Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

“It was late afternoon when Mr. Baker’ s wagons crossed North River into Salem and drove to Turner’s Lane. Granny called, ‘See that big house, children? Down near the water? Your great-great-great-grandfather, Captain Turner, built that house. No other house in Salem like it. It has seven Gables.’”

The house granny points to is an actual place that can still be visited in Salem. It is featured in the novel The House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

“The big man rubbed his bristling chin. He looked at the shilling. ‘It’s a bargain, mate. But keep it a secret. If anyone knew that Tom Perry sold a tenth of his expectations for a shilling! They'd stow me in the brig. What’s worse, they'd put me on the binnacle list!’

Nat didn’t know what he was talking about, but he promised. ‘I’ll tell no man!’ He took the slip of paper, folded it, and put it in his pocket.

Tom Perry stood. He flipped the shilling in the air and caught it. ‘I'll drink to our success, mate!’”

Tom Perry agrees to hand over a tenth of his prize in exchange for the cost of a drink. This is a strange and remarkable thing to do. The scene raises the question of whether he is sincere. Maybe he just has a sense of humor, and the idea strikes him as funny. However, since Perry died heroically saving his superior officer’s life, the reader is likely to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he would have done what he promised.

Being “on the binnacle list” means the same as “in sickbay.” In other words, his shipmates would think he was crazy and unfit for duty.

“Mother did not answer. She was still gazing up at the sky. After a while she said, ‘I made up a sort of saying for myself, Nat. I will lift up my eyes unto the stars. Sometimes, if you look at the stars long enough, it helps. It shrinks your day-by-day troubles down to size.’ She smiled. 'We'd better go back. Granny and Father will be wondering where we are.”

Nat and his mother are particularly close. Later in life, Nathaniel Bowditch will often say that his mother idolized him. She encouraged his love of study, and she must have understood more than anyone how much school meant to him. In this scene, she teaches a way to comfort himself and manage his emotions when he feels overwhelmed.