"Have you any idea what led the prisoner to desert?"
"No, sir; but I thought, from the first day he jined the Stinger, that he would desert whenever he got the chance."
"What led you to suppose so?"
"Well, sir, you see he belongs to a low lot, and wor always that mutinous and discontented. He is one of them as is always speakin' about rights. I could make no good on him, although he's a fust-rate sailor."
"The prisoner gave you a great deal of trouble, did he not, Mr. Shever?"
"Yes, sir; and when he left I missed a palm and needle, which some woman has since brought aboard, and left in my cabin."
The president here again interfered, as the examination had been allowed to stray from the charges upon which Clare was being tried.
Puffeigh then said there were some questions he would like to submit to the president and court, which, though they did not bear on the charges upon which the prisoner was being tried, certainly would have some effect upon the sentence of the Honorable Court, should they find the prisoner guilty.
The court was then cleared, and after some time, it being again opened, the president informed Captain Puffeigh that the questions could be put.
"Are you aware, Mr. Shever, who the mob were who insulted myself and my officers coming aboard?"