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could he get a few spoonsfull of an excellent port wine which that case,
contained, and which had been provided expressly for cases of sickness.
To do this, however, it was necessary to obtain the key, to open the
case, and to pour out the liquor; three things, of which he distrusted
his powers to perform that which was the least difficult.
The key of the liquor-case was in the draw of an open secretary, which,
fortunately, stood between him and the table. Another effort was made to
rise, which so far succeeded as to enable the invalid to sit up in his
bed. The cool breeze which aired the cabin revived him a little, and he
was able to stretch out a hand and turn the cock of the filterer, which
he had himself drawn near his berth, while under the excitement of
fever, in order to obtain easy access to water. Accidentally this
filterer stood in a draught, and the quart or two of water that had not
yet evaporated was cool and palatable; that is, cool for a ship and such
a climate. One swallow of the water was all Mark ventured on, but it
revived him more than he could believe possible. Near the glass into
which he had drawn the water, lay a small piece of pilot bread, and this
he dropped into the tumbler. Then he ventured to try his feet, when he
found a dizziness come over him, that compelled him to fall back on his
berth. Recovering from this in a minute or two, a second attempt
succeeded better, and the poor fellow, by supporting himself against the
bulkheads, and by leaning on chairs, was enabled to reach the desk. The
key was easily obtained, and the table was next reached. Here Mark sunk
into a chair, as much exhausted as he would have been, previously to his
illness, by a desperate effort to defend life.
The invalid was in his shirt, and the cool sea-breeze had the effect of
an air-bath on him. It revived him in a little while, when he applied
the key, opened the case, got out the bottle by using both hands, though
it was nearly empty, and poured out a wine-glass of the liquor. With
these little exertions he was so much exhausted as almost to faint.
Nothing saved him, probably, but a sip of the wine which he took from
the glass as it stood on the table. It has been much the fashion, of
late years, to decry wine, and this because it is a gift of Providence
that has been greatly abused. In Mark Woolston's instance it proved,
what it was designed to be, a blessing instead of a curse. That single
sip of wine produced an effect on him like that of magic. It enabled him
soon to obtain his tumbler of water, into which he poured the remainder
of the liquor. With the tumbler in his hand, the invalid next essayed to
cross the cabin, and to reach the berth in the other state-room. He was
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two or three minutes in making this passage, sustained by a chair, into
which he sunk not less than three times, and revived by a few more sips
of the wine and water. In this state-room was a bed with clean cool
linen, that had been prepared for Bob, but which that worthy fellow had
pertinaciously refused to use, out of respect to his officer. On these
sheets Mark now sank, almost exhausted. He had made a happy exchange,
however, the freshness and sweetness of the new bed, of itself, acting
as delicious restoratives.
After resting a few minutes, the solitary invalid formed a new plan of
proceeding. He knew the importance of not over-exerting himself, but he
also knew the importance of cleanliness and of a renovation of his
strength. By this time the biscuit had got to be softened in the wine
and water, and he took a piece, and after masticating it well, swallowed
it. This was positively the first food the sick and desolate young man
had received in a week. Fully aware of this, he abstained from taking a
second mouthful, though sorely pressed to it by hunger. So strong was
the temptation, and so sweet did that morse taste, that Mark felt he
might not refrain unless he had something to occupy his mind for a few
minutes. Taking a small swallow of the wine and water, he again got on
his feet, and staggered to the drawer in which poor Captain Crutchely
had kept his linen. Here he got a shirt, and tottered on as far as the
quarter-deck. Beneath the awning Mark had kept the section of a
hogshead, as a bathing-tub, and for the purpose of catching the
rain-water that ran from the awning, Kitty often visiting the ship and
drinking from this reservoir.
The invalid found the tub full of fresh and sweet water, and throwing
aside the shirt in which he had lain so long, he rather fell than seated
himself in the water. After remaining a sufficient, time to recover his
breath, Mark washed his head, and long matted beard, and all parts of
his frame, as well as his strength would allow. He must have remained in
the water several minutes, when he managed to tear himself from it, as
fearful of excess from this indulgence as from eating. The invalid now
felt like a new man! It is scarcely possible to express the change that
came over his feelings, when he found himself purified from the effects
of so long a confinement in a feverish bed, without change, or nursing
of any sort. After drying himself as well as he could with a towel,
though the breeze and the climate did that office for him pretty
effectually, Mark put on the clean, fresh shirt, and tottered back to
his own berth, where he fell on the mattress, nearly exhausted. It was
half-an-hour before he moved again, though all that time experiencing
the benefits of the nourishment taken, and the purification undergone.
The bath, moreover, had acted as a tonic, giving a stimulus to the whole
system. At the end^of the half hour, the young man took another mouthful
of the biscuit, half emptied the tumbler, fell back on his pillow, and
was soon in a sweet sleep.
It was near sunset when Mark lost his consciousness on this occasion,
nor did he recover it until the light of day was once more cheering the
cabin. He had slept profoundly twelve hours, and this so much the more
readily from the circumstance that he had previously refreshed himself
with a bath and clean linen. The first consciousness of his situation
was accompanied with the bleat of poor Kitty. That gentle animal,
intended by nature to mix with herds, had visited the cabin daily, and
had been at the sick man's side, when his fever was at its height; and
had now come again, as if to inquire after his night's rest. Mark held
out his hand, and spoke to his companion, for such she was, and thought
she was rejoiced to hear his voice again, and to be allowed to lick his
hand. There was great consolation in this mute intercourse, poor Mark
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feeling the want of sympathy so much as to find a deep pleasure in this
proof of affection even in a brute.
Mark now arose, and found himself sensibly improved by his night's rest,
the washing, and the nourishment received, little as the last had been.
His first step was to empty the tumbler, bread and all. Then he took
another bath, the last doing quite as much good, he fancied, as his
breakfast. All that day, the young man managed his case with the same
self-denial and prudence, consuming a ship's biscuit in the course of
the next twenty-four hours, and taking two or three glasses of the wine,
mixed with water and sweetened with sugar. In the afternoon he
endeavoured to shave, but the first effort convinced him he was getting
well too fast.
It was thrice twenty-four hours after his first bath, before Mark
Woolston had sufficient strength to reach the galley and light a fire.
In this he then succeeded, and he treated himself to a cup of good warm
tea. He concocted some dishes of arrow-root and cocoa, too, in the
course of that and the next day, continuing his baths, and changing his
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