After pausing a moment to collect his ideas, Bill Sturdy commenced his story.

"It was, mayhap, twelve years ago, or it might have been thirteen, since I sailed from New York in the ship Peregrine, bound for Havana. The Peregrine was quite a sizable ship, and I expected a pleasant voyage, as the captain was a frank, good-humored looking man. So he was when he was in his sober senses, but, unfortunately, this wasn't always the case. However, he used to keep pretty straight when he was at home, for if he had shown himself out it might have been hard for him to get employment. If Jack gets drunk it's no serious damage to the ship, but if the chief officer, to whom all look for commands, allows himself to drink too much, especially when a storm threatens, it's a pretty bad matter. You see, my lad, that when a captain is drunk, he does not generally know it himself, and is apt to think that he is perfectly able to manage the ship.

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"Well, Captain Harvey, for that was his name, was an excellent seaman when he was sober. He was a thorough sailor, and knew every rope in the ship. But, as it happened, it would have been better if we had had a captain who knew less and kept sober.

"Captain Harvey kept pretty straight at first, as I was saying, and we men began to like him. He was a pleasant-spoken man, though he meant to be obeyed when he gave an order. I liked him all the better, because the captain I had gone with last was a different kind of man. It wasn't always a word and a blow with Captain Lafarge, but oftentimes the blow came first. Well, times seemed changed, and that was what I was saying to a messmate of mine, who had sailed with me under the other captain, when Captain Harvey came on deck. That was the third day out; his face looked unusually red, and his eyes bloodshot. He staggered up to us, gave me a blow side of the head, as he said, or rather hiccoughed, for he couldn't speak very plain, 'Wh—what are you—hic—doing there, you rascal?'

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"Now, my lad, I'm not one to stand a blow very patiently; I'm rather apt to resent it, and so I should this time, but as I looked up I saw how matters stood, and that took away my anger. I liked Captain Harvey, and I knew that when he was right he would never think of giving me a blow without any cause, so I didn't do anything, but answered, as respectful as I could,—

"'I hope I am doing my duty, Captain Harvey.'

"'You lie,' he stuttered again.

"I did not feel called upon to give any answer to this charge. It was as well that I didn't, for he waited a minute and then left me.

"Well, this was the first that any of us knew of the captain's habits. We were all sorry, even those that liked to drink themselves, for this was the only fault we could detect in our chief officer, and it was a pretty serious one, as it turned out. I told you, didn't I, that we were bound for Havana?"

"Yes," said Charlie.

"Well, it sometimes happens that there are[175] violent storms in those latitudes, and the coast is dangerous to approach. Time passed, and although Captain Harvey would have his blow-out now and then, yet there had been no particular damage so far, perhaps because we had had pretty quiet weather. Now, however, we had got into the region of gales, and we all hoped the captain would keep sober.

"But that wasn't to be.

"One morning, I remember, we had a powerful gale. The ship was behaving pretty well under it. She was a staunch craft when we started, and bade fair to see a great many years' service. So, on the whole, we didn't fe............