When our load had been discharged our ship had to go in dry-dock, to be inspected and classified. For this purpose the copper sheeting had to be torn off, and a plank taken out here and there, to ascertain if any decay existed on the inside.
No defects were found. The ship was classified 'Star A-1'. New planks were laid where pieces had been taken out for inspection, new oakum driven in all over, and new copper sheeting put on the bottom. When we came out of dry-dock we had to remove the permanent ballast, and clean out underneath. The pieces of rock were somewhat large, but not larger than could be carried one at a time.
The first mate had learned that my name was Bjørnson, and sometimes he called me bjørn (bear). This I did not like, although it might only have intended by him to indicate I was big and strong. He had seen me do things requiring strength, which the other men could not do.
That the youngest man on board was thus favored by providence was something, according to the ideas of the officer, that had to be thoroughly tested.
I had carried away a stone and came back to take up another. The officer and some of the men stood and looked at a stone which the officer had set up on edge, and he said to me: 'Come here, you bear, and take this stone and carry it away.' I understood, at once, there was a nigger in the fence, but said nothing. The stone was a big one, and I had to try by putting it in different positions to get a good hold on it. It was clear to me that the officer was trying to give me a task I could not perform.
At last I secured a very good hold on the rock, lifted it slowly up as high as my knees, then proceeded to move forward slowly and steadily, and dropped it in the pile with the rest. The men stood and watched, and when I came back the officer said: 'It isn't bear for nothing'. Later I learned that several had tried to pick up and carry that stone, but had given it up.
One thing they did not know, and I did not tell them, namely; that, of the many athletic practices I had in my childhood was this one, to see who could lift the biggest rock. Practice in the use of strength means a great deal.
At any rate, the officer was cheated in his expectation to see me fail. This also proved to advantage for me later on, when it happened that in a fit of indignation he would have blown it out on me, but resolved he better trim sail and not let quick temper run away with him. The reason I am telling this, the reader may understand later.
We had used a great deal of water to clean the hold, and, when through, we started to pump it out. We began to sing songs as we pumped. In a little while people began to gather on the pier at the side of the ship. This gathering included people from various walks of life. They appeared to be listening as if in a spirit of devotion, and as if they had never heard 'opsang' before.