I GO TO THE QUEEN'S fERRY.                 43
marks, baring his breast in the teeth of the wind and
in spite of my remonstrances, for I thought it was
enough to kill him; he swore horribly whenever he
remembered, but more like a silly schoolboy than a
man; and boasted of many wild and bad things that he
had done: stealthy thefts, false accusations, ay, and even
murder; but all with such a dearth of likelihood in the
details, and such a weak and crazy swagger in the de-
livery, as disposed me rather to pity than to believe him.
I asked him of the brig (which he declared was the
finest ship that sailed) and of Captain Hoseason, in
whose praise he was equally loud. Heasy-oasy (for so
he still named the skipper) was a man, by his account,
that minded for nothing either in heaven or earth; one
that, as people said, would" crack on all sail into the
day of judgment;" rough, fierce, unscrupulous, and
brutal; and all this my poor cabin-boy had taught him-
self to admire as something seamanlike and manly. He
would only admit one flaw in his idol. "He ain't no
seaman," he admitted. "That's Mr. Shuan that navi-
gates the brig; he's the finest seaman in the trade, only
for drink; and I tell you I believe it! Why, look
'ere;" and turning down his stocking, he showed me a
great, raw, red wound that made my blood run cold.
"He done that-Mr. Shuan done it," he said, with an
air of pride.
"What!" I cried, "do you take such savage usage
at his hands? Why, you are no slave, to be so
handled!"