{"id":"01KG8AMFEWTNYF10FK985JJR6Y","cid":"bafkreidiy62zvq5knp7q5jrcb4tmznnar73fqkjksnxcbr33nsx6ho6y3a","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":8269,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":8193,"text":"CHAPTER LI.\r\nONE OF “THE PEOPLE” HAS AN AUDIENCE WITH THE COMMODORE AND THE CAPTAIN\r\nON THE QUARTER-DECK.\r\n\r\n\r\nWe had not lain in Rio long, when in the innermost recesses of the\r\nmighty soul of my noble Captain of the Top—incomparable Jack Chase—the\r\ndeliberate opinion was formed, and rock-founded, that our ship’s\r\ncompany must have at least one day’s “_liberty_” to go ashore ere we\r\nweighed anchor for home.\r\n\r\nHere it must be mentioned that, concerning anything of this kind, no\r\nsailor in a man-of-war ever presumes to be an agitator, unless he is of\r\na rank superior to a mere able-seaman; and no one short of a petty\r\nofficer—that is, a captain of the top, a quarter-gunner, or boatswain’s\r\nmate—ever dreams of being a spokesman to the supreme authority of the\r\nvessel in soliciting any kind of favor for himself and shipmates.\r\n\r\nAfter canvassing the matter thoroughly with several old quarter-masters\r\nand other dignified sea-fencibles, Jack, hat in hand, made his\r\nappearance, one fine evening, at the mast, and, waiting till Captain\r\nClaret drew nigh, bowed, and addressed him in his own off-hand,\r\npolished, and poetical style. In his intercourse with the quarter-deck,\r\nhe always presumed upon his being such a universal favourite.\r\n\r\n“Sir, this Rio is a charming harbour, and we poor mariners—your trusty\r\nsea-warriors, valiant Captain! who, with _you_ at their head, would\r\nboard the Rock of Gibraltar itself, and carry it by storm—we poor\r\nfellows, valiant Captain! have gazed round upon this ravishing\r\nlandscape till we can gaze no more. Will Captain Claret vouchsafe one\r\nday’s liberty, and so assure himself of eternal felicity, since, in our\r\nflowing cups, he will be ever after freshly remembered?”\r\n\r\nAs Jack thus rounded off with a snatch from Shakspeare, he saluted the\r\nCaptain with a gallant flourish of his tarpaulin, and then, bringing\r\nthe rim to his mouth, with his head bowed, and his body thrown into a\r\nfine negligent attitude, stood a picture of eloquent but passive\r\nappeal. He seemed to say, Magnanimous Captain Claret, we fine fellows,\r\nand hearts of oak, throw ourselves upon your unparalleled goodness.\r\n\r\n“And what do you want to go ashore for?” asked the Captain, evasively,\r\nand trying to conceal his admiration of Jack by affecting some\r\nhaughtiness.\r\n\r\n“Ah! sir,” sighed Jack, “why do the thirsty camels of the desert desire\r\nto lap the waters of the fountain and roll in the green grass of the\r\noasis? Are we not but just from the ocean Sahara? and is not this Rio a\r\nverdant spot, noble Captain? Surely you will not keep us always\r\ntethered at anchor, when a little more cable would admit of our\r\ncropping the herbage! And it is a weary thing, Captain Claret, to be\r\nimprisoned month after month on the gun-deck, without so much as\r\nsmelling a citron. Ah! Captain Claret, what sings sweet Waller:\r\n\r\n     ‘But who can always on the billows lie?\r\n      The watery wilderness yields no supply.’\r\n\r\n\r\ncompared with such a prisoner, noble Captain,\r\n\r\n     ‘Happy, thrice happy, who, in battle slain,\r\n      Press’d in Atrides’ cause the Trojan pain!’\r\n\r\n\r\nPope’s version, sir, not the original Greek.”\r\n\r\nAnd so saying, Jack once more brought his hat-rim to his mouth, and\r\nslightly bending forward, stood mute.\r\n\r\nAt this juncture the Most Serene Commodore himself happened to emerge\r\nfrom the after-gangway, his gilded buttons, epaulets, and the gold lace\r\non his chapeau glittering in the flooding sunset. Attracted by the\r\nscene between Captain Claret and so well-known and admired a commoner\r\nas Jack Chase he approached, and assuming for the moment an air of\r\npleasant condescension—never shown to his noble barons the officers of\r\nthe ward-room—he said, with a smile, “Well, Jack, you and your\r\nshipmates are after some favour, I suppose—a day’s liberty, is it not?”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJSTQ0JH1SNY55XKEJYYJ","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMFEYVMTFFAA5V5E762SE","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:38.364Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:49.532Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}