the captain. The captain, on his part, never spoke but when he was spoken to, and then sharp and short and dry, and not a word wasted. He owned, when driven into a corner, that he seemed to have been wrong about the crew; that some of them were as brisk as he wanted to see, and all had behaved fairly well. As for the ship, he had taken a downright fancy to her. "She'll lie a point nearer the wind1 than a man has a right to expect of his own married wife, sir. But," he would add, "'all I say is, we're not home again and I don't like the cruise."
The squire, at this, would turn away and march up and down the deck, chin in air.
"A trifle more of that man," he would say, 'and I should explode."
We had some heavy weather, which only proved the qualities of the Hispaniola. Every man on board seemed well content and they must have been hard to please if they had been otherwise, for it is my belief there was never a ship's company so spoiled since Noah put to sea.2 Double grog3 was going on the least excuse; there was duff4 on odd days, as for instance, if the squire heard it was any man's birthday, and always a barrel of apples standing broached in the waist,5 for anyone to help himself that had a fancy.
"Never knew good to come of it yet," the captain said to Doctor Livesey. 'Spoil fok's'le hands, make devils. That's my belief."
But good did come of the apple barrel, as you shall hear, for if it had not been for that we should have
