This bold determination was received with a general cheer; the crews drank to the glory of their expedition, and all rushed toward the galleys, which, crowded with men, lay tossing at the edge of the arch. I followed, and demanded what was to be our fate. “What will you have?” “Anything but abandonment here. Let us take the chances of your voyage, and be set on shore at the first place you touch.” “And sell our secret to the best bidder? No. But I have no time to make terms with you now. One word for all; ragged as you both are, you are strong, and your faces would do no great discredit to our profession. You probably think this no very striking compliment,” said he, laughing. “However, I have taken a whim to have you with us and offer you promotion. Will you take service with the noble company of the Free-trade?” Jubal was rashly indignant; I checked him, and merely answered that I had purposes of extreme exigency which prevented my accepting his offer. “Ha, morality!” exclaimed he, “you will not be seen with rogues like us?” He laughed aloud. “Why, man, if you will not live, eat, drink, travel, and die with rogues, where upon earth can you expect to live or die? The difference between us and the world is that we do the thing without the additional vice of hypocrisy.” The bold fellows who waited round us felt for the honor of their calling, and but for their awe of the captain we had stood slight chance of escape. “A pike might let a little light into their understandings,” said one. “If they will not follow on the deck, they should swim at the stern,” said another. “The hermits should be sent back to their dungeon,” said a third. The boat was now run up on the sand. [Sidenote: The Captain’s Calling] “Get in,” said the captain. “I have taken it into my head to convince you by fact of the honor, dignity, and primitiveness of our profession, which is, in the first place, the oldest, for it was the original employment of all human hands; in the next place, the most universal, for it is the principle of all trades, pursuits, and professions, from the Emperor on his throne down through the doctor, the lawyer, and the merchant, to the very sediment of society.” A loud laugh echoed through the cavern. While he was arranging his corselet and weapons round him, the captain proceeded: “The Free-trade is the essence of the virtues. For example, I meet a merchantman loaded with goods—for what is the cargo meant? To purchase slaves; to tear fathers from their families—husbands from their wives; to burn villages, and bribe savages to murder each other. I strip the hold; the slave-market is at an end, and none suffer but fellows who ought to have been hanged long ago.” The captain’s doctrine was more popular than ever. [Sidenote: On Board the Galleys]