, 1886-07-09

II once you begin to palaver witt 'em
they'd demand cabin stores within a
week.
but the meat was horrible"
"Well, I've seen better; but they had nc
business to kick up o row about 1t. They're
lucky to get meat Of any sort"
l went below realizing that / had
shipped aboard a floating hell, and that
my position was q precarious one. AS for
following h example Of captain and
mate would not, and II 1 was degraded
and sent forward-a matter which lay en-
tjrely with the captain-I had better go
overheard at once. Had the captain been
u just and mild tempered man the mate
would have been under restraint. AS the
captain had taken the lead and shown
that he intended to govern by kicks and
blows, the mate felt free to exercise his
brutal nature Within half an hour after
I had left the deck he forced an excuse for
knocking one OF the men down, and an
hour later he reported to the captain that
he had never sailed with such a gang OF
mutinous dogs.
During my night watch l saw and heard
enough to realize n feeling of deep indig-
nation had taken hold OF the crew. and
that 1t needed only another act of brutal
ity to incite a rebellion. The man at
the wheel invented an excuse to speak to
me and presently observed:
"Some of the men feel pretty sore, Mr..
CARING, and / hope they won't be driven
to-"
He did not finish the sentence, and
said:
"Let them take their grievances before
the first American consul. There are
laws to protect the sailor as well as the
officer"
but who of us ever saw those laws en-
forced, sir, Jack is a dog at sea, and a
nobody ashore. The captain tells his
story to the consul, and If Jack follows
after, he's more likely to be sent to prison
han to receive justice"
could not gainsay 1t. and 1, as an off,
Ger OF the ship, had nc right to encourage
a spirit Of complaint. Sailor men will
stand poor rations and the most brutal
abuse so long rs they are without a
leader. What had happened during the
day might have been passed over and for
gotten had not the scenes been renewed.
The mate came on deck in bad temper,
and rs my watch turned in he was abus-
ing his for their hardness In answering
the call, though l never saw a quicker
change on any craft. 1t happened that the
man who hal acted as spokesman in re-
gard to the beef was the last one out of
the fo'castle. 1t was no wonder for sew
eral of his teeth lat been loosened and
one of his eyes closed by the blows, and he
was probably stiff and sore. AS l went
down the companion l heard the mate
shouting:
"Ahi you Internal skulker, but I'll cure
you of thisl II you've come aboard this
bark to sojer and live on sweet cake, you
want to look out for mel"
turned in sick at heart, now realizing
that there would be no let up on the part
of captain or mate to the end of the voy-
age. 1t did not seem as it l had been
asleep half an hour, though in reality
three hours had passed, when some one
pulled at my arm, and a voice said:
"Mr. CARING, you are wanted on deck,
SIR"
"Who is itip / asked. s.
"It's me, sir-James .sf"-tin Wi you
come ON doSk aJ oncef"
knew that the man was a common
sailor, though l did not know any of them
by name as yet. l reached the deck a
minute behind him.. The bark was on a
course, but the breeze was very light. To
my establishment / found most of the men
aft, and l was no sooner on deck than l
saw that something was very wrong.
"Mr. CARING" said the man who had
complained of the beef. and whose name
was johnson. "the Midway is in our pos
session. We nave been driven to NUT
my"
at can't be- / exclaimed, as 1 looked
about.
But 1t is true, sir, and now we want to
know whether you are going to stand by
us or side with the captain?"
"Where is the c%aptainf"
Lying over there in the lee scuppers,
bound hand and foot. The mate went
overheard half al hour ago"
/ walked over to where the captain was
lying. He was securely bound, but no
harm had come to him as yet. He was,
however, in mortal terror, and as soon as
he set eyes on me he called out, in broken
tones:
"Mr. CARING, for Gods sake save my
lifei Don't let them murder me in cold
blood"
AS l looked from captain to mutineer,
johnson said:
"The mate was among us with a Delay
ing pin, seeming bent on murder, and we
had TO do for him. Then we reasoned thai
we might as well be hung for a sheep as a
lamb, II we secured the captain
Men, you have don terrible thingl
Don't you n every one Of you will
swing for thisi"
ave want no preaching, Mr.. Carling,n
replied johnson. What we want to know
is, how you standi The mate has gone,
and the captain must follow. II you will
navigate the bark for us, no harm shall
come to you. If you refuse, then we shall
set you adrift. We've o n too far to back
water"
"Ialk to 'em, Mr.. CARING" gasped the
captain, who was greatly broker down.
Tell 'em that If they will spare our lives
they shall not be punished for what they
nave done. l give my word they shan't."
What will you do with himip | asked.
"Set him adrift in the yawl at day
break
And II l refuse to navigate the bark"
~You go with him, though we'd be sorry
for it, for you've used the men right
What point do you wish to maker"
THE coast Of Brazil"
will you all sign a paper to the effect
that l had nothing to do with bringing
about this mutiny, and that | navigated
the bark under duress,"
1--WE will thatl' they shouted in chorus.
Very well, l will remain; but why not
keep the captain a prisoner instead Of
sending him adrifti"
she must be punished, SIR" replied
Johnson.
argued with 'em together and sepa-
rateiy, but 1t was no use. They had de-
cided on a course, and could not DO
swerved from 1t. Captain Burrows was a
cringing coward. He begged, entreated
and sought to bride, and when day fully
broke he hadn't the heart of a woman.
A man was sent aloft with a glass to sur
vey the sea, and when he came down and
reported the sea clear OF sail the yawl was
lowered, a keg Of water, some of the
spoiled meat, and a lot of wormy biscuits
were placed In 1t, and they were ready to
send the captain adrift His cowardice
was so great hat one could not pity him