"
"By the way, talking about acquaintances, Willis, have you obtained
any further intelligence from your friend Bill, _alias_ Bob?" inquired
Jack.
"No, not a syllable; the viper is as cunning as a fox, and keeps his
mouth as close as a mouse-trap."
"He seems as obstinate as a mule, and as obdurate as a Chinaman into
the bargain."
"All that, and more than that; but," added Willis, "I have found out
from the mate that he was pressed on board this ship at New Orleans."
"Pressed on board?" said Fritz, inquiringly.
"Yes; that is a mode of recruiting for the navy peculiar to England
and the United States. Would you like to hear something about how the
system is carried out?"
"Yes, Willis, very much."
"The transactions, however, that I shall have to relate are in no way
creditable, either to myself or anybody else connected with them; and
I am afraid, when you hear the particulars, you will be ready to turn
round and say, your friend the Pilot is no good after all."
"Have you, then, been desperately wicked, Willis?"
"Well, that depends entirely upon the view you take of what I am to
tell you. Listen."
FOOTNOTES:
[H] Sometimes called the _Ladrones_ or _Archipelago of Saint Lazarus_.
CHAPTER XXIII.
IN WHICH WILLIS SHOWS, THAT THE TERM PRESS-GANG MEANS SOMETHING ELSE
BESIDES THE GENTLEMEN OF THE PRESS.
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