{"product_id":"2940013265547","title":"The Battle Ad The Breeze","description":"A description of the Battle of the Nile,\u003cbr\u003ein which the naval forces of Admiral Nelson fought and defeated the\u003cbr\u003eFrench. The story is made more human by recounting tales of the life of\u003cbr\u003ea British seaman, Bill Bowls, along with incidents involving his\u003cbr\u003efriends Ben Bolter and Tom Riggles.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTOUCHES ON OUR HERO'S EARLY LIFE, EXPERIENCES, AND ADVENTURES.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBill Bowls was the most amiable, gentle, kindly, and modest fellow that\u003cbr\u003eever trod the deck of a man-of-war.  He was also one of the most\u003cbr\u003elion-hearted men in the Navy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Bill was a baby--a round-faced, large-eyed, fat-legged baby, as\u003cbr\u003eunlike to the bronzed, whiskered, strapping seaman who went by the name\u003cbr\u003eof \"Fighting Bill\" as a jackdaw is to a marlinespike--when Bill was a\u003cbr\u003ebaby, his father used to say he was just cut out for a sailor; and he\u003cbr\u003ewas right, for the urchin was overflowing with vigour and muscular\u003cbr\u003eenergy.  He was utterly reckless, and very earnest--we might almost say\u003cbr\u003e_desperately_ earnest.  Whatever he undertook to do he did \"with a\u003cbr\u003ewill.\"  He spoke with a will, listened with a will, laughed, yelled,\u003cbr\u003eate, slept, wrought, and fought with a will.  In short, he was a\u003cbr\u003esplendid little fellow, and therefore, as his father wisely said, was\u003cbr\u003ejust cut out for a sailor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBill seemed to hold the same opinion, for he took to the water quite\u003cbr\u003enaturally from the very commencement of life.  He laughed with glee when\u003cbr\u003ehis mother used to put him into the washtub, and howled with rage when\u003cbr\u003eshe took him out.  Dancing bareheaded under heavy rain was his delight,\u003cbr\u003ewading in ponds and rivers was his common practice, and tumbling into\u003cbr\u003edeep pools was his most ordinary mishap.  No wonder, then, that Bill\u003cbr\u003elearned at an early age to swim, and also to fear nothing whatever,\u003cbr\u003eexcept a blowing-up from his father.  He feared that, but he did not\u003cbr\u003eoften get it, because, although full of mischief as an egg is full of\u003cbr\u003emeat, he was good-humoured and bidable, and, like all lion-hearted\u003cbr\u003efellows, he had little or no malice in him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe began his professional career very early in life.  When in after\u003cbr\u003eyears he talked to his comrades on this subject, he used to say--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yes, mates, I did begin to study navigation w'en I was about two foot\u003cbr\u003ehigh--more or less--an' I tell 'e what it is, there's nothin' like\u003cbr\u003etakin' old Father Time by the forelock.  I was about four year old when\u003cbr\u003eI took my first start in the nautical way; and p'r'aps ye won't believe\u003cbr\u003eit, but it's a fact, I launched my first ship myself; owned her;\u003cbr\u003ecommanded and navigated her, and was wrecked on my first voyage.  It\u003cbr\u003ehappened this way; my father was a mill-wright, he was, and lived near a\u003cbr\u003esmall lake, where I used to splutter about a good deal.  One day I got\u003cbr\u003ehold of a big plank, launched it after half an hour o' the hardest work\u003cbr\u003eI ever had, got on it with a bit of broken palm for an oar, an' shoved\u003cbr\u003eoff into deep water.  It was a splendid burst!  Away I went with my\u003cbr\u003eheart in my mouth and my feet in the water tryin' to steady myself, but\u003cbr\u003eas ill luck would have it, just as I had got my ship on an even keel an'\u003cbr\u003ewas beginnin' to dip my oar with great caution, a squall came down the\u003cbr\u003elake, caught me on the starboard quarter, and threw me on my beam-ends.\u003cbr\u003eOf coorse I went sowse into the water, and had only time to give out one\u003cbr\u003eawful yell when the water shut me up.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47082463592688,"sku":"2940013265547","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013265547_p0.jpg?v=1763578934","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013265547","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}