noon
The _ Esmeralda _ , therefore , carried twenty-seven souls in all of living freight , including the skipper and my valuable self , besides her thousand tons of coal or so of cargo ; we on board representing a little world within ourselves , with our interests identical so long as the voyage lasted . While Jorrocks and I were talking in the waist of the ship to leeward , I observed the first mate , Mr Macdougall -- who had the forenoon watch , and was in charge of the vessel for the time -- approach close to the break of the poop , and stop in his walk up and down the deck once or twice , as if he were on the point of hailing us to know what we were palavering about ; but something seemed to change his intention , so he refrained from calling out , as I expected , although he glowered down on Jorrocks and I , with a frown on his freckly sandy-haired face , `` as if he could eat us both up without salt , '' as the boatswain said , on my pointing out the mate 's proximity . I believe Mr Macdougall took a dislike to me from the first ; and the skipper 's apparent favour did not subsequently tend to make him appreciate me any the better , I could see later on . That very day , shortly before noon , when Captain Billings came out of his cabin with his sextant , and found me all ready for him with mine , in obedience to his order , I heard Mr Macdougall utter a covert sneer behind the skipper 's back respecting me . `` Hoot , mon , '' he said aside to Ohlsen , the second mate -- `` Old son of a gun '' as the men used to call him , making a sort of pun on his name -- `` the old man 's setting up as dominie to teach that bairn how to tak ' a sight , you ken ; did you ever see the like ? These be braw times when gentlefolk come to sea for schoolin ' , and ship cap ` ens have to tak ' to teachin ' 'em ! '' Ohlsen did n't reply to this save by a grunt , which might have meant anything , but I was certain Macdougall was trying to turn me into ridicule .