Jack's attitude was threatening; the supplicant
pleaded that if his life was spared he would do what was
asked of him. The condition was agreed on, and the trap
opened. It disclosed a liquid vault. The sailor accused the
panic-stricken villain of foul murder, and of having this
place as a repository for his unsuspecting victims, and the
man shrieked alternate incoherent denials and confessions.
The sailor suspected the awful truth all along, but now he
became satisfied of it, and forcing the barber towards the
vault, he ordered him to jump down; he had to choose between
this and being shot. He preferred the former mode of
extinction, so plunged in. The hatch was then covered over
him, and there were no more murders.
Another of the many instances of the resourceful mariner's
irrepressible gaiety even under most embarrassing conditions
is contained in a story which I heard related aboard ship in
the early days of my sea-life many times, and the veracity
of it was always vouched for by the narrator whose personal
acquaintance with the gentlemen concerned was an
indispensable factor in the interest of the tale, and a
distinction he was proud of to a degree.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156