of such stuff as the like of
you shall never tame, though you should do your worst."

To my surprise the captain, instead of flying into a rage, smiled, and,
thrusting his hand into the voluminous shawl that encircled his waist,
turned on his heel and walked aft, while I went below.

Here, instead of being rudely handled, as I had expected, the men
received me with a shout of laughter, and one of them, patting me on the
back, said, "Well done, lad! you're a brick, and I have no doubt will
turn out a rare cove. Bloody Bill, there, was just such a fellow as you
are, and he's now the biggest cut-throat of us all."

"Take a can of beer, lad," cried another, "and wet your whistle after
that speech o' your'n to the captain. If any one o' us had made it,
youngster, he would have had no whistle to wet by this time."

"Stop your clapper, Jack," vociferated a third; "give the boy a junck o'
meat. Don't you see he's a'most goin' to kick the bucket?"

"And no wonder," said the first speaker, with an oath, "after the tumble
you gave him into the boat. I guess it would have broke _your_ neck if
you had got it."

I did indeed feel somewhat faint; which was owing, doubtless, to the
combined effects of ill-usage and hunger; for it will be recollected that
I had dived out of the cave that morning before breakfast, and it was now
near mid-day. I therefore gladly accepted a plate of boiled pork and a
yam, which were handed to me by one of the men from the locker on which
some of the crew were seated eating their dinner. But I must add that
the zest with which I ate my meal was much abated in consequence of the
frightful oaths and the terrible language that flowed from the lips of
these godless men, even in the midst of their hilarity and good-humour.
The man who had been alluded to as Bloody Bill was seated near me, and I
could not help wondering at the moody silence he maintained among his
comrades. He did indeed reply to their questions in a careless, off-hand
tone, but he never volunteered a remark. The only difference between him
and the others was his taciturnity and his size, for he was nearly, if
not quite, as large a man as the captain.

During the remainder of the afternoon I was left to my own reflections,
which were anything but agreeable, for I could not banish from my mind
the threat about the thumb-screws, of the nature and use of which I had a
vague but terrible conception. I was still meditating on my unhapp