From the first Van
Luck made no secret of his dislike of me, and more than once he
complained to Hartog that by reason of my youth; I being at the time of
sailing but nineteen years old, it would be more seemly if I took my
meals with the men in the forecastle instead of in the cabin. But
Hartog had overruled his objections. As his secretary he maintained I
was entitled to berth with the officers, and after my rescue from the
inhospitable shores of Terra Australis I continued to occupy my former
place at the captain's table, although I would as lief have messed with
the men sooner than have been the cause of a quarrel.
At length matters came to a climax, when Van Luck ordered me to set
about some menial work which I did not consider compatible with my
position as the captain's secretary, and which, therefore, I declined
to perform. In his rage at my refusal Van Luck came at me with a
belaying pin in his hand, but I had fought many a battle with the
fisher lads upon the sands at Urk, and was well able to take my own
part, so that when Van Luck was almost upon me I nimbly stepped aside,
and with a trick I had been taught by an old smuggler at Urk, I tripped
him as he passed so that he fell into the scuppers, when, with a
muttered oath, he scrambled to his feet, and, plucking a pistol from
his belt, he would have shot me had not Hartog at this moment appeared
on deck, and commanded him to throw down his arms.
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