{"id":"01KG8AKMXCGF80GNEDDB8QXG8P","cid":"bafkreihsq7rnwsvyqlfxltde5nwojuo57gpoyc7mmr26qgksivhzbzym3i","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5924,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:05.591Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1DKC9HHJRKY25JZBEXW","start_line":5847,"text":"vessels separated more, an officer of the strange ship spying a man on\r\nthe boom, and taking him for one of his own men, demanded what he did\r\nthere.\r\n\r\n“Clearing the signal halyards, sir,” replied Israel, fumbling with the\r\ncord which happened to be dangling near by.\r\n\r\n“Well, bear a hand and come in, or you will have a bow-chaser at you\r\nsoon,” referring to the bow guns of the Ariel.\r\n\r\n“Aye, aye, sir,” said Israel, and in a moment he sprang to the deck,\r\nand soon found himself mixed in among some two hundred English sailors\r\nof a large letter of marque. At once he perceived that the story of\r\nhalf the crew being killed was a mere hoax, played off for the sake of\r\nmaking an escape. Orders were continually being given to pull on this\r\nand that rope, as the ship crowded all sail in flight. To these orders\r\nIsrael, with the rest, promptly responded, pulling at the rigging\r\nstoutly as the best of them; though Heaven knows his heart sunk deeper\r\nand deeper at every pull which thus helped once again to widen the gulf\r\nbetween him and home.\r\n\r\nIn intervals he considered with himself what to do. Favored by the\r\nobscurity of the night and the number of the crew, and wearing much the\r\nsame dress as theirs, it was very easy to pass himself off for one of\r\nthem till morning. But daylight would be sure to expose him, unless\r\nsome cunning, plan could be hit upon. If discovered for what he was,\r\nnothing short of a prison awaited him upon the ship’s arrival in port.\r\n\r\nIt was a desperate case, only as desperate a remedy could serve. One\r\nthing was sure, he could not hide. Some audacious parade of himself\r\npromised the only hope. Marking that the sailors, not being of the\r\nregular navy, wore no uniform, and perceiving that his jacket was the\r\nonly garment on him which bore any distinguishing badge, our adventurer\r\ntook it off, and privily dropped it overboard, remaining now in his\r\ndark blue woollen shirt and blue cloth waistcoat.\r\n\r\nWhat the more inspirited Israel to the added step now contemplated, was\r\nthe circumstance that the ship was not a Frenchman’s or other\r\nforeigner, but her crew, though enemies, spoke the same language that\r\nhe did.\r\n\r\nSo very quietly, at last, he goes aloft into the maintop, and sitting\r\ndown on an old sail there, beside some eight or ten topmen, in an\r\noff-handed way asks one for tobacco.\r\n\r\n“Give us a quid, lad,” as he settled himself in his seat.\r\n\r\n“Halloo,” said the strange sailor, “who be you? Get out of the top! The\r\nfore and mizzentop men won’t let us go into their tops, and blame me if\r\nwe’ll let any of their gangs come here. So, away ye go.”\r\n\r\n“You’re blind, or crazy, old boy,” rejoined Israel. “I’m a topmate;\r\nain’t I, lads?” appealing to the rest.\r\n\r\n“There’s only ten maintopmen belonging to our watch; if you are one,\r\nthen there’ll be eleven,” said a second sailor. “Get out of the top!”\r\n\r\n“This is too bad, maties,” cried Israel, “to serve an old topmate this\r\nway. Come, come, you are foolish. Give us a quid.” And, once more, with\r\nthe utmost sociability, he addressed the sailor next to him.\r\n\r\n“Look ye,” returned the other, “if you don’t make away with yourself,\r\nyou skulking spy from the mizzen, we’ll drop you to deck like a\r\njewel-block.”\r\n\r\nSeeing the party thus resolute, Israel, with some affected banter,\r\ndescended.\r\n\r\nThe reason why he had tried the scheme—and, spite of the foregoing\r\nfailure, meant to repeat it—was this: As customary in armed ships, the\r\nmen were in companies allotted to particular places and functions.\r\nTherefore, to escape final detection, Israel must some way get himself\r\nrecognized as belonging to some one of those bands; otherwise, as an\r\nisolated nondescript, discovery ere long would be certain, especially\r\nupon the next general muster. To be sure, the hope in question was a\r\nforlorn sort of hope, but it was his sole one, and must therefore be\r\ntried.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJJRQA5EDSW298W4T2SYR","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1DKC9HHJRKY25JZBEXW","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKMX5SSCP4P5YGHA4SV68","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKMX9NJ5R2NA1J0CB913B","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:11.180Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:17.399Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}