I was astonished at his docility, never speaking a word, and stirring neither hand nor foot; but the secret was, he was unable to swim, and in case we met with a second mishap, there were no more ledges beneath to stand upon.

"Crowning's but a shabby way of going out of the world," he exclaimed, upon my rallying him; "and I'm not going to be guilty of it." At last, the ship was at hand, and we approached with much caution, wishing to avoid being hailed by anyone from the quarter-deck.
Dropping silently under her bows, we heard a low whistle--the signal agreed upon--and presently a goodly-sized bag was lowered over to us.
We cut the line, and then paddled away as fast as we could, and made the best of our way home.

Here, we found the rest waiting impatiently.
The bag turned out to be well filled with sweet potatoes boiled, cubes of salt beef and pork, and a famous sailors' pudding, what they call "duff," made of flour and water, and of about the consistence of an underdone brick.

With these delicacies, and keen appetites, we went out into the moonlight, and had a nocturnal picnic..