wser?" inquired the chief mate, in a tone of
irony, and with a grim smile.

"Yes, sir; badly hurt. I'm afraid my leg is broken."

"Not so bad as that, I hope," exclaimed Stetson, with some display of
anxiety. "I guess you are more frightened than hurt. Let me look at your
leg."

He found my surmises were correct, and expressed more sympathy for my
misfortune than I could have expected. I was carried into the cabin, and
after a short delay conveyed in a carriage to the Infirmary or hospital.
When the carriage reached the gateway of the Infirmary, the bell was
rung by the coachman, and the porter made his appearance. He was a
tall, hard-featured, sulky-looking man, about fifty years of age, called
Thomas; and having held that office a number of years, he assumed as
many airs, and pretended to as much surgical skill, as the professors.

"What's the matter now?" inquired the porter, with a discontented growl.

"An accident," replied the coachman. "This boy has broken his leg. He is
a sailor, belonging to an American ship."

"Ah, ha! An American, is he?" added Thomas, with a diabolical sneer. "A
Yankee Doodle! Never mind; we'll take care of him."

I was lifted from the carriage and carried by the ship's armorer, very
gently, into one of the rooms, the grim-looking porter leading the way.
I was placed in an arm chair, and, as the surgeon whose duty it was to
attend to accidents on that day was not immediately forthcoming, the
porter undertook to examine the fracture. He proceeded to take off the
stocking, which fitted rather closely, and the removal of which gave me
intolerable pain. I begged him to rip off the garment with a knife, and
put an end to my torments. The armorer also remonstrated against his
unnecessary cruelty, but in vain. The only reply of the grumbling rascal
was that the stocking was too good to be destroyed, and he never knew
a Yankee who could bear pain like a man! He then began, in a cool and
business-like manner, to twist my foot about, grinding the fractured
bones together to ascertain, as he said, whether the limb was actually
broken! And I verily believe that my complaints and groans, which I did
not attempt to suppress, were sweet music in his ears. It was clear to
me that, for some reason which I could never learn, Mr. Thomas owed
the whole Yankee nation a grudge, and was ready to pay it off on an
individual whenever he could get a chance.

After he finished his examination, I looked around