just simply adored her; indeed,
I've heard say that she saved the lives of several who were sick of
fever by the careful way in which she nursed them. She had had no
children, and I've a notion that if she had known what was going to
happen, like a wise woman she would have remained on shore, but as the
ship was in the East India station, and she wanted her boy to be British
born, for she guessed she was going to have a boy, she had no help for
it but to remain on board and take her chance. The `Goliath' had just
been in action, and beaten off two of the enemy's ships which wanted to
take her but couldn't, when she was caught in a regular hurricane, and
had to run before it under bare poles. During that time I came into
this world of troubles. I can't say that I remember anything about it,
but I've been in many a typhoon and hurricane since then, with the big
foaming seas roaring, the wind whistling and howling in the rigging, the
blocks rattling, the bulkheads creaking and groaning, and the ship
rolling and pitching and tumbling about in a way which made it seem
wonderful that wood and iron could hold together. It wasn't exactly
under such circumstances that the wife even of a boatswain's mate would
have chosen to bring a puling infant into the world. The doctor thought
that mother would have died, and, as there was no cow on board, that I
should have shared her fate, but she got through it and nursed me, and I
throve amazingly, so that in six months I was as big as most children of
a year or more old. Before the ship was ordered home, I could chew
bacon and beef, and toddle about the decks. Of course I was made much
of by officers and crew. Mother rigged me out in a regular cut seaman's
dress. The midshipmen taught me the cutlass exercise, and to ride a
goat the captain bought as much for my use as his own. For'ard my
education was equally well attended to, and I don't remember when I
couldn't dance a hornpipe--double shuffle and all--or sing a dozen sea
songs, some of them sounding rather strange, I've a notion, coming from
juvenile lips. All went on smoothly till the ship was paid off, and my
early friends were scattered to the four winds of heaven. My father,
who felt like a fish out of water when ashore, soon obtained another
berth, with the same rating on board the `Victorious,' seventy-four, but
he had great difficulty in getting leave for my mother to accompany him,
and if another woman who was to ha