'Why, sir, that man was one of the worst of the rioters, and he is, besides, one of the greatest villains on the Points,' remarked a watchman, who, having only been recently appointed, was comparatively _green_, and by no means _au fait_ in the method of doing business in that 'shop.' 'Silence, sir!' thundered the Captain--'how dare you dispute my authority? I shall discharge whom I please, damn you; and you will do well if you are not discharged from your post for your interference.' The indignant Captain demanded the name of the next prisoner, who confessed to the eccentric Scriptural cognomen of 'Numbers Clapp.' 'I know _him_, too,' again whispered the under-official--'he is a common and notorious thief, but he is useful to us as a _stool pigeon_,[3] and you must let him go.' 'Clapp, you can go,' said the Captain; and Mr. Numbers Clapp lost no time in conveying himself from the dangerous vicinity of justice; though such _justice_ as we here record, was not very dangerous to _him_. 'Now, fellow, what's _your_ name?' asked the Captain of a shabbily dressed man, whose appearance strongly indicated both abject poverty and extreme ill health. 'Dionysus Wheezlecroft,' answered the man, with a consumptive cough. 'Do you know him?' inquired the Captain, addressing the under-official, in a whisper. 'Perfectly well,' replied the other--'he is a poor devil, utterly harmless and inoffensive, and is both sick and friendless. He was formerly a political stump orator of some celebrity; he worked hard for his party, and when that party got into power, it kicked him to the devil, and he has been flat on his back ever since.' 'What party did he belong to?--_ours?_' asked the Captain. 'No,' was the reply; and that brief monosyllable of two letters, sealed the doom of Dionysus Wheezlecroft. 'Lock him up,' cried the Captain--'he will be _sent over_ for six months in the morning.' And so he was--not for any crime, but because he did not belong to _our party_. Several negroes, male and female, who could not possibly belong to any party, were then summarily disposed of; and at last it came to Frank's turn to be examined. 'Say, you sailor fellow,' quoth the Captain, 'what's your name?' Frank quietly stepped forward, and in as few words as possible made himself known; he explained the motives of his disguise, and the circumstances under which he had been induced to enter the house of Pat Mulligan.--The Captain, though savage and tyrannical to his inferiors, was all smiles and affability to the rich Mr. Sydney.