The passengers took no notice of this, but spent the afternoon watching the reef or bank, the young girl being much entertained by the various sights upon the bottom.
In the afternoon I went upon the poop to clean the guns and otherwise attend them, and the young lady gave me a nod of recognition. She evidently remembered that shot, for I found out afterward it had cost her father a pretty sum, and for a time it looked as if there would be no slaver cleared at Nassau.
The governor, however, compromised on a handsome fee for damages, as the shot had plunged clear through his parlour, leaving only a small hole in both walls to mark its passage. How much of this fee found its way into Howard’s pocket, it was hard to determine, but he evidently was not forgotten. The affair was not alluded to again except among the men.
Hicks scowled at me, but said nothing, and then I kept close watch upon him, as he appeared to still bear me some malice for having been present at Renshaw’s mishap. He was a bold and unscrupulous rascal, and would have taken a lively interest in my jump over-side, had they insisted on it, with a shot to each foot. His manner toward the young girl irritated me also, for, while I’m far from being a priest, yet there is a certain respect for young women every honest sailor has, and which was apparently entirely absent in this man’s manner. They were evidently talking of Renshaw, for I heard Hicks mention his name sadly in connection with the dishonourable affair at the card-table that had caused his abandonment by people of his own class.
“I see,” said Miss Allen, “cheating over a game of cards is highly wrong, but cheating a man out of his wife’s affections is highly commendable. A strange code of morals you Englishmen have. In your class, perhaps, the money is more valuable. Is that it?”
“Whatever his sins were, let us not judge them,” said Hicks. “As for the class you speak of, I can only answer that a wife’s affections are valued by most men according to the wife. Don’t you think a woman has pretty much the same gauge to measure by?” And, as he spoke, he leaned toward her, looking her straight in the eyes until she flushed crimson.
“I have broken all of the ten commandments for women,” said Hicks, slowly, still keeping his gaze fixed upon her, “and I would break them all gladly for the woman I love.”
“A self-confessed saint!” she answered, somewhat uneasily.
“Well, slaving is not the least of my ambitions,” said he, carelessly. “Perhaps you think there is nothing in running a cargo of blacks? It may be there’s little, but, if we were overhauled with your father aboard and a crowd below, even ‘trading’ would not appear an innocent occupation.”
“I know it, but what can I do? Do you suppose I think everything that papa does is right?”