hearing himself talk, as well as pleased to have some
one he was able to bully in turn as the skipper bullied him; and so, he
kept jawing and grumbling away all the while we were getting up to the
galley, although that did not take very long--not by any means so long
as his tongue was and the stream of words that flowed from it when he
had once begun, as if he would really never end!

"Now, you young beggar," said he, opening the half-door of the cook's
caboose and shoving me inside, "let us see how soon you can light a fire
an' make the water in the coppers boil. I'll fill 'em for you while
you're putting the sticks in; so heave ahead, an' I'll fetch a bucket or
two from the scuttle butt!"

He spoke of this as if he were conferring a favour on me, instead of
only doing his own work; but I didn't answer him, going on to make a
good fire with some wood and shavings, which Sam used to get from the
carpenter and kept handy in the corner of the galley, ready to hand when
wanted. I knew by this time, from practical experience, that words on
board ship, where cabin boys are concerned at all events, generally lead
to `more kicks than ha'pence,' as the saying goes!

Soon, I had a good blaze up, and the steward on his part filling the
coppers, they were both shortly at boiling-point; when, going aft to his
pantry, Jones fetched out a pound of coffee, which he chucked into the
starboard copper, which held about four gallons, and was not quite
filled to the brim. He evidently had determined to propitiate the crew
at the start by giving them good coffee for once and plenty of it; as
there were only eighteen hands in the fo'c's'le, now that Sam had gone,
besides himself and me--leaving out the captain and mates, who belonged
to the cabin, and of course did not count in, but who made our total
complement in the ship twenty-three souls all told.

Jones, too, dowsed into the copper a tidy lot of molasses, to sweeten
the coffee; and so, when it was presently served out promptly at `eight
bells,' he won golden opinions in this his first essay at cooking, the
men all declaring it prime stuff. I think, though, I ought to have had
some of the credit of it, having lighted the fire and seen to everything
save chucking in the coffee and molasses, which anybody else could have
done quite so well as the steward!

Jones kept me too busy in the galley to allow me time to speak to Tom
Bullover and Hiram Bangs, when they turned out to relie