"I say, Jack, can you tell me what all this row is about between us and
these wide-breeched, red-capped niggers, the Egyptians?" asked Adair, as
he stood by the side of Jack Rogers on the quarter-deck of the _Racer_,
while the latter, with his spyglass under his arm, was doing duty as
signal midshipman. The outlines of many a picturesque hill and white
stone stronghold, famed in ancient and modern history, rose in the
distance on the Syrian coast out of the blue glittering ocean.
"Why," replied Jack, "I'm not much of a politician, Paddy, but as far as
I can make out, old Mehemet Ali wants to be Sultan of the Turks, and we
won't let him; and so Charlie Napier told him that if he didn't draw in
his horns within twenty days, we would blow his fortresses on this coast
about the ears of his pachas. He, in return, told Charlie to go to
Jericho, that he intended to keep what he'd got; and so now we're going
to do what we promised. We shall have some fun, depend on it."
"Now I understand all the ins and outs of the matter," replied Paddy.
"There's nothing like knowing what you are fighting about."
"There, up goes a signal from the flag-ship," cried Jack, putting his
glass to his eye, and pointing it towards the _Princess Charlotte_, Sir
Robert Stopford's flag-ship, which, with the _Powerful, Thunderer,
Benbow_, and several other line-of-battle ships and frigates, sloops and
steamers, joined by a Turkish squadron under Admiral Walker, and a few
Austrian ships, was cruising off Beyrout.
"The signal for the captains of each ship to assemble on board the
_Princess Charlotte_," cried Jack. "Hurrah! the fun's to begin."
The captains having visited the flag-ship, the squadron stood in, the
larger portion taking up a position opposite the town, which they
forthwith commenced bombarding, while the rest were employed in landing
troops at different points to co-operate with the Turks, and to distract
the attention of the Egyptians. Suliman Pacha, Governor of Beyrout, in
spite of the shot and shell showered into his fortress, held out bravely
and fired away in return as hard as he could. It was the first time the
three midshipmen of the _Racer_ had been under fire, but as she had not
to take any very active part in the affair, they voted it very slow
work.
"Is this what you call fighting?" said Jack. "It seems to me as if all
the fun was on one side."
"Stay a bit, my boy," observed Hemming; "this is only just the beginning
of the game. Before many days are over perhaps we shall be at something
which will make you cry out the other way."
"At all events, we have silenced them; see, up goes a flag of truce on
the old castle," exclaimed Jack.
Jack was right in his fact but wrong in his conclusions. A boat was
instantly sent on shore to inquire the meaning of the white flag. She
quickly returned to the flag-ship bringing the Indian mail, with a
polite message from Suliman Pacha, assuring the admiral that he was not
at war with individuals, and that he should feel a satisfaction in
forwarding all letters to and from India. Sir Robert Stopford, himself
so generous and polite, was the very man to appreciate such an act of
courtesy: he therefore sent back the boat immediately with a case of
wine, warmly thanking the pacha, and begging that he would accept it as
a slight acknowledgment of his kindness. This little episode over, the
belligerents began firing away at each other as hard as ever. The pacha
showed that he was as brave as he was courteous, for in spite of all the
cannonading he would not give in. A short drama was, however, enacted,
which showed the midshipmen a little more of the realities of war. An
Egyptian deserter came on board one of the ships, and gave notice that a
train of gunpowder had been laid along a bridge leading to the eastern
castle, in which was collected a large quantity of gunpowder, with the
intention of blowing up into the sky any of the besiegers who might
succeed in entering the place. The deserter offered to guide any party
formed to cut off the train. Commander Worth, of the _Hastings_,
undertook to accomplish the dangerous service; and numbers of officers
and men volunteered to accompany him. Jack and Murray and Adair were
among others eager to go. However, it was not likely that more than one
midshipman from the frigate would be allowed to accompany the
expedition. The morning of the day in which it was to take place,
Murray had been sent with a message on board the _Hastings_. He came
back with a flush on his cheek and a look of intense satisfaction on his
countenance.
"Jack, Terence, my dear fellows, congratulate me. I'm to go. W--, who
has known me for some time, has applied for me. He did so in most
flattering terms. He said he wanted a midshipman who would be calm and
collected whatever might occur, and yet one on whose courage and
resolution he could perfectly rely, and he has selected me. It is that
he has spoken of me in such flattering terms that has given me so much
pleasure. I wish that you two fellows were going also."
"I wish we were," said Jack. "But I congratulate you, Alick; you'll do
justice to W--'s choice. That I know right well."
"There will be more work to be done than when we attacked the pirate's
stronghold the other day," observed Adair. "Well, I hope that my turn
will come before long; I don't feel as if I had any right to wear starch
in my shirt-collar till I've taken part in some real downright
fighting."
Jack and Terence warmly shook Murray's hand, as he stepped into the boat
which was to convey him on board the _Hastings_.
"I say, old fellow, don't now forget to come back to us safe and sound
in life and limb," cried Terence, laughing; "remember the fright I gave
you and Jack. Don't give him and me the same, and we'll take care that
Pigeon does not malign your character in your absence."
Away went Murray. To say that he was in high glee would be to use a
wrong term. There was a calm satisfaction and proud joy in his heart at
the thought that the time had arrived when he might have an opportunity
of distinguishing himself in the noble profession he had chosen, and to
which he was so devotedly attached. Neither Rogers nor Adair would have
felt as he did; and yet, though neither of them could be considered less
brave than he was, yet in reality he was the bravest of all three,
because his mind was so constituted that he clearly saw all the dangers
to be encountered and knew every risk he was running. The expedition
rendezvoused round the _Hastings_. The ships stood in as close as the
depth of water would allow them, and then, opening their fire, the boats
shoved off and pulled away for the bridge which led to the castle. As
soon as they appeared a heavy fire of musketry was opened on them from
the fortifications; but in the face of it the men clambered upon the
bridge and, led by their gallant commander, rapidly pushed on across it.
Jack and Terence eagerly watched the progress of the boats through
their telescopes. Their chief sympathy was concentrated on that which
contained Murray and his fortunes. They looked upon him as a dear
brother, and, in spite of their apparent light-heartedness, they both
felt the deepest anxiety for his safety. In a very short time the whole
party were hid from sight by the thick smoke which surrounded them.
Murray, with his brave companions, in spite of the leaden shower which
came pattering around their heads, pushed on till they reached the spot
where the train was laid. A few buckets of water, brought for the
purpose, quickly cut off the train; then on they went to the gates of
the castle. They were not long in blowing it open. In they rushed,
putting the defenders to flight, who made their escape by an opposite
gate, rejoicing in the belief that the infidel besiegers would soon be
blown up sky high, and become the food of ghouls and vampires. They
were sorely disappointed when they found that the castle did not blow
up, and that the giaours had taken entire possession of it. The English
leader saw that no time was to be lost. He and his men hunted about and
soon came upon the casks of powder of which they were in search. "Now,
my lads, heave them over the walls into the sea," he sang out, setting
the example which the men were ready enough to follow. Cask after cask
was stove and thrown into the sea till some sixty or seventy casks had
been destroyed. Sentries had been placed to give notice of the approach
of the enemy. Notice was given that they were returning in force.
"Now, my lads," cried Captain W--, "we'll carry off some of these casks
to pepper the fellows with their own powder." The idea just suited the
taste of the seamen. Each man shouldered a cask, and, fearless of the
consequences should a spark of fire get inside one of them, away they
scampered through the gates and across the bridge with their booty. As
soon as the enemy caught sight of them they again opened their fire.
Several of the daring party were hit. The officers cheered them on.
The fire was hotter than ever. One officer fell. He was a midshipman.
The men rallied round him, and lifting him on their shoulders bore him
on towards the boats. He did not breathe or give a sign of life. "Who
is it? who is it?" was asked. They reached the boats and shoved off,
for the Egyptians were gathering in force to attack them. Jack and
Terence, perched on the hammock-nettings, were looking out for the
return of the expedition. The frigate was close in, and the boats had
to pass her on their way to their respective ships. One of the boats of
the _Hastings_ came first, the one in which Murray had embarked. A
union jack was thrown over a part of the stern-sheets.
"Who have you there?" asked Jack, not able to restrain his anxiety.
"A midshipman, sir, who has been killed," was the answer.
"Oh, Terence, it must be Murray!" exclaimed Jack, almost falling off the
hammock-nettings overboard. "And yet, no, it can't be; it must not be.
Who is he, that midshipman?" shouted Jack; but the boat was already at
some distance, and the people in her did not hear the question asked.
The report soon got about the decks that Murray was killed. Jack and
Adair would have been gratified at hearing all the things said about
him, and the grief expressed at his loss. Still, after giving vent to
their grief for a time, they began to hope that possibly he might not
have been killed, but only desperately wounded, and they resolved to ask
leave to go on board the _Hastings_ to ascertain the state of the case.
As they were going aft for that purpose, a boat came alongside, and in a
few seconds afterwards, who should appear on deck uninjured in limb, and
in capital spirits, but Murray himself.
"Who are you? what are you? where do you come from?" exclaimed Terence,
scarcely knowing what he said. "Why, Alick, to a certainty you are
dead, are you not?"
"I hope not," answered Murray, laughing at the reception his two friends
were giving him. "I have not been hit or hurt that I know of."
"All right," exclaimed Jack, springing forward and grasping his hand,
which he wrung heartily. "I am so glad. It would have been too
dreadful if you had been killed."
"Unhappily, one poor fellow of our party, a midshipman, L--, of the
_Hastings_, was killed," observed Murray. "However, let us promise each
other for the future, not to fancy that any accident has happened to
those who are absent, unless we have very strong evidence of the same."
"Agreed! agreed!" the other two exclaimed. "Whatever anybody else may
tell us, we'll all believe that we shall meet again somewhere or other,
and be happy together."
It is extraordinary what an effect the notion the three midshipmen had
taken up had on them. If Adair was away, though perhaps on some
far-distant station, Jack frequently had to say that he did not know
where he was to be found, but he always added, "I am certain that we
shall meet again before long. What message shall I give him?" Murray
said much the same thing of Jack or Adair, and they said the same of
Murray. I cannot follow them through the various scenes of the war in
Syria. While Sir Charles Napier, to his great delight, was acting the
part of a general on shore, with some of his naval followers as his
aides-de-camp, they were employed on board their ship, which, with the
rest of the squadron, was engaged in sailing along the coast in
cooperating with the army, and in blowing up and capturing one fortress
after another of those which still held out for Mehemet Ali. Now and
then both bluejackets and marines landed, and, much to their
satisfaction, stormed the old pacha's strongholds, and literally
fulfilled Charley Napier's promise of pulling the stones about the ears
of his governors. On one occasion success did not attend the British
arms, but, as Paddy Adair observed, "It's an ill wind which blows no one
good," and he here had an opportunity which he had so long desired of
distinguishing himself. The fortress was a very strong one, with a high
thick-walled tower which looked fully capable of defying the battle and
the breeze for a thousand years. The ship stood in with the intention
of battering it down, but after firing away for an hour or more, little
impression was made, and it was resolved to endeavour to take it by
storm. Jack had to stay on board, greatly to his disgust, and he did
say that he considered himself a most ill-used officer. Adair and
Murray accompanied the body of seamen who, with the marines of the
squadron, and some mountaineers who had been taken on board along the
coast, were landed to form the storming-party. The ground between the
castle and the sea was laid out in gardens. Here a body of the enemy
was drawn up. The storming-party landed to the south of the town,
covered by the fire of the ships, which also cleared the gardens of the
enemy. The marines and bluejackets now pushed bravely on, but
encountered a terrific fire from the troops within the forts. Murray
and Adair were side by side, scrambling over walls and leaping ditches,
and cutting through hedges of prickly pears in spite of the showers of
shot which rattled round their heads.
"I say, Alick, poets talk of genial showers; I wonder what they would
call the shower now rattling round us?" cried Adair, as he waved on his
men.
"A leaden shower, I should think," said Alick.
"Not far wrong, my boy, but I'm afraid it will not make us grow,
though," answered Adair. "But I say, the shot do pepper, though."
They did, indeed. Numbers of the marines and sailors were knocked over.
"There's another poor fellow down," cried Adair, stooping down to help
up the man, but his aid was of no avail. A deep groan escaped from his
bosom, his musket fell from his grasp, and he was dead. Adair with a
sigh, for the marine had been his servant, let go his hand and sprang
on. In vain the British and their allies fired away at every loophole
and embrasure where a man's head or firelock was to be seen. The enemy
rattled away as rapidly as ever, and no impression seemed to be made on
the walls, while numbers of the storming-party were falling one after
the other around. Now a poor fellow would spring up into the air shot
through the head, and now would fall down with a groan, and rolling
over, clutch convulsively at the earth; one would utter a sharp shriek
as he fell; others, with the blood streaming from their limbs, would
endeavour to scramble on till they sank with a cry of pain exhausted to
the ground. The midshipmen now began to comprehend more clearly than
they had ever before done the stern realities of warfare. They got
within thirty yards of the walls when they found themselves in front of
a crenelled outwork with a deep ditch before it. In vain the officers
looked for some part of the castle wall which might prove practicable.
Not a spot appeared accessible, and nothing but the ugly-looking muzzles
of the enemy's muskets were visible through the loopholes. Most
unwillingly was the command given to retire, and most unwillingly was it
obeyed.
"I say, Murray, I don't like this--to have to turn my tail on those
red-capped gentry," exclaimed Adair.
"We must obey orders, at all events," observed Murray. "Steady, my men,
steady," he added, as some of the sailors were turning round to take a
parting shot at the foe.
The marines were drawn off in beautiful order, and the whole party were
soon out of the reach of shot. As they were pulling off, Murray and
Adair remarked that a flag which had been planted in the garden, in
front of the fort, was left flying.
"That will never do, the enemy will be getting it," cried Adair. "I
say, Alick, let you and I go and see if we cannot pull it down, and
carry it off."
"With all my heart," answered Murray. "Let us put back at once; we must
ask Captain A--'s leave as we pass his boat. He will not refuse it, I
am sure."
The crew of their boat were delighted at hearing what the midshipmen had
resolved to do, and pulled back to the shore with a will.
As they passed Captain A--'s boat Adair sang out, "There's an English
flag left flying on the shore there, sir; those red-capped fellows will
boast that they took it from us if we let it stay. May we go and get
it?"
The commander of the expedition saw that if it was to be done, no time
was to be lost, as the risk to be run would increase by delay, or the
Egyptians might see the flag, and sally out and take it.
"A brave idea; go and prosper, my lads," he answered promptly.
"Thank you, sir, thank you," answered Murray and Adair in one breath,
while their crew bent with all their might to their oars.
"Oh, Alick," said Adair, "I do so wish that Rogers was with us. This is
just the thing of all others he would have liked."
"I wish he was, indeed," answered Murray. "But I dare say something
else will turn up before long in which he may be able to take a part."
The boat very soon reached the shore. All the crew wanted to go on the
expedition, but the midshipmen would only consent to take one. They had
their cutlasses by their sides, and pistols in their belts, but their
arms were not likely to be of much use. The instant the boat's stem
touched the beach, they sprang on shore; and, running along across the
beach, scrambled over the first wall they encountered, and found
themselves in the garden.
Scarcely were they there, when the sharp eyes of the enemy fell on them,
and they were saluted with a hot fire of musketry.
"Skip about--dodge them--fly here--fly there; take care they don't hit
you," sang out Paddy, suiting the action to the word. "The more we
jump, the less chance we shall have of being hit."
The midshipmen's movements, as they hurried on, were not unlike those of
Wills-of-the-Wisp.
The enemy could not conceive what they had come for, and probably
supposed that they were madmen who had escaped on shore, and were coming
to join them. For a short time the firing ceased. As the smoke cleared
off, those on board the ships could see what was taking place, as well
as could the enemy. Every glass was turned towards them. Jack among
others recognised his friends, and saw what they were about. They were
not wrong in supposing that he would long to be with them. He would
have given a finger, or even a right arm, for the sake of being of their
party.
On they went. They had another wall to get over. They climbed to the
top of it. The enemy at last suspected what they were about, and came
to the conclusion that if they were mad they had method in their
madness, so they began once more furiously firing away at them. Eastern
matchlocks are fortunately not like Enfield rifles; or their lives, if
they had had nine, like cats, whom they so resembled in their activity,
would not have been worth a moment's purchase. Murray and Adair raced
on as merrily as if they had been playing a game of prisoner's base.
They clambered up a wall, at the top of which the flag-staff had been
placed. They waved it about their heads; and, giving a loud cheer, down
they leaped to the ground, where their companion was ready to receive
them. Happily they did so, for the next moment a thick shower of
musket-balls came rattling across the spot they had left.
"Not hit, Alick?" asked Adair, as they scampered back as hard as their
legs would carry them.
"No; I hope you are not," said Murray.
"Can't say for a certainty," answered Terence; "I feel a funny stinging
sensation in my side as if something or other was the matter."
Whatever it was it did not impede his speed. At length it seemed to
strike the Egyptians that though they could not manage to knock over the
young giaours with their matchlocks they might with their scimitars; so
a band of fierce-looking fellows with long moustachios, wonderfully wide
breeches, and gleaming blades, sallied out of the fortress to endeavour
to overtake them. The Egyptians ran very fast and felt very savage, but
they might just as well have tried to catch three active tomcats. Dick
Needham, their companion, was the first to perceive that the enemy was
in pursuit of them.
"There's a lot on 'em a scampering after us, sir," he observed coolly.
"All right," answered Terence. "Their friends inside the fort, then,
will be less likely to keep firing at us; and I should like to see the
followers of the prophet, whether Turk or Egyptian, who can catch us in
a fair race like this."
To do them justice, however, the enemy made good play over the ground.
The outside garden wall was reached and leaped, and now the three
adventurers had a fair run for it along the beach towards their boat
with the red-capped gentlemen, as Adair called them, in hot pursuit. A
long straggling branch of a tree had been thrown upon the beach. Adair
did not observe it, and suddenly he found himself toppled over on his
head. He thought that he had broken his leg.
"Take the flag and run, Alick," he exclaimed, throwing the flag-staff to
Murray. "Never mind me, I'm too much, hurt to move."
"Not when I have a pair of legs to run off with you, sir," cried Dick
Needham, lifting Paddy upon his shoulders, running off with him as if he
had been a baby. "It was not for that, sir, that I comed here to look
after you."
Paddy felt that it was not a moment to stand on his dignity, so he was
very much obliged to Dick for carrying him. Murray took the flag, but
would not leave him till he had seen him hoisted upon Dick's shoulders.
Away they went then as before; but the Egyptians had gained considerably
on them, and hallooed and shouted, and, worse than all, fired off their
pistols with as good an aim as they could take, running as they were at
full speed. Fortunately the bullets did not reach the fugitives; just
then the latter caught sight of their boat, which they had left under
shelter of a rock. The Egyptians did not see her, and so they ran on,
which they otherwise would not have done. What was their surprise,
then, to find themselves saluted with a round of grape-shot from a gun
in her bows, and a volley of musketry, while a true British cheer
reached their ears. Dick and Murray responded to it, and so did Paddy
in a voice which showed that there was not much the matter with him, and
all three very speedily tumbled into the boat, while the enemy turned
tail and scampered back to the fort. The boat immediately shoved off to
return to the frigate.
"What is the matter with you, Paddy?" asked Murray, as soon as they had
taken their seats. "I hope you are not much hurt. Let me see."
"My knee bothers me a little, but my side is the worst," answered Adair.
"And, as I am a gentleman, look here, the fellows have shot away the
handle of my sword!"
Such was the case. Adair had indeed had a narrow escape; his coat was
torn and his skin slightly grazed. An eighth of an inch on one side,
and he would have received a very ugly, if not a mortal, wound. Happily
he was very little hurt, and the cheers with which the boat was
received, as she got alongside the frigate, made him forget entirely
that anything was the matter with him.
"Oh! I am so jealous of you two fellows," exclaimed Jack, as they were
all seated together in the berths. "You'll make me volunteer to lead a
forlorn hope, or to do something terrifically heroic. However, the fun
is not over yet; we shall have plenty more work to do before long."
The fun, as Jack called it, was not over. Sidon was soon afterwards
attacked by a squadron under Sir Charles Napier, in his usual slap-dash
gallant determined-to-conquer manner. The ships bombarded, then the
Turks, marines, and bluejackets were landed, and stormed one castle
after another, killing or putting to flight every one who opposed them.
Jack, Murray, and Adair, to their great delight, were all on shore
together. The cannonading had not, however, driven the Egyptians from
their entrenchments, so the ships again opened their fire. Captain
Austin, at the head of a Turkish battalion, had taken one castle,
Captain Mansel, with great gallantry, led a body of marines into
another, and then they fought their way into another castle which
overlooked the town, not, however, without some loss. And now the
commodore conceived that the time had come for storming the town itself,
and, putting himself at the head of the troops, he led them on. The
three midshipmen, with a body of seamen from the different ships, were
with him. They broke into some strongly fortified barracks, and drove
out the enemy, then they fought their way through the streets to the
citadel. Several boats had brought their ensigns, Jack carried theirs
at the end of a pole.
"Hurrah, now!" he sang out; "let us have our colours on the top of the
wall before any one else." Terence and Murray echoed the sentiment;
and, leading on some of their men, they endeavoured to reach the spot
before a boat's crew of their Austrian allies, led on by a midshipman,
as well as before other parties of British seamen. Never was there a
better race. No one felt inclined to stop at obstacles, and everybody
who attempted to oppose them was killed. The governor of the town was
encountered. He was offered quarter, but he would not receive it, and
before any officers could interfere two marines ran the brave old
gentleman through the body, and he died like a true Turk as he was.
When the enemy saw that their chief was dead, and that there was no one
to lead them, they wisely threw down their arms, resolved, like brave
men, to live and fight another day for a more profitable cause.
Jack and his companions pushed on, and having now fewer enemies to
encounter, made still greater progress. The higher part of the town was
reached; with shouts and loud huzzas they scrambled up to the summit of
the walls, and, planting the British banner, Sidon was proclaimed to
have fallen into the power of the allies. Fortunately the commodore and
his followers came upon a thousand men concealed in a vaulted barrack,
who were prepared to rush out and cut them off, but who, instead, were
very glad to lay down their arms, and in the end every one of the
garrison, three thousand in number, was captured. Tyre, that ancient
city, was next captured; so was Caiffa, Tortosa, and other places; and
at last the fleet appeared before Acre, still one of the most important
places on the Syrian coast. Here the midshipmen saw what real fighting
was. Acre presents two sides to the sea, one facing south and the other
west. In consequence of this it was necessary that the fleet should
attack in two divisions. It was a grand sight to see the mighty
line-of-battle ships and the fine steamers, armed with their engines of
destruction, approaching in order the devoted town, and still more when
they began thundering away from a thousand loud-mouthed guns, confusing
the senses with their roars and filling the air with their smoke. Even
Jack felt his spirits awed as hour after hour, without cessation, the
mighty uproar continued, and houses were overthrown and strong stone
walls were seen crumbling away before the reiterated shocks of the iron
shower levelled at them. The enemy, too, were not idle, and shots and
shell came whizzing about the ships, striking down here and there many a
gallant seaman and marine.
"Well, Alick, what do you think of it?" asked Jack, as, in the course of
their duty, the two friends were brought together.
"That we are in earnest in what we are about; though I wish I could feel
the poor fellows we are slaughtering deserved their fate more than I
think they do," answered Murray.
"I don't understand those niceties," observed Terence, who had just then
come up. "Those fellows don't do what we tell them, so we've a perfect
right to kill and destroy them as fast as we can; but, halloo, what's
that?"
As Adair was speaking a terrific noise, ten times louder than the roar
of all the guns of the squadron put together, was heard, and high up
into the air were seen to ascend fragments of walls, and beams, and
human bodies, succeeded by a dense smoke, out of which flames burst
forth and raged furiously. The castle had blown up, or rather the grand
magazine within it, and in a moment nearly two thousand persons were
hurried into eternity. The firing ceased--the combatants held their
breath, aghast at the dreadful catastrophe; but the Egyptians,
undaunted, soon again recommenced the action, and the ships bombarded on
as before till sunset, when the action was discontinued.
"What tough fellows those must be to hold out so long," said Jack. "I
should have thought they would have had enough of it before this."
The governor had already come to the same conclusion, and during the
night he and his followers evacuated the place, and in the morning some
Turks and Austrians were sent on shore to take possession. The capture
of Acre terminated the war in Syria, for many of the tribes which had
been hesitating which side to choose, joined the Sultan's forces, and
the army of Ibrahim Pacha dwindled from 75,000 to 20,000 men. Sir
Charles Napier went to Alexandria, and Mehemet Ali, persuaded that the
tide of war had turned against him, undertook to evacuate Syria, and to
restore the Turkish fleet, as soon as the Sultan should send him a
firman, granting him the hereditary government of Egypt. Everybody
engaged in the Syrian war got a great deal of credit, and my three
friends came in for a midshipman's share of the honours showered on the
victors. Once more the _Racer_ was ploughing the waters of the
Mediterranean with her head to the westward. She had been her full time
on the station, and it was the general expectation that she would
speedily be ordered home.
"Hurrah for old England!" was the joyous cry on board, and no one
enjoyed the thoughts of returning home more than did the three friends,
and yet there was a lump of bitter in the bottom of the cup to spoil
this pleasure. It was the thought that in all probability they would be
soon separated, for how long they could not guess--perhaps years might
pass away before they could again meet. They resolved, however, to
stick together if they could, and, at all events, never to fail in
letting each other know their whereabouts.
The _Racer_ reached Portsmouth at last. There was a paying off dinner,
given by the midshipmen to the gun-room officers, at the far-famed _Blue
Posts_. Old Hemming presided, and a very good president he made. The
first course was over when a stumping on the stairs was heard, and the
waiter, opening the door, announced Admiral Triton. Jack sprang up and
grasped his hand warmly.
"I have taken the liberty of an old seaman to look in on you, gentlemen,
on this occasion, uninvited; for I saw you just as you were all brought
together, and I was anxious to meet you again before you all separate,
probably for ever," said the Admiral--who, as may be supposed, was most
cordially welcomed--after waiting for some time till the speech-making
had begun. "You have had, I am glad to find from my friend Rogers, a
happy ship. Many of you will, I hope, some day be captains; and let me
impress it on you that on you yourselves will then mainly depend whether
your ships also are happy ships or the reverse. To make them so, you
must command your tempers (you cannot begin too soon to practise the
difficult task), you must endeavour to study and promote the true
interests of all under you, and you must act justly towards all men. To
do this I must not fail to remind you that you must pray for strength
whence alone strength for all difficult tasks can be given."
The Admiral's speech in no way interrupted the hilarity of the evening,
and he added much to it by several amusing anecdotes, at which no one
laughed more heartily than he did. The next day he accompanied Jack to
Northamptonshire. No one was ever more cordially welcomed in a happy
home than was Jack. It need not be said that, for at least three days,
everybody did their very utmost to spoil him, though after that time he
was treated very much as he used to be before he became a midshipman.