born
great; some men tries to get great; and some men never has no show at
all, nohow. Take your chances, says I. Mebbe I'm born great, an' it
only needs a little opportunity to bring it out--like the measles.
Anyways, I never let an opportunity fer greatness come along without
laying fer it. I'm agin it now, an' if y' ever hear o' my bein' at sea
agin, just let me know."

"If you ever see the beach again, you'll have reason to thank me, and
I'll just tell you right now, you can make up your mind for double irons
until we get to Philadelphia," I shouted.

"Bleed me, cap, that's just about what I didn't think you'd do," the
lubber responded. "Give me a chance, 'n' if I'm no good as third mate,
I'll probably do as fourth. Try me. If I'm born great, I'll show up. If
I'm not, I can at least die great, or greater than I am. I've lived on
land all my life, but I know something about sailing. I'm fifty-two year
old come next fall, an' if I can't sail a ship after all I've seen o'
them, I'll be willing to live in irons or brass, or enny thing."

"You go below and tell Mr. Gunning to come here to me," I said, in no
pleasant tone, and as the fellow shuffled off to do as I said, his
bloated, red features told plainly what it had cost him to overcome
Gunning and get the steward into the state he must have been to recommend
such a fellow for an officer aboard ship.

When Gunning came aft, he was so ashamed of himself that I let him go,
and he picked a mate from one of the quartermasters of the watch, while I
turned the old fellow to as a landsman. This had no effect on his
loquacity, however, for he never lost an opportunity for telling a sad
yarn full of the woes of this life and the anticipated ones in the world
to come. He had drank much and thought little, except of his own sorrows
and ill luck, but as his yearnings for sympathy did no harm, he was
seldom repressed.

We were three months out before we struck into the rains to the southward
of the line, so there was an accumulation of dirty clothes aboard that
would have filled the heart of a laundress with joy--or horror.

The _Pirate_ was running close on her water, for the port tank had sprung
a leak, and there was no condenser aboard. The allowance had been set at
two quarts per day for each man. This was barely enough to satisfy
ordinary thirst and no more.

For the first day or two we made good headway into the squally belt. The
heavy, black, and dangerous-looking