"I was shanghaied in New York," put in Franz swiftly, "and I demand
English justice."
"And you shall get it, my man!" answered the mate proudly, "for you have
been assaulted on English ground, as I'll stand witness."
A whistle was blown. Men came running. Soon Franz was outside the
jurisdiction of Germany.
* * * * *
The next day Captain Schantze stalked about, hardly speaking to Miller.
He was angry and laid the blame at the latter's door.
"Miller, why in the name of God didn't you guard that fellow better? An
English court ... you know what _they'll_ do to us!"
Miller spread his hands outward, shrugged his shoulders expressively,
remained in silence. The two mates and the captain ate the rest of their
supper in a silence that bristled.
The ship was detained for ten days more after its cargo had been
unloaded.
At the trial, during which the "old maids" and The Sailors' Aid Society
came to the fore, Captain Schantze roared his indignant best--so much so
that the judge warned him that he was not on his ship but on English
ground....
Franz got a handsome verdict in his favour, of course.
And for several days he was seen, rolling drunk about the streets, by
our boys, who now looked on him as a pretty clever person.
* * * * *
It was my time to run away--if I ever intended to.
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