"Now, as to beleevin' of what I sez _next_
Yer can do as yer likes," sez he;
"But this 'ere sarpint, or whatever he was,
He ups and he _speaks_ to me.
"Sez the sarpint, sez he, in a voice like a clap
Of thunder, or a cannon's roar:
'Now say good-bye to the air and the sky
For you'll never see land no more.'
"I shivered like a sail wot's struck by a gale
And I downs on my bended knees;
And the tears rolls over my face like a sea,
And I shrieks like a gull in a breeze.
"Sez I, 'I'm an ainshunt old skipper, that's all,
And I ain't never done nuffin wrong.'
He sez, 'You old lubber, just stow that blubber,
I'm a-going fer to haul yer along.'
"Then he puts out a fin like a big barndoor--
Now this 'ere is real straight truth--
It sounds like a fable, but he tuk my bloomin' cable,
_And he tied it to his left front tooth!_
"In another second more, at the bottom of the sea
The _Crazy Jane_ was aground; Sez I,
'You oughter be ashamed of yerself,
It's a one-der as I wasn't drowned.
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