{"product_id":"2940016096865","title":"Mr. Trunnell, Mate of the Ship \"Pirate\"","description":"MR. TRUNNELL\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy some means, needless to record here, I found myself, not so many years\u003cbr\u003eago, \"on the beach\" at Melbourne, in Australia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo be on the beach is not an uncommon occurrence for a sailor in any part\u003cbr\u003eof the world; but, since the question is suggested, I will say that I was\u003cbr\u003enot a very dissipated young fellow of twenty-five, for up to that time I\u003cbr\u003ehad never even tasted rum in any form, although I had followed the sea\u003cbr\u003efor seven years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI had held a mate's berth, and as I did not care to ship before the mast\u003cbr\u003eon the first vessel bound out, I had remained ashore until a threatening\u003cbr\u003elandlord made it necessary for me to become less particular as to\u003cbr\u003eoccupation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was a time when mates were plenty and men were few, so I made the\u003cbr\u003erounds of the shipping houses with little hope of getting a chance to\u003cbr\u003eshow my papers. These, together with an old quadrant, a nautical almanac,\u003cbr\u003ea thick pea coat, and a pipe, were all I possessed of this world's goods,\u003cbr\u003eand I carried the quadrant with me in case I should not succeed in\u003cbr\u003esigning on. I could \"spout it,\" if need be, at some broker's, and thus\u003cbr\u003eraise a few dollars.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs I made my way along the water front, I noticed a fine clipper ship of\u003cbr\u003enearly two thousand tons lying at a wharf. She was in the hands of a few\u003cbr\u003eriggers, who were sending aloft her canvas, which, being of a snowy\u003cbr\u003ewhiteness, proclaimed her nationality even before I could see her hull.\u003cbr\u003eOn reaching the wharf where she lay, I stopped and noticed that she was\u003cbr\u003eloaded deep, for her long black sides were under to within four feet of\u003cbr\u003eher main deck in the waist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHer high bulwarks shut off my view of her deck; but, from the sounds that\u003cbr\u003ecame down from there, I could tell that she was getting in the last of\u003cbr\u003eher cargo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI walked to her stern and read her name in gilt letters: \"Pirate, of\u003cbr\u003ePhiladelphia.\" Then I remembered her. She was a Yankee ship of evil\u003cbr\u003ereputation, and although I wanted to get back to my home in New York, I\u003cbr\u003eturned away thankful that I was not homeward bound in that craft. She had\u003cbr\u003ecome into port a month before and had reported three men missing from her\u003cbr\u003epapers. There were no witnesses; but the sight of the rest of the crew\u003cbr\u003etold the story of the disappearance of their shipmates, and the skipper\u003cbr\u003ehad been clapped into jail. I had heard of the ruffian's sinister record\u003cbr\u003ebefore, and inwardly hoped he would get his deserts for his brutality,\u003cbr\u003ealthough I knew there was little chance for it. He belonged to the class\u003cbr\u003eof captains that was giving American packets the hard name they were\u003cbr\u003egetting, so I heartily wished him evil.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs I turned, looking up at the beautiful fabric with her long, tapering,\u003cbr\u003et'gallant masts, topped with skysail yards fore and aft, and her\u003cbr\u003etremendous lower yards nearly ninety feet across, I thought what a\u003cbr\u003esplendid ship she was. It made me angry to think of what a place she must\u003cbr\u003ebe for the poor devils who would unwittingly ship aboard her. Only a\u003cbr\u003esailor knows how much of suffering in blows and curses it cost to\u003cbr\u003eaccomplish all that clean paint and scraped spar.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146521821424,"sku":"2940016096865","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016096865","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}