captain and first lieutenant?" said Anderson. "The
first lieutenant was at the time busy in the wings, I believe; and as
for the captain, I don't know where he was--but, you know, a captain
seldom interferes in harbour."

"Where was the admiral?" inquired Ben.

"The admiral was in his cabin. I saw the barber, who had been in to
shave him, come out just before she went down."

"What sort of man was the admiral?" said Anderson.

"He was a thin tall man, upwards of seventy years of age, and he stooped
a good deal in his walk."

"Whet your whistle, Jim," said Ben, "for this is a long yarn."

"Well," continued Turner, as soon as he had put down his pot, "the
carpenter came up a second time on the quarter-deck to the lieutenant,
and said to him,--

"`If you please, sir, to right the ship, it's my duty to tell you she
will not bear it any longer.' He spoke in a very positive way, as was
his duty; but the lieutenant answered, with an oath,--

"`If you think, sir, that you can manage the ship better than I can, you
had better take the command.' I was in the waist at the time, with a
good many more men, and we heard what the carpenter said, and what
answer the lieutenant gave. Indeed, we were all aware of the danger,
and felt very uncomfortable; there were plenty of good seamen on board,
who knew what they were about almost as well as the officers, and
certainly better than the one who had the watch.

"A few minutes afterwards (whether it was that he had remained that time
doing nothing, merely because he would not be dictated to by the
carpenter, I know not) the lieutenant ordered the drummer to be called
to beat to quarters, that the guns might be run into their places and
the ship righted. The drummer's name was passed along quick enough, for
we were all alarmed at our situation, for the ship just then heeled over
still more. I jumped down off the gangway as soon as the drummer was
called, and hastened down to my quarters. The drum was not beat, for
the man had not time to get his drum. All hands were now tumbling down
the hatchways as fast as they could to their quarters, that they might
run their guns into their places, and so right the ship. The gun I was
stationed at was the third gun from forward on the starboard side of the
lower gun-deck. I said to Carroll, the second captain of the gun, `I
say, let us try to get our gun out without waiting for the drum, as the
sooner we right the better.' We hous