Even at this period of the English history, it was the custom to put a
few soldiers on board of the vessels of war, and the Yungfrau cutter had
been supplied with a corporal and six men, all of whom were belonging to
the Dutch marine. To a person who was so unpopular as Mr Vanslyperken,
this little force was a great protection, and both corporal Van Spitter
and his corps were well treated by him. The corporal was his purser and
purveyor, and had a very good berth of it, for he could cheat as well as
his commandant. He was, moreover, his prime minister, and an obedient
executer of all his tyranny, for Corporal Van Spitter was without a
shadow of feeling--on the contrary, he had pleasure in administering
punishment; and if Vanslyperken had told him to blow any man's brains
out belonging to the vessel, Van Spitter would have immediately obeyed
the order without the change of a muscle in his fat, florid countenance.
The corporal was an enormous man; tall, and so corpulent, that he
weighed nearly twenty stone. Jansen was the only one who could rival
him; he was quite as tall as the corporal, and as powerful, but he had
not the extra weight of his carcase.
About five minutes after the summons, the huge form of Corporal Van
Spitter was seen to emerge slowly from the hatchway, which appeared
barely wide enough to admit the egress of his broad shoulders. He had a
flat foraging cap on his head, which was as large as a buffalo's and his
person was clothed in blue pantaloons, tight at the ankle, rapidly
increasing in width as they ascended, until they diverged at the hips to
an expanse which was something between the sublime and the ridiculous.
The upper part of his body was cased in a blue jacket, with leaden
buttons, stamped with the rampant lion, with a little tail behind, which
was shoved up in the air by the protuberance of the parts. Having
gained the deck, he walked to Vanslyperken, and raised the back of his
right hand to his forehead.
"Corporal Van Spitter, get your cats up for punishment, and when you are
ready fetch up Smallbones."
Whereupon, without reply, Corporal Van Spitter put his left foot behind
the heel of his right, and by this manoeuvre turned his body round like
a capstan, so as to bring his face forward and then walked off in that
direction. He soon re-appeared with all the necessary implements of
torture, laid them down on one of the lee guns, and again departed to
seek out his victim.
After a short time, a scuffle was heard below, but it was soon over, and
once more appeared the corporal with the spare, tall body of Smallbones
under his arm. He held him, grasped by the middle part, about where
Smallbones' stomach ought to have been, and the head and heels of the
poor wretch both hung down perpendicularly, and knocked together as the
corporal proceeded aft.
As soon as Van Spitter had arrived at the gun, he laid down his charge,
who neither moved nor spoke. He appeared to have resigned himself to
the fate which awaited him, and made no resistance when he was stripped
by one of the marines, and stretched over the gun. The men, who were on
deck, said nothing; they looked at each other expressively as the
preparations were made. Flogging a lad like Smallbones was too usual an
occurrence to excite surprise, and to show their disgust would have been
dangerous. Smallbones' back was now bared, and miserable was the
spectacle; the shoulder-blades protruded, so that you might put your
hand sideways under the scapula, and every bone of the vertebrae and
every process was clearly defined through the skin of the poor skeleton.
The punishment commenced, and the lad received his three dozen without
a murmur, the measured sound of the lash only being broken in upon by
the baying of Snarleyyow, who occasionally would have flown at the
victim, had he not been kept off by one of the marines. During the
punishment, Mr Vanslyperken walked the deck, and turned and turned
again as before.
Smallbones was then cast loose by the corporal, who was twirling up his
cat, when Snarleyyow, whom the marine had not watched, ran up to the
lad, and inflicted a severe bite. Smallbones, who appeared, at the
moment, to be faint and lifeless--not having risen from his knees after
the marine had thrown his shirt over him, roused by this new attack,
appeared to spring into life and energy; he jumped up, uttered a savage
yell, and to the astonishment of everybody, threw himself upon the dog
as he retreated, and holding him fast with his naked arms, met the
animal with his own weapons, attacking him with a frenzied resolution
with his teeth. Everybody started back at this unusual conflict, and no
one interfered.
Long was the struggle; and such was the savage energy of the lad, that
he bit and held on with the tenacity of a bulldog, tearing the lips of
the animal, his ears, and burying his face in the dog's throat, as his
teeth were firmly fixed on his windpipe. The dog could not escape, for
Smallbones held him like a vice. At last, the dog appeared to have the
advantage, for as they rolled over and over, he caught the lad by the
side of the neck; but Smallbones recovered himself, and getting the foot
of Snarleyyow between his teeth, the dog threw up his head and howled
for succour. Mr Vanslyperken rushed to his assistance, and struck
Smallbones a heavy blow on the head with his speaking trumpet, which
stunned him, and he let go his hold.
Short, who had come on deck, perceiving this, and that the dog was about
to resume the attack, saluted Snarleyyow with a kick on his side, which
threw him down the hatchway, which was about three yards off from where
the dog was at the time.
"How dare you strike my dog, Mr Short?" cried Vanslyperken.
Short did not condescend to answer, but went to Smallbones and raised
his head. The lad revived. He was terribly bitten about the face and
neck, and what with the wounds in front, and the lashing from the cat,
presented a melancholy spectacle.
Short called some of the men to take Smallbones below, in which act they
readily assisted; they washed him all over with salt water, and the
smarting from his various wounds brought him to his senses. He was then
put in his hammock.
Vanslyperken and the corporal looked at each other during the time that
Short was giving his directions--neither interfered. The lieutenant was
afraid, and the corporal waited for orders. So soon as the men had
carried the lad below, Corporal Van Spitter put his hand up to his
foraging cap, and, with his cat and seizings under his arm, went down
below. As for Vanslyperken, his wrath was even greater than before, and
with hands thrust even further down in his pockets than ever, and the
speaking-trumpet now battered flat with the blow which he had
administered to Smallbones, he walked up and down, muttering every two
minutes, "I'll keel-haul the scoundrel, by heavens! I'll teach him to
bite my dog."
Snarleyyow did not re-appear on deck; he had received such punishment as
he did not expect. He licked the wounds where he could get at them, and
then remained in the cabin in a sort of perturbed slumber, growling
every minute, as if he were fighting the battle over again in his sleep.