"Corporal of the guard, see to that man." Poor Potter is sent below in disgrace amid the chuckles and jeers of his unsympathetic shipmates.

The little episode nearly earned him many hours of extra duty.
In the meantime the "Columbia's" captain had communicated the welcome intelligence that we were to cruise to the southward at once to look for several suspicious vessels that had been sighted in the vicinity of Barnegat.

This promised action so strongly that a cheer went up from the crew.

This time even the officers joined in.
Very shortly after came the order "All hands on the cat falls," at which every man Jack came running forward.

The blue-clothed figures poured up the companion-ways like rats out of a sinking ship, for "all hands on the cat falls" means up anchor, and up anchor meant new experiences, perhaps a brush with a Spanish man-of-war or the capture of a Spanish prize.