He objected to some parts, but in the end let them all pass.
The morning of The Fourth--most anxiously awaited--dawned clear and fair.

The breeze was steady; the air bracing cold; and one and all the sailors anticipated a gleeful afternoon.

And thus was falsified the prophecies of certain old growlers averse to theatricals, who had predicted a gale of wind that would squash all the arrangements of the green-room.
As the men whose regular turns, at the time of the performance, would come round to be stationed in the tops, and at the various halyards and running ropes about the spar-deck, could not be permitted to partake in the celebration, there accordingly ensued, during the morning, many amusing scenes of tars who were anxious to procure substitutes at their posts.

Through the day, many anxious glances were cast to windward; but the weather still promised fair.
At last _the people_ were piped to dinner; two bells struck; and soon after, all who could be spared from their stations hurried to the half-deck.

The capstan bars were placed on shot-boxes, as at prayers on Sundays, furnishing seats for the audience, while a low stage, rigged by the carpenter's gang, was built at one end of the open space.