There followed on that a council of the officers , and some decision which I did not rightly understand , seeing only the result : that we had made a fair wind of a foul one and were running south . The tenth afternoon there was a falling swell and a thick , wet , white fog that hid one end of the brig from the other . All afternoon , when I went on deck , I saw men and officers listening hard over the bulwarks -- `` for breakers , '' they said ; and though I did not so much as understand the word , I felt danger in the air , and was excited . Maybe about ten at night , I was serving Mr. Riach and the captain at their supper , when the ship struck something with a great sound , and we heard voices singing out . My two masters leaped to their feet . `` She 's struck ! '' said Mr. Riach . `` No , sir , '' said the captain . `` We 've only run a boat down . '' And they hurried out . The captain was in the right of it . We had run down a boat in the fog , and she had parted in the midst and gone to the bottom with all her crew but one . This man -LRB- as I heard afterwards -RRB- had been sitting in the stern as a passenger , while the rest were on the benches rowing . At the moment of the blow , the stern had been thrown into the air , and the man -LRB- having his hands free , and for all he was encumbered with a frieze overcoat that came below his knees -RRB- had leaped up and caught hold of the brig 's bowsprit . It showed he had luck and much agility and unusual strength , that he should have thus saved himself from such a pass . And yet , when the captain brought him into the round-house , and I set eyes on him for the first time , he looked as cool as I did . He was smallish in stature , but well set and as nimble as a goat ; his face was of a good open expression , but sunburnt very dark , and heavily freckled and pitted with the small-pox ; his eyes were unusually light and had a kind of dancing madness in them , that was both engaging and alarming ; and when he took off his great-coat , he laid a pair of fine silver-mounted pistols on the table , and I saw that he was belted with a great sword . His manners , besides , were elegant , and he pledged the captain handsomely . Altogether I thought of him , at the first sight , that here was a man I would rather call my friend than my enemy . The captain , too , was taking his observations , but rather of the man 's clothes than his person .
And to be sure , as soon as he had taken off the XXXXX , he showed forth mighty fine for the round-house of a merchant brig : having a hat with feathers , a red waistcoat , breeches of black plush , and a blue coat with silver buttons and handsome silver lace ; costly clothes , though somewhat spoiled with the fog and being slept in .
Riach afternoon bowsprit bulwarks first great-coat night right round-house small-pox