Resolves to Quit That Way of Life
The narrator reflects on Miss Williams’ story with astonishment at the variety of miseries she has endured in just two years, finding her situation a thousand times more wretched than his own. While the narrator has endured hardships throughout his life, he has learned to bear them as they have become habitual, and he retains the dignity to retrieve his character. Miss Williams, by contrast, had known the sweets of prosperity and been raised in comfort by indulgent parents, entertaining expectations of uninterrupted happiness, making her reverse of fortune all the more tormenting and intolerable. The narrator pronounces the profession of a courtesan the most deplorable and Miss Williams the most unhappy of courtesans. Her condition fills the narrator with sympathy and compassion; he reveres her qualifications and regards her as unfortunate rather than criminal. He attends her with such care that in less than two months, both their healths are perfectly re-established. They confer frequently about their mutual affairs and interchange advice, forming a thousand different projects that prove impracticable. Unable to find service without recommendations, they consider an expedient: Miss Williams will procure the garb of a country wench, go to some distant village, and arrive in a waggon as a fresh girl seeking service, thereby obtaining provision more suitable to her inclination than her present way of life.
KAPITEL XXIV.
The narrator, reduced to desperate circumstances, is forcibly conscripted by a press-gang on Tower Hill. After enduring harsh treatment aboard the pressing tender, he is transferred to HMS Thunder. There he encounters an abusive midshipman who has him imprisoned, but he is ultimately exonerated through the testimony of Jack Rattlin and others. The narrator is appointed assistant to the ship’s surgeon, thanks to the intervention of his old acquaintance Thompson, who recounts his own fortunate appointment to the vessel.
Miss Williams Becomes a Bar-Keeper
Miss Williams resolves to better her circumstances by accepting a position as a bar-keeper at an establishment funded by a wine merchant’s favor. She departs from her lodgings with tearful farewells and promises to leave when she has accumulated sufficient funds to execute some other plan.
Narrator Press-Ganged and Wounded on Tower Hill
Finding himself starving and with no resources, the narrator abandons his pride and sets out toward Wapping to seek help from a schoolfriend commanding a coastal vessel. On Tower Wharf, however, he is accosted by a press-gang. Despite fighting fiercely and wounding several attackers with his cudgel, he is overwhelmed by reinforcements and suffers severe wounds to his head and cheek before being taken prisoner and dragged aboard a pressing tender.
Abuse Aboard the Press Tender
The narrator is pinioned and confined in the ship’s hold among other wretched captives. When he asks a fellow prisoner to use his handkerchief to bind his wounds, the man instead sells it to a bumboat woman for gin. The narrator complains to the midshipman on deck, who responds by spitting tobacco juice at him through the gratings and declaring he cares nothing for his fate. Overcome by blood loss, hunger, and the foul atmosphere, the narrator faints.
Jack Rattlin Recounts Oakum and Bowling’s Feud
A sentinel named Jack Rattlin revives the narrator and promises he will be transferred to HMS Thunder the next day to receive proper care. Upon learning the narrator’s connection to Lieutenant Bowling, Rattlin becomes friendly and shares a meal with him. Rattlin recounts the feud between Captain Oakum and Lieutenant Bowling: during a night watch, Bowling discovered three ships offshore and woke the sleeping captain, who flew into a rage and insulted him. They exchanged heated words, leading to a physical confrontation the next morning. When they met ashore for a duel, Bowling wounded Oakum severely and then fled, being subsequently listed as a deserter and losing all his pay.
Narrator Boards HMS Thunder, Faces Crew Mockery
The narrator and other pressed men are transferred to HMS Thunder at the Nore. After his handcuffs are removed, he is subjected to a barrage of sailors’ mockery as he climbs the gangplank, with remarks about his wounds being like uncaulked seams, his bloodied hair resembling red ropes, and his need for iron braces to keep his yards square.
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