“They don’t,” said Ben; “and they dare not trust them; but they scatter them through the ship, a few in every mess, and put them where they can watch them. I was taken once by an English man-of-war. They put a prize crew on board of us; part of them were pressed men. We rose and retook her; the pressed men all joined us, and went into our army.”
“I should have thought they would have gone into the privateers or men-of-war.”
“They thought they were less likely to be taken again in the army, for if the English had got hold of them, they would have hung them. They told me that whenever they got into action with a French vessel, they threw the shot overboard, if they could get a chance, instead of putting it in the guns, in order that they might be taken; and that they sometimes revenged themselves by shooting their officers in the smoke and heat of the action.”
“I should think the officers would keep a bright look out for them.”
“So they do; and are very careful not to go under the tops, and keep well clear of the masts, lest a marline-spike should come down on their heads, or a block unhook, or a heaver fall, as accidents of that kind were very apt to happen when pressed men were aloft. I don’t believe a man could be so on his guard that I could not kill him in the course of a three years’ cruise, if I wanted to, and appear to do it by accident, too.
“I have seen hundreds of these men, and they all tell the same story. I’ve seen a poor fellow who was pressed when he was nineteen; his mother was a widow, and he was her sole dependence. I’ve seen him, when he was telling me the story, jump up and smite his hands together, while the tears ran down his cheeks, and pray God to curse that government, and hope that he might live to see its downfall; but I never heard them curse the country; they seemed to love that; it was the government they hated and cursed.”
“Was your father pressed when your uncle was?” said Joe.
“No; about four months after.”
“Tell us about that, Charles,” said Sally.
“I don’t like to tell or think about it; but I will tell you. At the time my uncle was taken, it made a great noise. People were very much frightened, and kept very close, never going out in the evening if they could help it.”