"The funny thing was, though, in all the mess I didn't feel a bit
astonished or frightened. It seemed as if I'd been in a good many
fights, because I told my next man so when the row began. But
that cad of an overseer on my deck wouldn't unloose our chains
and give us a chance. He always said that we'd all he set free after
a battle, but we never were; We never were." Charlie shook his
head mournfully.
"What a scoundrel!"
"I should say he was. He never gave us enough to eat, and
sometimes we were so thirsty that we used to drink salt-water. I
can taste that salt-water still."
"Now tell me something about the harbor where the fight was
fought."
"I didn't dream about that. I know it was a harbor, though; because
we were tied up to a ring on a white wall and all the face of the
stone under water was covered with wood to prevent our ram
getting chipped when the tide made us rock."
"That's curious. Our hero commanded the galley? Didn't he?"
"Didn't he just! He stood by the bows and shouted like a good 'un.
He was the man who killed the overseer.
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