{"product_id":"2940016070476","title":"A Pirate of the Caribbees","description":"A PIRATE OF THE CARIBBEES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBY HARRY COLLINGWOOD\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER ONE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA FRIGATE FIGHT IN MID-ATLANTIC.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Eight bells, there, sleepers; d'ye hear the news?--Rouse and bitt, my\u003cbr\u003ehearties!  Show a leg!  Eight bells, Courtenay! and Keene says he will\u003cbr\u003ebe much obliged if you will relieve him as soon as possible!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese words, delivered in a tone of voice that was a curious alternation\u003cbr\u003eof a high treble with a preternaturally deep bass--due to the fact that\u003cbr\u003ethe speaker's voice was \"breaking\"--and accompanied by the reckless\u003cbr\u003ebanging of a tin pannikin upon the deal table that adorned the\u003cbr\u003emidshipmen's berth of H.M. frigate _Althea_, instantly awoke me to the\u003cbr\u003edisagreeable consciousness that my watch below had come to an end,\u003cbr\u003eespecially as the concluding portion of the harangue was addressed to me\u003cbr\u003epersonally, and accompanied by a most uncompromising thump upon the side\u003cbr\u003eof my hammock.  So I surlily growled an answer--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"All right, young 'un; there's no occasion to make all that hideous row!\u003cbr\u003eJust see if you can make yourself useful by finding Black Peter, will\u003cbr\u003eyou, and telling him to brew some coffee.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe lad was turning away to do my bidding when a pattering of naked feet\u003cbr\u003ebecame audible as their owner approached, while a husky voice\u003cbr\u003eejaculated--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Who's dat axin' for Brack Petah?  Was it you, Mistah Courtenay?\"  And\u003cbr\u003eat the same instant the shining, good-natured, grinning visage of a\u003cbr\u003egigantic negro appeared in the narrow doorway, through which the fellow\u003cbr\u003einstantly passed into the berth, bearing a big pot of steaming hot\u003cbr\u003ecoffee.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Ay, you black demon, I it was,\" answered I.  \"Is that coffee you have\u003cbr\u003ethere?  Then find my cup and fill it, there's a good fellow, and I'll\u003cbr\u003eowe you a glass of grog.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hi, yi!\" answered the black, his eyes sparkling and his teeth gleaming\u003cbr\u003ehilariously, \"who you call `brack demon,' eh, sah?  Who eber hear of\u003cbr\u003ebrack demon turnin' out at four o'clock in de mornin' to make coffee for\u003cbr\u003eyoung gentermen, eh?  And about de grog, Mistah Courtenay; how many\u003cbr\u003eglasses do dis one make dat you now owe me, eh, sah?  Ansah me dat, sah.\u003cbr\u003eYou don' keep no account, I expec's, sah, but _I_ do.  Dis one makes\u003cbr\u003eseben, Mistah Courtenay, and I'd be much obleege, sah, if you'd pay some\u003cbr\u003eof dem off.  It am all bery well to say you'll _owe_ 'em to me, sah, but\u003cbr\u003ewhat's de use ob dat if you don' nebber _pay_ me, eh?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"_Pay_ you, you rascal?\" shouted I, as I sprang to the deck and began\u003cbr\u003ehastily to scramble into my clothes, \"do you mean to say that you have\u003cbr\u003ethe impudence to actually expect to _be paid_?  Is it not honour and\u003cbr\u003ereward enough that a gentleman condescends to become _indebted_ to you?\u003cbr\u003ePay, indeed! why, what is the world coming to, I wonder?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bravo, Courtenay, well spoken!\" shouted young Lindsay, the lad who had\u003cbr\u003eso ruthlessly interrupted my slumbers, \"how well you express yourself;\u003cbr\u003eyou ought to be in Parliament, man!  Give it him again; bring him to his\u003cbr\u003ebearings.  The impudence of the fellow is getting to be past endurance!\u003cbr\u003eNow then, you black swab, where's the sugar?  Do you suppose we can\u003cbr\u003edrink that stuff without sugar?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter a search of some duration the sugar was eventually found in a\u003cbr\u003elocker, in loving contiguity to an open box of blacking, some boot\u003cbr\u003ebrushes, a box of candles, a few fragments of brown windsor,--one of\u003cbr\u003ewhich had somehow found its way into the bowl,--and a few other fragrant\u003cbr\u003etrifles.  In my haste to get on deck, and betrayed by the feeble light\u003cbr\u003eof the purser's dip, which just sufficed to render the darkness visible,\u003cbr\u003eI managed to convey this stray morsel of soap into my coffee along with\u003cbr\u003ethe sugar wherewith I intended to sweeten it, and only discovered what I\u003cbr\u003ehad done barely in time to avoid gulping down the soap along with the\u003cbr\u003escalding liquid into which I had plunged it.  A midshipman, however,\u003cbr\u003esoon loses all sense of squeamishness, so I contented myself with\u003cbr\u003emuttering a sea blessing upon the head of the unknown individual who had\u003cbr\u003edeposited this \"matter in the wrong place,\" and dashed up the hatchway\u003cbr\u003eto relieve the impatient Keene.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47101077979376,"sku":"2940016070476","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940016070476","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}