A SKETCH IN THE TROPICS. 161 



said nothing, and whittled away harder than ever. 

 This was his character, however. I had known him 

 for five years that he had been in the employ of the 

 same house as myself, and he had always passed for 

 a singularly reserved and tactiturn man. During our 

 voyage, whole weeks had sometimes elapsed without 

 his uttering a word except to give the necessary orders. 

 In spite of his peculiarities, Captain Ready was 

 generally liked by his brother captains, and by all 

 who knew him. When he did speak, his words (per- 

 haps the more prized on account of their rarity) were 

 always listened to with attention. There was a be- 

 nevolence and mildness in the tones of his voice that 

 rendered it quite musical, and never failed to prepos- 

 sess in his favour all those who heard him, and to 

 make them forget the usual sullenness of his manner. 

 During the whole time he had sailed for the Balti- 

 more house, he had shown himself a model of trust- 

 worthiness and seamanship, and enjoyed the full con- 

 fidence of his employers. It was said, however, that 

 his early life had not been irreproachable ; that when 

 he first, and as a very young man, had command of 

 a Philadelphian ship, something had occurred which 

 had thrown a stain upon his character. What this 

 was, I had never heard very distinctly stated. He 

 had favoured the escape of a malefactor, ensnared 

 some officers who were sent on board his vessel to 

 seize him. All this was very vague, but what was 

 positive was the fact, that the owners of the ship he 



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