The World of Waters | Page 5

it,
sufficiently proved the vile purpose for which its services had just been
required.
"I called out hastily and angrily to the captain to cease beating the boy,
and declared I would fetch out the gentlemen to interfere if he did not
stop his unmanly behavior. He glared on me with the fiercest
expression imaginable (for he was in a towering rage,) and told me I
had better not meddle with him in the performance of his duty, for he
would do as he liked; he was master of the ship and nobody else, and
he would like to see anybody else try to be. Then he made use of such
fearful language, that I dreaded to approach him; but my fear lest he
should again attack the boy, overcame my fear for him in his anger; and
I ascended the ladder. He desired, nay commanded, me to retire to my
cabin; but I said, 'No, captain, I will not stir hence until you release
Frederic, and if you strike him again I will be a witness of your
cowardly behavior towards a poor boy whose only fault is want of
strength to do the work assigned him. I am quite sure, whatever you
may say on board-ship, you will not be able to justify your conduct on
shore.'
"He did not again address me; but, muttering curses loud and deep, he
untied the fainting boy, and, giving him a savage push, laid him
prostrate on the deck: he then walked forward, and began to shout
aloud his orders to the men on the main-deck.
"The man at the helm, pitying the poor boy, called to the boatswain,
who was standing on the forecastle, and begged him to send some
water to throw over the lad, and some dressing for his wounded back. I
stayed by him for a short time, and when he was somewhat recovered, I
went below.
"I fancied, when I met the captain at the dinner-table, that he looked
rather ashamed; for I had related the whole affair to the other
passengers, and he could perceive, by their indifference towards him,

that they despised him for his cowardice. He tried to be jocular, but
could not succeed in exciting our risibility: we did not even encourage
his jokes by the shadow of a smile, and he seemed uneasy during the
remainder of the time we sat at table.
"I now felt more than ever interested in the fate of Frederic Hamilton
and was not sorry I had said so much in the morning. Prudence might
have dictated milder language certainly; but my indignation was
aroused; and when I found that my remonstrance had the desired effect,
I did not repent of my impetuosity.
"About a week after this unhappy occurrence, as I was leaning over the
rail on the quarter-deck, watching the shoals of porpoises (for we were
then in a warm latitude) playing in the bright blue sea at the vessel's
side, the boatswain, who was a fine specimen of a sea-faring man, came
up and, seating himself on a fowl-coop near me, commenced sorting
rope-yarns for the men to spin. Presently Frederic walked up the ladder
with a bucket of water to pour into the troughs for the thirsty poultry,
who were stretching their necks through the bars and opening their bills,
longing for the refreshing draught: the heat was overpowering, and the
poor things were closely packed in their miserable coops.
"I remarked to Williams how pale the boy looked, and how thin, and
said, I feared he was not only badly treated, but had not proper
nourishment.
"'Why, ma'am,' said he, 'to say the truth, the lad's not been used to this
kind of living, and it was the worst thing as ever happened to him to be
brought on board the "Neptune," with our skipper for a master. You see,
madam,' he continued, 'his father was a parson; but he is dead, and the
mother tried hard to persuade the lad (for, poor thing, he is her only
boy,) to turn parson too, when his father died. But no. The boy had set
his mind on going to sea; and as he had no friends who could help him
to go to school or college, and his godfather, Captain Hartly, offered to
pay the apprenticeship fees if his mother would let him learn navigation,
she at last, though much against her will, consented that he should be
bound apprentice to our skipper here. But it pretty nigh broke her heart
to part with the child; and she begged the captain to use him gently and

bear with him a little, for he was not so hardy as many boys of his age;
and, moreover, had been accustomed to kindness and delicate treatment.
The