"Let me alone," said John. "I'm willing to be put in irons. You need
not use any force;" and putting out his hands, the captain slipped the
irons on, and sent him aft to the quarter-deck. Sam by this time was
seized up, as it is called, that is, placed against the shrouds,
with his wrists made fast to the shrouds, his jacket off, and his back
exposed. The captain stood on the break of the deck, a few feet from
him, and a little raised, so as to have a good swing at him, and
held in his hand the bight of a thick, strong rope. The officers stood
round, and the crew grouped together in the waist. All these
preparations made me feel sick and almost faint, angry and excited as
I was. A man- a human being, made in God's likeness- fastened up and
flogged like a beast! A man, too, whom I had lived with and eaten with
for months, and knew almost as well as a brother. The first and almost
uncontrollable impulse was resistance. But what was to be done? The
time for it had gone by. The two best men were fast, and there were
only two beside myself, and a small boy of ten or twelve years of age.
And then there were (beside the captain) three officers, steward,
agent and clerk.
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