noon
`` I 'll go and change my clothes , then , sir , '' said De Lisle . He was so long about this that when he came on deck the operations were concluded , and the men were flemishing down the ropes . Rough-and-Ready said nothing at the time , and De Lisle attended to his duty as usual . Before noon , however , the captain sent for several of us youngsters into the cabin . Though I had been so long at sea I was still considered a youngster . The master-at-arms was standing with a small cat in his hand , a weapon of punishment capable of inflicting a considerable amount of pain , but not of so formidable a character as the large cat used on delinquents among the crew . By the captain 's side stood his clerk , with a printed document in his hand .