The news of my promotion was received in grim silence by the
Portuguese forward, but the white men all seemed pleased. This
was highly gratifying to me, for I had tried my best to be
helpful to all, as far as my limited abilities would let me; nor
do I think I had an enemy in the ship. Behold me, then, a full-
blown "mister," with a definite substantial increase in my
prospects of pay of nearly one-third, in addition to many other
advantages, which, under the new captain, promised exceedingly
well.
More than half the voyage lay behind us, looking like the fast-
settling bank of storm-clouds hovering above the tempest-tossed
sea so lately passed, while ahead the bright horizon was full of
promise of fine weather for the remainder of the journey.
*
CHAPTER XVII
VISIT TO HONOLULU
Right glad were we all when, after much fumbling and box-hauling
about, we once more felt the long, familiar roll of the Pacific
swell, and saw the dim fastnesses of the smoky islands fading
into the lowering gloom astern. Most deep-water sailors are
familiar, by report if not by actual contact, with the beauties
of the Pacific islands, and I had often longed to visit them to
see for myself whether the half that had been told me was true.
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