"Throw me overboard!" he cried, and he swore fearfully and seized me by my coat-tails; "you see well enough that I cannot recover. Throw me into the sea; I do not want to see our flag taken."
Two sailors came up to carry him below.
"To your guns, you knaves!" he cried with all his strength: "use grape-shot, and aim on the deck. And as for you, if you fail to keep your word I will curse you and think of you as the most cowardly and vile of men!"
His wound was certainly mortal. I saw the captain call a midshipman and give him the order to lower the flag.
"Give me a shake of the hand," I said to Roger.
And at that moment our flag was lowered....
"Captain, there is a whale to larboard!" interrupted an ensign, running to us.
"A whale?" cried the captain joyfully and leaving his story unfinished. "Quick! launch the longboat and the yawl, too! All longboats into the water! Bring the harpoons and ropes!" ...
I never knew how poor Lieutenant Roger died.