In the cabin I found Wagtail, Gelid, and Bangs, three British
officers, stationed at the West Indies, capital fellows, who finding
their time hang heavy on their hands, had procured leave of absence,
and accompanied me in my cruise, which though somewhat dangerous it is
true, still offered occasional opportunities of amusement. They were
sitting round a small table, smoking, and before them stood glasses of
brandy and water.
"Something of a fight, eh?" said Paul Gelid, a long-limbed Creole from
the Bahamas, but a warm-hearted, honorable fellow, with a drawling
voice. "Not very pleasant in the evening, I should say."
"You're a pretty fellow," retorted Aaron Bangs, "to be plaguing us
with your chatter at such an unseasonable moment as this."
Bangs had been an active and brave officer, but ease and comfort was
every thing to him, and when he could not fight, he did not like to
hear it spoken of.
Pepperpot Wagtail was a little round fellow, of an irritable
temperament, but great goodness of heart, and very scrupulous in his
dealings with mankind. He had been sick and had come on board in order
to recruit his health. I do not know how to describe his appearance
better than to compare him to an egg, to the large end of which, his
little feet were fastened.
"My dear sir," he said to Bangs, "reach me that cursed biscuit."
Bangs gave him the bowl, throwing into it some pieces of biscuit which
were as hard as stones.
All this time I was occupied with my chart. Wagtail took a piece of
the biscuit and put it into his mouth.
"Zounds! my dear Aaron," cried he, ironically, "what dentist are you
in league with? Gelid has just broken off his favorite tooth, and now
you want"--
"Bah!" replied Bangs, "don't frighten yourself; but what the deuce is
this? Wagtail, Gelid, my dear fellows, look here!"
A sailor, who was followed by the ship's surgeon, brought down on his
back, the poor fellow who had been wounded, and laid him on the table.
I must here remark that the captain's cabin in small vessels is
sometimes used as a cockpit, as it now was.
"Your pardon, captain and gentlemen," said the surgeon, "but I must,
I fear, perform an ugly operation on this poor lad, and I think it
better that you should go on deck."
I had now an opportunity of seeing what kind of mettle my friends were
made of.
"Doctor," said Bangs, pulling off his coat, "I can be of use, I know
very well--no skill, but firm nerves."
"And I," cried Wagtail, "can tie a bandage, although I am not a
surgeon."
Gelid said nothing, but when it came to the pinch was the most useful
of all. The wounded lad Wiggins, a fine young man, was weak and very
pale, but bold as a lion. A cannon shot had shivered the bone of his
leg just above the knee. Round his thigh was a tourniquet, and in
consequence he did not bleed much.
"Captain," said the poor boy, "I shall get over this. I have no great
pain, sir; I have not indeed."
All this time the surgeon was cutting his pantaloons from his leg, and
now a shocking sight presented itself to our view. The foot and leg
were blue and shrivelled, and connected with the thigh by only a small
ligament; the knee pan too was shattered. The doctor made the young
man swallow a glass of brandy, containing a strong dose of opium, and
then began to amputate the limb above the knee. As long as the knife
was used, Aaron remained firm, but when the saw grated against the
bone, he murmured with a shudder:
"I'm going on deck captain: I can't stand this--I'm sick as a dog."
He was so weak that I released him and took his place, holding Wiggins
in my arms. Wagtail, too, was soon obliged to beat a retreat, but
Gelid remained firm as a rock. The leg was amputated, the arteries
tied, and the surgeon busy in loosening the tourniquet, when suddenly
the thread which bound the principal artery, gave way, and a stream of
blood gushed forth, as if driven by an engine. The poor fellow had
hardly time to cry "Take away that cold hand from my heart!" when his
eyes grew dim, his lower jaw fell, and in a minute it was all over
with him.
"Dead as Julius Caesar, captain," said Gelid coolly.
Dead enough, thought I, and left the cabin to go on deck. At the foot
of the companion-ladder, I stumbled over something.
"What the deuce is this?" growled I.
"It's me, sir."
"Me--and who's me?"
"Reefpoint, sir."
"Gracious God! what are you doing here youngster? You're not wounded,
I hope."
"A little, sir; a scratch from a splinter, sir. The same shot that
tripped up poor Wiggins, sent a splinter after me."
"Why don't you go to the doctor, Reefpoint?"
"I was waiting until he had finished with Wiggins, sir, but as it is
all over with him now, I'll go and have my wound dressed."
His voice grew weaker and weaker, until I could hardly understand what
he said. I took him in my arms, carried him into the cabin, and
undressed him. I found that he was wounded in the right side just
above the hip. Bangs, who in the meanwhile had got over his weakness
by the aid of a glass of water, lent his aid, and the natural goodness
of his heart now made itself apparent.
"What, Reefpoint! little reefer," he cried; "you are surely not
wounded, my dear friend--such a little fellow; why I should as soon
have thought they would have shot at a fly."
"Indeed, I am wounded, Master Bangs; look there."
Bangs examined the wound, holding the poor little midshipman in his
arms.
"God bless me!" he cried, with an outbreak of the most heartfelt
grief; "you seem more fit to be in your mother's nursery, than to be
knocked about in this way."
Reefpoint sank fainting into his arms.
"With the captain's permission you must have my bed," said Aaron to
him, whilst he and Wagtail undressed the boy with the greatest care
and tenderness, and laid him in the hammock.
"Thank you, sir," sobbed little Reefpoint, "if my mother were here,
she would thank you too."