Shortly afterwards the boat returned with the captain and six sailors, all dead drunk, and lying like sacks at the bottom of the boat. Shangie Brown, as great a scamp as ever encumbered the earth was with them, to receive his share of the seamen’s advance. Two months advance at six pounds per month, each man received, but the boarding house master took it for them, the money to be paid when the men were safely on board. A bottle of drugged whiskey was given to them in the meantime, and by the time they came to their senses they were well out to sea, and the boarding-house master was back in Newcastle with their two months’ advance in his pocket.
“Get a slip rope on the buoy, and unshackle the chain,” called out the captain.
“Aye, aye, sir,” replied Dan Kelly, and soon had the cable off and shackled on to its anchor, and then all hands went to dinner. During that interesting meal, the sailors, as sailors will, got counting their numbers, and found they were short of four men.
“Look here boys,” said Humphreys, a big lump of a fellow, who looked strong enough to do two men’s work with ease, “I’m not going out in this hooker short handed, there’s plenty of work in her for the lull complement of men, and we ought not to go out without the other four, let’s go aft, and see the old man.”
At that moment Captain McLellan was on the poop talking to the ship-chandler, whose boat was alongside.
“Well, what do you fellows want,” he said, as the men came to a standstill near the break of the poop, “what’s wrong now?”
“We’re short-handed, sir,” said Humphreys, touching his cap, “and we won’t go in the ship until you get four more men.”
The captain looked at them one by one as they stood there just at the break of the poop.
“Oh, you’re not going, aye. Ah, well just step into the cabin every one of you, and I’ll read you the ship’s articles, and perhaps you will be satisfied then.”
As the crowd marched stolidly into the cabin, and the captain whispered to me, as he turned to follow them, “Get the end of the tug’s rope on board and tell him to go ahead at once. The pilot will look after her.” While the captain detained the men in the cabin, the ship was cast off the buoy, and the tug pulling for all she was worth, soon had her outside the entrance. When the sailors came out of the cabin they realized that they had been tricked, then they showed fight, at least the leaders did, but that was soon taken out of them, and the few that were sober and willing, loosed and set the square sails, and when the ship had a good offing, the tug was cast off, and blowing her syren as a good-bye salute, steamed back to Newcastle, and we stood out on our long run to San Francisco.