etter with a good grace, told the clerk
I was rejoiced at such good news; that I was as much pleased at the
idea of leaving Liverpool as he could possibly be at getting rid of my
complaints. But I suggested that I was not in a condition to WORK
MY PASSAGE as was proposed, at that inclement season, unless I was
furnished with some additional clothing, a pea-jacket, a blanket, and
a pair of boots or shoes; and I pointed to the shoes on my feet, which
were little better than a pair of very shabby sandals.

The little deputy listened with impatience to my suggestions. He then
wrote something on a slip of paper. "Here," said he, "is an order for
a pair of shoes; and it is all you will get! A pea-jacket is out of the
question; and as for blankets, I suppose you'll find enough on board.
Captain Swain will take care of you. Your passage will not be a long one
only thirty or forty days. I dare say you will live through it; if not,
there will be no great loss!" And conscious that he had said a good
thing, he looked at his fellow-clerks and smiled.

I felt indignant at such treatment, but wisely refrained from giving
utterance to my feelings, and proceeded directly to the Queen's Dock,
where I found Captain Swain, and handed him the letter. He read it,
crumpled it up and put it in his pocket, and then stared fixedly at me,
exclaiming, "Well, this is a pretty business! What does the consul
mean by sending such a chap as YOU home in my ship? Are there not ships
enough in port to take you home without singling out mine?"

To this question I could give no satisfactory answer, nor is it probable
he expected one. After a further ebullition of wrath he honored me with
another stare, surveyed me from head to foot, and with an air rather
rude than polite, gruffly remarked, "Well, I suppose I must take you,
and make the best of it. The ship will sail the day after tomorrow;"
and he turned away, muttering something I could not distinctly hear, but
which I suspect was not complimentary to myself or the American consul.

I returned to my boarding house, and gladdened the master and mistress
with the intelligence that the consul had at last found a ship to
take me to the united States. I packed in my chest the few articles my
shipmates had considerately left me, not forgetting the pair of shoes
which the mild-mannered and compassionate consular clerk had given me,
and made my appearance, a most unwelcome guest, on the deck of the Lady
Madiso