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The American Cruiser; A Tale of the Last War
The American Cruiser A Tale of the Last War Author:George Little General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1847 Original Publisher: W. J. Reynolds and company, and Waite, Peirce, and co. Subjects: United States Fiction / General Fiction / Classics Fiction / Historical Fiction / Literary Fiction / Short Stories Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the origina... more »l. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER V. THE ANCHOR WATCH -- CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE TWO SEAMEN. The heavy sound of cannon from the different vessels of war now lying in port, as well as from the batteries, came rolling along the water, and the well-known cry of "All's well," from the distinct but hoarse voice of the sentinel, proclaimed the hour to be eight o'clock. The night was clear and cloudless, except a few white streaks, in the northeast, (known to the seamen by the name of a " mackerel sky,") indicating that the wind would shortly blow from that quarter. The deep sound of the cannon was now lost in the distance, and as the voice of the sentinel was also hushed, a universal stillness prevailed ; for although not more than three quarters of an hour had elapsed since the gratings were secured, yet the whole space of the berth-deck, where so many human beings were incarcerated, was silent as the grave. The watch having been set, the first lieutenant managed to have the boatswain and the young man (in whom he seemed to repose great confidence,) in the last anchor watch -- that is, from two until four, A. M. -- with orders to call all hands when the watch was out. The anchor watch differs materially from the sea watch; also in point of the number contained in an anchor watch, vessels of war differ from those of merchant vessels, the former having by far a greater number of men. When a ship or vessel leaves port, the crew a...« less