A More Than Fair Exchange - 1st Half

This is the 1st half of a 2-part piece a tad too long for a single posting - a tale likely very close to factual - An ivory-tinted fluffy billow drifted through the sunrise - thankfully diffusing what could easily blind the eye - Off’ring Bosun Thurston Brooks a disconcerting glimpse of what to which their badly battered ship was drawing nigh. Assaulted by a pirate who’d been plundering English vessels, the Hercules, an ironclad, had taken several hits, And Captain Clark...believing that her hours afloat were few...had raised her every sail with hopes to catch his fellow Brits. Separated, early on, by rigging gone awry...the battle they’d been forced to wage was done with no support As those whom they’d been trailing, long ago had sailed from sight, assuming they would reappear and join the fleet - in port! But badly wounded stem to stern - her only compass lost - and sobered to distraction by the empty seas he’d scanned... Captain Clark informed his Bosun...“Brooks...we’re going down...and, as it is, our only chance to not is - finding land... “And...doing so with only stars! The compass lies in ruin, and several hours from any land - we know of - has our plight Teetering on a precipice that hovers our demise...so, pray, with me, for what we need…a calm and cloudless night! “Only constellations, now, will light for us the pathway leading to the destiny for which we charted course, And stellar navigation...when your compass fails to work...is something I - and all good sailors worth their salt - endorse. “To dodge the risk of veering off our path, we’ll drop the sails just before the groups required have faded from our views, Then raise them once again when dark...though only if, of course, the ones we need to point the way are there for us to use.” “But, Sir,” he cried, “the starboard bow is taking water fast...and if we fail to find a shore that we can quickly reach, The Hercules will not survive! The only way, I fear, to keep her, sir, from sinking is to -- ground ‘er on a beach! “Sailing on without a compass - this far out to sea - merely spurs the likelihood of wandering far astray, So I propose,” he carried on, “we try instead to save her...and every sailor on ‘er...in this far less risky way. “We’ve food enough for several days, and down as far as this - aside from those that host disaster - each day’s like the last... So I suggest we make a run for what I saw this morning, and hoist our Union Jack above the crow’s nest - on the mast. “Veiled by fog, the ship we’d trailed had failed to see our flagman, rendering her, explicably, devoid of all concern... While each of us was certain...once they’d sailed too far to see us...one - at least - within the fleet, would feel an urge to learn “Why it was we’d fallen back, and - if in fact they had - maybe they’d have been in time to help defend our rig!” Handing Captain Clark the glass and throwing a finger west, Brooks continued, “What’s required, of course...need not be big... Only lying close enough to let us reach its shore in what I’d say would wisely be within, at most, two hours!” Now, a ‘Bosun’ - as I’m sure you know - often mans the crow’s-nest...passing down the details of the visages he scours... And while, that morning - as he’d said - the sun had been reluctant to let him scan the bit of land he’d noticed leeward side, Now, much higher, what he’d spotted could, indeed, be seen...and...when ones ship is tasting that on which it’s meant to ride... One who clearly comprehends the odds within his grasp - understands the prospects of a fate-dictating move - Must, at times, compel his minions - even those opposed - to risk, with him, an option of which all do not approve. Be sure to read the finale in the 2nd half -