.. in order to insure
himself of fresh eggs during the voyage....
And for fresh meat, he had a huge sow hauled aboard--to be killed later
on....
* * * * *
One morning, when I went forward to fetch the captain's and mates'
breakfast, I found the cook all white and ghastly....
"What's the matter, Cook?"
"To-day's the day I've got to butcher the sow," he complained, "and I'd
give anything to have someone else do it ... I've made such a pet of her
during the voyage ... and she's so intelligent and affectionate ...
she's decenter than lots of human beings I've met."
I kept to the cabin while the butchering was going on.
The cook, the next day, with tears streaming down his face, told me how
trusting the sow had been to the last moment....
"I'll never forget the look in her eyes when she realised what I had
done to her when I cut her throat."
"And I'll never be able to eat any of her. I'd throw it up as fast as it
went down ... much as I do like good, fresh pork."
* * * * *
The ship-boys, Karl and Albert, always stole the eggs, the captain was
sure, as soon as they were laid, though he was never able to catch them
at it.
"Run," he would shout hurriedly to me, "there! I hear the hens cackling.
They've laid an egg."
I'd run. But there'd be no egg. Someone would have reached the nest,
from the forecastle, before I did.
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