Suddenly I heard a deep growling of oaths and sounds of a slight scuffle in the second officer’s cabin. “Och! Ye spalpeen, I’ll break every bone in your skin. What d’ye mane by waking an honest man in th’ middle av his watch below--ah, well, I beg yer pardon, Mr. Brown; but why didn’t ye make yersilf known first? By th’ sowl av th’ saints, if that boot had struck ye betwixt wind an’ wather ye would have become a cripple fer th’ space av a year.” “Confound you for a red-headed fool!” returned Brown, angrily. “If you are going to kill a man every time he turns you out, I’ll come next time with a handspike to--” “What, ye mutinous young devil!” roared O’Toole; “what d’ye mane? Well, well, never moind; perhaps I was a little hasty. Ye see, I thought ye ware one av thim dagos, an’ I niver allow ayther dago or Dutchman ter lay his hand on the Lord’s anointed, which, if ye plaise, is no other than mesilf. Ye say eight bells have struck? All right. Ye can tell yer chum, Mr. Gore, that I’ll relave him av his onerous duties in about three shakes av a sheet rope.” As he said this the door banged and Brown came on deck. “That red-headed beast threw his boot at me when I tried to wake him,” he said, “and the next time I turn him out I’ll be on the lookout for him.” I told him not to mind the second mate’s peculiarities, as he was a good sailor, and that after he knew him he would probably like him better. That, in fact, very few people were charmed with O’Toole’s manner, but most men got along with him well enough if they resisted his bullying ways. The young man said nothing more, but I could see by the light in his eyes that, although he was a baby in size compared to the giant Irishman, he would try and give a good account of himself if they should ever quarrel. In a few minutes the bells struck and O’Toole came on deck, while the starboard watch filed out into gangway. “It’s an apology I owe to Mr. Brown,” said the big fellow, “for he’s th’ right sort av man, an’ it would have been a pity had I broken his neck with that boot. Ye see, I’m of a very nervous temperament, an’ like th’ news av a thing broken gently. Me own mother was av th’ same nature, for whin th’ owld man died, through th’ interposition av Providence an’ th’ fore part av a steam-ingine, they had to appoint me brother Mike t’ break th’ news to her aisy like. So he sez, sez he, ‘My dear, ’tis a short toime th’ owld man will live now.’ “’An’ why?’ sez she; ‘can’t he drink more whiskey an’ curse harder than any man in town?’ “‘’Cause he’s dead,’ said Mike, and th’ owld woman always hild that th’ aisy manner Mike had in breaking av th’ news was th’ only thing that previnted her from dyin’ av th’ shock.” I told him to be more careful in the future, and Brown, coming up at that moment in time to hear the second mate’s remarks, laughed good-humouredly, so I felt that there would be no further ill-feeling between them.