This "crab" was then raised in the air by a tackle and purchase, the falls of which were brought to the capstan and run up by the crew as if they were weighing anchor.
Then, the mainmast was slung just about its balancing centre and hauled inboard through the broken bulwarks--which had not yet been restored on purpose until all the spars were hoisted in.
The falls were now again manned; and, the sailors heaving away with one of their animating choruses, up went the spar in the air above the vacant hole in the deck from where the old part of the heel had been removed--guys being belayed on either side to make it drop in true when it was right over the place for its reception.
It did not take long to fix it now perpendicularly; although, as the spar had been severed some feet from the deck, the new end of it was more slender than the old, and so required packing round with pieces of wood driven in by mallets to make it secure.
Next, the standing rigging was set up after being first shortened; and Adze had a good deal of blacksmith's work to do in making fresh bolts and eyes, converting Cuffee's galley into a temporary forge for this purpose.

All the ropes and blocks having been carefully collected beforehand and sorted, this labour did not consume half the time that one would have thought.
On the fifth day, the mizzen-mast was also got back into its place.
Then the yards were crossed and sails bent on the mainmast; and the _Josephine_ appeared to show nearly as much top-hamper as she did before the gale, only that all the masts were much shorter than before, the foremast especially being only an apology for the former spar.
However, the change made a wonderful improvement in the appearance of the ship; and when the broken bulwarks were patched up, which was done on the last day of the week, she was herself again.
On the Sunday that followed the righting of the ship we had our prayers on the poop as usual, Captain Miles returning especial thanks to the great Ruler of the deep for all the mercies we had received; and, as a fair wind sprung up in the evening of the same day from the south, we set sail once more, moving away from the spot where we had been refitting.
"I don't think," said Captain Miles, "that we've drifted twenty miles either way since this day week; for there's no current hereabout, and we've had little or no wind." "We're then still about the centre of the Sargasso Sea," observed Mr Marline.
"Aye," responded the other; "so Master Tom will have ample opportunities within the next fortnight or so for studying all you told him about the Gulf-weed, for I've no doubt we'll presently pass through lots of it." "Shall you shape a straight course for the Channel, sir ?" asked the first mate, looking at his watch as he did so in a very self-satisfied sort of way, it seemed.
"You may well observe that time-piece of yours carefully," said the captain with a sigh, although he smiled as he spoke.

"On that little article depends all our navigation--that is, until we meet with some passing vessel to correct our reckoning, and I don't suppose we shall come across many of these, for we're out of the track of all voyaging over this part of the Atlantic save those homeward-bound from the Cape.
I intend to make for Flores, the westernmost island of the Azores, as we're short of water; besides, by my pursuing that course we shall get up into the trades, and bye and bye fetch the Gulf Stream, which will render our passage shorter to the Channel." "Very well, we'll see," said Mr Marline, unconsciously using his old stereotyped form of answer to almost everything.
"I believe," cried Captain Miles laughing, "that if anybody asked you to accept a thousand pounds you'd reply, `I'll see about it!'" "You just try me and see," replied the first mate drily to this remark, joining in the captain's laugh; but I noticed that the other did not take up the offer.
Through our detention by the calm, in addition to the scurrying to and fro we had during the hurricane and the long time we remained a helpless log on the waters, it was now considerably more than two months since we had left the West Indies; and, as the _Josephine_ did not sail so well now, besides having light and variable winds, it took us more than another fortnight to reach Flores and sight the Morro Grande--a mountain some three thousand feet in height, rising high in the clouds above Santa Cruz, the capital of the island.
But, for days before this, we sailed through that wonderful Sargasso Sea, the circumstances of whose being Mr Marline had explained to me during the fearful night we passed clinging to the capsized hull of the ship, exposed to the cruel wash of the pitiless waves; and, as we ploughed over this submerged meadow of sea-weed in the centre of the Atlantic, I could not help recalling the mangrove swamps and lagoons of the tropic island in which my childhood had been passed, wondering the while, too, whether the _Josephine_ would not be reported as lost through the protraction of her voyage--for she was expected to reach England by the middle of September at the latest, and it was now October.
Why, if news came to Grenada that we were given up at Lloyd's, poor dad and mother would be in a terrible way about me, I knew! The day of the receipt of such intelligence would be a sad one at Mount Pleasant, where all had loved me and would miss me now more than ever.
These thoughts, however, were but idle fancies, I reflected when we sighted Flores; for, even if we had been given up, the news would now soon be sent on that the old ship was still to the fore.

So, when Captain Miles had taken in fresh water and provisions, besides buying a new chronometer, and then shaped a course direct for the English Channel, I looked forward anxiously to relieving my parent's anxiety as much as I did at the realisation of my boyhood's dream of seeing London and going to school..