he tutor, without lifting his eyes from
his work.

"THEIR, what the h--ll's that, Jack?"

"Their," said John.

"THERE, that's a b---- jawbreaker, Jack?"

"There," said the tutor, and off he would go in his own peculiar way.
Almost every word was introduced by a harmless swear, the droll thing
being that my brother simply took it as a matter of course, and never
laughed unless some unusually inventive oath combination was
interjected; if the pupil confined himself to ordinary swearing, there
was no interruption; he was allowed to rattle along in his own voluble
way, letting fly vigorously at the inventor of "larnin'." The result
was that Joss learned to read and write before the voyage was over. It
is true there were few people outside the forecastle that could tell
what it was all about, unless they studied very closely his eccentric
pronunciation and the wild scrawl of his writing. He never went far
enough to get even a second mate's certificate. He thought it an
unnecessary waste of time, seeing that he intended to leave the sea as
soon as he could attain a pilot's branch. This he succeeded in doing,
and had a long and successful career; his fame as a pilot only equalled
that which he bore when employed as a sailor. He lived to a good ripe
age, and died in harness still adhering to the up-to-date belief that
England was being imposed upon by "a set of b---- neckends
(foreigners), who took the bread from the mouths of Englishmen." He is
said to have saved and left a good deal of money, and this I can well
believe, as even when a common sailor he lived far below his income.
Joss, unlike most sailors, had not a note of music in his composition,
but there were few professionals on the halls who could surpass him at
step-dancing. I saw him dance the double-shuffle with a professional on
one occasion in the Ratcliffe Highway. I think the place was called the
"Gunboat," and he was there declared to be the champion. Joss
considered it a part of a sailor-boy's training that he should learn to
dance a hornpipe and other steps with facility, and he devoted a good
share of his spare time to teaching recruits how to do it. Undoubtedly
a good step-dance was a great acquisition on a long, dreary, ocean
pilgrimage, and his performance always added to the amusement of a
Saturday evening when a concert was organized. The songs were mostly
comic, and were sung with an imitative touch of the professional dandy.
Occasional lapses int