only one who could rival
him; he was quite as tall as the corporal, and as powerful, but he had
not the extra weight of his carcase.

About five minutes after the summons, the huge form of Corporal Van
Spitter was seen to emerge slowly from the hatchway, which appeared
barely wide enough to admit the egress of his broad shoulders. He had a
flat foraging cap on his head, which was as large as a buffalo's and his
person was clothed in blue pantaloons, tight at the ankle, rapidly
increasing in width as they ascended, until they diverged at the hips to
an expanse which was something between the sublime and the ridiculous.
The upper part of his body was cased in a blue jacket, with leaden
buttons, stamped with the rampant lion, with a little tail behind, which
was shoved up in the air by the protuberance of the parts. Having
gained the deck, he walked to Vanslyperken, and raised the back of his
right hand to his forehead.

"Corporal Van Spitter, get your cats up for punishment, and when you are
ready fetch up Smallbones."

Whereupon, without reply, Corporal Van Spitter put his left foot behind
the heel of his right, and by this manoeuvre turned his body round like
a capstan, so as to bring his face forward and then walked off in that
direction. He soon re-appeared with all the necessary implements of
torture, laid them down on one of the lee guns, and again departed to
seek out his victim.

After a short time, a scuffle was heard below, but it was soon over, and
once more appeared the corporal with the spare, tall body of Smallbones
under his arm. He held him, grasped by the middle part, about where
Smallbones' stomach ought to have been, and the head and heels of the
poor wretch both hung down perpendicularly, and knocked together as the
corporal proceeded aft.

As soon as Van Spitter had arrived at the gun, he laid down his charge,
who neither moved nor spoke. He appeared to have resigned himself to
the fate which awaited him, and made no resistance when he was stripped
by one of the marines, and stretched over the gun. The men, who were on
deck, said nothing; they looked at each other expressively as the
preparations were made. Flogging a lad like Smallbones was too usual an
occurrence to excite surprise, and to show their disgust would have been
dangerous. Smallbones' back was now bared, and miserable was the
spectacle; the shoulder-blades protruded, so that you might put your
hand sideways under the scapu