must work slowly and carefully, or we shall break our tools."

"Fortunately, we can get more hoops off now if we want them," Matteo
said. "With these irons we can wrench them off the sound casks, if
necessary."

"Yes; I did not think of that, Matteo. You see we are already getting a
stock of tools. Another thing is, with the point of the irons we have
got off, we can wrench the wood out as fast as we saw it, and the saws
will not work so stiffly as they did before. But we must not do that
till the morning, for any sound like the breaking of wood might be
heard by the watch, when everything is quiet."

Although all worked their best, they made but slight progress in the
dark, and each worker was forced to take frequent rests, for the
fatigue of working with their arms above their heads was excessive. As
soon, however, as the light began to steal down, and the movement above
head told them that the crew were at work washing the decks, the points
of the irons were used to wrench away the wood between the saw cuts;
and the work then proceeded briskly, as they relieved each other every
few minutes.

At last, to their intense satisfaction, three more irons were got out.

"If anyone had told me," one of the party said, "that a man's arms
could hurt as much as mine do, from working a few hours, I should have
disbelieved him."

There was a chorus of assent, for none were accustomed to hard manual
labour, and the pain in their arms was excessive.

"Let us have half an hour's rest, Francis, before you issue your next
orders. I shall want that, at least, before I feel that I have any
power in my arms at all."

"We will have an hour's rest, Matteo, if you like. Before that time
they will be sending us down our food, and after we have breakfasted we
can set to work again."

"Breakfast!" one of the young men groaned. "I cannot call that black
bread and water breakfast. When I think of the breakfasts I have eaten,
when I think of the dishes I have refused to eat, because they were not
cooked to perfection, I groan over my folly in those days, and my
enormous stupidity in ever volunteering to come to sea."

"I should recommend you all," Francis said, "to spend the next hour in
rubbing and squeezing the muscles of your neighbours' arms and
shoulders. It is the best way for taking out stiffness, and Giuseppi
used to give me relief that way, when I was stiff with fencing."

The idea was adopted; and while the rest were at wor