goes through his drills; here he fights, not his shipmates, but his
country's enemies, and here he eats.

The remark, "he spread his legs luxuriously under the mahogany," would
hardly apply to Jack's mode of dining. His table is a swinging affair
that is hung on the hammock hooks--a mere board a couple of feet wide
and twelve or fourteen feet long, having a ridge around the edge to keep
the plates from sliding off in a seaway. Jack's dining chairs are called
"mess benches," and consist of a long folding bench that with the table
can be stowed away in racks overhead when not in use. A mess chest for
each mess, an enamelled iron plate and cup, and a knife, fork, and spoon
for each man complete the "mess gear" outfit.

The ship's company is divided into messes, each man being assigned to a
certain mess at the same time his billet number or ship's number is
given to him. There are from fifteen to thirty men in a mess. Each has
its own "berth-deck cook," who prepares the food for the galley; each,
too, has a mess caterer, or striker, whose business it is to help the
mess cook and see that all goes well. The caterer is a volunteer from
the mess, and generally serves for a week, when another volunteer takes
his place. If the quantity or quality of the food is not up to
expectations, it would be better for the caterer that he be put down in
the "brig" out of harm's way, for Jack is apt to speak his mind in
vigorous English, and his mind and stomach have generally formed a close
alliance.

The twenty minutes allowed for meals are well spent, and the clatter of
knives and forks attests the zest with which Uncle Sam's
man-o'-war's-man tackles his not always too nice or delicate fare. The
nine dollars a month allowed by the navy for rations is expended by the