Des Arc weekly citizen., 1868-03-14
THE SPREAD EAGLE.

Everyone on board the ship knew that the Captains cabin boy was q woman.
 Captain Moore commanded the frig- ate Dart. He was capable officer and Il good seaman, but was more feared than liked by his officers and crew. He was a man of a powerful frame, with coarse and rcpulsive features, upon which the long indulgence of brutal passion had confirmed the signs of q naturally gross and sensual tempera- ment. In the enforcement of discip- line, he practiccd an unnecessary se- verity and his department towards his subordinates, of whatever grade, was always unconciliatory, and often offensive. 8 One evening, while the frigatc lay in the Bay of Naples, the Captain brought Deppo on board in his gig. In the twi- light you would have taken Bcppo to be q fine lad of sixteen, in full blue trousers, loose check shirt and jacket, stout shoes, and coarse straw hat. But the Captain gave very little opportuni- ty for scrutiny. Beppo was led immc- diately into the cabin; and it was only the next morning, when the ship stood out to sea, that the new conner, stand ing at the hatchway for breath of fresh air, and gazing sorrowfully at the receding shores of Italy, presented q fair mark for criticism.
 Then, in the bright sunlight, the complexion, dark, but clear and bril- liant; the eyes, large, black, and lan- guishingly beautiful, with long fringes of ebon lashes; the jetty eyebrows del- icately arched; the straight nose and thin nostril; the small lips curving their redncss over teeth of dazzling whiteness the cheeks revealing the warm blood throug skin, olive hue ; the low, transparent forehead; the TO- sy tips of the shell-shaped ears peeping beneath glossy curls of raven black ness, shorn to boyish fashion; all this, and peculiar grace in the listless attitude, and the poise of the round head upon the white and slender neck, made the rough tars wonder where the Captain had picked up such an Adonis for powder-monkey. Besides, in spite of the thick shoes, the diminutive feet protested against any idea of mas culinity; and, although the thick silk ncckerchief was tied well upon the finely-mouldcd throat,an the folds of the shirt were heavy and abundant, there was swelling of the bosom that was very eloquent.
 So every one on board the ship grad ually came to the conclusion that the Captains boy was woman; and whether or not the Captain himself was of the same opinion, he took great pains to keep Beppo as much as possi- ble out of the sight of the officers and crew.
 To the latter, however, the sex and beauty of the Captains protcge became very interesting subject of conjec- ture and conversation. The sailors, in their reunions on the forecastle, iH- dulged in the most extravagant theo- ries respecting the mysterious cabin boy. There was one, however, who took no part in these little exhibitions of a natural taste for scandal that even exists on the virtuous decks of Brit ish man-of-war. He studiously avoid ed every allusion to Beppo; and when the theme was preached in his pres ence he walked quickly away, with a gloomy brow and stern compression oi the lips.
 | Nevertheless, Tom, "the gentleman, for so he was called by his fellow tars was not of particularly reserved ol morose character. On the contrary he was all life and gaieiy, and was the favorite of his comrades for his wit and good nature, and of the officers, witt