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The other Jug, the boatswain's bullying boy,

Who oft was wont sarcastic to annoy

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The little minstrel, call him blind-man's dog, 2550
And sneering hint he filch'd the piper's grog.
When on his page the sightless Shelty hung,
Jug, in his wanton mood, would loll his tongue,
And uncontroulable, of humour rude,
His mirth, profane and infamous, intrude.
Sometimes the graceless boy, to please the few,
Would the Scot mimic as his pipe he blew,
And with such gestures writhe his form about,
That not the grave could hold from laughing out.
Then Caleb, with his eye-balls flashing fire,
Was seen to stamp the plank in martial ire;
Frown in his choler, and infuriate turn,
The fight demand, and for the combat burn.
That as it may-in conflict now they press'd,
Fist rais'd to fist, and breast oppos'd to breast;
Abetting Caleb, Paul and Francis stand,
They whisper science, and direct his hand,
And with their counsel words sustaining gave,
Proofs of their love, but needless to the brave.
Jug found a second in his friend Sam Splice, 2570
Whose savage air betray'd a soul of vice,

His head bound up attests his late disgrace,

And public scandal sat upon his face.

Both champions stand undaunted on the ground,

Move their clench'd hands, and meditate a wound;

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With grinning teeth, Caleb his hot breath draws,
Nor is it fear, but rage that makes him pause.
On as he comes, the boatswain's wary boy
Shifts when his hand he raises to annoy,
Shuns his stern menace with unerring sight,
And weighs and speculates the future fight.
Then presses in his turn:-the headlong shock,
With foot unshaken as the living rock,
Caleb resists-and, grappling with his foe,

Full in his mouth impels the staggering blow. 2585
Then thus Sam Splice: I see your steerage fails,
The foe takes all the wind out of your sails,
Now shift your helm, and, rounding on your heel,
Lay him aboard, and make his timbers reel.
Thus counsell'd he-the boy complying heard,
And forward rush'd, in all his might prepar'd,
Foaming in ire, with wishes dire possess'd
To dash the vital stream from Caleb's breast:
Not more abrupt appears the billow dark
That breaks with fury on the lab'ring bark,
But mock'd with skill, an unexpected blow
From the keen minstrel met his knitted brow;
Like a boat broaching-to his head he sway'd,
And soon on deck his lubbard carcass laid.
There, grovelling on the plank, he struggled long,
Close grappled by the raging son of song,
Who, as on Jug he fell, by chance or skill,
Bore high his better arm, releas'd at will,

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And, giving to the gales all human ties,

Strives with his thumb to gouge out both his eyes.*
Take thy reward, exclaims the piper's boy,
Nor with thy taunts again the blind annoy—
Soon, like old Shelty's, shall thy during way
Be shut for ever from the light of day;
No more to know the sun, nor star, nor moon,
Nor night distinguish from the blaze of noon.
With quivering feet the scoffer beats the floor,
And the crew's aid his urgent lips implore:
No pity in one laughing face appears,
The tars reply with jokes instead of tears;
And while the victor's thumb assaults his eye,
Then wild uproar and shouts ascend the sky.

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Joyous, carousing with his messmate Chip,
And the good gunner, o'er a bowl of flip,
At ease reclin'd beneath the clew'd-up sail,†
Pipes caught his minion's supplicating wail.
The brimming grog-cup from his bronze-hand fell,
As, starting on his feet, again the yell

* American pugilism is not altogether in the taste and style of a Mendoza, as it tolerates gouging; or what, in the slang of the present day, would be termed the thumb fancy.

+ In a calm, at sea, the courses are clued up to keep the footropes from chafing.

His ear assail'd-so listening on the gale

The lion hears his whelp howl in the vale.

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His comrades knew the voice, full well they knew,
And silent wonder seiz'd the drinking crew.
Thrice call'd the victim. Holding by a shroud,
The brawny boatswain answer'd thrice aloud :
Hoarse and impetuous was his stormy breath, 2630
As blasts that menace mariners with death.

Behold I come to aid thee, Jug! he cries,
And o'er the deck with generous ardour flies;
Like lightning midst the circling crew he flung,
Where o'er his quivering boy the minstrel hung,
Whose finger in Jug's ear a fulcrum made,
While his bent thumb to scoop his eye essay'd.
Distemper'd vision mocks the victim's sight,
The cheerful day seems chang'd to dusky night,
Till, in a growing mist or cloud conceal'd,
The masts, yards, sails, are only half reveal'd.
The breathless boatswain in amazement stood,
Chill horror for a moment froze his blood,
His hardy bosom swell'd with labouring sighs,
And tears of iron trickled from his eyes.*
Then in his wild, ungovernable rage,
With his rude hand he seiz'd the piper's page,

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Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek. MILTON.

And bore him to the bulwark, thence to throw

His caitiff-body in the deep below,

When Hampden, interposing with his might, 2650 The urchin rescued gasping with affright.

Now summon'd by the voices of the crew,
Threading the ladder, up the hatchway flew
The answering leech and mates :-they, touch'd
with wo,

Saw Pipes reclining o'er his boy stretch'd low.
So bends a gardener, who surveys with pain
His fallen plant, surcharg'd with storm and rain,
Bent from the root-his injur'd lily fair—
The prostrate offspring of his dearest care.
The bursting sweat that o'er his temples flow'd,
The mortal anguish of the boatswain show'd,
As, rueing yet the minstrel's rigid sway,
Prone on the deck the wretched sea-boy lay.
They raise the victim, and their healing art
The leech and ministers around impart ;
With unguent soft his anguish they allay,
And to his sight restore the welcome day.
Morn seem'd to chase the shadows of the night,
He look'd, and look'd, to mark returning light;
Sudden defin'd all objects to him show'd,

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In streams more bright the solar radiance flow'd,
Yet still his friends their tender care employ,
And to his hammock bear the languid boy.

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