After a quick run the vessel was docked and moored
ready to receive cargo. The captain had been sullenly
reticent on the passage. He spoke occasionally of base
ingratitude and the extinction of the race, and how the
object of his displeasure would be remembered when he got
him into deep water again, and that he would teach him a
salutary lesson for having broken his indentures and seeking
refuge under the roof of an Irish Jesuit! Apart from these
incoherent mutterings nothing of serious moment transpired.
By way of preliminary chastisement, the boy was ordered to
scrape the main-royal and top-gallant mast down during his
watch below in the daytime, and neither the masts, nor the
yards attached to them, received any real benefit by this
blockheaded notion of punishment. It is said, indeed, that
they suffered materially. The fact of deriving pleasure by
inflicting a cruel act on a mere child is hideous to think
of, but in those days these uncultured, half-savage
creatures were allowed all the powers of a monarch, and
disdained the commonest rights of humanity. The captain was
said to have expressed a sense of pride in what he termed
the smart capture of his erring apprentice, and some talk
was heard of the contemplated exploits of drilling after
sailing again.
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