"The lieutenant's face by this time was as red as his whiskers, and,
though he was in a towering rage, he quickly calmed down again, like
boiling milk when it is taken off the fire.
"'Then,' said he, quietly, 'am I to understand you refuse?'
"'No, your honor,' said I. 'If it is my duty, I must obey; but you
will pardon the liberty, when I say that it is hard to be forced to
drag away a lot of poor fellows against their wills.'
"'Look ye,' replied the lieutenant, 'I tolerate your freedom of speech
for two reasons--the first, because we are here alone, and no harm is
done; the second, because I entertain the same opinion myself; but,
mind you, we are both bound by the regulations of the service, and it
is mutiny for either of us to disobey.'
"According to the moral law, the mission with which I was charged
could scarcely be considered honorable; but, according to the laws of
the land, or rather of the sea, it was perfectly unexceptionable.
Amongst the seamen, a foray amongst the landlubbers was regarded more
in the light of a spree than anything else. If, indeed, it were
possible to pick up the lazy and idle amongst the population, this
mode of enlistment might be useful; but often the industrious head of
a family was seized, whilst the idle escaped. It was rare, however,
that a ship's crew were employed in this sort of duty; men were more
usually obtained through the crimps on shore, who often fearfully
abused the authority with which they were invested for the purpose.
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