"Wet your whistle, Jim," said Ben, "for this is a long yarn."

"Well," continued Turner, as soon as he had put down his pot, "the
carpenter came up a second time on the quarter-deck to the lieutenant,
and said to him--

"'If you please, sir, to right the ship, it's my duty to tell you she
will not bear it any longer.' He spoke in a very positive way, as was
his duty; but the lieutenant answered, with an oath--

"'If you think, sir, that you can manage the ship better than I can, you
had better take the command.' I was in the waist at the time, with a
good many more men, and we heard what the carpenter said, and what
answer the lieutenant gave. Indeed, we were all aware of the danger, and
felt very uncomfortable; there were plenty of good seamen on board, who
knew what they were about almost as well as the officers, and certainly
better than the one who had the watch.

"A few minutes afterward (whether it was that he had remained that time
doing nothing, merely because he would not be dictated to by the
carpenter, I know not) the lieutenant ordered the drummer to be called
to beat to quarters, that the guns might be run into their places and
the ship righted. The drummer's name was passed along quick enough, for
we were all alarmed at our situation, for the ship just then heeled over
still more. I jumped down off the gangway as soon as the drummer was
called, and hastened down to my quarters. The drum was not beat, for the
man had not time to get his drum. All hands were now tumbling down the
hatchways as fast as they could to their quarters, that they might run
their guns into their places, and so right the ship. The gun I was
stationed at was the third gun from forward on the starboard side of the