As regards the opportunity,
anchors are to be got in off the bows, and stowed; cables are to be
unbent and coiled down; studding-gear is to be hauled out and got
ready; frequently boom-irons are to be placed upon the yards, and the
hundred preparations made, that render the work of a ship as ceaseless
a round of activity as that of a house. This kept us all busy until
night, when the watches were told off and set. I was in the larboard,
or chief-mate's watch, having actually been chosen by that
hard-featured old seaman, the fourth man he named; an honour for which
I was indebted to the activity I had already manifested aloft. Rupert
was less distinguished, being taken by the captain for the
second-mate's watch, the very last person chosen. That night
Mr. Marble dropped a few hints on the subject, which let me into the
secret of these two selections. "You and I will get along well
together, I see that plainly, Miles," he said, "for there's
quicksilver in your body. As for your friend in t'other watch, it's
all as it should be; the captain has got one hand the most, and such
as he is, he is welcome to him. He'll blacken more writing paper this
v'y'ge, I reckon, than he'll tar down riggin'." I thought it odd,
however, that Rupert, who had been so forward in all the preliminaries
of our adventure, should fall so far astern in its first practical
results.
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