"What sort of a way is that to coil up a rope," and hurled an iron belaying-pin at him with all his might. It missed its mark and made a deep scar in the wood-work of the forward house. If the captain did not value his sailors' heads very much, the same imputation did not apply to his buckets or the appearance of the ship; and this last occurrence was so manifestly unjust, and resulted moreover in such an injury to the house, that it brought the second mate a mild rebuke from the captain, who told him he ought to be careful or he'd kill somebody. He seemed to forget that splitting skulls open with the cook's axe might probably lead to that result. All these affairs, which are but samples of many others, made the mate and myself still more unfriendly to Mr. Howard, and scarcely any conversation passed between us. But the captain seeing this coolness, befriended Howard all the more in private, though one night when all hands were on deck, he got so furious at the mate's neglect to answer his orders, that he hauled off his coat and offered to fight the second mate, greatly to Howard's bewilderment, who thought it was rather poor business to do all the "captain's dirty work" for him and then get paid with the abuse, which belonged to the mate, but which the captain was afraid to give him. Howard's cruelty and cowardice culminated in an act which even the captain had to condemn. One of the two boys was named Taylor, and had formerly been a servant in the house of a well-known senator in Washington. If not one of the brightest boys in the world, he was one of the most well disposed, and though he had felt the captain's "cat" on his back pretty often, nothing seemed to interfere with his good nature. It was he who called the captain when Jake was attacking the second mate. One evening at clearing-up time, Taylor was sent aft on the poop with a broom to sweep the deck down. But after sweeping a little while, he rested his broom against the house, and commenced making some motions for the benefit of the man at the wheel, which seemed to tickle him very much. Just then the captain happened to look around the corner of the house, and spying master Taylor's proceedings, he put an end to the fun by shouting: "You imp, what are you doing there?" "Nothing, sir," said Taylor, beginning to move his broom very assiduously. "If that's what you call nothing, I'll teach you not to do nothing again!" and taking him by the neck he hauled him along to where the cat was hanging at the front of the cabin, and taking it down, gave Taylor's back such a dressing as it had not received that voyage. He was amply punished, to say the least, but not enough to suit Mr. Howard, who followed the boy forward, and getting him forward of the foremast said to him: "What did I send you aft for?" "To sweep the deck, sir," answered Taylor.