Afternoon Aloft, 1st July

Those were good ones to know as starters, but a good seaman needed knowledge of more. Chase acquired some sturdy twine from a waister and nodded. "S'good to know those, sure. But they only got certain uses. There's a knot for a'most everythin'. Hitches, bends..."

He cut himself off so he could skip up onto the bulwark, near the larboard pinrail. "Show me what you already knows," he added and held the twine out.

"I know there loads more on 'em, but 'ere's what I do know," he said, and demonstrated a reef knot - the simplest one of the lot, as far as he knew, left over right and through then right over left and through and pulled tight. "There," he said, holding it out for inspection.

That wasn't bad, Chase thought. "That's good. What's it used for?"

"Tyin' reef points when takin' in a reef," Terry said immediately. "'S'why it's called a reef knot, ain't it!"

The prompt response made Chase grin. "Just checkin'. Now. The bowline."

He dropped to sit cross-legged on the deck before untying the reef knot. Then he shook the bit of spunyarn out before tying a bowline in it. "Fink that's right, any'ow," he said, a trifle uncertainly, holding it out for Chase to look at.

"Nearly. It needs pullin' tight when you're done, so's the knot'll hold. Sometimes it's got just a bit of slack in it, and that's all it needs to come loose."

That was where Dyer had erred in not checking the knots but it wasn't worth going into that. Instead, Chase asked, "What's that for, then?"

"Oh." He pulled it tight and held it up again. "It's fer... fer puttin' a loop inna rope when you don't need it there alla time. Like, um..." He couldn't think what it could be used for and then remembered the storm a couple of months past. "Like for a... a safe'y line or somefin' like tha'?"

"Aye, that's one. It's useful, this'n. Good for pairs of slings, like when takin' in stores. Or for sendin' lads up an' down from the yards. Sort of a general purpose knot. Can be put to work near everywhere - like a good Tar." Chase took the twine from Button. "Here. I'll show you a bowline on a bight."

He untied the bowline, then, making each movement slow so the lad could see, went through the steps of the knot. "Takes a bit of practisin' but it ain't hard. This'n's for when there's no loose ends to make a reg'lar bowline, or if there's a lad hurt aloft and needs sendin' down careful like."

Terry had to scramble up and perch on a carronade so he could see what Chase was about. He had a go himself, but got a little confused about where the loop went to pull the knot tight and looked up, frowning. "Howdja do it, again?" he asked, looking down at the spunyarn in his hands and trying to work out where he'd gone wrong.

He took the twine back and demonstrated again, glancing up briefly to be sure Button could see how the knot was supposed to be finished. "Trick is leavin' enough for slippin' the loop round the rest of it, or it don't work."

"Oh. Um. So... so 'stead o' puttin' the end round an' down a loop, you make that loop go round the whole knot?" He tried again, chewing his lip thoughtfully as he tried to copy everything that Chase had done.

"Aye, that's it. Bit confusin', but it works, once you got it down."

"Uh-huh," he said, undoing it and trying it again. "Why's it called onna bight, any'ow?" he asked, looking up. "I don't see no teef anywhere innit."

The question made him chuckle. "It don't, either. A bight's just the bend in a line, where it curves back, like. So if you got a bit of hemp like this'n, with the two ends both to larboard, the bight's here to starboard, where the line bends back on itself."

They gave things some of the most peculiar names aboard ship, in Terry's opinion. "Oh, I see," he said, not really seeing at all. but if that's what they they called, that's what they called it. "Izzis all right?" he asked, holding his attempt out for Chase to look at.

"Not bad," Chase told him after inspecting the boy's work. "Work it through agin, once more, then we'll try another."

Terry took the bit of string back and worked the knot loose before retying it. "That any be'er?" he asked, holding it out again.

Chase nodded. "Good lad. Now. One more, d'you think?"

"One more go?" Terry asked, slightly confused, and shrugged. "'M I doin' it wrong then?" he asked, undoing it and trying it again.

"No, it ain't wrong," said Chase, realising his meaning hadn't been clear. "But knowin' your knots needs practise, like. Till you can do 'em and do 'em right without thinkin' 'bout it."

Terry nodded dutifully. Practising - that sounded dull. Though doing it without thinking about it sounded all right. He couldn't see that he'd ever get to be as good as that, though. He'd have to be old before he was as good as that - maybe even as old as Old Oates, who must be fifty at least.

"Show's 'nother'n, go on," he said, sweeping a strand of loose hair back under his hat and holding the twine out to the sailor.

"Right. The runnin' bowline." Chase tied the knot with his usual speed, then, with a grin, took it apart. He tied it again, this time slowly, so Button could follow each movement.

Terry blinked at how fast Chase tied this new one - he'd never, ever be that fast, ever! "'O'd'ja getta be so bleedin' fast?" he asked once the knot was tied for the second time. He must have been born knowing them, was all Terry could think.

"Practise," Chase replied, holding the twine out to Button. "But I learned a lotta me knots when I were a nipper, too. Best time to do it, when you're young."