The Admiral bettered his promise to Mrs. Hardres. He was not only a
father to Will, but attached him to his person as a sort of
supernumerary member of his staff. And Will wanted a good friend, for
there is no denying that he was none too popular with those who should
have been his mates. With the Admiral and the high officers he was a
great favourite. His manner to them was a marvel--so dignified, as
well as respectful. Give Will a chance of shining, and he always
shone, and I loved him from the day he came on board. Will Hardres
always seemed to me to be the grandest man I ever knew. I am sure I
expected him to be a greater man than the Admiral himself some day.
His mother brought him up in certain principles. He was too proud to
be tempted from them, too courageous to be daunted from them. I do not
think he was much above the average in strength or activity but I
never saw such courage in any man except the Admiral. With the other
mids, some of them little boys, he was not likely to have much in
sympathy. He was a good deal older than most midshipmen, and big for
his age, and, so far as habits were concerned, the difference was
still greater.
The junior lieutenants, on the other hand, disliked his haughtiness
and self-assurance, though they all of them saw that he had
corresponding courage. By all rights they should have patronised him,
but he could much more properly patronise them. The climax, of course,
was the Admiral's very marked favour. But this signified less by the
fact that he dined at the Admiral's table, and was in almost constant
attendance on his person.
I shall let you know how Will first made his mark. One summer morning,
July 19th, 1798, as I remember it, we found ourselves off Syracuse. It
was not the first time, either, during our long chase after the
French, so we all knew the place well by sight.
We could make out the old castle of Maniace, eight hundred years old,
they say, standing at the end of the island of Ortygia; if it had not
been for the great high walls stopping there, we should never have
known where this island left off. And we could make out the opposite
shore with its low cliffs, where the Athenians would have been safe if
they could have reached it, as the chaplain explained to us mids last
time we sighted the place. The Admiral was very busy with his glass,
and Captain Berry was standing by him with some reports, which seemed
to trouble him.
"It seems to me, Berry," he said, "that we are short of nearly
everything. But this question of running out of water is a serious
one. We must see to that. There are polacres in the Little Port, I
see, and we could hire or even impress them to bring off water and
supplies; but could we tranship with this sea on?"
"You can do anything, sir; but I think it will be very difficult and
dangerous."
"But the Great Port, Berry, I read in the _Mirror_, that though it was
one of the most famous ports of antiquity, it has been too silted up
for large ships of the last few centuries to be able to enter it,
though the water inside is in places too deep for the best anchorage.
There is a footnote which says the passage is so well known to be
impossible, that it is never attempted. Now, Berry, it is equally well
known that in the course of centuries channels change, and I shall try
it. Of course, we shall take the utmost care, and at the worst only
one vessel can strike; and we have force enough to haul her off. I
shall lead myself."
"I know it is useless to ask if there is any need for this, sir; but
it would be so bad for the fleet if anything should happen to your
ship."
"Our ship, Berry?"
"Captain Troubridge, sir, every captain in the fleet, would
volunteer."
"It is my post where there is risk: I shall try it. Head the ship for
the opening, and signal to the fleet to prepare to follow."
The Captain stepped away to give the necessary orders. I felt rooted
to the spot, where I had been standing, just within earshot.
"Here, youngster," called the Admiral, "come and see a bit of
navigation that may go down in the annals of the Navy."
It is a matter of ancient history now, how the _Vanguard_ sailed in
without a check. We did not have one anxious sounding as we swept
round and brought up abreast of the Marina, just opposite the
cathedral, which used to be the Temple of somebody, and has half its
columns outside and the other half inside, doing duty as the pillars
of an aisle. The Marina is a sort of carriage drive dividing the
landing quays from the ancient wall, which in other parts is washed by
the sea itself. It is handsomely laid out with shade-trees and
flowers, and at one end terminated by the natural rocks from which
rushes the famous Fountain of Arethusa. This pleased the Admiral
extravagantly. He said several times: "I shall water my ships at the
Fountain of Arethusa, and then Fortune cannot fail to smile upon me."
We brought up in beautiful order, with our larboard resting on a
shore with ruins all along the horizon, which the chaplain told us
formed four-fifths of the city in the ancient times. The island of
Ortygia, which is occupied by the present city, was the smallest of
the five quarters. On the sky-line was the Castle of Euryalus, which
might have been a mediæval fortress, with its fine square towers and
high curtain wall, though it was built by the Athenians in the famous
siege. Our starboard ran up to the entrance of the port, under the
Castle of Maniace.
As we were running in, the flag was hoisted on the Castle, to which we
replied by showing English colours. Almost at the same time a boat
came aboard with the Captain of the Port and an Adjutant of the town
to offer us any refreshments of which we might be in need, and to
point out that it would not be necessary for us to lose the wind by
entering the harbour, for that they could be brought to us as we lay
off. But since the Admiral would not listen to him, and held straight
on, a second boat boarded us soon after, this time with the Town Major
and the Second Commandant of Artillery to confer with the Admiral,
repeating the compliments and offers of assistance, and at the same
time acquainting him that the Governor's orders and instructions
prevented his admitting into the harbour more than three or four ships
at one time, even though they should belong to an allied and friendly
power, as the English nation was. But the Admiral having a Royal
letter with orders that the whole squadron should be admitted,
proceeded to enter the harbour without waiting, and anchored, as I
have said.
No sooner had we let go the anchor than the Admiral hailed Will.
"Will," he said (he always called him Will), "ask Mr. Comyn to come to
me. I believe he knows a little Italian, and I take it that the
Governor will be able to speak Italian as well as Sicilian, though
one never knows. These Sicilian magnificoes, though their language is
no better than a dialect of Italian, make it a point of honour not to
know the mother-language, and hate the people on the mainland better
than any one in Europe. However, Comyn can talk a little French too."
"If I may interrupt, sir," said Will, "I can speak both languages very
well. My mother"--here he blushed--"could not afford me any better
schooling than I could have at the village school and of the Rector.
But she did her best to make up for it by teaching me these languages.
She was brought up in these countries; my father married her while he
was serving in the Mediterranean."
"Bravo!" said the Admiral. "I do not like employing a black coat on
these occasions, especially in a priest-ridden country like this,
where the bare sight of a Protestant clergyman fills them with envy,
hatred, and malice, because they are no longer able to Inquisition him
and burn him. Will, I must promote you lieutenant; we can rig you out
from Vassall's sea-chest--he's about your build: we could hardly send
a midshipman on an affair of this sort. And you shall go ashore in my
barge, so as to observe ceremony. When you get there, demand to be
taken with your guard to the Governor, and when you see him----" He
turned round to me with more coldness than I thought necessary, and
said, "You can leave us, Trinder, and ask the Captain, with my
compliments, if he will order my barge to be lowered and manned, with
a guard of marines for the officer carrying despatches. And ask Mr.
Vassall to come to me."
I shall never forget Will as he was rowed away from the flagship,
sitting in the stern-sheets of the Admiral's barge. Vassall's
uniform--it was his best full-dress parade uniform, and he was richer
than most of us, being the son of a wealthy Jamaica planter and
careful of his appearance--well, his uniform fitted Will almost as
trimly as if it had been made for him; and there Will sat, with that
fair, proud face of his, which I would back against the Apollo
Belvedere, though I have never seen it, set as stern as a statue's.
The Admiral himself could not have had it written in his features more
plainly that he had the guns of the squadron behind him--a fine
squadron, with which we hoped to break up the French fleet and capture
the convoy with "Bony" and all his army on board. There Will sat, as
if there were no one in the barge with him--no sea, no land, no walls
between him and the Governor of Syracuse. And as the barge sheered off
I caught the Admiral's eye looking at him. What would not Sir Horatio
have given to have had such a son?