The captain was in a state of sullen passion at the turn things had taken against him.  He said that he would decide the following day whether the proper course for him to take, now that his authority had been broken, was to pay the men off or not.  On the morrow he intimated his decision to pay them off.  Poor creature, it would have been well for him and all connected with this doomed vessel had he swallowed his pride and resolved to behave in a rational way to his crew.  The places of respectable men were filled with human reptiles of various nationalities—­criminals, every one of them.  He must have persuaded himself that his despotism would have fuller play with these foreigners, whose savage vengeance was destined to shock the whole civilized world with their awful butchery.  The apprentices and officers did not take kindly to the changed condition of things.  They instinctively felt that they were to become associated with a gang of -, and hoped that something would transpire to prevent this happening.  An opportunity was given the oldest apprentice in an unexpected way.  The captain had ordered his gig to be ashore to take him aboard at a certain time at night.  The boat was there before the captain, and as he was so long in coming the boat’s crew went for a walk ashore.  The great man came down and had to wait a few minutes for his men.  This caused him to become abusive, which the oldest apprentice, James Leigh, resented by using some longshore adjectives.  The master seized the foothold of the stroke oar and threw it at the lad, and when they got aboard the captain again attempted to strike him, but the lad let fly, and did considerable damage in a rough and tumble way to the bully, who was now like a wild beast.  James was ultimately overpowered and got a bad beating.  He thereupon determined to run away, and he laid his plans accordingly.  In a few days he was far away from the sea in a safe, hospitable hiding-place, with some friends who knew his family at home, and the Pacific had sailed long before he reached the coast again.

After a few months’ travelling about, picking up jobs here and there, he was brought in contact with a rich old Spaniard who owned a leaky old barque which was employed in the coasting trade.  The captain of her was a Dutchman who spoke English very imperfectly, and what he did know was spoken with a nasal Yankee twang.  It was a habit, as well as being thought an accomplishment in those days, as it is in these, to affect American dialect and adopt their slang and mannerisms in order to convey an impression of importance.  Even a brief visit to the country, or a single passage in a Yankee ship was sufficient to turn a hitherto humble fellow into an insufferable imitator.  It was obvious the skipper had been a good deal on the Spanish Main, as he spoke their language with a fluency that left no doubt as to what he had been doing for many years.  He was discovered at a time when the owner was in