HANKS AND MY GHOST--HANKS' LEARNING--MYERS AGAIN--ESCAPES ONCE MORE--
APPOINTED TO A FRIGATE--PREPARE FOR SEA--MY SHIPMATES--SAIL FROM
ENGLAND--MESSRS. TRUNDLE AND CHISSEL--DICKY SHARPE AND A TALE OF A
BEEF-BONE.
On reaching Portsmouth, I took a boat and pulled off to the cutter,
which was lying out in the middle of the harbour. Hanks was walking the
deck as I came alongside, but something having attracted his attention
in the direction of Gosport, he did not observe me. Handing the boatman
a shilling, I jumped on board unnoticed, and just as Hanks turned round,
I stood before him, with my hand out ready to grasp his. For an instant
the colour forsook his cheeks, and he stared at me without speaking,
rolling his eyes round as if he saw my wraith.
"Why, Hanks, old fellow! don't you know me?" I exclaimed, bursting into
a loud laugh at his extraordinary way of receiving me. My voice
convinced him that it was not my ghost which was offering to shake hands
with him.
"What, D'Arcy, my boy! is it you, indeed, come back to us after all?" he
cried, seizing both my hands in his own well-hardened paws. "I'm glad
to see you, that I am, lad; we thought those scoundrel smugglers had
done for you. It would have been just like them, to kill the smallest
of the lot. But how did you escape? Come, tell us all about it. We've
had another brush with that rascal Myers: we are certain it was him. He
had the daring to fire into us; killed one of our people, poor Tom
Darling, and wounded two, getting off into the bargain. But we will be
even with him before long, and when we do catch him, we'll pay him off,
that's all. Well I'm glad you escaped, that I am; but come below, and
let us hear the whole story."
In this way the kind-hearted fellow ran on. Having been welcomed by
Growl, Scriven, and the rest of my shipmates, I went to report myself to
my uncle, who was in his cabin. He seemed truly glad to find that I had
not become food for fishes, though he did not exhibit his pleasure
exactly in the same way Hanks had done. When I was dismissed by him, I
dived down into our berth, and there, over a glass of his too-favourite
beverage, old Hanks listened to an account of my adventures. "It was
the Cremona did it, after all!" he exclaimed, slapping my shoulder. "I
told you it would stand you in good stead. Stick to it, my lad, and
you'll become as great a man as that old chap Orpheus, I've heard tell
of, who made the beasts jig when he fiddled. Who the gentleman was, I
can't say, except that he was one of Julius Caesar's generals, wasn't
he?"
I must observe that Hanks' knowledge of history, both ancient and
modern, was somewhat limited and confused; indeed he was impressed with
a notion that Julius Caesar, for whom he had a high respect, came over
to England somewhere in the last century, and having taken possession of
the country, was in his turn thrashed by William the Conqueror. Of all
subsequent events till the time of Nelson, he professed total ignorance.
"Ah, Nelson was the chap who made the English!" he used to exclaim in
triumph; "and as for Nap, whom they talk so much about, what was he to
him, I should like to know. Why, the little Frenchman couldn't put a
ship about in a steady breeze, I'll warrant; and as for handling her in
a gale, I doubt if he could have done it even if his crown depended on
it."
Hanks had no very great respect for science either.
"What do I care for your algebra and your trigonometry?" he one day
observed. "I take my John Norie and my Gunter's Scale, and I work out
my day's work as well as any man; and what more should I want to know,
tell me? Your mathematicians are all humbugs in my opinion, and that's
a fact."
I mention these little traits in Hanks' character, because I shall now
have to bid him farewell for a season. He was a worthy fellow,
nevertheless; not without sense of a practical sort; a curious specimen
of a school now rapidly becoming obsolete.
Soon after this we were once more on our old cruising ground, to the
westward. We had been a week or more knocking about, when it came on to
blow very hard from the south-west. My uncle was not a man to be
frightened by a capful of wind; so, getting our storm-sails, we stood
off shore, and faced the gale like men; for this was just the weather
smugglers would choose to run across Channel, when they think no one
will be on the look-out for them. Towards evening, however, it came on
to blow harder than before; so that at last we were obliged to up-helm
and run for shelter into harbour; but just as we were bearing up, a sea
struck the cutter, carried away our stern-boat, and stove in one of
those on our quarter. In this squall the wind seemed to have worn
itself out; for before we had made the land it suddenly fell, and by
daylight a dead calm came on, followed by a dense fog. When it cleared
somewhat, we found close to us another revenue cutter. Her commander,
Lieutenant Simmons, came on board and told my uncle that he had been
directed to cruise in search of the _Kitty_ lugger, commanded by the
notorious smuggler Bill Myers. "He has been adding wholesale murder to
his other performances," observed the lieutenant. Two weeks ago, a boat
from the _Hawk_ cutter fell in with him at night. He gave her the stem
and cut her in two. Three of her crew climbed up the lugger's bows, but
were instantly knocked on the head and hove overboard. The rest were
drowned, with the exception of one who clung to the wreck and was picked
up by the cutter the next morning. This account made us more eager than
ever to catch Myers. Another cruiser was sent down to assist us in our
search; but, though for several weeks we kept a sharp look-out after
him, he managed to escape us; and neither he nor the _Kitty_ was again
heard of on that coast. I was destined, however, to fall in with him
again in another clime.
We were not sorry to get back to Portsmouth after all this knocking
about. The first person I met on going on shore was Larry Harrigan. He
had seen the cutter coming in, and had hurried down to the Point to meet
me.
"Oh, Master Neil, I've good news for you," he exclaimed, as I jumped out
of the boat and found myself in his arms, for he still looked on me as
the baby he had so carefully watched over. "You are no longer to be
kept in that tub-hunting service, saving his honour your uncle's pardon;
but you are to go to sea in reality, in a fine, smart frigate, which
won't be letting the grass grow under her keel, I'll warrant."
"That's good news, indeed, Larry; where did you learn it?" I asked.
"From no less a man than the Captain himself, and that's good authority,
you'll allow," he answered, in a tone of no little satisfaction. "He's
a friend of your honoured grandfather's, and was a midshipman and
lieutenant on board two ships I served in. He has been lodging in my
house for some months back; and when he heard who you were and who had
brought you up and given you your sea-learning, says he, `Larry, you've
made a seaman of him, that I'll answer for. The lad shall go along with
me when I get a ship, for his grandfather's sake and yours too, old
friend.' Those were his last words, Master Neil, they were indeed; and
he's kept his promise, as I knew he would."
This very satisfactory information Larry communicated on our way to
Southsea. It was confirmed soon afterwards by my uncle, who followed me
up to Larry's house. He, as I suspected, had also made an application
in my favour, and had just received a letter from Captain Poynder--which
was, I found, my future commander's name,--desiring me forthwith to join
his ship, the _Harold_, which was, however, still in the hands of the
dockyard people. Though I would rather have gone afloat at once, this
was, I found, a great advantage, as I had thus an opportunity of seeing
her masted, rigged, and fitted for sea. Officers are often glad to
shirk this, for it is far from pleasant work, and Portsmouth is not the
most delectable of residences. I should advise all midshipmen not to
miss an opportunity of seeing a ship fitted out, if they possibly can.
They will find it will save them an immense deal of after trouble, and
prove the quickest way of gaining a knowledge of their future home.
Meantime Larry was as busy as a bee in getting my kit in order, aided by
his better half; and few midshipmen ever obtained so good an insight at
so cheap a rate. I got leave to run over to Ryde for a couple of days
to wish my aunt and young cousins good-bye. I asked after Alice Marlow.
I was in hopes of hearing that she was coming back to Ryde, that I
might see her before I sailed. I blushed as I mentioned her name, and
had a curious palpitation about the region of the heart. My aunt smiled
as she replied, "I am afraid, Neil, that I shall not be able to get my
young friend to come here again for a long time. Mr Marlow writes me
word that he proposes going abroad and taking her with him. But cheer
up; she will return here some day, I hope; and when you came back from
one of your voyages, you will find her with us, perhaps. I should be,
indeed, very sorry if I did not expect to see the dear little girl
again."
My aunt was the kindest creature alive; and I was very certain that she
regretted that Alice was not there to bid me farewell. I wished her and
my cousins good-bye. They all cried a little, and so, in truth, did I;
for they were the only creatures I had to love in the world. I,
however, quite recovered my spirits before I got half-way across to
Portsmouth. My uncle came several times on board the frigate, and, had
I been his own son, he could not have taken more interest in me than he
did. As for Larry Harrigan, he was on board every day, and all day
long, following me about to show me how everything was done, and why it
was done. The first-lieutenant was a very worthy, kind man; and as soon
as he had heard Larry's history, he used to talk to him and encourage
him to come on board. Greatly to Larry's delight, he gave me leave to
spend an evening sometimes at his house, and very pleasant evenings they
were. The officers now began to join fast. Lieutenants, mates, and
midshipmen were every day arriving. We soon had our full complement of
men, and having got clear of the dockyard people, were ready to go out
to Spithead.
I was now to turn over a new page in the history of my career. Although
I had gained a considerable amount of nautical knowledge, my experience
of life was somewhat limited; but henceforth it was to be enlarged and
extended, I trusted, over the greater part of the surface of the globe.
For the present, the lands of the myrtle and vine were to be our
destination--the shores of the Mediterranean; and the man must indeed be
difficult to satisfy who is not pleased with their varied and glowing
beauties. Our gallant ship; our berth, so long our home; my messmates,
as well as our superior officers and men, merit description. I will
touch on each of them in their turn. First I will speak of our berth,
which was in truth somewhat different to the abodes of the naval heroes
of Great Britain of the rank of midshipmen, with which the public are
familiar. Few, perhaps, are like it, though after we had been a year or
two at sea it had sadly been shorn of its glory. Its brilliancy had
departed, and its polish was no more. We happened to have a caterer,
who liked to have everything very natty about him, and who had
accordingly taken on himself to spend a few pounds in having our berth
neatly done up. The bulkheads were painted of a salmon colour; there
was a gilt and blue moulding; a neat oilcloth over the table and
lockers; and at one end a buffet filled with plated dish-covers and
dishes, tumblers and wine-glasses, forks and spoons, and China teacups;
while two swing-lamps hung from the deck above. It afforded a contrast,
certainly, to the times of the old school, when a purser's dip was stuck
in a black bottle, and battered tin cups served alternately for grog and
tea and soup; but though the language of the occupants of our berth was
somewhat more refined, and our opinions more liberal, I will venture to
say that the spirit to will and to do deeds of daring burnt not the less
brightly in our bosoms than in those of midshipmen of former times.
While I was at Ryde the ship's company moved out of the old _Topaze_,
alongside of which we were lashed, into the frigate; and the day after
several mates and midshipmen, with somewhat aristocratic pretensions,
joined us. I got a hint, when I came back from Ryde, that they were
rather inclined to look down upon me as having been a cutter's
midshipman.
"They shan't cut me, at all events," said I to myself. So as soon as I
got on board I went below, and taking the fiddle old Hanks had given me,
I sat myself down on my chest, and began playing away with all my might
a merry Irish jig.
"Hillo; who is the jolly fellow out there?" asked one of the new mates
from the berth.
"Oh, that's the Irish midshipman, D'Arcy," answered Onslow, a mate who
had sometime joined. "Give us another tune, Paddy, that's a good boy."
On this I forthwith struck up "Saint Patrick's Day in the Morning," and
half a dozen other Irish airs.
"If no one objects, I'll sing, too, mates," said I, when I had played
out my tunes.
Without waiting for an answer, I locked up my fiddle, and taking my seat
at one end of the berth, I trolled out, with a very fair voice, several
songs which used to delight old Hanks and my other shipmates in the
cutter. The effect was evidently good. I showed my wish to please; and
though afterwards a few attempts were made to snub me, I took them all
in good humour, as if they were intended as jokes, and finally
established myself as a favourite with the mess, and I may, I believe,
honestly say, with nearly everybody on board.
As soon as possible we went out to Spithead, and joined a large squadron
under command of Sir Peppery Portfire. We mustered altogether some
eighteen sail of vessels or more, and a very warlike appearance we made.
We were bound, we knew, for the Mediterranean; and we all looked
forward with no little satisfaction to our visit to that most favourite
of stations.
Our powder was next taken on board, with a further supply of stores, and
more midshipmen. Among the latter, who should climb up the side but my
quondam friend Dicky Sharpe. He did not see me, as I was aloft at the
time, and before I came on deck, he and his traps had gone below. When
my watch on deck was over, I descended to our berth, where I found him
busily employed in cramming his new messmates, and endeavouring to raise
himself to a high position in their estimation.
"You see, my good fellows, it isn't everybody has got a Minister for a
cousin, and a Lord of the Admiralty for an uncle," he remarked in a
consequential tone, as I got to the door of the berth.
"And I don't think you have either, Dicky, my boy," said I, laughing.
"But I am very glad to see you, notwithstanding; but don't be after
bamboozling us jolly greens now."
At first he attempted to look very indignant at the attack made on his
veracity; but no sooner did he recognise me than his good feelings got
the better of his love of trying to make himself of importance; and
jumping up, he seized my hand and wrung it warmly.
"Why, D'Arcy, is it you yourself, indeed?" he exclaimed. "I am
delighted to find you here, I am indeed. Why, messmates, if it hadn't
been for D'Arcy I should have been food for fishes; I should, on my
word. Think what a loss the service would have had."
A loud laugh from all hands followed this remark, though I verily
believe Dicky spoke in all gravity; but the fact that I had been the
means of saving his life thus came out. It raised me, I had afterwards
reason to know, in the good opinion of all on board; and Dicky himself
gained many friends by the feeling way in which he spoke of it. I was
very soon seated alongside him in the berth, and our tongues were
rattling away as fast as they could wag.
Dicky's propensity to brag, amusing as it was to others, was continually
getting him into scrapes. We had an old mate, Adam Stallman by name,
who was proportionably as tall, grave, and silent, as Dicky was little,
merry, and loquacious.
One day Dicky having thrown a biscuit at me, which, unfortunately, hit
Adam's nose, the latter looked at him sternly.
"Sharpe, you are small," he exclaimed; "but cobbing was invented to make
midshipmen grow, and I intend to make you grow."
"Then, faith, Stallman, I suspect your mother began cobbing you as soon
as you were born," answered the undaunted Dicky.
Adam's hands had been busy under the table with his handkerchief; now,
suddenly leaning forward, he grasped Dicky by the crop of the neck, and
before he had time to expostulate, he had him in such a position that he
could apply with the greatest effect the instrument of torture he had
manufactured. As all the oldsters sided with Adam, the youngsters dared
not interfere; and poor Dicky was held in that undignified position
while other handkerchiefs were knotted, and before he was cast loose he
received a cobbing which made him treat ever afterwards all the oldsters
with abundant respect. But Dicky, if he did not forget, did what was as
wise, he forgave; and I do not think he nourished the slightest ill-will
against his cobbers.
Of Captain Poynder I have spoken. He was a worthy man and a good
officer; and if he had a fault, it was not being sufficiently strict.
Then comes Johnny Du Pre, our gallant First. I have still an
affectionate regard for Johnny, though many an hour have I spent at our
masthead at his instigation; while Dicky, promoted by the like
authority, was taking sights at me from another. We were sent there not
without cause, I own, and still the amount of moral turpitude which
gained us that elevated distinction was not such as to make me blush as
I think of it, or to make me anxious to conceal it from the public.
Neither as a first-lieutenant nor as a man was Lieutenant Du Pre
perfect; but who is there with whom one cannot find a fault. He was
kind-hearted, a fair seaman, and anxious to do his duty.
But our second lieutenant, Basil Vernon, was still more worthy of
notice. Refined and elegant both in person and manners, he appeared, at
first sight, to be what is called a fine gentleman; but kind-hearted,
brave, and generous almost to a fault, a first-rate seaman and officer,
a better fellow never stepped, nor one more beloved by all classes
afloat, as well as by all who knew him on shore. I soon became very
much attached to him, and would have gone round the world to do him a
service. Many times did he save me from punishment when I specially
deserved it. He was indeed very far from being one of those fine
fellows whom no ordinary mortals can approach; for he had a heart tender
as a woman's, and he would as readily sympathise with the grief of the
smallest middy, as with the sorrow or suffering of the roughest tar on
board. He was a sincere Christian too, and, what was more, was not
ashamed of his Christianity. He exhibited his principles in his
practice--in the daily duties of life,--till he taught the most profane
and profligate to respect him, if not to adopt them. I wish there were
more Basil Vernons in the service. Thank Heaven! there are some shining
lights to lighten us in our darkness--leaven, which gradually, though
slowly, may, by God's providence, leaven the whole mass.
Our third lieutenant, Hugh Summers, wrote poetry, talked sentiment, and
dreamed dreams, and required a flapper to remind him when to put the
ship about at times; but when once aroused into action, he was as
energetic as any one, and had plenty of resources on an emergency.
The master, surgeon, and purser, were also very good fellows in their
way, and if not shining ornaments, were no disgrace to His Majesty's
service.
At last the pay-clerks came on board, and paid the ship's company. A
fine bright morning saw the signal flying from the admiral's ship for
the fleet to weigh and work out to Saint Helen's. There was a nice
working breeze, a blue sky, and the water just rippled enough to reflect
with more dazzling splendour the rays of the glorious sun, as he shed
them almost along the path we were to pursue. It was, in truth, a
beautiful sight; and considering the number of ships--some eighteen sail
or more, all beating out together within so narrow a channel,--it was
surprising that much damage was not done, especially when it is
remembered that the crews of half the ships had never been to sea
before, and that the ropes were stiff and new, and did not work well.
One ship, I believe, carried away her flying jib-boom against the stern
of another; and with that slight loss, and a small expenditure of abuse
from the respective crews, who thought each other to blame, we reached
Saint Helen's. The next day we were fairly off to sea; the fleet formed
in two lines, the White and the Blue Squadrons, which Sir Peppery
manoeuvred with much skill, to the no small trouble of the signal
midshipmen. The second day, Ned Lenny, the young gentleman on board the
_Harold_ who held that office, vowed he must leave the service and go
into the Dragoons, if it was to be carried on in that way; though the
following morning he thought better of it. He gained, however, the
_sobriquet_ of the Heavy, which, as he was a cocksparrow of a fellow, he
retained ever afterwards. Captain Poynder was not inclined to save
either officers or crew till we got into good order, which we
accordingly did our best to accomplish.
After cruising for six weeks, we were ordered to Spithead to complete
our provisions, water, and stores; and then, having taken some
passengers on board, made all sail for our station in Mediterranean.
We had not been long at sea when Dicky and I, wearying of the daily
routine of duty, began to play pranks which were calculated to bring us
into trouble. The boatswain, who rejoiced in the name of Timotheus
Trundle, was one of the most extraordinary of his class, though not a
bad boatswain for all that. His appearance in foul weather was that of
a short lump of big coats and trousers, with a small red pumpkin growing
out of them. On a nearer approach, one discovered in the said pumpkin a
pair of red, ferrety eyes, an excrescence for a nose, and a hole into
which his whistle fitted for a mouth, and on either side of it, on a
Sunday morning, two very high shirt-collars, they towards the end of the
week gaining a darker hue and an outward curve. On the top of the
pumpkin was a round Spanish hat, the fluff of the catskin which composed
it being long enough to make a dozen beavers. He wore, with
considerable pride, round his neck a handsome silver call and chain.
But with all his oddities, his enemies--and he had a few--were obliged
to confess that he knew and did his duty as well as any man in the ship.
Among his other qualifications, he was a bit of a sea-lawyer; not of
the cantankerous sort, however, for it might be more justly said that he
preferred sitting on the judicial bench, and he was ever ready to settle
all disputes either by arbitration or the rope's-end; indeed, in most
cases he had recourse to the latter, as being the most summary mode of
proceeding. When his duty did not require his presence on his own
territory, the forecastle, he was fond of taking a walk on the
main-deck, alongside the carpenter's bench, for he was of a social
disposition, and delighted in what he called `rasheral' conversation.
Now, Ichabod Chissel, our carpenter, was another of those heroes of the
tongue, who pretend to know everything, and never fail in a story for
want of a little invention. By his own crew, who looked up to him and
esteemed him for his sterling qualities, he was considered a first-rate
politician. The two officers were tolerably good friends in general;
but a very slight thing would make them fall out, though they as
speedily patched up their quarrels again.
One day there was a light breeze and a smooth sea, and Trundle, not
expecting to be wanted, had repaired to the main-deck, where Chissel was
superintending his crew at work. Dicky Sharpe and I happened to be
near, and observing that they were both more than usually excited, we
drew closer to see the fun going forward.
"Well, that was a storm as fierce as ever I did see," remarked Chissel.
"Why, there was a thunderbolt as big as six of my fists put together,
fell right through the decks, and out through the ship's bottom; and if
I hadn't been there to plug the hole, we should all have gone to Davy
Jones' locker, as sure as fate. You was there, Trundle, and you know,
old ship, that I speak true."
"I was there! Yes; but I know you speak a hanged lie, if you say that,"
exclaimed Trundle.
"What's that you say?" shouted Chissel, highly indignant at being told
he lied before all his crew, though he doubtless would have cared very
little about the matter, had the polite remark been made when the two
were alone.
Just then Mr Summers, who was the officer of the watch, sung out,
"Hands about ship! Where's the boatswain?"
"Never in his station," observed Chissel, as Trundle, call in mouth, was
making his way forward. "And very little use when he is there," he
added, either thinking the boatswain would not hear him, or caring very
little if he did.
Trundle caught the words just as he was going up the fore-ladder, and
though he could not just then take his pipe from his mouth to utter a
retort, he gave a fierce look with one of his ferrety eyes, which showed
that he acknowledged himself deeply in his messmate's debt. His pipe
sounded more shrill than usual, as he could not give any other vent to
his feelings.
"There'll be a row before long between those two heroes, just you mark
that," said I to Dicky, as we both hurried off to our stations.
"Ay," said he, giving me a wink; "and I think I can put a spoke in their
wheel to help them along."
It was near twelve o'clock, the ship being put about, the decks cleared
up, and grog served out preparatory to dinner, when the boatswain made
his appearance before the carpenter, his anger in no way appeased.
"What's that you were saying about me, Mr Ichabod Chissel, I should
like to know?" he exclaimed, in an irate tone.
"Why, Mr Trundle, no man likes to have his ferocity (veracity?)
doubted, and if you goes for to affirm that I'm a liar--I don't mince
matters, you'll understand me,--why, all I've got to say is, that you're
the biggest speaker of untruths as ever was born, whoever the mother was
who got you. Put that in your pipe, Mr Trundle, and smoke it."
This most insulting of all remarks increased tenfold the boatswain's
rage, and the two would have come instantly to fisticuffs, but that,
fortunately, at that moment the order to pipe to dinner was given. The
boatswain's call came into requisition, and all hands, except the watch
on deck, were soon busily employed in discussing the contents of a cask
of beef, boasting of but a small proportion of fat or lean and a
considerable superfluity of bone.
Now it happened to be Dicky Sharpe's watch on deck while dinner was
going on, and at one o'clock, being relieved, he came down to his own
repast, which he was not long in discussing. While he sat turning a
large rib-bone over and over, in disgust at finding so little meat on
it, and waiting for the boy to clear away, the boatswain, whose cabin
could be seen from the berth on the larboard side, roused up from a nap,
and began to contemplate his visage in his glass, to discover if he
looked in any way as if he had been asleep. It must be understood that
it is contrary to the principles of a boatswain worthy of the rank ever
to require sleep. He would consider himself disgraced in the eyes of
the whole crew, if he were caught taking a wink. A regular-built
boatswain is often on deck from half-past three in the morning till
eleven at night, and should it be bad weather, or from any other cause,
frequently two or three times during the night also; and as to his
cabin, he merely looks in occasionally and keeps his donnage there.
Now, to do him justice, Trundle was a thoroughgoing boatswain. While he
was rubbing his eyes, to get the sleepiness out of them, pulling up his
shirt-collar, and brushing back his hair, the demon of mischief put a
thought into Dicky Sharpe's head. To conceive, with Dicky, was to
execute. I happened to be descending from the main-deck, when I saw
Dicky standing at the door of the berth, with the rib-bone in hand, and
a wicked look in his eye. I instantly perceived the state of affairs,
and divined what was to happen. Away flew the bone across the deck,
with so good an aim that it made a cannon against the boatswain's nose
and his glass, breaking both one and the other with a loud crash, which
was followed by a volley of oaths. The steerage of a frigate, even when
a sunbeam penetrates through a scuttle, is not over and above
brilliantly lighted; and on the present occasion a purser's dip here and
there just enabled us to grope our way about the deck. Now it happened
that the carpenter at that moment was coming out of his berth, which was
nearly opposite the boatswain's.
"Oh! you blessed Chissel; I saw you heave that, you aggrawating
so-and-so," exclaimed Trundle, in a towering rage, exhibiting his
bleeding nose and broken glass.
"I never hove anything, and that you know, you so-and-so," answered
Ichabod, drawing near to his adversary.
"You did, though, you so-and-so," cried Trundle, doubling his fist, and
dealing Ichabod a hit on the eye which almost stove it in.
The blow was given back, and returned with interest, with expressions
not fit for ears polite, till the noses of both heroes were streaming
with blood, and their voices were hallooing away at the highest pitch.
Dicky was rubbing his hands in high glee at the successful result of his
experiment, when the captain, aroused by the hubbub, rang his bell to
know what was the matter. This sound, like that of Oberon's magic horn,
instantly paralysed the combatants; and the sentry having put his head
into the cabin, and made some report which apparently satisfied the
skipper, the two warriors, like a couple of lions growling defiance at
each other, retired to their berths, to staunch their bleeding wounds,
and wash away the stains of the fight from their faces.
Here the first thing which met the eye of the boatswain, as he stooped
to pick up the fragments of his glass, was the missile which had
inflicted the injury. Now, as the officers generally choose the long
ribs of beef for roasting, for which they pay one pound in six for the
good of the ship's company, and the boatswain had actually seen the
carpenter's servant carrying a piece of rib-beef for his master's
dinner, he felt perfectly satisfied who had thrown the bone. Seizing
it, therefore, in his hand, with the fragments of his glass, and his
nose still bleeding, he rushed on deck, and halted, quivering with rage,
on the quarter-deck, in presence of the first-lieutenant.
"By Jupiter, what a wigging I shall get," whispered Dicky, in a terrible
funk. "I say, D'Arcy, my boy, don't 'peach, though."
I cocked my eye, and, pointing to the masthead,--"Six hours a day for
the next week, eh!--pleasant, Dicky," I answered.
Master Dicky dared not show his face, lest his consciousness of guilt
might betray itself; for, though unable to resist doing a piece of
mischief when the temptation came in his way, he had not got the brazen
front of a hardened sinner. I also, anxious as I was to learn the
result of the trial, was afraid of showing too great an interest in it,
lest suspicion should fall on me, and therefore walked the quarter-deck
at a respectful distance, picking up what information I could on the
way.
"What is this you have to complain of, Mr Trundle?" asked the
first-lieutenant, as he stood at the capstern-head, with the enraged
boatswain before him.
"Why, sir, as I was a-cleaning myself just now in my cabin, a-thinking
no harm of nobody, Mr Ichabod Chissel, the carpenter of this here ship,
sir, and my brother officer, thinks fit to heave this here rib-bone
right across the steerage against my nose and my glass, and breaks both
on 'em. If that ain't enough to aggrawate and perwoke and--and--
and--(he stopped for a word) flabbergast any one, I don't know what is,
sir, you'll allow."
"Very much so, I grant," observed Mr Du Pre, taking the bone between
his fingers and holding it behind his back. "Send Mr Chissel here."
The carpenter soon made his appearance.
"Pray, Mr Chissel, what part of the meat had you for your dinner,
to-day?" asked Mr Du Pre.
"The tail, sir," said the carpenter.
"What became of the bone after dinner?" asked the first-lieutenant.
"The boy cleared it away with the rest of the things, sir," was the
answer.
"Let the boy be sent for," said Mr Du Pre.
Bobby Smudge soon came rolling along, hitching up his trousers as he
approached the capstern.
There was a wicked look in the young rascal's eye, which made me suspect
he knew all about the matter. He was the most complete little Pickle in
the ship, and was continually getting punished, and most deservedly too,
by his master. The very day before, the carpenter had reported him, and
he had got eleven finnams on the hand for having, in conveying Mr
Chissel's grog from the tub to his cabin, being detected in the very act
of taking a hatchway nip--the said hatchway nip, let it be understood,
being a sip snatched furtively by the bearer of a glass of grog on the
ladder descending from the main to the lower deck. A finnam, I must
also explain, is a blow inflicted on the hand, with a cane generally, by
the master-at-arms or the ship's corporal. To the said finnams poor
Bobby Smudge's black paws were well accustomed.
"Boy, what was done with the bone after your master's dinner?" asked Mr
Du Pre, in a severe tone.
"I'm sure I don't know, sir," replied Bobby Smudge, in a long drawl,
worthy of a London professional street-beggar.
"Should you know it again if you saw it?" asked the first-lieutenant.
"Oh yes, sir; I'm sure I should," replied Master Smudge, brightening up
and looking the picture of innocent simplicity.
"Well, my boy, what do you say to this?" said Mr Du Pre, producing the
bone from behind his back.
All eyes turned towards Bobby Smudge: the carpenter's fate hung on his
decision. The young monkey felt his importance, and determined to exert
it. Chissel knew it was the very sort of bone he had scraped not an
hour before. Bobby took it, and, turning it round, examined it
narrowly.
"Oh yes, sir; I'll swear to it, that I will," he exclaimed, holding up
his blistered hand behind his back so that the carpenter might observe
it. "As I was a-trying to get my dinner off it, I notched it with my
knife, I knowed I did, 'cause there was so little meat on it."
"Oh, you wretched young liar," muttered the carpenter, for he dared not
speak aloud; "won't I pay you off, that's all?"
The boy heard him, and gave a grin of defiance.
"Mr Chissel, go to your cabin, and consider yourself under arrest,"
said the first-lieutenant; "I must report this affair to the captain.
The discipline of the ship cannot be thus trifled with; and officers
especially, who ought to know better, must not be allowed to set the men
so bad an example with impunity."
Saying this, Mr Du Pre resumed his walk on the quarter-deck, and I
hurried down to report what had occurred, to my chum Dicky. At first he
was highly delighted at having escaped detection.
"Stop a bit, Dicky," said I; "I don't think you are quite out of the
fire yet. It will never do to let the carpenter be disrated or
dismissed the ship for conduct of which he is innocent. The truth must
come out; and, to my mind, honesty is the best policy."
"Well, but don't you see, D'Arcy, I shall get mast-headed and have my
leave stopped, and I don't know what else--all for shying a bone across
the steerage," argued Dicky. "What business had the boatswain and
carpenter to hit each other, I should like to know. If that stupid
Trundle had taken the joke in good part, there wouldn't have been all
this row."