Palmy winced a little, but said nothing; and the master of the schooner coming on deck, sent Chip to stretch the sail in some particular way, and to hold it there, for the convenience of the sailmaker. Every thing remained quiet between them as long as the skipper was near, and I continued my reading; but very shortly, I heard symptoms of the scald operating on our sailmaker's temper, as the affront had done on the carpenter's. Quoth Chip to Palmneedle, as he sat down on deck, and took hold of the sail, "Really hope I haven't burnt you, ater all, Palmneedle?" "Oh, no, not at all," drawing in his scalded toe, however, as if he had got the gout in it. "Quite glad of dat; but him do look swell a leetle, and de kin begin to peel off a bit, I am sorry to see." "Oh, no," quoth Palmy again,--"quite cool, no pain, none at all." A pause--Palmy tries to continue his song, but in vain, and presently gives a loud screech as Chip, in turning over the clew of the sail roughly, brought the earring down crack on the parboiled toe. "What you mean by dat?" "What! have I hurt you? Ah, poor fellow, I see I _have burnt_ you now, ater all." "I tell you I is not _burn_," sings out Palmy, holding his toe hard with one hand; "but don't you see you have nearly _broken_ my foot? Why did you hit me, sir, wid de clew of dat heavy sail, sir, as if it had been one mallet? Did you do it o' propos?" "Do it on purpose?" rejoins Chip. "My eye! I drop it light, light--just so;" and here he thundered the iron earring down on the deck once more, missing the toe for the second time by a hairbreadth, and only through Palmy's activity in withdrawing it. At this Palmy's pent-up wrath fairly exploded, and he smote Chip incontinently over the pate with his iron marlinspike, who returned with his wooden mallet, and the action then began in earnest--the combatants rolling over and over on the deck, kicking and spurring, and biting, and bucking each other with their heads like maniacs, or two monkeys in the hydrophobia, until the row attracted the attention of the rest of the crew, and they were separated. * * * * * I had risen early the next morning, and was wearying most particularly for the breakfast hour, when Quacco, who was, as usual, head cook and captain's steward, came to me. "Massa, you never see soch an a face as Mr Lennox hab dis morning." "Why, what is wrong with him, Quacco?" "I tink he mos hab sleep in de moon, sir." "Sleep in the moon! A rum sort of a lodging, Quacco. What do you mean?"