George the artist

George was a pirate, but he wasn’t a very good pirate.
Instead of taking hostages and ransoming them off, he usually ended up befriending his captives and traveling the world with them.
One was a young man from the French Navy who didn’t speak French very well.
He was whittling small sculptures out of wood and soapstone.
“These are pretty good,” said George. “Mind making one of me?”
So, he did, that’s how George wound up with an early Paul Gaugin sculpture.
It’s in a museum now.
Well, in their warehouse, not on display.
George wasn’t a particularly handsome man.