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Updated: May 13, 2025
A strapping man-o'-war's-man sat near the door, his jacket thrown open and his great chest bared, and when he perceived me he was in the act of proposing a catch; 'twas "The Great Bell o' Lincoln," I believe; and he held a brimming cup of bumbo in his hand. In his surprise he set it awkwardly down again, thereby spilling full half of it.
The holes in which the helga had been played on the proceeding night, were now resorted to. The proper number of dung pellets were procured, and the game proceeded. It ended as the old man-o'-war's-man had prognosticated, by the black sheik becoming the winner and owner of Terence O'Connor.
Their incredulity even continued till more positive evidence to the contrary came before them, in the shape of the old man-o'-war's-man himself; who, rapidly splashing through the more shallow water, in a few seconds stood face to face with the three brave boys whom he had so lately urged to abandon him. "Bill, is it you?" cried all three in a breath.
Their hardness of heart came not from God, but the Prophet. They were only carrying out the edicts of their "priests of a bloody faith." In vain did the old man-o'-war's-man cry out "belay" and "avast". In vain did he "shiver his timbers", and appeal against their scurvy treatment by looks, words, and gesture. These seemed only to augment the mirth and spitefulness of his tormentors.
The old man-o'-war's-man, unused to land travelling, could never have held out, had not the Arabs allowed him, part of the time, to ride on a camel. The feat he had performed, in ridding them of that enemy who had troubled them so much, and who, had he not been thwarted in his attack upon the camp, would probably have killed them all, had inspired his masters with some slight gratitude.
They stayed to see no more. To keep their ground could only end in their being captured, and carried prisoners to the encampment; and after the spectacle they had just witnessed, in which the old man-o'-war's-man had played such a melancholy part, any fate appeared preferable to that.
"Lor', Snowball, that's nothing when you are used to it," said Ben Boltrope, the man-o'-war's-man, who was pretty well king of the forecastle by reason of his service in the navy and general smartness as a seaman. "What is eight days in a boat without grub, when you've got to go ten, as I've done, besides wandering about on a sandy shore after swimming for a day and night to save my life?
"Now, Master Repton, we may as well have our meal. We mayn't get another good one, for some time; but I still hope that we shall be able to cripple that fellow. I have great faith in that long eighteen. The boatswain is an old man-o'-war's-man, and is a capital shot.
Several of his followers proceeded to relieve their excitement by each beating the slave or slaves that were his own property, and amongst these irate slave-owners was the master of Sailor Bill. The old man-o'-war's-man was cudgelled till his objections to involuntary servitude were loudly expressed, and in the strongest terms that English, Scotch, and Irish could furnish for the purpose.
As already said, the mirth of the three midshipmen was brought to a quick termination. It ended on the instant of Sailor Bill's disappearance behind the spur of the sand-hills. At the same instant all three came to a stop, and stood regarding one another with looks of uneasiness and apprehension. All agreed that the maherry had made away with the old man-o'-war's-man.
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