We are not like shore-men , we old , tough tarry-Johns ! '' `` It is well meant , '' returned the skipper . `` Ye can go , boy ; for I will keep your good friend and my good gossip company till curfew -- ay , and by St. Mary , till the sun get up again ! For , look ye , when a man hath been long enough at sea , the salt getteth me into the clay upon his bones ; and let him drink a draw-well , he will never be quenched . '' Thus encouraged upon all hands , Dick rose , saluted his company , and going forth again into the gusty afternoon , got him as speedily as he might to the Goat and Bagpipes . Thence he sent word to my Lord Foxham that , so soon as ever the evening closed , they would have a stout boat to keep the sea in . And then leading along with him a couple of outlaws who had some experience of the sea , he returned himself to the harbour and the little sandy creek . The skiff of the Good Hope lay among many others , from which it was easily distinguished by its extreme smallness and fragility . Indeed , when Dick and his two men had taken their places , and begun to put forth out of the creek into the open harbour , the little cockle dipped into the swell and staggered under every gust of wind , like a thing upon the point of sinking . The Good Hope , as we have said , was anchored far out , where the swell was heaviest . No other vessel lay nearer than several cables ' length ; those that were the nearest were themselves entirely deserted ; and as the skiff approached , a thick flurry of snow and a sudden darkening of the weather further concealed the movements of the outlaws from all possible espial . In a trice they had leaped upon the heaving deck , and the skiff was dancing at the stern . The Good Hope was captured . She was a good stout boat , decked in the bows and amidships , but open in the stern . She carried one mast , and was rigged between a felucca and a lugger . It would seem that Skipper Arblaster had made an excellent venture , for the hold was full of pieces of French wine ; and in the little cabin , besides the Virgin Mary in the bulkhead which proved the captain 's piety , there were many lockfast chests and cupboards , which showed him to be rich and careful . A dog , who was the sole occupant of the vessel , furiously barked and bit the heels of the boarders ; but he was soon kicked into the cabin , and the door shut upon his just resentment . A lamp was lit and fixed in the shrouds to mark the vessel clearly from the shore ; one of the wine pieces in the hold was broached , and a cup of excellent Gascony emptied to the adventure of the evening ; and then , while one of the outlaws began to get ready his bow and arrows and prepare to hold the ship against all comers , the other hauled in the skiff and got overboard , where he held on , waiting for Dick . `` Well , Jack , keep me a good watch , '' said the young commander , preparing to follow his subordinate . `` Ye will do right well . ''
`` Why , '' returned XXXXX , `` I shall do excellent well indeed , so long as we lie here ; but once we put the nose of this poor ship outside the harbour -- See , there she trembles !
Bagpipes Dick French Jack ay espial getteth harbour shrouds tarry-Johns