Page:The Naval Officer (1829), vol. 1.djvu/237

 "All ready," replied the boy with the fife.

"Fire the gun!" said the hangman.

The boy applied one end of the fife to his mouth, blew out all the flour, and in this humble imitation of the smoke of a gun poor puss was run up to the batten, where she hung till she was dead. I am ashamed to say I did not attempt to save the kitten's life, although I caused her foul murder to be revenged by the cat.

After the body had hung a certain time, they took it down, and buried it in the shot-locker; this was an indictable offence, as the smell would have proved, so I lodged the information; the body was found, and as the facts were clear, the law took its course, to the great amusement of the bystanders, who saw. the brats tied upon a gun, and well flogged.

The boatswain eat the kitten, first, he said, because he had "larned" to eat cats in Spain; secondly, because she had not died a natural death (I thought otherwise); and his last