tes and economy of the establishment.

I learned from him that the bed nearest mine, within a few feet on the
right hand, and the one beyond it, were occupied by two boys who were
victims of a sad misfortune. Their intense sufferings were the cause of
the moans and murmurings I had heard during the night. These boys were
apprentices to the rope-making business, and a few days before, while
spinning ropeyarns, with the loose hemp wound in folds around their
waists, the youngest, a lad about fourteen years old, unwittingly
approached an open fire, the weather being cold. A spark ignited the
hemp, and in a moment the whole was in a blaze. The other boy, obeying
an involuntary but generous impulse, rushed to the assistance of his
companion, only to share his misfortune. They were both terribly burned,
and conveyed to the hospital.

Every morning the rations for the day were served out to the patients.
The quality of the food, always excepting a dark-looking liquid of
revolting aspect, known as "beer porridge," and which I ate only through
fear of starvation was generally good, and the quantity was sufficient
to keep the patients alive, while they had no reason to apprehend ill
consequences from a surfeit.

In the course of the forenoon Captain Bacon came to see me. He expressed
regret at my misfortune, and tried to console me with the assurance that
I should be well cared for. He said the ship Packet would sail the next
day, that my chest and bedding should be sent to the house where
the crew had boarded, that HE HAD COMMENDED ME TO THE PARTICULAR
CONSIDERATION OF THE AMERICAN CONSUL, who was his consignee, an would
see that I was sent back to the United States as soon as I should be in
a condition to leave the hospital. He put a silver dollar into my hand,
as he said to buy some fruit, bade me be of good cheer, and left me to
my reflections.

In the afternoon of the same day, one of my shipmates, a kind-hearted
lad, about my own age, called at the hospital to bid me farewell. He
regretted the necessity of our separation, and wept over the misfortune
that had occasioned it. From him I learned that the key of my chest
having been left in the lock when I was carried from the ship, he feared
that Allen and one or two others of the crew, who were not liberally
supplied with clothing for a long voyage, had made free with my
property. He also told me that three of the ship's company had deserted,
having no confidence in the a