”‘I tell you what, Ringdon, if you don’t belay your jaw-tackles you will be treated in the same way!’ exclaimed the captain, turning on me.
”‘Sambo had no bad intentions, I will answer for that,’ I cried out. ‘If any of us were sick and dying we should expect one of our countrymen, if he had the means, to help us, and I don’t see that Sambo intended to do more than that.’ Sambo gave me a glance, as much as to say if I have the chance I’ll render you a service some day; and, bobbing his head, as the mate made another blow at him, escaped forward. The two then turned on me, and I thought were going to try their cudgels on my head. I stood up boldly and faced them.
”‘Now,’ I asked, ‘what have you got to say to me?’
”‘Look out for squalls, Master Boas, that’s all,’ growled the mate.
”‘You will some day wish that you had kept your opinions to yourself,’ said the captain, but neither he nor the mate ventured to strike me. I turned round and walked forward, leaving the two talking together. I was sure by the glances they cast at me that they meant mischief, so I determined to be on my guard.
“Several days passed away, and things went on much as usual. Sambo got many a kick and cuff from the captain and mate when he could not help coming near them, but he kept out of their way as much as he could within the caboose, and cooked our meals without uttering a complaint.
“I had heard say that the pitcher which often goes to the well gets broken at last, and I could not help fancying, notwithstanding our long run of success, that such would be the fate of the slaver.
“Perhaps the owners thought the same, for we had received orders to proceed round the Cape to the East Coast of Africa, where the Portuguese slave dealers had agreed to supply us with a cargo—that coast at the time being less watched by the English cruisers.
“We were some way off the Cape, on our passage eastward, when, while it was blowing hard and a pretty heavy sea was running, I fell from aloft. I had been a good swimmer from my boyhood, and when I came to the surface I struck out for my life, expecting to see the schooner heave to and lower a boat to pick me up. Instead of her doing so, what was my horror and dismay to observe that she was standing away from me. I caught sight of the captain and mate on the poop, and by the looks they cast at me I felt sure that they intended to leave me to my fate. I shouted loudly to them, asking if they were going to allow a fellow-creature to perish. Again and again I cried out, doing my utmost to keep my head above the foaming seas.