"Nice man, that Reverend Jimson, I guess," the captain said, as they
wended their way homeward; "but he's got as many ways of holdin' a
feller as an octopus. And lemme tell you, that's a plenty! Arms seem
to grow on devilfish 'while you wait' as the feller said.
"I sha'n't ever forget the time I was a boy in the old _Mary Bedloe_
brig, out o' Boston, loaded with sundries for Jamaica, to bring back
molasses--and something a leetle mite stronger. That's 'bout as near
as I ever got to having traffic with liquor--and 'twas an unlucky
v'y'ge all the way through.
"Before we ever got the rum aboard," pursued Cap'n Amazon, "on our way
down there, our water went bad. Yes, sir! Water does get stringy
sometimes on long v'y'ges. It useter on whalin' cruises--get all
stringy and bad; but after she'd worked clear she'd be fit to drink
again.
"But this time in the _Mary Bedloe_ it was something mysterious
happened to the drinking water. Made the hull crew sick. Cap'n Jim
Braman was master. He was a good navigator, but an awful profane man.
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