Meanwhile, the captain's choler gradually subsided, and he was
pleased to desire Hatchway, by the familiar and friendly diminutive
of Jack, to read a newspaper that lay on the table before him.
This task was accordingly undertaken by the lame lieutenant, who,
among paragraphs, read that which follows, with an elevation of
voice which seemed to prognosticate something extraordinary: "We
are informed, that Admiral Bower will very soon be created a British
peer, for his eminent services during the war, particularly in his
late engagement with the French fleet."
Trunnion was thunderstruck at this piece of intelligence: the ring
dropped front his hand, and shivered into a thousand pieces; his
eye glistened like that of a rattle-snake; and some minutes elapsed
before he could pronounce, "Avast! overhaul that article again!"
It was no sooner read the second time, than, smiting the table
with his fist, he started up, and, with the most violent emphasis
of rage and indignation, exclaimed, "D-- my heart and liver! 'tis
a land lie, d'ye see; and I will maintain it to be a lie, from the
sprit-sail yard to the mizen-top-sail haulyards! Blood and thunder!
Will.
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