The light sails were furled, the port anchor cleared away, and every preparation made for the mooring Then the orders to let go the topsail sheets, clew up the topsails, and haul down the jib, were given.
"Port the helm! Stand clear of the cable! Let go the port anchor!"
The cable rattled through the hawse-hole, the anchor went to the bottom, the Young America swung round, and her voyage across the ocean was happily terminated. Three rousing cheers were given in honor of the auspicious event, and when the sails had been furled, the crew were piped to dinner.
And here, at the close of the voyage, we leave the Young America, with her officers and crew wiser and better, we trust, than when they sailed from the sh.o.r.es of their native country. They were now to enter upon a new life in foreign lands; and what they saw and what they did, on sea and sh.o.r.e, during the following weeks, will be related in "SHAMROCK AND THISTLE, or _Young America in Ireland and Scotland_!"
THE END