THE LAST TORTURE. 337 



one day, during the captain's usual catechising, 

 proved unusually stupid, that worthy, intent upon 

 a novel excitement, determined to hang his victim 

 ever the side on a level with the water's edge, 

 and there make him scrub the long grass off the 

 water-line. A stout rope was provided, and 

 Paddy, who was a non-resistant, was made iHst 

 and helplessly lowered till he was up to the mid- 

 C 7 le immersed in water. 



" Now scrub, you scoundrel," said his tormentor, 

 as in savage glee he looked down at him. 



Paddy's entreaties for mercy were uninter- 

 rupted, save by an occasional sputtering cry, fol- 

 lowing upon his complete immersion. For as the 

 vessel was under strong headway, she once in a 

 while careened over sufficiently to entirely sub- 

 merge the poor half-witted- Irishman. 



There was no actual danger the captain and 

 mate having taken care to so secure him as to 

 make it impossible that he should be lost over- 

 board. But with Paddy's nervous condition, and 

 constitutional antipathy to water in any shape 

 except as " tay," he was in mortal fear. 



After two hours of suspense, he was once more 

 safely landed on deck. He took immediately to 

 his berth, and did not recover from the shock of 

 that morning till two or three days before we 

 entered the West India dock. 



Channel navigation, hard at best, is a torture 

 where it becomes necessary that three wretched 

 men shall perform the duties for which an entire 

 22 



