k into the Old Man's place, Sir, while I'm down
there?" he inquired.

"No!" said the Second Mate. "Do what I told you, and then come and tell
me. If anyone's to go into the Captain's cabin, it's got to be me."

Tammy said "i, i, Sir," and skipped away, up on to the poop.

While he was gone, the other 'prentice came up to say that the Steward
was in his berth, and that he wanted to know what the hell he was
fooling round his part of the ship for.

The Second Mate said nothing, for nearly a minute. Then he turned to us,
and told us we might go forrard.

As we moved off in a body, and talking in undertones, Tammy came down
from the poop, and went up to the Second Mate. I heard him say that the
two Mates were in their berths, asleep. Then he added, as if it were an
afterthought--

"So's the Old Man."

"I thought I told you--" the Second Mate began.

"I didn't, Sir," Tammy said. "His cabin door was open."

The Second Mate started to go aft. I caught a fragment of a remark he
was making to Tammy.

"--accounted for the whole crew. I'm--"

He went up on to the poop. I did not catch the rest.

I had loitered a moment; now, however, I hurried after the others. As we
neared the fo'cas'le, one bell went, and we roused out the other watch,
and told them what jinks we had been up to.

"I rec'on 'e must be rocky," one of the men remarked.

"Not 'im," said another, "'e's bin 'avin' forty winks on the break, an'
dreemed 'is mother-en-lore 'ad come on 'er visit, friendly like."

There was some laughter at this suggestion, and I caught myself smiling
along with the rest; though I had no reason for sharing their belief,
that there was nothing in it all.

"Might 'ave been a stowaway, yer know," I heard Quoin, the one who had
suggested it before, remark to one of the A.B's named Stubbins--a short,
rather surly-looking chap.

"Might have been hell!" returned Stubbins. "Stowaways hain't such fools
as all that."

"I dunno," said the first. "I wish I 'ad arsked the Second what 'e
thought about it."

"I don't think it was a stowaway, somehow," I said, chipping in. "What
would a stowaway want aloft? I guess he'd be trying more for the
Steward's pantry."

"You bet he would, hevry time," said Stubbins. He lit his pipe, and
sucked at it, slowly.

"I don't hunderstand it, all ther same," he remarked, after a moment's
silence.

"Neither do I," I said. And after that I was quiet for a while,
listening to the run of conversa