"Pooh! pooh!" he exclaimed, "that's nothing.  Thank your lucky stars that you have got off so lightly as you have.  Some of the poor fellows here have lost a limb or two, while others of the boarding party have lost the number of their mess altogether.  Yours is simply a broken head; and, since your skull appears to be abnormally thick, I daresay it will very soon mend again.  Aches badly, does it?  Ah, well, that is an excellent sign; but perhaps you had better remain on the sick list for a few days, and keep to your hammock until the pain passes off--no good going on duty while you are blind with headache, you know.  And--yes, now that I am here and you are awake I may as well look at your wound again."