He, being a mighty lover of children, would often divert himself by talking to the boy, till at length he took such a fancy to him, that he ordered him a little hammock in his own cabin, and none were so great as the Captain and his boy _Avery_, which had like to have proved very fatal to him; for Avery one night, observing the Captain to be very drunk with some passengers that were on board, got a lighted match and had like to have blown up the ship, had not the Gunner happened accidentally to follow him into the store-room. This made the Captain ever after very shy of his new Acquaintance, and _Avery_, after he had been well whipped, was ordered down into the hold, where he remained until they arrived at _Carolina_, which happened four or five days after. The boy was given to a merchant, who, taking a fancy to him, put him to school; but he made so little progress in learning, and committed so many unlucky tricks, that the merchant, in about three years, shipped him off to his friends at _Plymouth_ on board the _Nonesuch_, where he was no sooner arrived but his mother was overjoyed with the sight of her son, his father being dead about a month before his arrival. And, indeed, it was thought the loss of their son broke his heart, for it was observed the father never held up his head after, the neighbours often reflecting upon him for his ill-usage of the seamen, who had spent so much money at his house; saying he could never expect that all his ill-gotten riches could prosper him, which so happened, as you shall hear presently. For his mother, dying soon after, the boy was left under the guardianship of one Mr. _Lightfoot_, a merchant, who, having great losses at sea, became a bankrupt, and so young _Avery_ was left to look out after himself; there he continued for many years in pilfering and stealing till the country was too hot for him, when he betook him to sea again, where in time he became as famous for robbing as _Cromwell_ for rebellion. He entered himself on board the _Duke_, Captain _Gibson_ Commander, being one of the two ships of twenty-four guns and one hundred men which were fitted out by the merchants of _Bristol_ for the service of _Spain_, which they had no sooner done, but they were ordered by their agents at _Bristol_ to sail for the _Groyne_ to receive their orders. On board one of which ships _Avery_, being at this time above twenty years old, entered himself, where he had not been long before he observed the Captain was much addicted to drunkenness. He endeavoured to spirit up not only his own ship's crew, but having also given the word to part of the other ship's crew, the conspirators gave the signal.