To my orders they were driven into the cook's galley and a guard stationed at the door.

Then I turned to the more serious work confronting me in the forecastle.

What lay before me in facing the members of the starboard watch it was impossible to conceive, but they had to be sorted out, and it was my task.

We must have men enough to sail the bark, and if I was to command them, I must first of all prove my courage and enforce authority.

The whole success of our effort depended on this.
"What's going on below ?" I asked.
"Cursin' mostly," answered Carter, peering down through a slight uptilting of the scuttle.