The mate now went forward
and told John quietly to go aft; and he, seeing resistance in vain,
threw the blackguard third mate from him; said he would go aft
of himself; that they should not drag him; and went up to the
gangway and held out his hands; but as soon as the captain began
to make him fast, the indignity was too much, and he began to
resist; but the mate and Russell holding him, he was soon seized
up. When he was made fast, he turned to the captain, who stood
turning up his sleeves and getting ready for the blow, and asked
him what he was to be flogged for. "Have I ever refused my duty,
sir? Have you ever known me to hang back, or to be insolent, or
not to know my work?"
"No," said the captain, "it is not that that I flog you for; I flog
you for your interference - for asking questions."
"Can't a man ask a question here without being flogged?"
"No," shouted the captain; "nobody shall open his mouth aboard
this vessel, but myself;" and began laying the blows upon his back,
swinging half round between each blow, to give it full effect.
As he went on, his passion increased, and he danced about the deck,
calling out as he swung the rope, - "If you want to know what I
flog you for, I'll tell you. It's because I like to do it! - because
I like to do it! - It suits me! That's what I do it for!"
The man writhed under the pain, until he could endure it no
longer, when he called out, with an exclamation more common
among foreigners than with us - "Oh, Jesus Christ! Oh, Jesus
Christ!"
"Don't call on Jesus Christ," shouted the captain; "he can't help
you. Call on Captain T - - -, he's the man! He can help you!
Jesus Christ can't help you now!"
At these words, which I never shall forget, my blood ran cold.
I could look on no longer. Disgusted, sick, and horror-struck,
I turned away and leaned over the rail, and looked down into the
water. A few rapid thoughts of my own situation, and of the
prospect of future revenge, crossed my mind; but the falling of the
blows and the cries of the man called me back at once. At length
they ceased, and turning round, I found that the mate, at a signal
from the captain had cut him down. Almost doubled up with pain,
the man walked slowly forward, and went down into the forecastle.
Every one else stood still at his post, while the captain, swelling
with rage and with the importance of his achievement, walked the
quarter-deck, and at each turn, as he came forward, calling out to
us, - "You see your condition! You see where I've got you all, and
you know what to expect!" - "You've been mistaken in me - you didn't
know what I was! Now you know what I am!" - "I'll make you toe the
mark, every soul of you, or I'll flog you all, fore and aft, from the
boy, up!" - "You've got a driver over you! Yes, a slave-driver -
a negro-driver! I'll see who'll tell me he isn't a negro slave!"
With this and the like matter, equally calculated to quiet us, and to
allay any apprehensions of future trouble, he entertained us for
about ten minutes, when he went below. Soon after, John came aft,
with his bare back covered with stripes and wales in every direction,
and dreadfully swollen, and asked the steward to ask the captain to
let him have some salve, or balsam, to put upon it. "No," said
the captain, who heard him from below; "tell him to put his shirt
on; that's the best thing for him; and pull me ashore in the boat.
Nobody is going to lay-up on board this vessel." He then called to
Mr. Russell to take those men and two others in the boat, and pull
him ashore. I went for one. The two men could hardly bend their
backs, and the captain called to them to "give way," "give way!" but
finding they did their best, he let them alone. The agent was in
the stern sheets, but during the whole pull - a league or more - not
a word was spoken. We landed; the captain, agent, and officer went
up to the house, and left us with the boat. I, and the man with me,
staid near the boat, while John and Sam walked slowly away, and sat
down on the rocks. They talked some time together, but at length
separated, each sitting alone. I had some fears of John. He was
a foreigner, and violently tempered, and under suffering; and he
had his knife with him, and the captain was to come down alone
to the boat. But nothing happened; and we went quietly on board.
The captain was probably armed, and if either of them had lifted a
hand against him, they would have had nothing before them but flight,
and starvation in the woods of California, or capture by the soldiers
and Indian blood-hounds, whom the offer of twenty dollars would
have set upon them.
After the day's work was done, we went down into the forecastle,
and ate our plain supper; but not a word was spoken. It was
Saturday night; but there was no song - no "sweethearts and wives."
A gloom was over everything. The two men lay in their berths,
groaning with pain, and we all turned in, but for myself, not to
sleep. A sound coming now and then from the berths of the two
men showed that they were awake, as awake they must have been,
for they could hardly lie in one posture a moment; the dim,
swinging lamp of the forecastle shed its light over the dark hole
in which we lived; and many and various reflections and purposes
coursed through my mind.
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