Rich Man's Coffin Read Free Page B

crew was a insufferable lot.   Leaving their vices for wishes, they fell prey to the monotony of austerity at sea.   Sometimes the wind was the only sound that shunned the silence, and it was said that a man's suffering its singular song for hours on end could either soothe him or send him senseless.   It never bothered Arthur much.   He would simply hum a tune to himself while the wind howled wickedly.
              Seasickness was another scourge that had passed Arthur over.   The other sailors had warned him about it, and they had even watched the Negro , as they called him, to see how he responded to the swells. Their fears came to naught, as Arthur often watched in modest amusement when several of his more salty shipmates would sour a freshly swabbed deck with their unsettled stomachs.   To their surprise, Arthur took readily to the sea.   He sensed his shipmates' doubts, but he brushed them all aside, swinging freely through the rigging.   His cavalier performance on deck and his knack for learning knots endeared him to some of the bolder buccaneers onboard.
              So much so, that it even came to the attention of the Captain.   He assigned Arthur several tasks, many of them more menial in nature than usual.   Arthur was extremely eager to fulfill the Captain's wishes for the first forty days, carrying out his duties to the last dirty detail in an effort to please his new boss.   But it seemed to Arthur that the harder and more meticulously that he worked, the more that the Captain expected him to do.   Arthur didn't mind at first, being used to working tirelessly without appreciation. He felt the Captain's actions as mild agitation at most.   Then, as Arthur's duties began to span to other ship's posts such as rigging seaman, Lookout watch, galley wash, and the like, the Captain continued to increase his demands on Arthur in his role as Cabin Boy.   It was as though the Captain had turned a blind eye to the significant and additional amount of work that Arthur had recently been required to perform. The Captain seemed to completely disregard the importance of Arthur’s operational duties in favor of little meaningless tasks that he began to heap on Arthur more and more.   Arthur tried to work faithfully without any personal opinion or attitude about the matter, but after a time he began to grow weary of it. He could not help but feel strained under the burden.   It seemed to Arthur that the Captain was trying to work him to death, out of spite in some secretive, unspoken way.   The situation confused Arthur.   It was not the amount of work that bothered him, just the way that the jobs began to conflict in timing and importance.   Arthur felt silly wondering why the Captain would undermine his own authority by contradicting himself.  
    The more Arthur thought about it, the less it made sense.   There was no humanly possible way to complete the tasks in the order and the time that the Captain assigned them to him.   One evening, the First Mate came to Arthur as he was helping to set a gyb, and told him that the Captain requested to see Arthur immediately.   Not wanting to release the boom and send the ship careening, Arthur stated that he would be there as soon as possible.   No sooner than the words had left his mouth, it seemed to Arthur, the Captain was standing by his side with the First Mate.
              "What's this I hear about your disobeying my orders?"   Asked the Captain.
              Ropes in raw hands, Arthur said, "Sah, no sah, I didn't disobey.   I jes' can't do two things at once."
              "Step down from your post and come with me!"   The Captain shouted.
              Arthur felt a twinge of anger, but he remained restrained.   He said calmly, "Sah, I can't let go..."
              The Captain cut him short and screamed, "First Mate, confine this man to his quarters.   Have him flogged and then report to