The Current of Doom
Aye, and let me tell you a tale this day
Of a ship that surpassed all ships
Of a mystery current as dangerous as Hell
And a cruel captain wi' gold at his fingertips
In the South China Sea, the natives all say
There's a current from a god of the sea
But white man didn't believe, till ships all went down
When they sailed with this current on the lee
Tale grew to legend, and legend to fears
And captains turned away from this route
Until one springlike day a commission was made
For a clipper ship headed by a brute
Captain Billing, his name was
And he was greedy and ugly as he looked
But the pay was good, and the journey long
So on the ship a young man booked
Ah, here we have another fellow
Important to this story
Though he's not one to speak up
Or take all the glory
Young Nate Perry was his name
And that springlike day he arrived
To the ship Molly Jane
And through him the crew survived
They set sail in April, and the captain at once
Went to snarling and beating and cursing
But it was clear to the crew, from the Horn to the Cape
Captain didn't know the waters he was traversing
And so they sailed on, from Salem towards the East Indies
Bearing storm and pirates under his hand
Until young Nate wished for home and his mother's food
Or at least a sight of American land
And then, from the whispers
Of sailers in the deepest night
Captain Billings heard tell
Of the treasure of the Undersea wight
Now greed overtook his sea-worn face
And turned his thoughts from the company's due
"I'll take that treasure, come gale or great whale
And be richer than a king, if the tales are true."
The crew quaked and feared these words
These boasts and snarls of doom
For the current of the South China lay
Where the Isle of Undersea did loom
Nate Perry they sent to speak with the capt'n
To plead for their lives and their ship
But Captain Billing was adamant, and replied in kind
With forty lashes of the nine-tailed whip
The crew, they grumbled,
And the cabin boys, they cried
For to follow the current was death
But Nate—his time he did bide
And when the Molly Jane neared the sea
Where the current of death lay broiling
Nate pushed Captain Billings o'er the ship
His foul plan completely foiling
But now, where were they?
Committing such atrocious crime?
They couldn't go back, for mutiny's charge
Would have them dead in quick time
So the first mate took the helm
And set Nate ashore to hide till 'twas safe to return
For justice isn't always the easiest way
And corruption is often lost at the stern.