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Later in the evening, his father, an old invalid man-o'-war's-man, found him, and had him removed to his own humble home. The poor fellow had never recovered consciousness, and for many long hours he lay moaning, and occasionally struggling convulsively, under his natal roof, and in the same little room where he was born.
In a word, he was that most valuable of all assets to a people seeking to dominate the sea a man-o'-war's-man ready-made, needing only to be called in in order to become immediately effective.
Time after time it appeared as though the boat must be overrun by the sea and swamped; but the coxswain in charge of her was an old man-o'-war's-man, and each time he avoided disaster by a hairbreadth, until, at the expiration of a breathless five minutes, Frobisher saw her living cargo leap safely out on the beach, and heaved a sigh of relief.
Roger Riddle continues his story Goes to sea as a man-o'-war's-man His voyages The Mediterranean Toulon Chasing the enemy Caught in a trap A hard fight for it Escape of the frigate Corsica Martello Bay The tower and its gallant defenders Its capture Origin of its name San Fiorenzo Convention redoubt What British tars can do Capture of the "Minerve" The taking of Bastia Nelson loses an eye "Jackass" frigates Toulon again More fighting The advantage of being small Prepare to repel boarders The colours nailed to the mast The chase Never despise your enemy Teneriffe Attack on Santa Cruz Nelson loses his arm Abandonment of the enterprise What people call glory The Hellespont The captain steers his own ship The island of Cerigotto Breakers ahead The ship strikes The value of discipline Their condition on the rock The ship goes to pieces Their chances of escape The gale A brave captain A false hope The effects of drinking sea-water Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink Reduced to extremities They lose their brave captain and first lieutenant They construct a raft Cowardice of the Greek fishermen The rescue of the survivors Fresh adventures The Dardanelles Fire!
About the death of Golah there was still a mystery the Arabs could not comprehend, and the services of the Krooman as interpreter were again called into requisition. When the sheik learnt what the sailor had done, how the pistol had been made an effective weapon by filling the barrel with sand, he expressed much satisfaction at the manner in which the old man-o'-war's-man had performed his duty.
Snowball, who had risen to the surface after the somersault that had plunged him deep down into the sea, perceiving that the raft still continued to heave upward and downward, made no attempt to get on board; but swimming alongside, sputtered forth his terrified ejaculations. Even the brave man-o'-war's-man, who had faced death in a thousand shapes, was, at that moment, the victim of fear.
Every navy is argus-eyed, and in crises such as these, when the very existence of the nation was perhaps at stake, it was first and principally towards the crews of the country's merchant ships that the eyes of the Navy were directed; for, shipboard life and shipboard duty being largely identical in both services, no elaborate training was required to convert the merchant sailor into a first-rate man-o'-war's-man.
Sailor Bill was pointed out as the man; and the interpreter gave some details of the cruel treatment to which the old man-o'-war's-man had been subjected at the hands of Golah. "Bismillah! that is well," said the sheik. "Let him keep the watch. After what you say, revenge should hinder him closing his eyes in sleep for a whole moon. There's no fear that he will betray us."
I see frigates, an' a man-o'-war's-man, an' boobies among 'em; and I reckon Old Mother Carey has a brood o' her chickens there. They be all sizes, as ye see." It was no more a matter of conjecture, as to what kind of creatures inhabited the island.
"Now, Jim," began the old man-o'-war's-man, "you must spin us the yarn of all your cruising since you've been here. We've seen somethin' o' the elephant since we've been cast ashore, and that's not long. I don't wonder at you sayin' you 'ave been aboard this craft forty-three years."
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