at us off, bedad, and we had a
hard time of it gettin' away. There are three or four good fellows in
the crew, tough old rascals who came with the sloop when I bought her,
but most of my men are but poor knaves, and not to be afraid of."

This comfort Mr. Delaplaine kept to himself, and on the second day out,
the food which was served to them being most wretchedly cooked, Dame
Charter ventured into the galley to see if she could do anything in the
way of improvement.

"I think you may eat this," she said, when she returned to Kate, "but I
don't think that anything on board is fit for you. When I went to the
kitchen, I came near dropping dead right in the doorway; that cook,
Mistress Kate, is the most terrible creature of all the pirates that
ever were born. His eyes are blistering green and his beard is all
twisted into points, with the ends stuck fast with blood, which has
never been washed off. He roars like a lion, with shining teeth, but he
speaks very fair, Mistress Kate; you would be amazed to hear how fair he
speaks. He told me, and every word he said set my teeth on edge with its
grating, that he wanted to know how I liked the meals cooked; that he
would do it right if there were things on board to do it with. Which
there are not, Mistress Kate. And when he was beatin' up that batter for
me and I asked him if he was not tired workin' so hard, he pulled up
his sleeve and showed me his arm, which was like a horse's leg, all
covered with hair, and asked me if I thought it was likely he could tear
himself with a spoon. I'm sure he would give us better food if he could,
for he leaned over and whispered to me, like a gust of wind coming in
through the door, that the captain was in a very hard case, having
lately lost everything he had at the gaming-table, and therefore had not
the money to store the ship as he would have done."

"Oh, don't talk about that, Dame Charter," said Kate; "if we can get
enough to eat, no matter what it is, we must be satisfied and think only
of our great joy in sailing to my father and to your Dickory."

That afternoon Captain Ichabod found Kate by herself on deck, and he
made bold to sit down by her; and before he knew what he was about, he
was telling her his whole story. She listened carefully to what he said.
He touched but lightly upon his wickednesses, although they were plain
enough to any listener of sense, and bemoaned his fearful passion for
gaming, which was sure to bring him t