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A
friend
or
two
of
my
own
age
,
from
among
the
boys
I
knew
;
a
friend
or
two
from
characters
in
the
books
I
knew
;
and
a
friend
or
two
from
No
-
man
’
s
-
land
,
where
every
fellow
’
s
a
born
sailor
;
and
the
crew
was
complete
.
I
addressed
them
on
the
poop
,
divided
them
into
watches
,
gave
instructions
I
should
be
summoned
on
the
first
sign
of
pirates
,
whales
,
or
Frenchmen
,
and
retired
below
to
a
well
-
earned
spell
of
relaxation
.
That
was
the
right
sort
of
cabin
that
I
stepped
into
,
shutting
the
door
behind
me
with
a
click
.
Of
course
,
fire
-
arms
were
the
first
thing
I
looked
for
,
and
there
they
were
,
sure
enough
,
in
their
racks
,
dozens
of
’
em
—
double
-
barrelled
guns
,
and
repeating
-
rifles
,
and
long
pistols
,
and
shiny
plated
revolvers
.
I
rang
up
the
steward
and
ordered
tea
,
with
scones
,
and
jam
in
its
native
pots
—
none
of
your
finicking
shallow
glass
dishes
;
and
,
when
properly
streaked
with
jam
,
and
blown
out
with
tea
,
I
went
through
the
armoury
,
clicked
the
rifles
and
revolvers
,
tested
the
edges
of
the
cutlasses
with
my
thumb
,
and
filled
the
cartridge
-
belts
chock
-
full
.
Everything
was
there
,
and
of
the
best
quality
,
just
as
if
I
had
spent
a
whole
fortnight
knocking
about
Plymouth
and
ordering
things
.
Clearly
,
if
this
cruise
came
to
grief
,
it
would
not
be
for
want
of
equipment
.
Just
as
I
was
beginning
on
the
lockers
and
the
drawers
,
the
watch
reported
icebergs
on
both
bows
—
and
,
what
was
more
to
the
point
,
coveys
of
Polar
bears
on
the
icebergs
.
I
grasped
a
rifle
or
two
,
and
hastened
on
deck
.
The
spectacle
was
indeed
magnificent
—
it
generally
is
,
with
icebergs
on
both
bows
,
and
these
were
exceptionally
enormous
icebergs
.
But
I
hadn
’
t
come
there
to
paint
Academy
pictures
,
so
the
captain
’
s
gig
was
in
the
water
and
manned
almost
ere
the
boatswain
’
s
whistle
had
ceased
sounding
,
and
we
were
pulling
hard
for
the
Polar
bears
—
myself
and
the
rifles
in
the
stern
-
sheets
.
I
have
rarely
enjoyed
better
shooting
than
I
got
during
that
afternoon
’
s
tramp
over
the
icebergs
.
Perhaps
I
was
in
specially
good
form
;
perhaps
the
bears
“
rose
”
well
.
Anyhow
,
the
bag
was
a
portentous
one
.
In
later
days
,
on
reading
of
the
growing
scarcity
of
Polar
bears
,
my
conscience
has
pricked
me
;
but
that
afternoon
I
experienced
no
compunction
.
Nevertheless
,
when
the
huge
pile
of
skins
had
been
hoisted
on
board
,
and
a
stiff
grog
had
been
served
out
to
the
crew
of
the
captain
’
s
gig
,
I
ordered
the
schooner
’
s
head
to
be
set
due
south
.
For
icebergs
were
played
out
,
for
the
moment
,
and
it
was
getting
to
be
time
for
something
more
tropical
.
Tropical
was
a
mild
expression
of
what
was
to
come
,
as
was
shortly
proved
.
It
was
about
three
bells
in
the
next
day
’
s
forenoon
watch
when
the
look
-
out
man
first
sighted
the
pirate
brigantine
.
I
disliked
the
looks
of
her
from
the
first
,
and
,
after
piping
all
hands
to
quarters
,
had
the
brass
carronade
on
the
fore
-
deck
crammed
with
grape
to
the
muzzle
.
This
proved
a
wise
precaution
.
For
the
flagitious
pirate
craft
,
having
crept
up
to
us
under
the
colours
of
the
Swiss
Republic
,
a
state
with
which
we
were
just
then
on
the
best
possible
terms
,
suddenly
shook
out
the
skull
-
and
-
cross
-
bones
at
her
masthead
,
and
let
fly
with
round
-
shot
at
close
quarters
,
knocking
into
pieces
several
of
my
crew
,
who
could
ill
be
spared
.
The
sight
of
their
disconnected
limbs
aroused
my
ire
to
its
utmost
height
,
and
I
let
them
have
the
contents
of
the
brass
carronade
,
with
ghastly
effect
.
Next
moment
the
hulls
of
the
two
ships
were
grinding
together
,
the
cold
steel
flashed
from
its
scabbard
,
and
the
death
-
grapple
had
begun
.
In
spite
of
the
deadly
work
of
my
grape
-
gorged
carronade
,
our
foe
still
outnumbered
us
,
I
reckoned
,
by
three
to
one
.
Honour
forbade
my
fixing
it
at
a
lower
figure
—
this
was
the
minimum
rate
at
which
one
dared
to
do
business
with
pirates
.
They
were
stark
veterans
,
too
,
every
man
seamed
with
ancient
sabre
-
cuts
,
whereas
my
crew
had
many
of
them
hardly
attained
the
maturity
which
is
the
gift
of
ten
long
summers
—
and
the
whole
thing
was
so
sudden
that
I
had
no
time
to
invent
a
reinforcement
of
riper
years
.
It
was
not
surprising
,
therefore
,
that
my
dauntless
boarding
-
party
,
axe
in
hand
and
cutlass
between
teeth
,
fought
their
way
to
the
pirates
’
deck
only
to
be
repulsed
again
and
yet
again
,
and
that
our
planks
were
soon
slippery
with
our
own
ungrudged
and
inexhaustible
blood
.
At
this
critical
point
in
the
conflict
,
the
bo
’
sun
,
grasping
me
by
the
arm
,
drew
my
attention
to
a
magnificent
British
man
-
of
-
war
,
just
hove
to
in
the
offing
,
while
the
signalman
,
his
glass
at
his
eye
,
reported
that
she
was
inquiring
whether
we
wanted
any
assistance
or
preferred
to
go
through
with
the
little
job
ourselves
.
This
veiled
attempt
to
share
our
laurels
with
us
,
courteously
as
it
was
worded
,
put
me
on
my
mettle
.
