Emily did not absolutely dress my wound, a flesh
injury in the shoulder, that office falling to her father's share, who
had seen a good deal of service, and was familiar with the general
treatment of hurts of this nature; but she could, and did, show many
of those gentle and seductive attentions, that the tenderness of her
sex can alone bestow, with full effect, on man. In a fortnight my hurt
was cured, though Emily had specifics to recommend, and advice to
bestow, until we were both ashamed to allude to the subject any
longer.
As for the passage, it was just such a one as might be expected to
occur, in the trades of the Pacific. The ship was under studding-sails
nearly the whole time, making, day in and day out, from a hundred and
twenty to two hundred miles in the twenty-four hours. The mates kept
the watches, and I had little to do, but to sit and chat with the
Major and his daughter, in the cool, airy cabin, that Le Compte had
provided for us; listen to Emily's piano, which had been transferred
from the prize, and subsequently saved from the wreck; or read aloud
out of some of the two or three hundred beautifully bound, and
sweetly-scented volumes that composed her library. In that day, people
read Pope, and Young, and Milton, and Shakspeare, and that sort of
writers; a little relieved by Mrs.
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