me say--it moost hev bin a wake, ay, or mebbe
t'wor longer agone than thet. Oi wor a-coomin' oop the forepake afther
dark, jist ez it mebbe now. Ye knows the forepake, Joblins?"

"Ye-e-es," stuttered out `greeny,' his jaw dropping with fright, and his
mouth open as big as a teacup. "I--I--I knows the forepeak, mate."

"Will, thin," continued Mick, "ez Oi came out on dick oop the fore-
hatchway, be the powers, I says, sure, a tirrible big black thing roight
foreninst me, wid its long arrums stritched oot on ayther soide; an'
whin Oi looked oop fur to say if the onairthly craychur hed ony hid on
him--"

"Lor'!" cried Joblins, interrupting him at this thrilling point, all
agog with excitement; "what did you see, mate?"

"Faith," replied my chum, with a grin, "the poor craychur hed no hid at
all, at all, sure! Begorrah, all he hed, sure, wor a spud-net, same as
ye titched yer sicond 'lowance ov grog t'other day wid, Misther Joblins;
an' this wor stuck atop ov wun ov the min's oilskins thet he'd hoong oot
fur to dhry in the fore rigging. Thet wor the spirrit I sayd."

The roar of the boatswain's mate calling `all hands' to make sail, at
this juncture drowned the general laugh that went round the mess at poor
Joblins' expense; and, exchanging the warm atmosphere of the lower deck
for the boisterous weather above, we were soon engaged in the more
arduous task of pulling ropes than other people's legs!

We had run some distance scudding before the gale; and, as the
navigating officer thought that we were now pretty well beyond the risk
of experiencing any further ill effects from the stormy nor'-easter, the
commodore made up his mind to utilise it and proceed on our voyage home.

So setting our topsails double-reefed again and bracing round the yards
on a bowline, we shaped a course for the Azores or Western Islands; and
getting into calmer latitudes ere morning, were able to make all plain
sail again.

On the second day after this we had an awful thunderstorm, in which the
lightning flashed from all points of the compass, and heaven's artillery
pealed as if the sky was bursting asunder.

This was followed by a deluge of rain, which washed our decks cleaner
than they had been since we left our home port, though the first
lieutenant was pretty sharp about seeing them scrubbed and washed down
daily.

The same afternoon, when it had cleared up again, the sun coming out and
the waves calming down, our lookout-man al