T----?'
"'I did, sir, as well as I can remember,' replied Mr. T.
"'Then, sir,' said the commodore, turning to Mr. Bispham and speaking in
an authoritative tone, 'we must send a boat and bring him on board.'
"'O Lord! O Lord!--bring a ghost on board!' groaned the men.
"'Silence, fore and aft!' said Mr. Bispham, 'and call away the second
cutter.'
"'Away there, you second cutters, away!' sung out the boatswain's mate.
But they didn't 'away' one step, and we youngsters could hear the men
growling out, 'What does the commodore want with old Sadler? This isn't
his place: let the old man rip: he is dead and buried all right. We didn't
ship to go cruising after ghosts: we shipped to reef topsails and work the
big guns; and if old Jess wants old Sadler on board, he had better go
after him himself.' Some said he had come back after his bag and hammock,
and the best way was to let him have them, and then he would top his boom
and clear out. Others said the purser had not squared off his account; and
one of the afterguard was seen to tickle the mainmast and whistle for a
breeze, to give the old fellow a wide berth. But it wouldn't do:
discipline is discipline; and after a free use of the colt and a good deal
of hazing, the boat's crew came aft, the cutter was lowered, and the men,
with their oars up and eyes upon the ghost, were waiting the order to
shove off, the bow oarsman having provided himself with a boarding-pike to
'fend off,' as he said, if the old man should fight.
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