nor was it any comfort when dulcia 's captain chenery said heartily , `` do you know , laurence , i knew a fellow who was knocked off his beast at the nile-landed on his head on the deck of the tonnant , and could not speak a word at all for three years ; but then one day he woke up and asked for coffee , '' as on further inquiry , it turned out that this was the extent of the gentleman 's recovery , and he had died in a sudden fit two years later on .