There's been a lot o' gossip goin', gossip about my cargo.

I give out as I'd none but ship's stores and ballast, an' I give out a lie.

I don't mind tellin' you now.

I give out a cussed lie, but I give it out for the good o' the ship! What was the use o' frightenin' folks?
But where's the sense in keepin' it back now?
We have a bit of a cargo," shouted Harris; "and it's gunpowder--every damned ton of it!" The effect of this announcement may be imagined; my hand has not the cunning to reproduce it on paper; and if it had, it would shrink from the task.

Mild men became brutes, brutal men, devils, women--God help them!--shrieking beldams for the most part.