ordinary man would have been seriously damaged--at least in
appearance--by such an accident; but this particular sea-dog was tough
in the skin--he was only awakened by it--nothing more. He yawned,
raised himself lazily, and gazed round with that vacant stare of
unreasonable surprise which is common to man on passing from a state of
somnolence to that of wakefulness.

Gradually the expression of habitual good-humour settled on his visage,
as he looked from one to another of his sleeping comrades, and at last,
with a bland smile, he broke forth into the following soliloquy:--

"Wot a goose, wot a grampus you've bin, John Bumpus: firstly, for goin'
to sea; secondly, for remainin' at sea; thirdly, for not forsakin' the
sea; fourthly, for bein' worried about it at all, now that you've made
up your mind to retire from the sea, and, fifthly--"

Here John Bumpus paused as if to meditate on the full depth and meaning
of these polite remarks, or to invent some new and powerful expression
wherewith to deliver his fifth head. His mental efforts seemed to fail,
however, for instead of concluding the sentence, he hummed the following
lines, which, we may suppose, were expressive of his feelings as well as
his intentions:--

"So goodbye to the mighty ocean,
And adoo to the rollin' sea,
For it's nobody has no notion
Wot a grief it has bin' to me."

"Ease off the sheets and square the topsail yards," was at that moment
said, or rather murmured, by a bass voice so deep and rich, that,
although scarcely raised above a whisper, it was distinctly heard over
the whole deck.

John Bumpus raised his bulky form with a degree of lithe activity that
proved him to be not less agile than athletic, and, with several others,
sprang to obey the order. A few seconds later, the sails were swelled
out by a light breeze, and the schooner moved through the water at a
rate which seemed scarcely possible under the influence of so gentle a
puff of air. Presently the breeze increased, the vessel cut through the
blue water like a knife, leaving a long track of foam in her wake as she
headed for the coral-island before referred to. The outer reef, or
barrier of coral which guarded the island, was soon reached. The narrow
opening in this natural bulwark was passed. The schooner stood across
the belt of perfectly still water that lay between the reef and the
shore, and entered a small bay, where the calm water reflected the strip
of white sa