"The old man cursed him a few, I tell you, but the mate stood his ground, and at last the captain told him to go to an unpleasant locality.
"I've been there the last nine months," said the mate, "and got enough of it; so if you please, I'll take my wages and leave."
"You don't say your mate left?"
"Yes; the old man tried to pay him off aboard ship, but the mate said he wasn't going to be put down on the articles as a deserter, and he made him pay him off at the Consul's with two months' extra for himself and one for the Consul. I guess the old man won't smile again for two weeks."
"How about the sailor?"
"Oh, I got orders to do what the mate had refused, and I wasn't too high-toned to do it, seeing I want to get put in mate. I pitied the fellow, though I don't believe he's as much hurt as he tries to make out. At knock-off time to-night the old man happened to be aboard and the sailor came aft and said he was willing to go ashore, so the old man gave him a few dollars and he cleared. We've only got six men aboard now, just enough to keep her in good order."
"We got clear of sixteen men out of our ship at Singapore," said the mate of the "Tempest." "The whole starboard-watch left one night bag and baggage and not one of us knew it aft till morning. We kept 'em holystoning and scraping from dawn to dark, and licked 'em about every other day on an average. They left about ninety dollars a piece, I believe; at any rate I heard the old man say he had made $1500 by the operation."
"There's been a law passed lately," said Mr. Morrison, "which I suppose is meant to put a stop to this driving sailors out of ships. When a man deserts and leaves any wages due him, they have to be handed over to the government when the vessel arrives home, that is, after taking out enough to pay any extra expense the ship has been put to in getting other men. The wise heads in Congress thought that if they could prevent captains from making any money by it, they would have no inducement to run their crews ashore."
"But they weren't smart enough," said the mate of the "Tempest." "They might have known that if a man is rascal enough to rob sailors in that way, for that's just what it amounts to, he won't make any bones about telling a lie to save the stealings. Now our old man put down on the articles about seventy dollars paid to each man, and fifteen dollars expense incurred by the desertion, leaving about four or five dollars, which may be the Custom House will get."
"It seems rather hard," said Mr. Morrison, "that a ship shouldn't have the benefit of what wages a runaway sailor leaves behind him. No matter how well sailors are treated, some will almost always desert, just on account of their love of change, and often will leave a little money due them."