An ocean freelance Author:William Clark Russell Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: luggers would provoke the Archbishop of Canterbury into turning privateersman.' ' Especially if his grace happened to be a ship-owner. So,' continued he, look... more »ing at his commission, ' in consequence of these insults and provocations, his Majesty has thought proper to permit Robert Shelvocke to equip, furnish, and victual a schooner called the textit{Tigress, and to authorize him by force of arms to play the devil among the merchantmen owned by the enemies of his Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, which the said Robert Shelvocke, being a loyal Briton, undertakes to do to the utmost of his ability, as much for the honour and glory of his country as for the filling of his own and the pockets of the people who are associated with him. So there you have the substance of a letter of marque,' said he, returning the document to his pocket-book, ' which, deprived of parli- mentary language, means, Seize what you can, and what you can't pocket, destroy.' Laughing as he said this, he got up, and calling to Chestree, gave him some instructions ; and after keeping me waiting on deck whilst ho wrote a letter in his cabin, we left the schooner and made our way out of the Docks. CHAPTER III. THE CHASE OF THE ARMED LUGGER. Thk crew joined on Saturday, and when I came aboard on the following evening, I learned that not a single man was missing. The decks forward were filled with seamen when I arrived, and their sweethearts and wives having been allowed to spend the evening with them, the crowd was a dense one. Here was a bushy-whiskered sailor nursing his little child, coddling and tossing it, while his wife hung over his back, silently crying: yonder a pretty girl was exhorting her sweetheart with allmanner of passionate gestures: husbands and wives sat together talking e...« less