Morgan Robertson

“ And when there are as many as thirteen unruly sailors confined in the lazarette—thirteen aggressive, reckless,—self-respecting Americans reduced to the happiness of desperation, the noise they can make, the language they can use, and the songs they can sing at unseemly hours of night, give this drawback the importance of a positive menace to health. ”

“ Captain Jackson straightened up, with kindling eyes, and said to his first and second mate, “Go, both of you, and find those keys. Ask the steward.” Then down the hatch, “Men, I have sent for the keys.”
“That's right, Capt'n. You'll unlock us all, and promise to give us our discharge at Shanghai, so we can get home to business. Now, while you're waiting, and before you unlock us, just listen. You're pet is in a truthful mood to-day, and he wants to tell you something. ”

“ Captain Jackson, coming out from breakfast through the forward cabin door, looked with tired eyes at the rotund figure of his third mate as he rolled about among the men, drying the deck amidships, and called to him.
“Mr. Peck,” he said, with a little asperity, “you are getting too fat. You eat too much and sleep too well. Better trade rooms with me; then I'll have some sleep and you”ll reduce a little. What'll you do with all that fat when your thirteen friends catch you ashore?” ”

“ In the median lines of the alleys arise in the after part, abreast of the wheel, the quarter-bitts—strong posts for mooring the ship—which are also built up from the main deck and extend above it.
The lazarette is a handy place to stow coils of rope, spun yarn, and marline, bolts of canvas, bales of oakum, and similar stores in the mate's department. It is also a good place to stow unruly sailors, and in this regard has but one drawback—its contiguity to the cabin, through the thin walls of which may filter profanity and disrespectful opinions of the captain and officers. ”

“ Peck explained everything by the fact that these were lake sailors instead of salt-water men, and that, consequently, they had the advantage of daily newspapers ever at their command. Furthermore, the bland and buoyant little man had saved the captain's life when they of the extravagant claims had the upper hand of the ship. Therefore, the voyage southeastward across the Atlantic, through the Indian Ocean, and into the China Sea, was drawing near an end, with Sinful Peck complacent as third mate, and the riotous thirteen in irons in the lazarette. ”

“ Brown were lifted up the hatch—living skeletons, subjects for hospital treatment. Sinful followed, and though slow in his movements, with less need of assistance. His fat was gone, his eyes were bright and full, his skin, where not disfigured by a black or blue spot, or hidden by the dirt of the deck, was pink, smooth, and healthy. ”

“ You've worn out the seat o' your pants backsliding so much. And Moccassey, you're all right. You're born to be hung—couldn't kill you with an axe. Here, Poopdeck, that's a bad position to get into with congested brain—heels up in the air. Straighten out, man. Want more slack? Get your feet down, and keep your head up. Here, take this oakum for a pil—”
The rest was a gasp followed by a shriek.
Captain Jackson and the mate sprang to the hatch and looked down. Sinful was not in sight, though choked expostulations in his voice could be heard faintly from the darkness forward in the alley. ”

“ Peck under restraint, you are still insubordinate, and amenable to further punishment.”
“What more can you do?” came Seldom's rasping voice. “You've reached the limit, and the next thing must be to kill us. The first man o' you to come down that hatch on that errand 'll be shot 'fore he can move. We've got six bullets here.”
“That's right,” yelled others. “We'll hang for old sheep. played your last card, Skipper. You've more thunder left.”
“As I told you,” said the captain, “I have sent for the keys; but you are not yet released. Be careful how you threaten.” ”

“ Becker,” he added, with a look at a cloud bank gathering in the west, “begin with the kites, and don't stop until you have the ship under storm canvas. I shall turn in. Call me when it blows hard.”
With but twelve half-trained men, the shortening down of his two-thousand-ton ship was begun none too soon. It took the whole day, and through it all the captain slept—soundly because of his utter exhaustion, and in Sinful's bunk to escape the pandemonium in the starboard alley. ”

“ Can you shoot men in irons?
“If need be. Why not, sir? You needn't take a hand. I'll do it.”
“You will not,” said the captain, angrily. “Go down and get the keys. I don't know what to do. I want to think. Get Mr. Brown up here.”
The mate departed, returning a few minutes later with the news that the keys were not in sight, and followed by Mr. Brown, the second mate, whose working jaws indicated his interrupted breakfast. He was told the situation, but, like the captain, did not approve of Mr. Becker's suggestion
“Mr. Peck,” called the captain down the hatch, “where did you leave the keys?” ”

“ Gunner Meagher and Moccassey Gill are the ones I shot, you know, and the bullets passed through. Poopdeck Cahill's broken head is mending, but he isn't quite sane yet. We have him fast by the wrists close to the quarter-bitt, and the other two moored next him on the chain, where I can 'tend them without getting in reach of the others.”
“Look out for that. They could choke you to death. Have your gun handy when you go down, and sing out if they make any breaks.” ”