About this story
At the gangway you count a boy's dozen lashes and watch the cat go back into its red baize bag. Falling overboard at night, you find the quilted chest holds air enough to float a man till the line takes him. Ninety chapters carry the frigate round the Horn and home to the pay table.
How it opens
At Callao, three years of cruising left you without a coat for the passage around Cape Horn.
Old BrushThe purser has none, and the paint room is locked after too many private repairs.
You cut a white duck shirt into a coat and quilted it with socks and trouser remnants.
Old BrushWhite cloth aloft makes a sailor visible to officers, shipmates, and enemy guns.
Choose
Charge the amount to me and record every brushful.
Let the First Lieutenant see what Cape Horn weather will soak.