THE FREEDOM OF THE SEAS
latter trio, one was a well set-up youth of barely eighteen, with a pair of very blue eyes and a good-looking face set in rather serious lines. There was something about the lad that impressed one with a sense of ability and determination; or perhaps it was a number of things, such as the firm molding of his chin, the straight set of his mouth, the back-throw of his broad shoulders or the quiet, direct way of speaking. In the ten days that the Wanderer had been on duty most of its occupants had come into nicknames, or had brought them with them, and this boy was known as "Chatty." It was Cochran, GM2C, who had labeled him the first night at sea when, clustered in the tiny forward cabin that served as forecastle, those off watch had proceeded to get acquainted. The boy, a second class seaman, had had so little to say that the gunner's mate had finally turned on him with a sarcastic: "Say, Jack, you're a chatty guy, aren't you? Come across with a few words, just to show there's no hard feeling!" For the rest of the evening Cochran had addressed him as "Chatty" and the nickname had stuck. Now, aside from the officers, it is doubtful if anyone aboard knew the boy's real name.
That one at least of the officers did was proved presently when Ensign Stowell turned from listen-
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