"Answer my question, or I'll make a spread eagle of you! I'll
flog you, by G - d."
"I'm no negro slave," said Sam.
"Then I'll make you one," said the captain; and he came to the
hatchway, and sprang on deck, threw off his coat, and rolling
up his sleeves, called out to the mate - "Seize that man up, Mr.
A - - -! Seize him up! Make a spread eagle of him! I'll teach
you all who is master aboard!"
The crew and officers followed the captain up the hatchway,
and after repeated orders the mate laid hold of Sam, who made
no resistance, and carried him to the gangway.
"What are you going to flog that man for, sir?" said John, the
Swede, to the captain.
Upon hearing this, the captain turned upon him, but knowing
him to be quick and resolute, he ordered the steward to bring the
irons, and calling upon Russell to help him, went up to John.
"Let me alone," said John. "I'm willing to be put in irons. You
need not use any force;" and putting out his hands, the captain
slipped the irons on, and sent him aft to the quarter-deck. Sam by
this time was seized up, as it is called, that is, placed against the
shrouds, with his wrists made fast to the shrouds, his jacket off,
and his back exposed. The captain stood on the break of the deck,
a few feet from him, and a little raised, so as to have a good swing
at him, and held in his hand the bight of a thick, strong rope.
The officers stood round, and the crew grouped together in the waist.
All these preparations made me feel sick and almost faint, angry
and excited as I was. A man - a human being, made in God's likeness -
fastened up and flogged like a beast! A man, too, whom I had lived
with and eaten with for months, and knew almost as well as a brother.
The first and almost uncontrollable impulse was resistance. But what
was to be done? The time for it had gone by. The two best men were
fast, and there were only two beside myself, and a small boy of
ten or twelve years of age. And then there were (beside the
captain) three officers, steward, agent and clerk. But beside
the numbers, what is there for sailors to do? If they resist, it is
mutiny; and if they succeed, and take the vessel, it is piracy.
If they ever yield again, their punishment must come; and if they
do not yield, they are pirates for life. If a sailor resist his
commander, he resists the law, and piracy or submission are his
only alternatives. Bad as it was, it must be borne. It is what
a sailor ships for. Swinging the rope over his head, and bending
his body so as to give it full force, the captain brought it down
upon the poor fellow's back.
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