The Island Treasure | Page 8

came from some place `down Chicopee way'--wherever that might be. "But, never yer mind, sonny; needer de cap'n nor dat brute ob a mate ken kill us no nohow."
"`Cheer up, Sam! Don' let your 'perrits go down--'
"Guess, dough, I'se better go aft at once, or Cap'n Snaggs 'll bust his biler!"
And so, humming away still at the refrain of his favourite ditty, he clambered along the bulwarks, making his way to the poop, where the captain, I could see, as I peered round the corner of the galley, was still waiting for him at the top of the ladder on the weather side, holding on to the brass rail with one hand, and clutching hold of a stay with the other.
I pitied the negro; but, of course, I couldn't help him. All I could do was to look on, by no means an uninterested spectator, though keeping cautiously out of sight of Captain Snaggs' watchful eye.
The wind was not making such a noise through the shrouds now, for one could distinguish above its moaning whistle the wash of the waves as they broke with a rippling roar and splashed against the side like the measured strokes of a sledge-hammer on the ship breasting them with her bluff bows, and contemptuously sailing on, spurning them beneath her fore foot; so, I was able to hear and see nearly all that passed, albeit I had to strain my ears occasionally to catch a word here and there.
He had waited so long that perhaps his anger had cooled down a bit by this time, for Captain Snaggs began on Sammy much more quietly than I expected from his outburst against him when I was up on the poop.
He was quite mild, indeed, for him, as I had learnt already, to my cost, during the short acquaintance I had of his temper since we had left the Mersey--as mild as a sucking dove, with a vengeance!
"Ye durned nigger!" he commenced; "what d'ye mean by not answerin' when I hailed ye?"
"Me no hear yer, mass' cap'n."
"Not haar me, by thunder," screeched the other, raising his voice. "Ye aren't deaf, air ye?"
"Golly, yeth, massa," said Sam eagerly. "I'se def as post."
"Ye ken haar, though, when grog time comes round, I guess!" retorted the captain. "Whar wer ye when `all hands' wer called jest now?"
"Down in de bread room, gettin' out de men's grub wid de stooard," answered the cook, with much coolness; "me no hear `all hands' call."
"Thet's a lie," said Captain Snaggs, furiously. "The stooard wer up hyar on deck, so ye couldn't hev been down below with him, ye durned nigger! I've a tarnation good mind to seize ye up an' give ye four dozen right away."
"Me no niggah slabe," said Sam proudly, drawing himself up and looking up at the captain, as if daring him to do his worst. "I'se one 'spectacle culled gen'leman, sah!"
"Ho! ho! thet's prime!" laughed out the skipper, astounded at his cheek; while the first-mate sniggered his aggravating "he! he!" behind him. "Oh, ye're `a 'spectable coloured gentleman,' air ye?"
"Yeth, massa; me free Jamaica born, an' no slabe," repeated Sam, courageously, the first-mate's chuckle having put him on his mettle more than the captain's sneer. "I'se a free man!"
"Guess ye've come to the wrong shop then, my bo," said Captain Snaggs; "ye'll find ye ain't free hyar, fur I'm boss aboard this air ship, an' want all hands to know it. Ye shipped as cook, hey?"
"Yeth, massa," replied Sam, as sturdily as ever. "I'se jine as cook fo' de v'yage to 'Frisco at ten dollar de month."
"Then, Master Sam, Sammy, Sambo Clubfoot, ye'll be kinder good enuff to take yer traps out of the galley an' go furrud into the fo'c's'le, as one of the foremast hands. As ye wouldn't turn out when all hands wer called jist now, ye'll hev the advantage of doin' so right through now, watch in an' watch out all the v'yage! D'ye hear thet, Sam Clubfoot?"
"Dat not my name," said the other indignantly. "I'se chris'en Sam Jedfoot."
"Well then, d'ye underconstubble what I've sed, Mister Jedfoot, if ye like thet better--thet ye're cook no longer, an' will hev to muster with the rest of the crew in the port watch? I'll put him with ye, Flinders, I know ye hev a hankerin' arter him," observed the skipper, in a stage whisper, to the first-mate, who sniggered his approval of this arrangement. "D'ye understand thet, ye durned nigger, or, hev yer ears got frizzed agen, makin' ye feel kinder deaf?"
"I'se he-ah, cap'n," replied Sam sullenly, as he turned away from under the break of the poop, and made his way forward again to where I stood watching his now changed face, all the mirth and merriment having gone out of it, making him look quite