“Perhaps he was the more strongly excited to make chase after Jacko and the child, from noticing how much the commodore had praised him for former acts of bravery, and by the loud curses of the nigger Jake, who seemed suddenly horror-stricken at what had happened, because it might have been thought that he had been the main cause of the sad occurrence by teasing Jacko.
“‘Ha, you rascal Jacko, hab you no more respect for de commodore den to steal his child? We bring you to de gangway, you black nigger, and get you a dozen on de bare back for a tief, and afterwards skin you alive.’
“The ape looked down from his perch, as if he understood the threat of the negro, and chattered a sort of defiance, showing his teeth, and each instant seemed as if he would bite the crying infant.
“‘Ha, ha! Massa Ned, he say you must ketch him ’fore you flog him, and it’s no so easy for a midshipman in boots to ketch a big ape barefoot.’
“A red spot mounted to the cheeks of Ned, as he cast a glance of offended pride and contempt at Jake, and then sprung across the deck to Jacob’s ladder.
“In an instant he was half-way up the rigging, running over the ratlines as lightly as if they were an easy flight of stairs.
“The shrouds scarcely quivered beneath his elastic motion.
“In a second more his hand was on the futtocks.
“‘Massa Ned,’ cried Jake, who sometimes, from being a favorite, ventured to take liberties with the younger officers.
“‘Massa Ned, you best crawl through the ‘lubber’s hole;’ it take a sailor-man to climb de futtock shroud.’