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Words: 2922 in 2 pages
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The Sight That met His Eyes was a Terrible One. " " 65
He brought His Glass to bear Upon the Object. " " 113
"This is Jack Crane," said Captain Dawson. " " 145
He was just fairly stowed away When Haines came. " " 193
The Crew hauled away on the Rope. " " 241
"Are You John Crane, Captain of the Late Privateer Marguerite?" " " 289
CAPTAIN JOHN CRANE.
WHO AND WHAT I AM.--MY EARLY LIFE.--LEAVING HOME, AND WHY I LEFT IT.
I am a modest, bashful sort of man, though I say it myself, and have been a sailor for a goodly number of years. Perhaps on board a ship I am not so bashful, and especially when in command of her. I don't feel altogether at home on shore, although I've given up the sea, and propose to spend the rest of my life on land. I was born on the 25th of November, 1783, the day of the evacuation of the city of New York by the British, at the end of the Revolutionary War.
It is proper to say that my arrival into the United States on that day attracted much less attention throughout the country than did the departure of our enemies, but there's nothing surprising in that. I suppose you might have found, a few years ago, a good many people throughout these United States who were born on the same day as George Washington; but they haven't attracted any attention, while he has filled the eyes of the world. At any rate, he filled the stomachs of the British with all the fighting they wanted when they came here to subjugate the colonies.
My name is John Crane, or, rather, Captain Crane, at your service. I am, or rather was, a sea-captain, and for a pretty fair time too. People keep on calling me "Captain," although I've given up sea life and settled down on shore. But that's the way of things generally; which, after all, isn't so bad. If a man has done something and won a handle to his name, I think it is fair to let him keep it, and so I never correct folks when they call me Captain Crane. But when I sign a paper of any sort, no matter whether it's a letter to anybody or a legal document, I always write "John Crane," and nothing more. I never stick Captain on in front of it, as some do that I know.
Since I settled down on land I've told a good many of my experiences to neighbors and friends, and they've urged me to write a book. I've hesitated a good while about it,--there's where my bashfulness comes in,--but, after all, I don't see why I shouldn't do as others have done. There's many a book on sea life by men who have never been on blue water a tenth part as much as I've been there.
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