anxious to lend a ready hand than Manuel, for in addition to is
duties as steward, he had worked at sail-making, and both worked at
and directed the repairing of the sails. Those acquainted with
maritime affairs can readily appreciate the amount of labor
necessary to provide a mess with the means at hand that we have
before described. And yet he did it to the satisfaction of all, and
manifested a restless anxiety lest he should not make everybody
comfortable, and particularly his little pet boy, Tommy.

"We'll get a good observation at meridian, and then we shall shape
our course for Charleston, South Carolina. We'll be more likely to
reach it than any other southern port," said the captain to his
mate. "That steward, Manuel, is worth his weight in gold. If we have
to abandon the old craft, I'll take him home; the owners respect him
just as much as a white man; his politeness and affability could not
but command such esteem, with a man that a'n't a fool. I never
believed in making equals of negroes, but if Manuel was to be
classed with niggers for all the nigger blood that's in him,
seven-tenths of the inhabitants of the earth would go with him. I
never saw such an attachment between brothers, as exists between him
and Tommy. I verily believe that one couldn't go to sleep without
the other. I should think they were brothers, if the lad wasn't
English, and Manuel a Portuguese. But Manuel is as much an
Englishman at heart as the lad, and has sailed so long under the
flag that he seems to have a reverence for the old jack when he sees
the bunting go up. He likes to tell that story about the Patagonians
chasing him. I have overheard him several times, as much amused in
his own recital as if he was listening to the quaint jokes of an old
tar. But he swears the Patagonians will never catch him on their
shores again, for he says he doesn't believe in making 'drum-head of