I was very glad to hear it.
"Where are you from?" shouted the coxswain again; "and where did you get your rigging?"
"I will tell you when I get aboard."
"Come aboard, then."
"I don't exactly see how to manage it."
"Come down the plane, and we will catch you."
It was too steep and slippery for me to do that; but, on the instant, another bright thought arose. "Pull off a hundred feet or so," I cried, "and I will be along."
As soon as I saw that they had rowed to a safe distance, I went to the mast, and suddenly let the sail go. In an instant, I felt the deck quiver; and it began to move, very slowly at first, and then with a tremendous rush, right down the inclined plane. I grasped a rope with all my might, and steadied myself for the shock that must come when my craft plunged into the sea. But there was no shock at all; gently as a ship slides on her cradle, when launched into the water, the old deck glided off upon the waves, and in five minutes I found myself safely on board the long-boat. No sooner, however, had I left the strange craft, than it began to sink slowly into the depths; and the last thing that I saw was the American flag floating on the bosom of the deep.
What was said to me when I reached the ship, and what I said, I have not time to relate; only I didn't tell every thing.
The vessel proved to be a whaler, bound for New Bedford; where I arrived in good condition, and took the cars for Roxbury, via the Boston and Providence Road, passing through Canton.