CHAPTER XV.
THEY SAIL AS FAR AS THE CRAG OF AILSA.
Next morning Israel was appointed quartermaster--a subaltern selected from the common seamen, and whose duty mostly stations him in the stern of the ship, where the captain walks.

His business is to carry the glass on the look-out for sails; hoist or lower the colors; and keep an eye on the helmsman.

Picked out from the crew for their superior respectability and intelligence, as well as for their excellent seamanship, it is not unusual to find the quartermasters of an armed ship on peculiarly easy terms with the commissioned officers and captain.

This birth, therefore, placed Israel in official contiguity to Paul, and without subjecting either to animadversion, made their public intercourse on deck almost as familiar as their unrestrained converse in the cabin.
It was a fine cool day in the beginning of April.

They were now off the coast of Wales, whose lofty mountains, crested with snow, presented a Norwegian aspect.