One gentleman, well known in his time by the name of Bully
W----, stood on the poop of the square-rigged ship
_Challenge_, and _shot_ a seaman who was at work on the main
yardarm! It was never known precisely why he did it; but it
was well known that had he not made his exit from the cabin
windows, and had he not received assistance to escape, he
would have been lynched by a furious public. This man once
commanded a crack, square-rigged clipper called the _Flying
Cloud_. His passages between New York and San Francisco were
a marvel to everybody. He was credited, as many others like
him have been, with having direct communication with the
devil, and is said never to have voluntarily taken canvas
in. He was one of those who used to lock tacks and sheets,
so that if the officers were overcome by fear they could not
shorten canvas. His fame spread until it was considered an
honour to look upon him, much less to know him. He became
the object of adoration, and perhaps his knowledge of this
swelled his conceit, so that he came to believe that even
the shooting of his seamen was not a murderous, but a
permissible act, so far as _he_ was concerned.
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