About noon
Our captain was a jolly old man , and uncommonly fond of `` sky-larking '' . He gave us leave to do what we liked the day we crossed the line ; so , as there were a number of wild spirits among us , we broke through all the ordinary rules , or , rather , we added on new rules to them . The old hands had kept the matter quiet from us greenhorns , so that , although we knew they were going to do some sort of mischief , we did n't exactly understand what it was to be . About noon of that day I was called on deck and told that old father Neptune was coming aboard , and we were to be ready to receive him . A minute after I saw a tremendous monster come up over the side of the ship and jump on the deck . He was crowned with seaweed , and painted in a wonderful fashion ; his clothes were dripping wet , as if he had just come from the bottom of the sea . After him came another monster with a petticoat made of sailcloth and a tippet of a bit of old tarpaulin .