Blue Peter had been for some hours flying aloft when Jonathan Johnson's
pipe, sounding along the decks with a shrillness which surpassed the
keenest of north-easterly gales, gave the expected order, which his
mates, in gruffest of gruff tones, bawled out, of "All hands up anchor!"
In an instant the whole ship was in an uproar, and seemed to me to be
in the most dire confusion. Boatswain's mates were shouting and
bawling, the officers hurrying to their stations, the men flying here
and there, some aloft to loose sails, and others to halyards, sheets,
and braces. I must own that I did not feel myself of any great service
in assisting at the operation going forward, but I ran and shouted with
the rest, and as the men passed me I told them to look sharp and to be
smart, and to hurry along; but what they were about to do I was utterly
unable to discover. I met Toby Bluff hurrying along, looking very much
scared and half inclined to blubber. I asked him what was the matter.
"It's the big man with the rattan," (he alluded to the ship's corporal)
"told me to go aft to the poop and stand by the mizen-topsail halyards,"
he exclaimed. "But, oh, Master Marmaduke, where they be it's more than
my seven senses can tell. What shall I do? what shall I do?"
I saw some other boys running aft, so I advised him to go where they
went, and to do whatever they did. I soon afterwards saw him hauling
away sturdily at a rope, and though he tumbled down very often, he was
quickly again on his feet. The fife and fiddle were meantime sounding
merrily, and, as with cheerful tramp the men passed round the
capstan-bars, the anchor was speedily run up to the bows. What the
lieutenant on the forecastle could mean when he shouted out "Man the
cat-fall," I could not divine, till I saw that some of the crew were
securing the stock of the anchor by means of a tackle to a stout beam,
which projected over the bows of the ship. "Over to the fish," next
shouted out the officer, an order at first equally inexplicable to me,
till I saw the flukes of the anchor hauled up close to the bows--fished,
as it is called.
The sails were let fall and sheeted home, braces hauled taut, and the
Doris, with a rattling breeze, under all sail, stood through the Needles
Passage and down Channel. Those were stirring times. The cruisers of
the various nations then at war with old England swarmed in all
directions; and it was the ardent wish of every one on board the
frigate, from the captain down to my small self, and to the youngest
powder-monkey, that we should before long meet an enemy worthy of our
prowess. A sharp look-out was kept aloft night and day, and it would
have been difficult for anything under sail passing within the circle
seen from our main-truck to have escaped notice. Captain Collyer also
did his best to prepare his crew for an encounter whenever it might
come, and the men were kept constantly exercising at the great guns and
small-arms, and, for a change, at shortening and making sail, till they
had all learned to work well together. I was all this time rapidly
picking up a fair amount of miscellaneous nautical knowledge, partly by
observation, but chiefly from my messmates, and from Sam Edkins, the
captain's coxswain, who had, as he said, taken a liking to me.
Mr Johnson, the boatswain, at times condescended to give me
instruction. "At present, Mr Merry, you'll observe, and I say it with
perfect respect," remarked my friend, "you're like a sucking babe, an
unfledged sparrow, a squid on dry ground--you're of no use to nobody,
and rather want somebody to look after you, and keep you out of harm.
When you've been to sea as many years as I have, if you keep your eyes
open, you'll begin to find out what's what."
I confess that these observations of the boatswain were calculated to
make me feel rather small. However, I was not offended, and I often
managed to pay Mr Jonathan back in his own coin, which made him like me
all the more. A great contrast to him in character was the captain's
steward, Billy Wise. Billy had been to sea all his life, but no
training could make a sailor of him. He was devoted to the captain,
whom he had followed from ship to ship, and who took him, I truly
believe, from pure compassion, because no one else would have had him.
He was, however, a faithful fellow, and I am certain would have done
anything to serve his captain.
Captain Collyer used to have some of the youngsters into his cabin to
learn navigation. I liked this very much, and studied hard; for, as I
had come to sea to be a sailor, I wished to be a good one. Several of
us were seated round the table one day, when the steward made his
appearance.
"How is the wind, Wise?" asked the captain.
"Some says it's east, and some says it's west, Captain Collyer," was the
satisfactory answer.
"And which way do you say it is?" inquired his master.
"Whichever way you please, sir," replied the steward, pulling a lock of
his hair.
Even the presence of our captain could scarcely prevent us youngsters
from bursting into a roar of laughter. This was surpassed, however, by
an Irish midshipman, an old shipmate of mine, who, when undergoing his
examination for navigation, being asked, whether the sun went round the
earth, or the earth round the sun, looked up with perfect confidence,
and unhesitatingly replied--
"Faith, gentlemen, it's sometimes one and sometimes the other."
He was very much surprised at being turned back. He, however,
afterwards managed to pass, but whether it was because the examining
officers were not quite confident as to the exact state of the case
themselves, and therefore did not push the question, or that he had in
the meantime gained the required information, I do not now remember.
Captain Collyer was accustomed to Billy's eccentricities. They were
sometimes inconvenient. One day, we fell in with a line-of-battle ship,
and our captain had to go on board to pay his respects to his superior
officer.
As he was hurriedly leaving his cabin he called for his cocked hat.
"Your hat. Captain Collyer--your hat, sir," ejaculated Billy Wise, in a
state of great trepidation,--"it's all safe, sir. It druve ashore at
Hurst, as we was coming through the Needles Passage, and some of the
sodgers at the castle picked it up."
Poor Billy had been brushing the hat at a port with too great vehemence,
and sent it flying overboard. He might possibly have seen something
dark floating towards Hurst, and his shipmates, who were always
practising on his credulity, probably persuaded him that it was the
captain's hat. Many captains, in those days, would have given him a
couple of dozen, or put him on nine-water grog for a month. Captain
Collyer very soon forgot all about the matter, except when he told the
story as a good joke. On the present occasion he had to borrow a cocked
hat; and it was not till we had been in action, and one of the officers
was killed, that he could get fitted with one of his own.
The captain had a goat, which was a source of much amusement to us
youngsters, and of annoyance to Mr Lukyn, the first-lieutenant; for, as
if aware that she did belong to the captain, she made no scruple of
invading the quarter-deck, and soiling its purity. One day, my first
acquaintance on board--the tall, gaunt midshipman with red hair, who, by
the bye, went by the name of Miss Susan--with two or three other
youngsters and me, was standing on our side of the deck, when Nancy, the
goat, released from her pen, came prancing up to us. We, as usual, made
grabs at her horns and tail, and somewhat excited her temper. Now, she
began to butt at us, and made us fly, right and left. Miss Susan was
capsized, and sent sprawling on the deck; and Nancy, highly delighted at
her victory, frisked off to the starboard side, where Mr Lukyn, with
all the dignity of a first-lieutenant, was walking the deck with his
glass under his arm. Nancy, either mistaking his long legs for the
stems of the trees and shrubs of her native hills, or wishing to repeat
the experiment which had succeeded so well with regard to Miss Susan,
made a furious butt at his calves while he was walking aft, unconscious
of her approach. The effect must have been beyond Nancy's utmost
expectations, as it was beyond ours. Our gallant first never appeared
very firm on his pins, and, the blow doubling his knees, down he came,
stern first, on the deck with his heels in the air, while the goat,
highly delighted at her performance, and totally unconscious of her
gross infraction of naval discipline, frolicked off forward in search of
fresh adventures.
Just at that moment up came Billy Wise with a message from the captain.
Now Mr Lukyn rarely gave way to anger, but this was an occasion to try
his temper. Picking himself up from his undignified posture, "Hang the
goat," he exclaimed in a loud tone; "who let the creature loose?" Billy
did not know, but having delivered his message, away he went forward;
while we endeavoured to conceal, as far as we could, the fits of
laughter in which we were indulging. Miss Susan's real name was Jacob
Spellman. Some short time after this, I was going along the main-deck
with him, when we found the captain's steward very busy splicing an eye
in a rope, close to the cattle-pen, where Nancy had her abode. We
walked on a little way, and then turned round to watch him. Having
formed a running noose, he put it round the goat's neck, and dragged her
out of the pen. He then got a tub and made her stand upon it while he
passed the rope over a hook in the beam above. Hauling away as hard as
he could, he gave the tub a kick, and there hung poor Nancy, in a most
uncomfortable position, very nearly with her neck dislocated; but as he
had not calculated on her power of standing on her hind legs, the result
he expected was unaccomplished, and she was not altogether deprived of
life. She struggled, however, so violently that she would very soon
have been strangled had not old Perigal, who was mate of the main-deck,
come up and seen what was going forward. "Why, man, what are you
about?" he exclaimed. "Please, sir, I be hanging the goat," was Billy's
reply.
"Hanging the goat! who told you to do that?" inquired Perigal.
"It was the first-lieutenant, sir. She knocked him over right flat on
the deck, and so he told me to go and hang her."
"Well, you are a precious--," exclaimed the old mate. "Let free the
beast, and thank your stars that you didn't hang her. The captain is a
wonderfully good-natured man, there can be no doubt of it; but even he
wouldn't have stood having his goat hung."
Of course I do not dress the language of my shipmates with the
expletives in which many of them were apt to indulge, when the use of
strange oaths and swearing of all descriptions was more common than even
at present, when the practice would be more honoured in the breach than
in the observance. One thing I must say, I never heard our gallant
captain utter an oath or abuse a man during the whole time I had the
happiness of serving under him, and a braver, more spirited, or more
sensible man never trod the deck of a man-of-war as her chief. His
memory is dear, not only to all those who served with him, but to all of
high or low degree who knew him during his long and glorious naval
career. His manners were mild and gentle--though he had an abundance of
humour and spirit. He could, however, when he thought it necessary,
speak with the gravest severity to a delinquent. I never saw any man
more cool and calm and thoughtful in action. It may truly be said of
him that in battle he was as brave as a lion, and in peace as gentle as
a lamb. I could not resist uttering this panegyric on our well-loved
captain.
To return to Billy Wise and the goat. The poor animal's life was saved,
though she had a strange way of stretching out her neck for some weeks
afterwards, and always gave Billy a wide berth when she encountered him
in her rambles about the decks.
When the captain heard the account, instead of being angry, he laughed
heartily, and added the story to his batch of anecdotes.
"I must do something with that poor fellow," he remarked. "He is not
fit to be made Lord Chief Justice, I fear."
It was not always plain sailing with me. Spellman and I were pretty
good friends, but he was somewhat inclined to play the bully. He was
called Miss Susan simply because he was as unlike a girl as a great
awkward gawky fellow, with red hair and a freckled face, could well be.
One day, as I was going along the lower-deck, with a message to old
Perigal, who was attending to some duty forward, I came suddenly on Toby
Bluff, whose ear Spellman had seized, while with his heel he was
bestowing sundry hard blows on the corpus of my sturdy follower, who
already knew enough of naval discipline not to venture on retaliation.
Toby, though short, was as strong as a lion, and could have hurled him
to the deck if he had dared. This made Miss Susan's attack all the more
cowardly. What Toby had done to give offence I did not stop to inquire.
My anger was up in a moment.
"Let go the boy, Spellman!" I exclaimed; "you shall not strike him
again."
Toby gained little by this, for Miss Susan only kicked him the harder;
whereon, up I rushed and hit my tall messmate a blow between the eyes,
which made lightning flash from them, I suspect. Spellman instantly let
go Toby and sprang at me. I stood prepared for the onslaught. Blinded
by my first blow, my antagonist hit out at random, and though double my
weight, was far from getting the best of it. While we were thus
pleasantly occupied, Mr Lukyn, with the sergeant-at-arms, was going his
rounds. We were so earnestly engaged in endeavouring to the utmost of
our power to hurt each other, that we did not perceive their approach.
Toby knew too well the laws of British pugilism to interfere, though had
my opponent been an enemy of a different nation, and had we been engaged
in mortal combat, I have no doubt that I should have found my young
follower an able supporter. An exclamation from Toby threw Spellman off
his guard, when a full blow, which I had planted on his breast, sent him
reeling back into the not very tender clutches of old Krause, the
master-at-arms.
"What is this about, young gentlemen?" exclaimed Mr Lukyn, in a severe
tone. "Fighting is against the articles of war."
"He hit me, sir;" "He kicked the boy Bluff," we both exclaimed in the
same breath.
"I must have you both up before the captain, and ascertain who is the
culprit," said Mr Lukyn. "Master-at-arms, take these young gentlemen
into custody."
I, on this, represented that I had been sent on a message to Mr
Perigal, and was allowed to go and deliver it. While I was absent,
Spellman took care to put his case in the best light, and mine in the
worst. In about an hour we were both taken before the captain, and Toby
was summoned as a witness. For fear of committing me, he was only
puzzled what to say.
"Speak the truth, and nothing but it," said I boldly. The captain cast
a look of approbation on me. Toby frankly confessed that, not seeing
Mr Spellman, he had run against him, when he had been seized by the
ear, and that I, coming up, had taken his part. Toby was dismissed.
"Now, young gentlemen, you are both in the wrong," said the captain.
"You, Mr Spellman, should not have struck the boy for his heedlessness,
and you, Mr Merry, should not have taken the law into your own hands.
You will both of you go to the mast-head, and remain there till Mr
Lukyn calls you down; Mr Merry to the foremast, Mr Spellman to the
mainmast."
We thought that we had got off very easily; and we should, had not the
first-lieutenant gone below and forgotten all about us. Hour after hour
passed by: we had had no dinner: I was almost starved, and could
scarcely have held on longer, when my eye fell on a sail to the
southward. We were in the chops of the channel, with the wind from the
northward. "Sail, O!" I shouted in a shrill tone. Fortunately Mr
Lukyn was on deck, and when I had told him the direction in which I had
seen the stranger, he called me down, it having probably occurred to him
that I had been mast-headed rather longer than he intended.
When I got on deck I went up to him, and, touching my hat, said,
"Please, sir, Spellman is still at the mast-head."
"Oh, is he? ah!" he answered, taking a turn.
I guessed from this that he did not think I was much to blame. Still I
was anxious to get poor Miss Susan out of this unpleasant predicament,
for I knew he was almost dead with hunger. I had resolved to go up to
Mr Lukyn to tell him so, when he hailed my late antagonist, and ordered
him on deck.
"You have to thank Mr Merry that you are not up still," observed the
first-lieutenant, walking away.
Meantime the helm had been put up, and sail made in chase of the
stranger. All hands earnestly hoped that she might prove an enemy. A
sharp look-out was kept on her. One thing soon became evident--that we
must have been seen, and that she was not inclined to fly.
"Now, Mr Merry, we'll show you what fighting is," observed Mr Johnson,
the boatswain, as I stood near him on the forecastle. "You'll soon see
round-shot, and langrage, and bullets rattling about us, thick as hail;
and heads, and arms, and legs flying off like shuttle-cocks. A man's
head is off his shoulders before he knows where he is. You'll not
believe it, Mr Merry, perhaps; but it's a fact. I once belonged to a
frigate, when we fell in with two of the enemy's line-of-battle ships,
and brought them to action. One, for a short time, was on our starboard
beam, and the other right aft; and we were exposed to a terrible cross
and raking fire: it's only a wonder one of us remained alive, or that
the ship didn't go down. It happened that two men were standing near
me, looking the same way--athwart ships, you'll understand. The name of
one was Bill Cox--the other, Tom Jay. Well, a round-shot came from our
enemy astern, and took off the head of Bill Cox, who was on the larboard
side; while at that identical moment a chain-shot from the ship abeam
cut off Tom Jay's head, who was nearest the starboard side, so cleanly--
he happened to have a long neck--that it was jerked on to the body of
Bill Cox, who, very naturally, putting up his hands to feel what had
become, of his own head, kept it there so tightly that it stuck--
positively stuck; and, the surgeon afterwards plastering it thickly
round, it grew as firmly as if it had always belonged to the body. The
curious thing was, that the man did not afterwards know what to call
himself; when he intended to do one thing he was constantly doing
another. There was Bill Cox's body, d'ye see, and Tom Jay's head. Bill
Cox was rather the shorter of the two, and had had a very ugly mug of
his own; while Tom Jay was a good-looking chap. Consequently, Bill used
sometimes to blush when he heard his good looks spoken of, and sometimes
to get angry, thinking people were making fun of him. At first, Bill
never knew who was hailed, and used to sing out, `Which of us do you
want?' However, it was agreed that he was and should be Bill Cox;
because the head belonged to the body by right of capture; for if Bill's
arms hadn't sprung up and caught it, the head would have gone overboard,
and been no use to nobody. So the matter was settled, as far as the
public was concerned. D was put against Tom Jay's name, and his
disconsolate widow was written to, and told she might marry some one
else as soon as she liked. But Bill wasn't at all comfortable about
himself. He was fond of fat bacon, which Tom Jay could never abide; and
when Bill put it into his new mouth, why, you see, the mouth that was
Tom's spit it out again, and wouldn't let it, by no manner of means, go
down his throat. Then Tom was fond of a chaw, and seldom had had a quid
out of his cheeks. Bill, for some reason, didn't like baccy, and though
his mouth kept asking for it, nothing would ever tempt his hands to put
a quid inside. `I'm very miserable, that I be,' groaned poor Bill; `I
sometimes almost wishes I hadn't caught Tom's head--that I do.'
"You see, Mr Merry, people seldom know when they are well off, and that
I used to tell him. More came of it when Bill got back home. When poor
Tom Jay's widow caught sight of him there was a terrible to do, seeing
she was already married to another man; but I'll tell you all about that
by and by. There's the captain about to speak."
The captain's speech was very brief: "Clear ship for action," he
exclaimed, as he placed himself on one of the after guns; "and now,
lads, let me see what you are made of."
I had been about to ask the boatswain how he got clear of the two
line-of-battle ships, when this interruption occurred. Toby Bluff had
been standing at a respectful distance, taking it all in with open mouth
and astonishment. Each man went to his station--bulkheads were knocked
away--the fires put out--the magazine opened--powder and shot were
carried on deck--the guns were cast loose, and every preparation was
made in a wonderfully short space of time. As I passed along the
main-deck, I found Toby Bluff sitting on his tub, the picture of a
regular powder-monkey--fat, sturdy, and unconcerned. He had become on
very familiar terms with the other boys, and had fought his way into a
satisfactory state of equality. He and those near him were firing off
jokes at each other at a rapid rate, the others trying to frighten him,
and he in no way inclined to take alarm.
"Never you mind," he answered to a remark made by one of his companions;
"if some chaps have their heads blown off, others gets new ones clapped
on again! Ha, ha, ha! That's more than some of you ever see'd done."
I was glad to see that Toby was in such good heart, and would not
disgrace our county. When I reached the upper deck, I found our bunting
going up and down. We were signalising with the stranger, which, after
all, turned out to be no enemy, but his Majesty's thirty-six gun frigate
Uranius. There was a general groan of disappointment when the order was
given to secure the guns and close the magazine. I believe that, at
that moment, most of the people, so worked up were they for fighting,
would rather have had a turn to with their friend than have been baulked
altogether. We found, however, that we should soon have a good
opportunity of gratifying our pugnacious propensities. Admiral
Cornwallis was at that time the commander-in-chief of the Channel fleet.
He had directed Captain Collyer to look out for the Uranius and another
frigate, the Emerald, and to proceed off Point Saint Matthieu, to watch
the French and Spanish fleets then lying in Brest harbour. After
cruising for a couple of days, we fell in with the other frigate, and
thus all together proceeded to our destination. We soon reached it. On
standing in towards the land, we very clearly made out the enemy's fleet
at anchor in Brest harbour; but few, if any, of the ships had their
sails bent, and even if they had come out after us we could very easily
have escaped.
"All hands shorten sail, and bring ship to an anchor," was the order
given, and all three frigates brought up just as coolly as if we had
been at Spithead.
"I wonder what they think of us?" I observed to the boatswain, as one
day I was examining the enemy through my glass.
"Think of us!" he exclaimed. "That we are as impudent as sparrows, and
that they would willingly wring our necks and eat us if they could. But
it is nothing to what I have seen done in the way of daring. I once
belonged to a frigate, commanded by Captain Longbow, and, as he would
tell you, if you were to ask him, we one night sailed right into the
middle of a Spanish fleet--ran alongside one of their ships, boarded and
carried her, and took her out free without the Spanish admiral
discovering what we had been about. There's no end to the wonderful
things I have seen done, or, I may say, without conceit, have done, Mr
Merry. But I rather suspect that we shall have to lose sight of the
Dons and Monsieurs for a few days. There's bad weather coming on, and
we shall have to stand out to sea; but, never mind, they'll not make
their escape with a gale in their teeth."
Mr Johnson prognosticated rightly. Before many hours it was blowing
great guns and small-arms, and the three frigates were endeavouring,
under all the sail they could carry, to obtain a good offing from the
land. We tumbled about and pitched into the seas in a way which
prevented me from, as usual, pitching into my dinner. One thing was
satisfactory; the gale blockaded the enemy as effectually as we could
have done. They were not inclined to come out and face either our guns
or the fury of the wind. I cannot say, however, that just at that time
anything brought much consolation to me. I had only one very strong
wish; it was, to be thrown overboard--not that I had the slightest
intention of jumping into the sea of my own accord. I was too far gone
for any such energetic proceeding; and had anybody else taken me up for
the purpose, I have no doubt that I should have struggled and kicked
myself into perfect health again. I had coiled myself away on the top
of my chest, on the lower-deck, in a dark recess, where I thought no one
would see me; and there I hoped to remain all alone in my misery, till
the ship went down, or blew up, or something else dreadful happened, for
as to my ever getting well again that I felt was physically impossible.
I had lain thus for some time, believing myself to be the most miserable
small piece of humanity in existence, when, the frigate appearing to be
pitching and rolling more furiously than ever, I heard a gruff voice
exclaim--
"What, youngster! are you going to let the ship go down, and you not try
to save her? On deck with you; be smart, now."
I felt a colt applied to a part of my body which, in the position I lay,
offered a tempting mark. The voice was that of old Perigal; his sharp
eyes had found me out. I sprang up and rushed on deck with an
involuntary yell of pain, to find the ship under her three topsails
closely reefed, forcing her way bravely through the seas, and not at all
inclined to go down, or to come to any other damage.
"You're all the better for that trip, youngster," said the old mate,
with a grin, as I returned to the berth. "Now, just take a lump of this
fat bacon, and a bit of biscuit,--and here, as a treat, you shall have a
nip of old Jamaica, and you'll be all to rights in ten minutes, and
never be sea-sick again as long as you live."
I remonstrated, but out came the colt, and with an argument so cogent I
was fain to adopt my messmate's remedy. It was a terrible trial. At
first, I could scarcely bring my teeth to meet; but Perigal flourished
his weapon, and my jaws went faster and faster, till I was not sorry to
finish the whole of the biscuit and bacon placed before me, and could
have taken twice as much if I could have got it. Perigal was right.
From that day to this I have never suffered from sea-sickness.
Toby Bluff had undergone a similar ordeal, and when I was well enough to
go and look for him, I found him scraping away at a beef bone, from
which he had just removed the last particle of meat.
The summer gale was soon over, and once more we stood in for the land to
look after the Frenchmen. As we drew in, I saw the captain and officers
eagerly scanning the coast with their glasses, and it was soon known
that a ship had been discovered at anchor by herself in a bay almost
abreast of where we then were. She was protected, however, by the guns
of some strongish batteries.
"We must have her out, though," observed Captain Collyer; and forthwith
the proposal was made to our consorts by signal.
Neither of the captains was the sort of man to decline engaging in the
undertaking. Off we went, under every stitch of canvas we could carry,
to look for the admiral, who, with a fleet sufficient to render a good
account of the enemy, should they venture out of harbour, was cruising
in the neighbourhood.
Admiral Cornwallis highly approved of the proposal. "Go and do it," was
his laconic reply. He was more addicted to acts than words. He sent a
lieutenant, in whom he placed great confidence, to take command, and a
boat and boat's crew from the flagship to lead. This was not quite as
complimentary a proceeding as the three captains would have liked; but
they were all too zealous and too anxious to get the work done to stand
on ceremony. Away back we sailed, till we once more made out the
entrance to the bay, which was called Camaret Bay.
The craft we were about to attack, and hoped to capture, was the
Chevrette, a ship corvette, mounting twenty guns--a powerful vessel, and
not likely to be taken without a severe struggle. Notice was given that
volunteers would be required for the service, and immediately the
greater part of the officers and crews of the three frigates came
forward. Among those who volunteered from the Doris was Mr Bryan, the
second lieutenant; Mr Johnson, the boatswain; and Edkins, the captain's
coxswain. All were allowed to go. The captain had great confidence in
Mr Bryan; and I suspect that he had a fancy to ascertain what Mr
Johnson really was made of.
We brought up at our usual anchorage, and the remainder of the day was
occupied in making preparations for the expedition. I saw Mr Johnson
very busily employed in his cabin in cleaning his pistols.
"Come in, Mr Merry," he said, as he caught sight of me. "These are old
friends of mine: they have served me many a good turn before now. If it
was not for these pistols I should not have been in the land of the
living: some day I'll tell you how it happened. Well, we are likely to
have some desperate work to-night, and no one can tell whose lot it will
be to fall. That reminds me, Mr Merry, I have written a letter to my
wife, and I will intrust it to you. That is more than I would do to any
other midshipman in the ship. She is a charming person--every inch a
lady, and a lady of rank, too. One thing I must charge you--do not
speak of me as a boatswain. She has no idea that I hold so subordinate
a rank. She believes that I am an officer, and so I am; only I am a
warrant and not a commissioned officer. Just tell her that I died
fighting bravely for my country. Her name--for she is not called Mrs
Johnson--and address you will find within that enclosure. If I come
back, you will restore it to me as it is; if I fall, you will know what
to do with it."
I thanked Mr Johnson very much for the confidence he reposed in me, but
told him that I had come for the very purpose of asking him to let me go
in his boat.
"You, Mr Merry?" exclaimed the boatswain. "You'll be made into
mince-meat--cut to atoms--annihilated. It's no child's play, that
cutting-out work we are going on, let me tell you. Time enough when you
are bigger."
"But I want to go, that I may know how to do it," I argued; "I have come
to sea to learn to be a sailor and an officer, and the captain says we
should lose no opportunity of gaining knowledge; and I could not find a
better occasion than the present for gaining an insight into what, I
fancy, is of very considerable importance."