For many long days and nights I endured this terrible oppression without
complaining--not but that I could have complained and would, but to what
purpose? and to whom? There was none to whom I might appeal--no one to
listen to my tale of woe. All hands were equally indifferent to my
sufferings, or at least seemed so, since no one offered either to take
my part, or say a word in my favour.
At length, however, an incident occurred which seemed to make me in some
measures the protege of one of the sailors, who, though he could not
shield me from the brutalities of the captain or mate, was at least able
to protect me from the indignities I had hitherto suffered at the hands
of the common men.
This sailor was named "Ben Brace," but whether this was a real name or
one which he had acquired at sea, I could never tell. It was the only
name that I ever heard given him, and that by which he was entered in
the ship's books. It is quite possible that "Ben Brace" was his real
name--for among seamen such appellations as "Tom Bowline", "Bill
Buntline," and the like are not uncommon--having descended from father
to son through a long line of sailor ancestry.
Ben Brace then was the name of my protector, and although the name is
elsewhere famous, for the sake of truth I cannot alter it. How I came
to secure the patronage of Ben was not through any merit of my own, nor
indeed did it arise from any very delicate sympathy on his part. The
companionship in which he had long lived had naturally hardened his
feelings like the rest--though not by any means to so great an extent.
He was only a little indifferent to human suffering--having witnessed
much of it--and usage will make callous the most sensitive natures.
Moreover, Ben had himself suffered ill-treatment, as I afterwards learnt
from him--savage abuse had he suffered, and this had sunk into his
spirit and rendered him somewhat morose. There was some apology for him
if his manner was none of the gentlest. His natural disposition had
been abused, for at bottom there was as much kindness in his nature as
belongs to the average of men.
A rough, splendid seaman was Brace--the very best on board--and this
point was generally conceded by the others--though he was not without
one or two rivals.
It was a splendid sight to see Ben Brace, at the approach of a sudden
squall, "swarming" up the shrouds to reef a topsail, his fine bushy
curls blowing out behind, while upon his face sat that calm but daring
expression, as if he defied the storm and could master it. He was a
large man, but well proportioned--rather lithe and sinewy than robust,
with a shock of dark-brown hair in their thick curls somewhat matted,
covering the whole of his head; for he was still but a young man, and
there were no signs of baldness. His face was good, rather darkish in
complexion, and he wore neither beard nor whisker--which was rather odd
for a sailor, whose opportunities for shaving are none of the best. But
Ben liked a clean face, and always kept one. He was no sea dandy,
however, and never exhibited himself, even on Sundays, with fine blue
jacket and fancy collars as some others were wont to do. On the
contrary, his wear was dark blue Guernsey shirt, fitting tight to his
chest, and displaying the fine proportions of his arms and bust. His
neck a sculptor would have admired from its bold regular outline, and
his breast was full and well rounded, though, like that of all sailors,
it was disfigured by tattooing, and over its surface when bare, and on
his arms, you might have observed the usual hieroglyphics of the ship--
the foul anchor, the pair of pierced hearts, with the B.B., and numerous
other initials. A female figure upon the left breast, rudely punctured
in deep-blue, was no doubt the presumed portrait of some black-eyed
"Sal" or "Susan" of the Downs.
Such was Ben Brace, my new-found friend and protector.
How I came to secure his protection was by a chance incident, somewhat
curious. It was thus:--
I had not been long on board before I made a discovery that somewhat
astonished me, which was, that more than half the crew were foreigners.
I was astonished at this, because I had hitherto been under the
impression that an English ship was always manned by English sailors--
including of course Scotch and Irish--either of whom make just as good
sailors as Englishmen. Instead of being all English, or Scotch, or
Irish, however, on board the _Pandora_ (for that I had learnt was the
name of the ship, and an appropriate name it was), I soon perceived that
at least three-fourths of the men were from other countries. Were they
Frenchmen? or Spaniards? or Portuguese? or Dutch? or Swedes? or
Italians? No--but they were all these, and far more too, since the crew
was a very large one for the size of the ship--quite two score of them
in all. There seemed to be among them a representative of every
maritime nation in the world, and, indeed, had every country in sending
its quota selected the greatest scamp within its boundaries, they could
hardly have produced a finer combination of ruffianism than was the crew
of the _Pandora_! I have already hinted at exceptions, but when I came
to know them all there were only two--my protector Brace, and another
innocent but unfortunate fellow, who was by birth a Dutchman.
Among the mixed lot there were several Frenchmen, but one, named "Le
Gros," deserves particular notice. He was well named, for he was a
stout, fat Frenchman, gross in body as in mind, with a face of ferocious
aspect, more that half covered with a beard that a pirate might have
envied--and indeed it was a pirate's beard, as I afterwards learnt.
Le Gros was a bully. His great size and strength enabled him to enact
the part of the bully, and upon all occasions he played it to
perfection. He was a bold man, however, and a good seaman--one of the
two or three who divided the championship with Ben Brace. I need hardly
say that there was a rivalry between them, with national prejudices at
the bottom of it. To this rivalry was I indebted for the friendship of
Ben Brace.
It came about thus. By some trifling act I had offended the Frenchman,
and ever after did he make it a point to insult and annoy me by every
means in his power, until at length, on one occasion, he struck me a
cruel blow on the face. That blow did the business. It touched the
generous chord in the heart of the English sailor, that, despite the
vile association in which he lived, still vibrated at the call of
humanity. He was present, and saw the stroke given, and saw, moreover,
that it was undeserved. He was lying in his hammock at the time, but
instantly sprang out, and, without saying a word, he made a rush at Le
Gros and pinned him with a John Bull hit upon the chin.
The bully staggered back against a chest, but in a moment recovered
himself; and then both went on deck, where a ring was formed, and they
went to work with the fists in right earnest. The officers of the ship
did not interfere--in fact the mate drew near and looked on, rather as I
thought with an interest in the combat, than with any desire to put an
end to it, and the captain remained upon his quarter-deck, apparently
not caring how it ended! I wondered at this want of discipline, but I
had already begun to wonder at many other matters that occurred daily on
board the _Pandora_, and I said nothing.
The fight lasted a good while, but ended as might be expected, when a
fist combat occurs between an Englishman and Frenchman. The latter was
badly thrashed, and that portion of his face that was not already black
with hair was soon turned to a bluish-black by the rough, hard knuckles
of his antagonist. He was at length felled to the deck like a great
bullock, and obliged to acknowledge himself beaten.
"Now you danged parley voo!" cried Brace, as he gave the finishing blow,
"don't lay finger on that boy again, or I'll give you just twice as
much. The boy's English after all, and gets enough, without being
bullied by a frog-eatin' Frenchman. So mind what I say, one and all of
ye," and as he said this he scowled round upon the crowd, "don't lay a
finger on him again ne'er one of you."
Nor did they one or any of them from that time forth. Le Gros's
chastisement proved effectual in restraining him, and its example
affected all the others.
From that time forth my existence became less miserable, though for many
reasons it was sufficiently still hard enough to endure. My protector
was strong to shield me from the crew, but I had still the captain, the
carpenter, and the mate for my tormentors.