The recollection of the
scene that followed always brings up a smile, especially the
quarter-deck dignity and eloquence of the captain. He was walking
the weather side of the quarter-deck, and seeing us coming aft,
stopped short in his walk, and with a voice and look intended to
annihilate us, called out, "Well, what the d--l do you want now?"
Whereupon we stated our grievances as respectfully as we could, but he
broke in upon us, saying that we were getting fat and lazy, didn't
have enough to do, and that made us find fault. This provoked us,
and we began to give word for word. This would never answer. He
clenched his fist, stamped and swore, and sent us all forward, saying,
with oaths enough interspersed to send the words home,- "Away with you!
go forward every one of you! I'll haze you! I'll work you up! You
don't have enough to do! If you a'n't careful I'll make a hell of
the ship!.... You've mistaken your man! I'm F--- T---, all the way
from 'down east.' I've been through the mill, ground, and bolted,
and come out a regular-built down-east johnny-cake, good when it's
hot, but when it's cold, sour and indigestible;- and you'll find me so!
The latter part of this harangue I remember well, for it made a strong
impression, and the "downeast johnny-cake" became a by-word for the
rest of the voyage.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96