After leaving New Diep, a change came over the captain; the restraint which he had seemed to impose upon his passions during this voyage, vanished, and he acted as though intent upon making up for lost time, and relieving himself of an accumulation of malice and profanity. In a head wind or calm he would throw his hat on deck and jump on it, pouring forth abundant curses, and once even went so far as to shake his fist aloft and swear at "Him who made the calm." The sailors shook their heads and remarked to each other that the old man wasn't helping things much, and in the forecastle they told stories about ships being becalmed until the crew starved, or until the grass grew so long on her bottom that it took root at the bottom of the sea and held her fast when at last a breeze came. The crew behaved pretty well, were very civil and prompt in obeying orders, and proved themselves good "sailor men" withal. After the captain had about exhausted his vocabulary on the calm, he felt the need of something or person else to vent his spite upon; and as the crew, who usually received these attentions, hardly gave the excuse in this case, he very suddenly turned upon the second mate, watched me every moment, and criticised every act that could be in any way twisted so as to bear it. He had always appeared more friendly to me than to any one else, and this sudden change took everyone by surprise. It could hardly be accounted for except by supposing it to be the expression of his displeasure at my failure to develop into an officer after his own heart. It was soon evident that he had returned to the worst phase of his last voyage. I, of all others, had occasion to notice it, for the captain's peculiar attentions were bestowed upon me. His piercing eye was fastened upon me during the greater part of the day, and often in the night he crept stealthily on deck in hope of discovering some neglect of duty, but always found me awake, and the yards and sails trimmed as they should be, unless it happened that he came out within a few moments of a little change of wind, and on one or two such occasions he declared it had been so for half an hour, and taunted me with inattention, or threw out a hint that he suspected me of having been asleep--the greatest fault an officer can be guilty of. His principal reason for the latter suspicion on one occasion was that he had a dream about wild horses, which never occurred except when an officer was asleep. He had proved it several times, and never knew it to fail. Mr. Jones never went to sleep but once on deck, and that time the captain woke up in the midst of this dream and caught him. These things were very galling, but I was able to avoid any disrespectful response, until one morning his taunts were heaped upon me beyond endurance, and I had to answer back.