“That hat was once the property of that old pirate and buccaneer,
Sir Peter Hawkshaw, Vice-Admiral of the White. It is named after
him, and whenever his conduct displeases the junior officers on this
ship,--which it generally does,--that hat, dear boy, is kicked and
cursed as a proxy for your respected great-uncle. Now understand: your
position in the cockpit is that of this hat. In fact, you will take the
hat’s place,”--which I found to be true, and I was called to account
every day for some part of the conduct of Admiral Hawkshaw, although I
did not see him twice in the week.
Mr. Buxton, our first lieutenant, was a fine officer, and celebrated
for licking midshipmen into shape; and if I learned my duty quickly,
he, rather than I, deserves the credit.
My experience of other ships convinces me that the juniors in the
_Ajax_ were clever fellows; but Giles Vernon was undoubtedly the
smartest officer among them and cock of the walk between decks. He had
innumerable good qualities, but the beggarly virtue of prudence was
not among them. He had, however, another virtue in a high degree,--a
daring and invincible courage. That, and his smartness as an officer,
made Mr. Buxton his friend, and caused many of his peccadilloes to be
overlooked.
The fact that at nineteen Giles Vernon was still only a midshipman
made me think that he was without fortune or influence; but I was soon
enlightened on the subject, though not by him. He was the distant
cousin and heir of Sir Thomas Vernon of Vernon Court, near York, and
of Grosvenor Square, London. This man was generally spoken of as the
wicked Sir Thomas, and a mortal hatred subsisted between him and his
heir. Giles had been caught trying to induce the money sharks to take
his post-obits; but as Sir Thomas was not yet fifty years of age, and
it was quite possible that he should marry, the only result was to
fan the flame of animosity between him and his heir, without Giles’
getting a shilling. The next heir to Giles was another cousin, remote
from both him and Sir Thomas, one Captain Philip Overton of the Guards,
who was as much disliked by Sir Thomas as was Giles. Giles, who had
been at sea since his twelfth year, knew little or nothing of Captain
Overton, although he swore many times in a month that he meant to marry
the first woman who would take him, for the purpose of cutting off
Overton’s hopes; but it occurred to me, young as I was, that Giles was
not the man to give up his liberty to the first woman who was willing
to accept of it.
We were fitting for the Mediterranean, and the ship lay in the inner
harbor at Portsmouth, waiting her turn to go in dry dock to be
coppered. There was plenty for the seniors to do, but not much for the
midshipmen at that particular time; and we had more runs on shore than
usual. The rest of us were satisfied with Portsmouth, but Giles was
always raving of London and the London playhouses.