Page:Paine--Lost ships and lonely seas.djvu/200

164 damned the commander to his face and growled threats at him, but this was by way of squaring personal grudges, and he was not otherwise mistreated.

The boat was lowered and outfitted with twine, canvas, cordage, an eight-and-twenty gallon cask of water, a hundred and fifty pounds of bread, or ship's biscuit, a little rum and wine, some salt pork and beef, a quadrant, a compass, and four cutlasses for arms. The seventeen loyal mariners were bundled overside, but Lieutenant Bligh hung back to argue the matter until Fletcher Christian roughly exclaimed:

"Come, Captain Bligh, your officers and men are now in the boat and you must go with them. If you attempt to make the least resistance, you will be instantly put to death."

The commander of the Bounty was in no mood to carry it off with a high hand. He implored the master's mate to forego the mad enterprise, and pledged his honor that if the men would return to duty he would make no report of it in England, He spoke of his own wife and children and the mercy due on their account, but Fletcher Christian cut him short and cried:

"I say no, no. Captain Bligh. If you had any honor or manly feeling in your breast, things had not come to this. Your wife and family! Had you