omposedly as if he was taking a swim
for his own amusement. Now and then, the turtle in its agony would dive
or dash off at a great rate, and he would be drawn back, but the line
was too long to let him be dragged under the water.

"Tom Saucepan had, in the meantime, caught hold of the stern of the
canoe, and, seizing her by both hands, he gave her a violent rock, and
in an instant righted her; another rock, and he had freed her of water;
then in he sprang, legs first, over the stern, and began baling away
with his hat. He had kept the paddle in his mouth all the time.

"The commander had ordered a boat to be lowered to assist Dan, but
before even she reached the water Tom had not only righted the canoe,
but had got up to Dan and taken him on board, and there was the nearly
done-for turtle towing them quietly through the water. In a few minutes
the turtle had lost its strength, and, instead of the turtle towing the
canoe, the canoe was towing the turtle. We hoisted it on board, and I
mind that it weighed two hundred pounds.

"I shall not forget that turtle, Mr Higson, for you and the other
officers sent us three bottles of wine to mix with the soup. It was a
rare good stuff, that it was," and Ben smacked his lips at the
recollection of the feast, which an alderman would not have despised.

"I shall not forget Dan's face, as I saw it through the glass, while he
held the rope in his mouth, paddling away up the river, with the
turtle's stern to his, or the wonderfully rapid way in which Tom
Saucepan righted his canoe," said Higson, laughing.

"We saw some curious sights aboard the old brig, sir," observed Ben.
"Do you remember the capsizing the commander got one day?"

"I am not quite certain, but I think that you, Ben, were the very man
who did the deed."

"Oh no, sir, it wasn't me," answered Ben; "it was Billy Blazes, as we
used to call him."

"What was it, Mr Higson?" asked Tom and Desmond.

"Well, you see, youngsters, we carried pretty taunt masts and square
yards; and as several sister brigs of ours had been lost, with all
hands, the commander considered it as well to be cautious, so that we
might not go and keep them company. It became therefore necessary to
make the men sharp when all hands were turned up to shorten sail; and he
let it be understood that he intended on such occasions to punish the
last man off the lower deck. He was a tall, thin man--so tall that he
found his height very inconvenien