“Now then, C. B., you had better see your quarters and make yourself acquainted with your shipmates. I can see you know but dern little about a ship, but I guess you’ll learn mighty quick. Come along.”
He led C. B. below to the narrow apartment on the port side where the harponeers, the carpenter and cooper, cook and steward lived together in a certain state, waited upon by a mulatto lad, and fed in precisely the same way as the captain and officers. Here Mr. Winsloe introduced him to the senior harponeer, a huge black Portuguese from Terceira, saying—
“Pepe, just take this chap in hand and show him the ropes. I believe he’s a boss whaleman, but a ship’s strange to him, and we want him to get used to her as soon as may be. And say”—here his voice dropped to a whisper—“just pass the word to the other fellows that there’s to be no fool hazing of this chap. He’s too good for it and we don’t want him spoiled. Besides, he’s quite up to acting ugly, and if he does and gets a knife between his ribs there’s going to be big trouble with the old man, an’ a joke ain’t worth all that.”
Fortunately C. B. heard nothing of this, but he noted the deep scowl on Pepe’s face as he replied—
“All right, sir. But you don’t ’spects me to look after him ’n keep d’other fellows from hazin’ ’im, do ye? Kaze if ye do I cain’t say as I thinks it far an’ reasonable, specially as he’s such a greenie.”
“Now, that’s enough er that guff, Pepe,” returned the mate warningly; “I know all about you and you know all about me.” Then turning to C. B. the mate went on—
“Now, young man, this is your home and this man is the boss of the show, not but what you’re all equal in theory; but there, you’ll find out what I mean quick enough, and I hope you’ll learn how to take a good-natured joke if you don’t know already.” And he departed on deck again, leaving the two men face to face.
For a while they eyed each other in silence, each apparently engaged in taking the other’s measure; but while C. B.’s gaze was full of kindly consideration, Pepe’s looked full of scowling hatred. At last Pepe muttered some foul remark and turned away somewhat discomfited. He could not understand the calm untroubled gaze, and he was far too good a judge of men not to know that the young giant that stood before him would be much too big a handful for even him to manage, big as he was, if it came to a rough and tumble. This in itself was enough to make him dislike the new-comer, for no man likes being suddenly deposed from a position of supremacy over his fellows.
Then the other harponeers came trooping down to supper, followed by the carpenter and cooper, who were both taciturn Down East Yankees of a good type, but, like most of their kind, utterly callous and godless, although splendid workmen and brave men. In the babel that ensued C. B. could not but notice that there were many blasphemous remarks levelled at him obliquely, although no one spoke to him direct. And this was in truth a fiery ordeal, seeing that he had never in his life heard anything of the kind except a few broken words that the two escaped prisoners used so freely, and they were scarcely intelligible to him. But far harder to bear than that, he noted with surprise, was the air of enmity aroused by his presence; he who was so sensitive that even the slight reserve manifested towards him after his outbreak in defence of his sister had cut him to the very soul.