第二十四章
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.
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