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The next day saw the good ship Adventure clear of the Channel; for the breeze which had interfered so unceremoniously with the fortunes of Dick and his friend held all through the night and contrary to expectation increased, at the same time hauling gradually round from the north-east, to the great joy of the Captain and Bascomb, who at eight o'clock in the morning shaped a course for the Azores, where it was intended to wood and water the ship, and lay in a goodly stock of fruit and vegetables to stave off the scurvy among the crew for as long a time as might be.
They had been a hundred and seventeen days at sea, had sailed 3,600 leagues without a sight of land, and had arrived with only one man sick with the scurvy, "occasioned, chiefly, by a bad habit of body and a complication of other disorders." One day, passing an island whilst out surveying, Cook was called by a Maori and landed to meet him.
Never again, sir. Never again." "Why did you swear it before?" I queried. "It was on the Nahoma, sir, four years ago. Two hundred and thirty days from Liverpool to 'Frisco. Think of it, sir. Two hundred and thirty days! And we was loaded with cement and creosote, and the creosote got loose. We buried the captain right here off the Horn. The grub gave out. Most of us nearly died of scurvy.
He had come down from Sitka to try and arrange for a treaty with the Spanish government that the poor men in the employ of the Russian-American Company might have breadstuffs to eat and not die of scurvy, nor toil through the long winter with no flesh on their bones. He brought a cargo with him to exchange for our corn and flour meanwhile.
These worthy souls, laid up with the agonies of scurvy, knew that in action was their only hope; they forced their limbs to labour, among ice and water, every day. They set about the building of a boat, but the hard frozen wood had broken their axes, so they made shift with the pieces.
'A scurvy trick, says you, 't' leave old Skipper Jim an' Tommy Mib in the forecastle, all alone an' Tommy took that way? A scurvy trick!" cried Docks, his voice aquiver. "Ay, maybe! But you ain't been aboard no smallpox-ship.
'True, said lord Charles; 'it was a very scurvy inn, but we must not forget that the reckoning was cheap. While he spoke, one of the household had approached the marquis, who sat on the other side of the carriage, and said something in a low voice. 'Say'st thou so! returned his lordship. Hear'st thou, my lord Charles? Thou talkest of a cheap reckoning!
He addressed them in their own language, protesting vainly against such shameful ill-usage. "Hounds! Miscreants! Sons of burnt mothers! Do you dare to treat an English officer thus? Take me before your superior. Is there no one here in authority? I claim his protection." "Which you don't deserve, scurvy rogue," said a quiet voice. "You are no officer only a vile, disreputable spy."
At sight of me, for I was without my cloak, and my motley was revealed in the cold, morning light, she cried out in amazement first, and then in rage deeming me one of those parasites who tramp the world in the garb of folly, seeking here a dinner, there a bed, in exchange for some scurvy tumbling or some witless jests. "Ossa di Cristo!" was her cry. "Have I housed a Fool?"
But when the door was opened I turned my back on all that magical beauty of the night, and accompanied Jervaise into the house like a scurvy little mongrel with no will of its own. I can't account for that queer change of purpose. It was purely spontaneous, due to something quite outside the realm of reason. I was certainly not in love with Anne, then.
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