Well, we had a fair time of it, till we
got pretty well on to the American shores; and as for me, I never expect
to enjoy myself again, as I did the first part of that voyage. We had
quite a crowd of passengers, and among them was a gentleman, with his
lady and child; if that wasn't the handsomest couple that I ever sot
eyes on, then I've missed my reckonings! The lady,--why, your honor, it
fairly dazzled my eyes to look at her! She always had a kind word for
everybody; even us old tars she would talk with, as if she wasn't the
best lady in the world; there wasn't one of us but would have gone to
the mast-head feet first, to do her a favor; and as for gold, she wasted
a young fortune on our ugly selves. We were within a couple o' days sail
of New York, when one of those moist fogs came up, such as will make a
fellow lose a whisk of his patience, if he happens to have any. Well, we
kept on, as we thought, in the same course, for about twelve hours,
when, like a clap of thunder, we struck fast upon a rock! It was as calm
as any day I ever saw, but our sails were all set, and that with the
run of the sea, gave us no small shock; but our captain hoped we might
not have received any serious damages, and set the carpenters to work to
find what our situation was.
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