engine use, and from
the beams overhead swung lamps of all shapes and sizes, while the walls
were covered with bolts, bars, hammers, and tools of every kind.

This pleasant place usually fell to the charge of some one who was fit
for nothing else; and its present occupant was a lanky youth known as
"Monkey"--a name fully warranted by his narrow watery eyes, enormous
under-jaw, and huge projecting bat-like ears. He had been cruising
backward and forward in the _Arizona_ for years, till he seemed quite to
belong to her; and although he disappeared as soon as she reached port,
he always found out the day of her departure in time to join her
again--how, no one knew, for he could neither read nor write.

Frank's appointment, of course, displaced Monkey, and neither was
pleased with the change. Monkey much preferred even the dismal lamp-room
(where he had only to serve out a certain quantity of stores daily, and
to see that nothing was lost or stolen) to the harder work of scrubbing
the engine-room, which now fell to his share; while Austin, used as he
was to out-door exercise, felt quite miserable in this dungeon-like
hole, where he could not even see to read. He was on duty from dawn till
dusk, and even liable to be roused up at night should anything be
wanted. His meals were given him after all the rest were served, and
only very rarely did he get the chance of asking a question, or
learning anything that he wished.

Nor did his troubles end here. The men, who in Monkey's time had been
allowed to help themselves pretty freely to the ship's stores, were
enraged at finding that their new store-keeper could neither be bribed
nor bullied into letting them have anything without orders. One of
Frank's greatest troubles was the giving out of soap--a priceless luxury
in the forecastle of a steamer, where the "grit," coal-dust, and
irritating brine are unbearable if not promptly washed off. For a piece
of soap (the ship's allowance being unusually small), shirts, stockings,
and even tobacco, were gladly bartered; and those who had been shrewd
enough to lay in a stock before sailing drove a brisk trade.

This gave our friend Monkey a chance which he was not slow to use. He
began by hinting to the crew that Frank's care of the stores was meant
to "curry favor" with the officers; and then he went on to losing or
stealing whatever he could, and laying the blame on Austin. Nor were
these the most serious tokens of his ill-will. One d