"Who's this?" asked a smart-looking seaman with a fringe of curly brown whiskers, and a good-natured face--a man about forty-five--as he came forward. The new-comer had the cut of a genuine seaman, and wore his clothes as no landsman could ever wear them. His trousers were loose and round at the feet but tight at the waist; he wore a well-varnished and low-crowned black hat, with a long blue ribbon hanging over the left eye, a black silk handkerchief peculiarly knotted round his bare brown throat, that had been tanned by the sun of many a land and sea; a jack-knife hanging by a lanyard thread was his only ornament, unless we except a clumsy gold ring, and he displayed a superabundance of check shirt. He had a wide step, a rolling gait, and half-open hands that seemed always ready to tally on to anything. "Who is this?' he repeated, eyeing Derval. "A greenhorn--a land-crab--come with the owner's compliments," said Mr. Paul Bitts, bowing low ironically; "allow me to introduce Mr. Derval Hampton--Mr. Joe Grummet, our boatswain; Mr. Joe Grummet--Mr. Derval----" "Stow that 'ere nonsense," said the other bluntly; "welcome aboard, my little lad, and if any man in the _Amethyst_ can make a sailor of you, I am he." Then Joe Grummet shook Derval's hand very cordially indeed. "Take him aft to the captain," said Mr. Bitts; "but before you go, youngster, hand over all the cakes and jam-pots the old woman at home gave you." "I have none, and if I have, why should I give them to you?" asked Derval, beginning to resent the other's offensive tone. "Because you might be a naughty boy and get so sea-sick--so hand them over, and I'll find fellows to eat them for you." "I have none, I tell you," replied Derval, with sparkling eyes; "and who do you mean by the 'old woman'?" "Your mother, of course." "I have--none!" replied Derval, in a changed voice that Joe Grummet was not slow to detect, and taking up Derval's portmanteau and bag, he desired him to follow, whispering as they went: "Look 'ee, Hampton lad, there isn't a saucier fellow in the ship than Paul Bitts, but he is senior to you, and you won't gain anything by running foul of his hawse, so give him a wide berth always." And now, by a very handsome companion-way and mahogany stair, they descended to the cabin of the ship, which was plainly and neatly furnished, the chief features, to Derval's eyes, being a rack or two of arms and a brass tell-tale compass, that swung in the square skylight. "Mr. Hampton--just come aboard, sir," said Joe Grummet, removing his hat; and Derval found himself kindly welcomed by Captain Talbot, a man about thirty, with a handsome open countenance, a bright cheerful expression, and a stout well-set figure, and his two other mates, Mr. Girtline and Mr. Tyeblock, who pressed him to join them in a glass of sherry and a biscuit, of which they were partaking before going on shore.