latter perceived that he had a quid of tobacco in his cheek. "What have
you got there, my good lad--a gum-boil?--your cheek is very much
swelled." "No, sir," replied the boy, "there's nothing at all the
matter." "O there must be; it is a bad tooth, then. Open your mouth, and
let me see." Very reluctantly the boy opened his mouth, and discovered a
large roll of tobacco-leaf. "I see, I see," said the first lieutenant,
"your mouth wants overhauling, and your teeth cleaning. I wish we had a
dentist on board; but as we have not, I will operate as well as I can.
Send the armourer up here with his tongs." When the armourer made his
appearance, the boy was made to open his mouth, while the chaw of
tobacco was extracted with his rough instrument. "There now," said the
first lieutenant, "I'm sure that you must feel better already; you never
could have had any appetite. Now, captain of the afterguard, bring a
piece of old canvas and some sand here, and clean his teeth nicely." The
captain of the afterguard came forward, and putting the boy's head
between his knees, scrubbed his teeth well with the sand and canvas for
two or three minutes. "There, that will do," said the first lieutenant.
"Now, my little fellow, your mouth is nice and clean, and you'll enjoy
your breakfast. It was impossible for you to have eaten anything with
your mouth in such a nasty state. When it's dirty again, come to me, and
I'll be your dentist."

One day I was on the forecastle with Mr Chucks, the boatswain, who was
very kind to me. He had been showing me how to make the various knots
and bends of rope which are used in our service. I am afraid that I was
very stupid, but he showed me over and over again, until I learnt how to
make them. Amongst others, he taught me a fisherman's bend, which he
pronounced to be the _king_ of all knots; "and, Mr Simple," continued
he, "there is a moral in that knot. You observe, that when the parts are
drawn the right way, and together, the more you pull the faster they
hold, and the more impossible to untie them; but see, by hauling them
apart, how a little difference, a pull the other way, immediately
disunites them, and then how easy they cast off in a moment. That points
out the necessity of pulling together in this world, Mr Simple, when we
wish to hold on, and that's a piece of philosophy worth all the
twenty-six thousand and odd years of my friend the carpenter, which
leads to nothing but a brown study, when he ought