The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant

Name: The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant
Author: Cupples, George

Cupples, George

Sea stories; Seafaring life -- Juvenile fiction; Voyages and travels -- Juvenile fiction

PAGE
    CHAPTER I                 1
    CHAPTER II               19
    CHAPTER III              38
    CHAPTER IV               58
    CHAPTER V                69
    CHAPTER VI               79
    CHAPTER VII              89
    CHAPTER VIII             98
    CHAPTER IX              109
    CHAPTER X               125
    CHAPTER XI              135
    CHAPTER XII             162
    CHAPTER XIII            170
    CHAPTER XIV             188
    CHAPTER XV              203
    CHAPTER XVI             218
    CHAPTER XVII            234
    CHAPTER XVIII           248
    CHAPTER XI              260
    CHAPTER XX              270
    CHAPTER XXI             290
    CHAPTER XXII            310
    CHAPTER XXIII           328
    CHAPTER XXIV            346
    CHAPTER XXV             357
    CHAPTER XXVI            372
    CHAPTER XXVII           390
    CHAPTER XXVIII          401
    CHAPTER XXIX            413
    CHAPTER XXX             420
    CHAPTER XXXI            429
    CHAPTER XXXII           436




THE GREEN HAND




CHAPTER I


"Ah! Come, old ship, give us a yarn!" said the younger forecastlemen to
an old one, on board of an Indiaman then swiftly cleaving the waves of
the western Atlantic before the trade-wind, and outward-bound, with a
hearty crew and a number of passengers. It was the second of the two
dog-watches; and, the ship being still in the region of evening
twilights, her men, in a good humour and with leisure, were then usually
disposed, as on this occasion, to make fast their roaming thoughts by
help of a good yarn, when it could be got. There were plenty of
individuals, amongst a crew of forty, calculated by their experience, or
else by their flow of spirits and fancy, to spin it. Each watch into
which they were divided had its especial story-teller, with whose merits
it twitted the other, and on opportunity of a general reunion, they were
pitted against one another like two fighting-cocks. The one was a grave,
solemn, old North-Sea whaler, with one eye, who professed to look down
with contempt upon all raw head-work, on navigation compared with
seamanship, and fiction against fact. As for himself, he rested all his
fame upon actual experience, and told long dry narratives of old
shipmates, of his voyages and adventures, and sometimes of the most
incredible incidents, with a genuine briny gusto, which pleased the
veteran stagers beyond expression. They were full of points of
seamanship--expedients for nice emergencies, tacks, knots, and splices;
he gave the very conversation of his characters, with all the "says he"
and "says I"; and one long recital of the old fellow's turned upon the
question between himself and a new-fangled second-mate, about the right
way to set up back-stays, in which he, the sailor, was proved correct by
the loss of the ship. The other story-teller, again, was a Wapping man;
a lively, impudent young Cockney, who had the most miraculous faculty of

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The Green Hand: Adventures of a Naval Lieutenant

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