The newspaper called Amos a deserter. (deserter: renegade, defector, turncoat) A painting showed him crossing to the other boat in the middle of a skirmish. (skirmish: clash, scuffle, encounter) His grandson thought him a defector; an elderly neighbor preferred the romantic word renegade. (defector: deserter, renegade, turncoat; renegade: defector, deserter, turncoat) A member of the regiment called him recreant. (recreant: craven, cowardly, fainthearted) None of them had seen what he carried.
His friend had kept a letter written on the deck. In it the captain instructed Amos to take a towline to a vessel flying a different flag. (flag: banner, standard, ensign) His crossing was an act of rescue. The newspaper's imputation of disloyalty was grave. (imputation: attribution, ascription, accusation; disloyalty: faithlessness, unfaithfulness, betrayal; grave: serious, solemn, sober) To impute a motive from a painted figure took seconds. (impute: attribute, ascribe, assign) To rid the family of the stigma would take rather longer. (stigma: disgrace, shame, discredit)
The old sailor asked for a hearing. He refused to rail at the paper or seek retribution. (rail: inveigh, rant, fulminate; retribution: punishment, penalty, requital) His sole petition was to hang the letter beside the picture. (petition: request, appeal, solicit) Amos's grandson did the mounting himself. When he had finished, the two boats no longer looked as if they were trying to outwit one another. (outwit: outsmart, outfox, outmaneuver) They looked like two ends of a line.