est. The youngsters spoke to me, but only by
stealth, being afraid of the oldsters, who had sent me to the most rigid
Coventry.

My situation in the fore-top was nearly nominal. I went aloft when the
hands were called, or in my watch, and amused myself with a book until
we went below, unless there was any little duty for me to do which did
not appear above my strength. The men doated on me as a martyr in their
cause, and delighted in giving me every instruction in the art of
knotting and splicing, rigging, reefing, furling, etcetera, etcetera;
and I honestly own that the happiest hours I had passed in that ship
were during my seclusion among these honest tars.

Whether my enemies discovered this or not, I cannot say; but shortly
after our arrival I was sent for by the captain into his own cabin,
where I received a lecture on my misconduct, both as to my supposed
irritable and quarrelsome disposition, and also for losing the men out
of the boat. "In other respects," he added, "your punishment would have
been much more severe but for your general good conduct; and I have no
doubt, from this little well-timed severity, that you will in future
conduct yourself with more propriety. I therefore release you from the
disgraceful situation in which you are placed, and allow you to return
to your duty on the quarter-deck."

The tears which no brutality or ill-treatment could wring from me, now
flowed in abundance, and it was some minutes before I could recover
myself sufficiently to thank him for his kindness, and to explain the
cause of my disgrace. I told him, that since I had joined the ship I
had been treated like a dog; that he alone had been ignorant of it, and
that he alone had behaved to me with humanity. I then related all my
sufferings, from the moment of that fatal glass of wine up to the time I
was speaking. I did not conceal the act of cutting down Murphy's
hammock, nor of throwing the candlestick at his head. I assured him I
never gave any provocation; that I never struck without being first
stricken. I said, moreover, that I would never receive a blow or be
called an improper name without resenting it, as far as I was able. It
was my nature, and if killed, I could not help it. "Several men have
run away," said I, "since I came into the ship, and before, and the
officers under whose charge they were, only received a reprimand, while
I, who have just come to sea, have been treated with the greatest and