Admiral Dewey served through the Civil War, and had the fortune
to get always into the thickest of the fight. When in command
of the _Dolphin_, he exhibited his ideas of obedience. One
of his “Jacks” refused to obey an order of his lieutenant and
was reported to Dewey. “What!” said Dewey, “you refuse? Do you
know this is mutiny?” The man still remained stubborn. Thereupon
Dewey told the captain to call the guard. He stood the obdurate
seaman on the far side of the deck, and ordered the marines to
load. Then he took out his watch and said, “Now my man, you have
just five seconds to obey that order,” and began to count the
seconds. At the fourth count the man moved off with alacrity to
obey the order. The admiral was a man to be trusted implicitly
to carry out orders, which fact had become a byword at the
Navy Department, and he won fame from the custom he had formed
of doing the thing expected of him.--JAMES T. WHITE,
“Character Lessons.”
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