He used to get the black nurse to put it in the dingy, and he'd tow it astern, rocking it with the painter like a cradle.

He did it--hatin' the cap'en all the same.

One day the black nurse got out of the dingy for a moment, when the baby was asleep, leavin' him alone with it.

An idea took hold on him, jest from cussedness, you'd say, but it was partly from revenge on the cap'en and partly to get away from the ship.

The ship was well inshore, and the current settin' towards it.