unk, the whole cut of his jib told you at once that he was a regular
man-of-war's man--one of a class whose faults I can hardly recall while
remembering their sense of duty, their utter disregard of danger, and the
reliance with which you can lead them on to attack anything, from a
hornet's nest to an iron-clad.

"Well, it so happened, one hot day, while cruising in the Gulf of Mexico,
that the news came to us that old Sadler was dead; and sure enough it was
so, for the old fellow had quietly slipped his moorings, and, as we all
hoped, had at last gone to where the sweet little cherub sits up aloft who
looks out for the soul of poor Jack. Then, after the doctors had had a shy
at him, to see why he had cleared out so suddenly, his remains were taken
in charge by his messmates, who rigged the old man out in his muster
clothes, sewed him up in his clean white hammock, with an eighteen pound
shot at his feet, and reported to the officer of the deck that the body
was ready for burial. So, about six bells in the afternoon watch, the
weather being very hot, and not a breath of air to ripple the glassy
surface of the water, the lieutenant of the watch directed one of the
young gentlemen to tell the boatswain to call 'All hands to bury the
dead;' and soon fore and aft the shrill whistles were heard, followed by
that saddest of all calls to a sailor at sea--'All hands bury the dead!'

"Our good old boatswain, Wilmuth, seemed to linger on the words with a
feeling akin to grief at parting with an old shipmate, and as the last man
reached the deck, he touched his hat and in a sad sort of way reported,
'All up, sir,' to the first lieutenant, who in his turn reported,
'Officers and men all on deck, sir,' to the commodore, who thereupon gave
an order to the chaplain to go on with the services.

"The courses were hauled up, main-topsail to the mast, band on the
quarter-deck, colors half-mast, and all hands, officers and men, stood
uncovered, looking silently and sadly upon the body as it lay upon the
gang-boards in its white hammock, ready for the last rites. Solemnly and
most impressively were the services read, and at the words, 'We commit his
body to the deep,' a heavy splash was heard, and poor old Sadler had gone
to his long home for ever. Some of us youngsters ran up in the lee main
rigging to see him go down, and as we watched him go glimmering and
glimmering down to a mere speck, we wondered where he was bound, and how
long it