debate. The question of costume received very careful attention,
and it was decided to adopt and wear the weather-beaten uniforms
that had done service amidst mud and water on a former occasion.
Solomon's presence was felt to be a security against any menacing
famine; and that assurance was made doubly sure by the presence of a
cooking stove, which Captain Corbet, mindful of former hardships,
had thoughtfully procured and set up in the hold. Finally, it was
decided that the flag which had formerly flaunted the breeze should
again wave over them; and so it was, that as the Antelope moved
through Mud Creek, like a thing of life, the black flag of the
"B. O. W. C." floated on high, with its blazonry of a skull, which
now, worn by time, looked more than ever like the face of some mild,
venerable, and paternal monitor.

Some time was taken up in arranging the hold. Considerable
confusion was manifest in that important locality. Tin pans were
intermingled with bedding, provisions with wearing apparel, books
with knives and forks, while amid the scene the cooking stove
towered aloft prominent. To tell the truth, the scene was rather
free and easy than elegant; nor could an unprejudiced observer have
called it altogether comfortable. In fact, to one who looked at it
with a philosophic mind, an air of squalor might possibly have been
detected. Yet what of that? The philosophic mind just alluded to
would have overlooked the squalor, and regarded rather the health,
the buoyant animal spirits, and the determined habit of enjoyment,
which all the ship's company evinced, without exception. The first
thing which they did in the way of preparation for the voyage was
to doff the garments of civilized life, and to don the costume of
the "B. O. W. C." Those red shirts, decorated with a huge white
cross on the back, had been washed and mended, and completely