Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1859-10-07
NJ l S c Il l. l. A n Y.
THE CABIN BOY.

slight acquaintance. Capt. Srccter was
about three score. and had followed the sea
during most Of his life. Morton was con.
siderably younger, but s,il! seaman OF
much experience. Tho subjec, Of the aboli-
tion Of fogslng in the navy came up in
the course Of conversation, and Capt. Nor
ton eIdr~sscd himself very decidedly in IA
vor Of that time.honored institution, tho
cato mine tails.
~ am no, prepared to say" remarked
Capt. S,rceier, in reply, that the condition
OF our man.O'-warsmen will be In every
case benefited by the abolition Of hogglpg
though | am sure that il might bc 90. I
mean Of course, for such offence, n, are
usually punished on shpboard."
For my part" returned Morton, "I
shouldn't care to take command ola shir
IL the power Of Furnishing refractory seamen
as I thought proper were taken from me- ="
"well," said Capt. Srce,er, 81 used
to think jus, 50. In fac; there were but
few master. more passionate or severe than
was. Men used to run away from me,
and on more than one occasion my liro has
been in danger from the violence OF men
whom had abused. uscd the cat and
the ropes end almost as freely as used
my tongue; and used to wonder how il
happened tha, | always had the luck to &c,
such bad men.
When was abou, forty years OF age !
took command Of the ship pcicrsham. She
was an old craft, and had seen full rs much
service as she was capable OF seeing with
safety. Bu, her owners wero willing TO
trust cargo in her, 50 | wouldn't refuse
10 ustmyself. We were bound 10 Liver
pool, and nothing unusual happened until
about the eighth day out, when we ran
foul Of small iceberg. IL VAS early in
the morning before sunrise, and not above
SIX or eieh, fcct Of cc was out Of water, 1t
having nearly all melted away in the warm
waters Of tho Gulf Stream. did not
think wo had sustained much injury, for
the shock wa. slight; but | was very an.
cry and gave the lookout severe punish
men,, without stopping to inquire whether
he could have seen the berg in season to e.
cape it.
My cabin boy was named Jack wrhers.
lie was fourteen years Of age, and this was
his GT.l voyage. hal taken him from q
widowed mother, and had promised her that
| would $50 him we'll trcaied--that was, If
he behaved himself lie was bright,
quick, intelligent lad, bu, soon made my.
self believe that he had an awful dispose
/ ton. fanced ho was tho most stubborn
piece Of humanity had ever come across.
/ | made up my mind he had never been
properly governed. and resolved TO break
him in. told him ho should curb his tenn
per before had done with him. In reply
ho told me might kill him II liked f; and
| logged hlm with the end Of the miEzen top
I gallant halliards I'LL ho could hardly stand.
asked him IL he had got enough, and he
told mo that nigh, hos him moro IL |
wished il. | ielta strong inclination TO
throw the boy overheard, but at that mo-
ment he staggered back against the mlEEen-
mast from absolute weakness, and ! left
him to himself. When | reasoned calmly
abou, the boys disposition was forced TO
acknowledge he was one Of the smartest aud
most faithful lads had ever seOn. When
| asked him to do anything hc would be OF
like a rocket, bu, when I roughly ordered
him to do il. then came the di'po,iii on
with which had found fault.
One day, when il was very near noon, ]
spoke to him and told him to go below and
get my quadrant. lie was looking over
the quarter rail. and knew that he did
not hear mc, and the next time | spoke |
ripped out an oath. and in,imated that IL
he didn't move I'd help him.
al dldn't hear ye," he said in rather
an independent tone.
"No words" said |.
-" suppose | can speak," ho retorted
moving slowly towards the companion.way.
His looks, words. and the slow, careless
manner in which he moved, fred me in an
instant. and | grasped him by the collar.
"Speak to me like that again, and | will
flog you within AN inch OF your life, said I.
You can nog away" he replied, firm
and undaunted as rock.
And did nos him. I caught up the
end OF rope, and boat him till my arm
fairly aebed bu, he never even WINGED.
llows that?" said l..
There's little moro life in mo you'd
better hog out" was tho reply.
And beat him again. beat him till
he sank from my hand on the rail; and
then sent one Of tho men for my quad
rant. When IT came. and had adjusted
/, for my observation. l found that the sun
was already past the meridian, and was
too late. This added fuel to the fire Of
my madness, and quickly seilins the lad by
collar, led him to the main ha,chway,
and bad tho hatch taken of. then thrust
him down and swoio would keep hun
there till his stubbornness was broken.
The hatch was then put on, and wen: in
to the cabin. l suffered good deal that
afternoon, not with any compunctions for
what had done, butwith my own temper,
and bitterness. II made me mad to think
that could not conquer the boy-,hat |
could not break down his cool opposition.