I rushed upon him and threw him off, and he fell into the wherry,
and, as it afterward appeared, he strained his back very much;
nevertheless he came out to thrash me; and this time it was a regular
fight, as the pensioners and watermen interfered, taking us both up on
the higher ground, and seeing that it was fair play. Ben the Whaler
acted as my second, and we set to. The boy was too powerful for me, had
it not been for the hurt he had received and the instructions I obtained
from Ben every time that I sat on his knee between each round. Still it
was a very hard fight, and I was terribly beaten; but I could not give
up, for so many betted upon my winning, and Ben told me, at the end of
every round, that if I only stood up one more, I should be certain to
beat him, and that then I should be _Poor Jack forever!_ The last
inducement stimulated me to immense exertion. We closed and wrestled,
and my antagonist was thrown; and, in consequence of the strain he had
before received, he could not stand up anymore. Poor fellow! he was in
great pain; he was taken home, and obliged to have a doctor, and an
abscess formed in his side. He was a long while getting well, and, when
he came out of doors again, he was so pale. I was very sorry for him,
and we were always the best friends afterward, and I gave him many a
halfpenny, until I had an opportunity of serving him.

I mention these two fights because they obtained for me a greater
reputation than I deserved: this reputation perhaps saved me a great
deal more fighting, and obtained me the mastery over the other boys on
the beach. Indeed, I became such a favorite with the watermen that they
would send the other boys away; and thus did I become, at last, the
acknowledged, true, lawful, and legitimate "Poor Jack of Greenwich."

CHAPTER NINE

In which I take a Cruise contrary to the received Rules of
Navigation--On my Return from a cold Expedition, I meet with a cold
Reception.

As soon as I was fairly in possession of my office, I gained sufficient
money to render me almost entirely independent of my mother.
Occasionally I procured an old jacket or trousers, or a pair of shoes,
at the store of an old woman who dealt in everything that could be
imagined; and, if ever I picked up oakum or drifting pieces of wood, I
used to sell them to old Nanny--for that was the only name she was known
by. My mother, having lost her lodgers by her ill temper and continual
q