{"product_id":"2940013265455","title":"The Battery And The Boiler","description":"CHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIN WHICH THE HERO MAKES HIS FIRST FLASH AND EXPLOSION.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSomewhere about the middle of this nineteenth century, a baby boy was\u003cbr\u003eborn on the raging sea in the midst of a howling tempest.  That boy was\u003cbr\u003ethe hero of this tale.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe was cradled in squalls, and nourished in squalor--a week of dirty\u003cbr\u003eweather having converted the fore-cabin of the emigrant ship into\u003cbr\u003esomething like a pig-sty.  Appreciating the situation, no doubt, the\u003cbr\u003ebaby boy began his career with a squall that harmonised with the\u003cbr\u003eweather, and, as the steward remarked to the ship's cook, \"continued for\u003cbr\u003eto squall straight on end all that day and night without so much as ever\u003cbr\u003etakin' breath!\"  It is but right to add that the steward was prone to\u003cbr\u003eexaggeration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Stooard,\" said the ship's cook in reply, as he raised his eyes from the\u003cbr\u003econtemplation of his bubbling coppers, \"take my word for it, that there\u003cbr\u003ebabby what has just bin launched ain't agoin' to shovel off his mortal\u003cbr\u003ecoil--as the play-actor said--without makin' his mark some'ow an'\u003cbr\u003esomew'eres.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What makes you think so, Johnson?\" asked the steward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What makes me think so, stooard?\" replied the cook, who was a huge\u003cbr\u003egood-natured young man.  \"Well, I'll tell 'ee.  I was standin' close to\u003cbr\u003ethe fore hatch at the time, a-talkin' to Jim Brag, an' the father o' the\u003cbr\u003ebabby, poor feller, he was standin' by the foretops'l halyards holdin'\u003cbr\u003eon to a belayin'-pin, an' lookin' as white as a sheet--for I got a\u003cbr\u003eglance at 'im two or three times doorin' the flashes o' lightnin'.\u003cbr\u003eWell, stooard, there was lightnin' playin' round the mizzen truck, an'\u003cbr\u003ethe main truck, an' the fore truck, an' at the end o' the flyin'\u003cbr\u003ejib-boom, an' the spanker boom; then there came a flash that seemed to\u003cbr\u003eset afire the entire univarse; then a burst o' thunder like fifty great\u003cbr\u003eguns gone off all at once in a hurry.  At that identical moment,\u003cbr\u003estooard, there came up from the fore-cabin a yell that beat--well, I\u003cbr\u003ecan't rightly say what it beat, but it minded me o' that unfortnit pig\u003cbr\u003eas got his tail jammed in the capstan off Cape Horn.  The father gave a\u003cbr\u003egasp.  `It's born,' says he.  `More like's if it's basted,' growled Jim\u003cbr\u003eBrag.  `You're a unfeelin' monster, Brag,' says I; `an' though you _are_\u003cbr\u003ethe ship's carpenter, I _will_ say it, you 'aven't got no more sympathy\u003cbr\u003ethan the fluke of an anchor!'  Hows'ever the poor father didn't hear the\u003cbr\u003eremark, for he went down below all of a heap--head, legs, and arms--\u003cbr\u003eanyhow.  Then there came another yell, an' another, an' half a dozen\u003cbr\u003emore, which was followed by another flash o' lightnin' an' drownded in\u003cbr\u003eanother roar o' thunder; but the yells from below kep' on, an' came out\u003cbr\u003estrong between times, makin' no account whatever o' the whistlin' wind\u003cbr\u003ean' rattlin' ropes, which they riz above--easy.--Now, stooard, do you\u003cbr\u003emean for to tell me that all that signifies nothink?  Do you suppose\u003cbr\u003ethat that babby could go through life like an or'nary babby?  No, it\u003cbr\u003ecouldn't--not even if it was to try--w'ich it _won't_!\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082463461616,"sku":"2940013265455","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013265455_p0.jpg?v=1763578977","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013265455","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}