answered back,
"and let me know when she bears straight ahead. It will not take us
much out of our way to give her an overhaul, and it is as well to make
quite sure in such cases as this. Man your braces, fore and aft, the
starboard watch; larboard watch, go to work and get in the larboard
stu'n'sails. Port your helm a trifle,"--to the man at the wheel.
"Round-in a foot or two upon the larboard braces!"

As these manoeuvres were executed, the barque's bows slowly inclined to
the eastward, and presently Forbes hailed from his lofty perch--

"S-o, stead-y! Whatever she may be, she is now dead on end to a hair's
breadth."

"How is her head?" I shouted to the man at the wheel.

The fellow peered into the binnacle, and answered--

"North-east-and-by-east, three-quarters east."

"Is the boat--or whatever it is--still straight ahead, Mr Forbes?" I
inquired.

"Straight to a hair, sir," came the reply.

"Then keep her at that," I called to the helmsman. "Well there with the
braces; belay! Overhaul the main clew-garnets and get the sheet aft.
Roll up the awning aft here, some of you, and haul out the mizzen; then
jump aloft, one hand, and loose the gaff-topsail."

The ship was by this time astir and in a little flutter of excitement,
fore and aft, at the prospect of another break in the monotony of our
existence. Forecastle Jack is not, as a rule, very demonstrative; it
appears to be regarded as "bad form" to exhibit excitement under any
circumstances, or undue animation unless when confronted with some great
and sudden crisis. Then, indeed, his movements are as active and
springy as those of a cat; but, unless there is some pressing necessity
for nimbleness, Jack regards it as the correct thing and a duty he owes
to his own dignity to be deliberate of action. And, above all, whatever
the circumstances, there must be no exhibition of vulgar curiosity, no
eagerness, no enthusiasm, no astonishment while one of ocean's countless
mysteries is unfolding itself before his eyes; he must exhibit an air of
semi-contemptuous indifference, as who should say, "I am a seasoned
hand--a shell-back, and none of your beach-combers. I have long been
familiar with all the strange sights and sounds and vicissitudes to be
met with upon the broad ocean; for me the tale of them is exhausted; so
far as I am concerned there is nothing new under the sun, nothing so
strange or unexpected as to be capable of arousing my interest, noth