The History of Little Peter, the Ship Boy | Page 7

at the reply.

"We have no Sundays aboard here, and don't carry church steeples at
our mast-heads," cried the former, again laughing at his own wit as he
considered it.
He and his mate were in a merry mood, for they had just had one
successful voyage, and as the weather was fine they hoped to make
another. The captain himself had taken a parting-glass or two with his
friends on shore. So little Peter found him and his mate in their best
humour.
"Do you hear, boy?" cried the captain, seeing that Peter did not move;
"go forward and see what they have got for you to do."
Peter did not know where forward was, but observing the direction in
which the captain was looking, supposed it to be at the other end of the
ship.
"I left my bundle down-stairs there, sir; shall I take it with me?" he
asked.
Again the captain and mate laughed. Of course they felt their
superiority to the poor ignorant little shepherd-boy.
"We have no down-stairs here, no more than we have Sundays; but
your bundle is not to stop in my cabin, I should think. Get it and take it
with you."
Peter, having got his bundle from below, went forward, accompanied
by old Jim.
"Now, lads," said the latter to the four unkempt beings who formed the
crew of the Polly, "here is a boy for you, and just see he don't go
overboard or run away; the skipper is tired of getting lads to do your
work."
The men looked at little Peter and grinned. "Now, boy," said old Jim,
turning to Peter, "come below and I'll show you your berth. You must
keep your eyes wide open, or may be you will not see it."

The mate descended through a small hatchway by an upright ladder
into a dark place, where Peter, as he was bid, followed him. He could
hear the mate's voice, but could not distinguish him in the gloom,
which at first appeared impenetrable.
"Come here," cried the mate. "What, are you blind?"
Peter was stretching out his hands trying to grope his way. By degrees a
glimmer of light which came down the hatchway enabled him to
distinguish old Jim, and as his eyes became more accustomed to the
gloom, he discovered that he was in a triangular-shaped place, with
shelves on either side which formed the bunks or standing bed-places
of the crew, the heel of the bowsprit making a division in the fore part.
Some chests were on the floor, and thick coats, sou'-westers, with
numerous other articles, were hung up against the bulk-heads, which
formed the third side of the forepeak.
"That's your berth," said old Jim, pointing to the foremost
sleeping-place in the bow of the vessel. "The boy who has gone has left
his blankets, so you will have the use of them. And mind when you are
called you turn out pretty quick; we cannot have laggards aboard the
Polly."
"Thank you, sir," said Peter, depositing his bundle in the dark,
close-smelling bunk. "I am accustomed to be afoot by daybreak, to look
after Farmer Ashton's sheep."
"You will have something different from sheep to look after; and night
and day at sea are the same. All hands don't turn in and sleep till the
sun is up, or the ship would be apt to lose her way."
A laugh at the mate's wit from some of the other men who had followed
them into the forepeak, was heard out of the darkness. When the mate
was gone, they gathered round Peter and began to amuse themselves at
his expense. He, however, took their jeers quietly, not attempting to
reply; indeed, as he did not clearly understand their meaning, the jokes
generally fell harmless. Finding at length that they could not irritate
him, they told him to go on deck to help Bill. Bill was the man who did

duty as cook. Peter found him in the caboose; he was as black and
grimy as a negro, with grease and coal-dust.
"They told me you wanted me, Bill," said Peter.
"Yes," growled Bill, "clean out those pots and wash up the dishes and
plates in that tub. Here is some hot water for you."
Peter performed the work to the cook's satisfaction. He gave him some
bread and a piece of bacon for his supper, as he had eaten nothing since
the afternoon.
Peter was standing watching the moon, whose full orb as it rose in the
sky shed a silvery light over the ocean, a spectacle novel and beautiful
to him, when old Jim, in a gruff voice, told him to go and turn in.
Though he would infinitely have preferred remaining on deck, he did as
he was bid.