ft and from side to side. I was, in fact, in
the lower hold or bottom of the ship, far, far down beneath a mass of
cargo. How long I had been there was also a mystery to me. I might
have remained in a fainting state only for a few minutes, or hours might
have passed. I knew that I began to feel hungry, though I had had an
ample luncheon--for on Saturdays Mr Butterfield dined early--which
showed that I could not be very much hurt, and that I must have been
some considerable time on board. I had, however, as I intended to stay
out till dark, put a couple of buns, which I had bought at a
pastrycook's, into my pocket. I refrained, as yet, from eating them,
not knowing how long I might have to remain below. I thought that it
must now be night, and as I supposed the crew would be asleep forwards
and the captain and officers aft, they would not hear me, even if I
shouted out at the top of my voice. I therefore concluded that it would
be foolish to exhaust myself uselessly. "I'll wait for daylight, when
they're moving about, and I shall have a better chance of making myself
heard," I thought.

The place where I lay was dry and clean, though it smelt horribly of tar
and other odours from which the hold of a vessel is seldom free, and was
besides disagreeably close. After a considerable period had elapsed,
and when the pain had much gone off, a drowsiness stole over me, and
having got into a comfortable position, I fell fast asleep. I think I
must have awoke at intervals, for I remember hearing a curious rippling
sound beneath me. It must have had a lulling effect, for I dropped off
again.

The next time I woke I heard not only a rippling sound, but a dashing of
water against the sides, and presently the ship began to pitch slowly
and gently. The idea at once occurred to me that I must be at sea. If
so, it was where I had long wished to be, though the circumstances
accompanying my entrance into a naval life differed greatly from such as
I had intended them to be. Could it then be daylight?--if so, I had
been much longer below than I had calculated on. The ship, I
remembered, was to sail with the morning tide. That might have meant
one or two o'clock, for how the tides ran I didn't know. There must
have been time, at all events, for her to get away from the wharf, and
to descend the Mersey. In that case the day must now be well advanced.
Probably, I thought, the ship has had a fair wind, and with a favourable