o tells me, too, that the ship
was on fire two nights ago, through the carelessness of some of the men,
when more than half of the crew went down on their knees and cried for
help to their saints, instead of trying to put out the flames; and if he
and a few others had not set to work with buckets and wet blankets, the
ship, to a certainty, would have been burned."

"Well, Ben, keep your weather-eye open; and if anything of the kind
occurs again, we must show them what British discipline and courage can
do," I said.

Going aft, I told Boxall what I had heard; and he agreed with me that it
would be well to leave the ship as soon as we could, though we ought to
be thankful that we had reached her, instead of having to make our way
to land on our frail raft.

We had certainly no reason to complain of want of civility from the
officers of the ship; but the civilians, some of whom rejoiced in
high-sounding titles, treated us with marked contempt, as beings
altogether inferior to themselves. We agreed, however, to take no
notice of this, and made ourselves as happy as we could. Halliday,
after two or three substantial meals, recovered his spirits; and I
jokingly told him that it would be wise to keep his pockets, in future,
well stored with provisions, in case a similar accident might occur--
though I little thought at the time that he would take my advice in
earnest, and follow it.

A breeze at last sprung up, and the huge galleon began once more to
glide through the water. The officers had again politely offered us
their berths, but we positively refused to accept them,--saying that, as
our clothes were dry, we could sleep perfectly well on sofas, or on the
deck of the cabin, for that matter. The captain then begged that we
would occupy the main cabin, which was only used in the daytime.

After supper, we all three walked the deck till the great men had
retired to their berths. It was a lovely night; the sea was smooth, and
the moon shone brightly; a light air filled the sails, while the tall
ship glided calmly onward. It was indeed such a night as one might have
thought it impossible any accident could happen to a ship in. While we
were walking the deck, Boxall stepped up to the binnacle and glanced at
the compass. On returning to us, he observed--

"It seems extraordinary that, notwithstanding the warning we gave the
captain, the ship is being kept more to the eastward of south than
otherwise. I should say