To get on board the Susan Constant without attracting much attention
while she was being visited by so many curious people, was not
a hard task for Nathaniel Peacock, and three days before the fleet
was got under way, my comrade had hidden himself in the very foremost
part of the ship, where were stored the ropes and chains.
There he had remained until thirst, or hunger, drove him out, on
this night of which I am telling you, and he begged that I go on
deck, where were the scuttle butts, to get him a pannikin of water.
For those of you who may not know what a scuttle butt is, I will
explain that it is a large cask in which fresh water is kept on
shipboard. When Nathaniel's burning thirst had been soothed, he
began to fear that I might give information to Captain John Smith
concerning him; but after all that had been done in the way of
hiding himself, and remembering his suffering, I had not the heart
so to do.
During four days more he spent all the hours of sunshine, and the
greater portion of the night, in my bed, closely covered so that
the sailors might not see him, and then came the discovery, when he
was dragged out with many a blow and harsh word to give an account
of himself.
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