enough) picking their teeth with 'em, while the whips, made of the tail,
flog hard. In this last voyage, homeward-bound for Liverpool from South
America, I say to you, my young friend, it blew. Whole measures! No
half measures, nor making believe to blow; it blew! Now I warn't blown
clean out of the water into the sky,--though I expected to be even
that,--but I was blown clean out of my course; and when at last it fell
calm, it fell dead calm, and a strong current set one way, day and night,
night and day, and I drifted--drifted--drifted--out of all the ordinary
tracks and courses of ships, and drifted yet, and yet drifted. It
behooves a man who takes charge of fellow-critturs' lives, never to rest
from making himself master of his calling. I never did rest, and
consequently I knew pretty well ('specially looking over the side in the
dead calm of that strong current) what dangers to expect, and what
precautions to take against 'em. In short, we were driving head on to an
island. There was no island in the chart, and, therefore, you may say it
was ill-manners in the island to be there; I don't dispute its bad
breeding, but there it was. Thanks be to Heaven, I was as ready for the
island as the island was ready for me. I made it out myself from the
masthead, and I got enough way upon her in good time to keep her off. I
ordered a boat to be lowered and manned, and went in that boat myself to
explore the island. There was a reef outside it, and, floating in a
corner of the smooth water within the reef, was a heap of sea-weed, and
entangled in that sea-weed was this bottle."

Here the captain took his hand from the bottle for a moment, that the
young fisherman might direct a wondering glance at it; and then replaced
his band and went on:--

"If ever you come--or even if ever you don't come--to a desert place, use
you your eyes and your spy-glass well; for the smallest thing you see may