Английский язык с У. С. Моэмом. На окраине империи. Рассказы / W. S. Maugham: Stories

"When after their long paddle they reached the ship and Red hailed it, a white man looked over the side and told them to come on board. They took the fruit they had brought with them and Red piled it up on the deck. The white man and he began to talk, and they seemed to come to some agreement. One of them went below and brought up tobacco. Red took some at once and lit a pipe. The boy imitated the zest with which he blew a great cloud of smoke from his mouth. Then they said something to him and he went into the cabin. Through the open door the boy, watching curiously, saw a bottle brought out and glasses. Red drank and smoked. They seemed to ask him something, for he shook his head and laughed. The man, the first man who had spoken to them, laughed too, and he filled Red’s glass once more. They went on talking and drinking, and presently, growing tired of watching a sight that meant nothing to him, the boy curled himself up on the deck and slept. He was awakened by a kick; and jumping to his feet, he saw that the ship was slowly sailing out of the lagoon. He caught sight of Red seated at the table, with his head resting heavily on his arms, fast asleep. He made a movement towards him, intending to wake him, but a rough hand seized his arm, and a man, with a scowl and words which he did not understand, pointed to the side. He shouted to Red, but in a moment he was seized and flung overboard. Helpless, he swam round to his canoe, which was drifting a little way off, and pushed it on to the reef. He climbed in and, sobbing all the way, paddled back to shore.

"What had happened was obvious enough (/то/, что произошло, было довольно очевидным). The whaler, by desertion or sickness (китобойному судну из-за дезертирства или болезней), was short of hands (не хватало матросов; short— короткий; недостаточный;hand— рука; работник; матрос), and the captain when Red came aboard (и капитан, когда Рыжий поднялся на борт) had asked him to sign on (попросил его присоединиться /к ним/; to sign on— нанимать/ся/); on his refusal (на его отказ = когда он отказался) he had made him drunk and kidnapped him (он сделал его пьяным = напоил его и похитил).