A Middy of the King: A Romance of the Old British NavyCollingwood, Harry
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A Middy of the King: A Romance of the Old British Navy
Collingwood, Harry
Great Britain -- Fiction; Pirates -- Juvenile fiction; Seafaring life -- Juvenile fiction
I have a hazy recollection of suddenly finding myself on deck, still in
my hammock; and then, a few minutes later, of being in a boat. Finally,
when I next came to myself I discovered that I was no longer in my
hammock, but in a bed--a delightful spacious comfortable bed in which
there was room for one to stretch oneself, change from one side to the
other, and otherwise obtain a little temporary relief when lying long in
one posture had become wearisome. Then, instead of being enveloped in
stiflingly hot blankets, I lay upon one fragrant, cool, snow-white
sheet, with another over me, the bed enclosed by mosquito-netting, and a
deliciously cool breeze streaming into the long ward through several
wide-open, lofty windows, one of which, immediately opposite the foot of
my bed, afforded me an excellent view of a considerable portion of Port
Royal harbour, with the Apostles' Battery, crouching at the foot of the
Salt Pond Hills, almost immediately opposite, on the other side of the
water. One of the hospital orderlies, who was on duty in the ward, came
to the side of my bed at once upon finding that I was awake, and gave me
a long, satisfying draught of lemonade, cool and exquisitely refreshing,
after which I think he must have summoned the doctor to me, for a few
minutes later that individual came lightly to the side of my bed, thrust
his hand beneath the sheet and felt my pulse.
I afterward learned that this was Dr Loder, chief of the medical staff
in the Port Royal Naval Hospital. And oh! what a difference there was
between him and Wilson, the _Europa's_ surgeon. The latter was bluff,
hearty, and slightly inclined to be boisterous in manner; while Dr
Loder's every word and every movement, nay his whole appearance,
suggested peace, quietness, and perfect restfulness, as well as--by some
subtlety of manner--a vague but none the less distinct impression that
things were going well with one. He was a tall and rather thin man,
with dark-brown hair, beard, and moustache; he was bald on the top of
his head, and wore gold-rimmed spectacles through which his fine dark
eyes beamed down upon his patients with an expression of sympathy that
was in itself as good as a tonic. He asked me a few questions in a
quiet, almost caressing tone of voice, gave the orderly who had me in
charge certain instructions, and then, patting me gently upon the
shoulder, assured me that I should soon be all right again, in a tone of
voice that, quiet as it was, somehow seemed to carry absolute conviction
with it.
As a matter of fact I really did begin to mend practically from that
moment--so rapidly indeed that on the twenty-third day after my
admission the wound in my head had so far healed that the bandages were
discarded--and three weeks later I was discharged into the guardship
cured, the _Europa_ having gone to sea again some time before.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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