be a sailor!"

If the men had laughed loud before, they now laughed louder. In fact
there was a regular yell, in which the mate himself joined as heartily
as any of them.

Amidst the peals of laughter, my ears were greeted with a variety of
expressions that quite