{"id":"01KG8AKX6VC017VMF38T9ZC0EH","cid":"bafkreif4cfdnwrkyf7yjkqegrdfzfjqwvyjesi35dohiheqm33imjvgnqe","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":4229,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.838Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":4168,"text":"He was an extremely little man, that solitary cabin-passenger—the\r\npassenger who came on board in a business-like manner with his baggage;\r\nnever spoke to any one, and the captain seldom spoke to him.\r\n\r\nPerhaps he was a deputy from the Deaf and Dumb Institution in New York,\r\ngoing over to London to address the public in pantomime at Exeter Hall\r\nconcerning the signs of the times.\r\n\r\nHe was always in a brown study; sometimes sitting on the quarter-deck\r\nwith arms folded, and head hanging upon his chest. Then he would rise,\r\nand gaze out to windward, as if he had suddenly discovered a friend.\r\nBut looking disappointed, would retire slowly into his state-room,\r\nwhere you could see him through the little window, in an irregular\r\nsitting position, with the back part of him inserted into his berth,\r\nand his head, arms, and legs hanging out, buried in profound\r\nmeditation, with his fore-finger aside of his nose. He never was seen\r\nreading; never took a hand at cards; never smoked; never drank wine;\r\nnever conversed; and never staid to the dessert at dinner-time.\r\n\r\nHe seemed the true microcosm, or little world to himself: standing in\r\nno need of levying contributions upon the surrounding universe.\r\nConjecture was lost in speculating as to who he was, and what was his\r\nbusiness. The sailors, who are always curious with regard to such\r\nmatters, and criticise cabin-passengers more than cabin-passengers are\r\nperhaps aware at the time, completely exhausted themselves in\r\nsuppositions, some of which are characteristically curious.\r\n\r\nOne of the crew said he was a mysterious bearer of secret dispatches to\r\nthe English court; others opined that he was a traveling surgeon and\r\nbonesetter, but for what reason they thought so, I never could learn;\r\nand others declared that he must either be an unprincipled bigamist,\r\nflying from his last wife and several small children; or a scoundrelly\r\nforger, bank-robber, or general burglar, who was returning to his\r\nbeloved country with his ill-gotten booty. One observing sailor was of\r\nopinion that he was an English murderer, overwhelmed with speechless\r\nremorse, and returning home to make a full confession and be hanged.\r\n\r\nBut it was a little singular, that among all their sage and sometimes\r\nconfident opinings, not one charitable one was made; no! they were all\r\nsadly to the prejudice of his moral and religious character. But this\r\nis the way all the world over. Miserable man! could you have had an\r\ninkling of what they thought of you, I know not what you would have\r\ndone.\r\n\r\nHowever, not knowing any thing about these surmisings and suspicions,\r\nthis mysterious cabin-passenger went on his way, calm, cool, and\r\ncollected; never troubled any body, and nobody troubled him. Sometimes,\r\nof a moonlight night he glided about the deck, like the ghost of a\r\nhospital attendant; flitting from mast to mast; now hovering round the\r\nskylight, now vibrating in the vicinity of the binnacle. Blunt, the\r\nDream Book tar, swore he was a magician; and took an extra dose of\r\nsalts, by way of precaution against his spells.\r\n\r\nWhen we were but a few days from port, a comical adventure befell this\r\ncabin-passenger. There is an old custom, still in vogue among some\r\nmerchant sailors, of tying fast in the rigging any lubberly landsman of\r\na passenger who may be detected taking excursions aloft, however\r\nmoderate the flight of the awkward fowl. This is called _“making a\r\nspread eagle”_ of the man; and before he is liberated, a promise is\r\nexacted, that before arriving in port, he shall furnish the ship’s\r\ncompany with money enough for a treat all round.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQSB3A6BR5CJ3SG0FQ1M","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKX6VPCEXSG1Z2WD0YG8P","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKX74JC9DC16C5TXRDMAK","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.675Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.909Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}