The Mutineers by Charles Boardman Hawes
page 44 of 278 (15%)
page 44 of 278 (15%)
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they talked to every one. I didn't want anything to do with it if Kipping
was to have a finger in the pie. I told 'em 'No!' and they swore at me something awful, and said that if ever I blabbed I'd never see my little wee girl at Newburyport again. So I never said nothing." He looked at me with a frightened expression. "It's funny they never said nothing to you. Don't you tell 'em I talked. If they thought I'd split, they'd knock me in the head, that's what they' d do." "Who's in it besides Kipping and Davie Paine?" "The two men from Boston and Chips and the steward. Them's all I know, but there may be others. The men have been talking about it quiet like for a good while now." As Mr. Falk came forward on some errand or other, we stopped talking and worked harder than ever at tarring down the rigging. Presently Bill repeated without turning his head, "Don't you tell 'em I said anything, will you, Bennie? Don't you tell 'em." And I replied, "No." We then had passed the Canaries and the Cape Verdes, and had crossed the Line; from the most western curve of Africa we had weathered the narrows of the Atlantic almost to Pernambuco, and thence, driven by fair winds, we had swept east again in a long arc, past Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha, and on south of the Cape of Good Hope. The routine of a sailor's life is full of hard work and petty detail. Week follows week, each like every other. The men complain about their duties |
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