“Soul ob a nigger!” exclaimed the fat cook, furiously, while the drops that ran down his black cheeks evinced his sympathy for the sufferings he had heard.
“Soul ob a nigger!—What da debble you mean, you fellar! Tink a nigger no heart—tink him hab no sensebillity, you fellar?” Then turning to the stranger, he said, as well as his sobs would allow, “Roly Poly berry much feel for you Sar, oo, oo!—Hard ting to lose him missee, Sar, oo, oo!—Roly Poly in lub himself once, Sar.—Lubly cretur too, oo, oo!—She had de dropsy, Sar.—Doctor nebber make her no better, so she turn her nose against de wall and die like a lamb, oo, oo, oo!” And away the poor fellow went, sobbing as if his heart would break.
“Well, whip me into eel skins, if I sees the fun o’ givin’ a fellow the miserables!” exclaimed Scrumpydike, gulping down a deep draught of the liquor before him; “I seed many a sight worser nor what you’ve been telling on us, mister,—and ar’nt a thought it worth while to say nothin’ to nobody about it. There ar’nt no sort o’ life as produces so many wonderfuls as that o’ a free mariner. Once upon a time I was taken prisoner with some other chaps, and kept aboard one o’ them darin’ crafts what goes bang at any thin’ as comes in their track—and I seed sich jollifications—sich junkettings—sich cargoes o’ grog—and sich chests o’ money, as I never had afore a wink o’ a notion on. There they were, dancin’ and singin’, and rollin’ in riches—caring for nobody—doing whatever they had a mind—every one o’ the crew a cap’ain, and the cap’ain a prince; and whenever they had a brush, which was as often as they fell in with anythin’ worth havin’, at it they went, harem scarem—carryin’ every thin’ afore ’em—cuttin’ down and blowin’ up, and sinkin’ or seizin’ the richest ships as sailed in them seas. Scrunch me, if they did’nt seem as happy as periwinkles on a rock.”
“No doubt,” observed Boggle; “and I ar’nt afeard to say, as many a honest naval would become a free mariner, if he had’nt the gumption to reccomember he was consiserable sure o’ a sartainty o’ being hanged.”
“Either hanged or drowned, or spiflicated in some other unnat’ral manner,” added Hearty; “and not without desarvin’ on ’t. None o’ sich scum ever died in a honest fashion. Now in the course o’ my sperience, I knowed a smartish lot consarnin’ the notorious sea-sharks, Cap’ain Death and his Lef’tenant Rifle, and——”
“Did you know ’em?” inquired Scrumpydike, eagerly, fixing a searching look upon the old man.
“No, I did’nt exactly know ’em, but I knowed a good deal on ’em; and if ever I comes upon their tack, with a few other honest chaps as knows how to give and take, if I don’t leave my mark on some o’ their figure-heads, I ha’ lost all notion o’ hand-writing;” said Hearty.
“Well, you may chance to come alongside on ’em afore you’re aware, and then you’d best look out for squalls, old boy;” observed the other.
“I ar’nt afeard o’ that. But as I was a sayin’, these here varmint were ’sociated wi’ a gang o’ similar bloody-minded villains, and in a well armed craft which they’d got hold on, by no partic’lar honesty I’ll be bound, they went a robbin’ and plund’rin, and burnin’ and massacr’in’, every ship as they came anigh, till at last flesh and blood couldn’t stand any sich howdacity—so two or three smartish vessels, full o’ chaps o’ the right sort, steered into their haunts, and there they kept cruising about in hopes o’ coming to close quarters. But somehow or other they hadn’t no sich luck. At last, when they began to calc’late as Cap’ain Death had given them the slip, one o’ the ships diskivered a strange sail—and she was narrowly watched, hoping she might prove to contain the ’dentical set o’ murd’rin’ vagabonds they was arter. Suspicions becoming pretty strong, signals were made to her consorts to take a long sweep, so as to circumvent the villains so reg’larly as they couldn’t escape no how. But that ’ere Cap’ain Death was no goslin’. He seed the canouvres they was a going about, hung out ev’ry bit o’ canvass he could carry, and cut his precious stick like winkin! Howsomdever, he war’nt awake to the movement till they came rollin’ up to him in a manner quite lovely to look on; and then they showed that they was as good hands at followin’ as he was at runnin’ away. The chase was carried on for a matter o’ six hours, in sich a style as made him look behind oftener than he looked afore; and for all he went on this tack, and on t’other tack, and tried all sorts o’ games to get out o’ the way, they came so near as to be able to give him a pretty considerable taste o’ their quality. Well, as night began to set in, there came on one o’ the most thund’rin’ storms as ever was—the wind blowed away as if it would shiver its own bellows into saw-dust, and the sea came up mountains high, in a manner it was more grand than pleasant to look on. The vessels in chase, finding themselves close upon an ugly sort of a coast, were obligated to keep out at sea as much as possible; but they endeavoured to keep such a look out as would prevent the villains from making themselves scarce afore morning. Well, when the mornin’ broke all as clear as if there’d never been no rumpus—our ship—for, mind ye, I volunteered a purpose to have a rap at some on ’em—our ship and her consorts, who’d rode out the gale with nothin’ but the loss o’ a few spars, approached the shore for the purpose o’ making secure o’ Cap’ain Death, but the very first thing they clapped their blessed eyes on, was the ship they’d been in chase lyin’ a perfect wreck among the breakers, making it a right down positive stark staring fact that every mother’s son o’ the gallows birds that belonged to her were feeding the crabs and lobsters, and sich like.”
“Then they were all drowned!” said Climberkin.