Not knowing what "Cast off" might mean, the two little girls turned their heads to see what the Crew was going to do. As far as they could perceive, however, "Cast off" did not mean anything at all, for the Crew never moved, but stood there smiling away over the top of the wheel as though he were waiting to be photographed. "Why did you say, 'Cast off'?" inquired Margaret of the Admiral. "What does it mean?" "It means, untie the ship," replied the Admiral. "But the ship _is_ untied," Margaret objected. "I know. It's just a matter of form. Now, if you are quite ready, we'll start at once." "Quite ready, thank you," replied both little girls, eagerly; for there seemed to be so many forms and ceremonies that they began to fear they might be late for the garden party. "Starboard!" shouted the Admiral. Whereupon the Crew gave the wheel a spang with his right hand which sent it spinning at a great rate, at the same time glancing out of the corners of his eyes at the two passengers to see what they thought of his cleverness. "Good!" cried Margaret and Frances, clapping their hands; at which the Crew, beaming with pleasure, touched his cap and bowed. In doing so, however, he forgot the wheel, and one of the spokes hit him such a crack on the right side of his nose that the wheel stopped spinning. "Oh!" cried both children. "That _must_ have hurt!" "Not at all, thank your Ladyships," replied the Crew, smiling away just as cheerfully as ever. "What a brave little sailor-man you are," said Frances, admiringly. "Most people would have wanted to cry after getting such a knock." "Excuse me, Ladies," the Admiral here interposed, very politely. "Pray excuse me, but it is against the rules of the navy to speak to the man at the wheel." "Oh, is it?" replied Margaret and Frances. "We're sorry. We didn't know that." "Don't mention it," said the Admiral, pleasantly. "It's of no consequence." And turning to the Crew, he asked: "It didn't break your nose, did it? Because you had better mend it at once if it did. The glue is in the medicine chest." "It's all right, sir, thank you," replied the Crew, tapping his nose with his knuckles. "Only dented. No harm done." "Very well; then we'll proceed. Starboard!" he shouted once more. "You said 'Starboard' last time," remonstrated the Crew, touching his cap. "Oh, yes. So I did. Thank you. Let me see: what comes next? Oh, yes. Port!" The Crew, who was only waiting for the word, spun the wheel the other way; such a spin that the spokes hummed like the piping of a mosquito. "Fine spin!" cried Margaret, enthusiastically, clapping her hands again. "Yes. How fast it goes!" said Frances. "You can't even see the spokes." Hearing this remark, the Crew, delighted with the compliment, smiled immensely, and stooping down with his hands on his knees he peeped through the wheel at them. "Peek-a-boo!" cried Frances, quite forgetting the rules of the navy.