"
_Rep_. "A great comfort, no doubt. May I ask, captain, what particular
falsehood has gained currency?"
_Capt. K._ "Yes, sir. I will name one that is an unmitigated slander.
They say that when I came across Moore and corrected him with a bucket
for his impertinence, he was grinding a chisel. Now, sir, that is as
false as ----!"
_Rep_. "Indeed?"
_Capt. K._ "Yes, sir, 'twas a screwdriver."
_Rep_. "That shall be corrected, captain. Anything else?"
_Capt. K._ "Yes, sir--a bigger lie still. There is a scurrilous
broadside circulating all over the country. Here it is." (He handed me
a copy of verses printed in the _Herald_ of last Tuesday.) "Read
that, if you please, sir: 'My name is Robert Kidd, as I sailed, as I
sailed.' Now, sir, that is a villainous falsehood."
_Rep_. "You didn't sail under that name, then, captain?"
_Capt. K._ "Never. Why, bless your innocent heart, my baptismal name
is _William_. It is of a piece with all their malignant lying, this
persisting in calling me _Robert_."
_Rep_. "It _is_ hard." (Pause.) "Pray, captain, permit me to ask
if the story is true that Mrs. Kidd's trunk was seized by the
authorities, and kept with its contents of gold-dust and diamonds?"
_Capt. K._ "In part true, sir. A perfect outrage, sir. Mrs. Kidd
came on from New York post-haste when she heard that the Antonio had
arrived, and no sooner had she set foot in Boston than the authorities
gobbled up her trunk, leaving her in a strange community with nothing
but a band-box.
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