“Where do you hail from?”
“Way down in the woods in Maine, Mr. Brown.”
“What was you about there?”
“Fishing and coasting summers, and working in the woods in the winter.”
“Why didn’t you ship, then, for an ordinary seaman, and get more wages?”
“Because, sir, I was never in a square-rigged vessel before, and I didn’t want to ship to do what I might not be able to perform.”
“I see you made your ‘mark’ on the brig’s articles. Were you never at school?”
“No, sir.”
“Why not?”
“There’s no such thing where I came from.”