Margaret slowly read the letter, half illegible through the fading of the ink. It might be--it probably was--a statement of Captain Reid's imperiousness in trifles, very much exaggerated by the narrator, who had written it while fresh and warm from the scene of altercation. Some sailors being aloft in the main-topsail rigging, the captain had ordered them to race down, threatening the hindmost with the cat-of-nine tails. He who was the farthest on the spar, feeling the impossibility of passing his companions, and yet passionately dreading the disgrace of the flogging, threw himself desperately down to catch a rope considerably lower, failed, and fell senseless on the deck. He only survived for a few hours afterwards, and the indignation of the ship's crew was at boiling point when young Hale wrote.

Margaret slowly read the letter, half illegible through the fading of the ink. It was a statement of Captain Reid's imperiousness, probably exaggerated by the narrator, who had written it while fresh in indignation. Some sailors being aloft in the main-topsail rigging, the captain had ordered them to race down, threatening the last with whipping. He who was the farthest up, dreading the disgrace of the flogging, threw himself desperately down to catch a rope much lower, failed, and fell senseless on deck. He only survived for a few hours afterwards.
