"Mr Herrick! Come to my cabin," said the captain as he stepped on
deck, and I followed him.
"You stupid fellow," whispered Mr Brooke as I passed him, "why didn't
you keep the boat by the wharf?"
I gave him a comical look, and followed the captain; but I was kept
waiting for a few moments at the door while the servant was summoned,
and when I did go in my officer was lying back in his chair, with ice on
the table, and a great glass of what seemed to be soda-water and brandy
before him, but which proved by the decanter to be sherry.
"Oh," he cried angrily, "there you are, sir! Why didn't you come at
once, sir?"
"I did, sir; but was kept waiting till you were ready."
"Well, sir, don't answer in that pert way. It sounds like insolence.
That will not do, Mr Herrick, if you wish to get on in your profession.
Now, sir, your orders were to stop by the landing-place, with the boat
in charge, ready for my return, were they not?"
"Yes, sir; but--"
"Silence, sir! How dare you interrupt me? I go up through the broiling
heat to have an interview with that wretched, stolid, obstinate
mandarin, with his confounded button and peacock-feather; and when I do
get back, perfectly exhausted by the heat, half-dead, I find no boat."
"No, sir; but--"
"Silence, sir! Will you let me speak? The consequence is that, because
you choose to disobey orders, and take the men off to indulge in some of
the disgusting drinks of this wretched country--"
"I beg pardon, sir," I cried; "I--"
"Mr Herrick! am I to place you under arrest? Be silent, sir. I say, I
return with my escort from an important diplomatic visit, arranged so as
to impress the people, and when I return, almost fainting with the heat,
there is no boat, because you have allowed the men to impose upon you;
and you are away drinking with them, I suppose?"
"No, sir; I--"
"Mr Herrick!" he roared, "I will not bear it. I say there was no boat;
and not only am I forced to submit to the indignity of waiting, and
listening to the gibes of the low-class Chinese, and to see their
scowls, but our delay there--through you, sir--results, I say results,
in the miserable wretches taking advantage thereof, and, thinking me
helpless, working themselves up to an attack. When at last you do come
crawling up with those four men, they are purple-faced from drinking,
every one threatened by apoplexy--why, your own face is crimson, sir;
and I could smell the men when I stepped on board."
"No, sir--the dirty harbour, sir," I said. "Smells horrid."
"You are under arrest, sir. Go! No; stop and hear me out first, sir.
I say that, through your delay, I am kept there on that wretched wharf;
and when I do push off, I have--I, Her Majesty's representative, in the
sight of these Chinese scoundrels--I have, I say, to suffer from the
insult and contumely of being pelted, stoned, of having filth thrown at
me. Look at my nearly new uniform coat, sir. Do you see this spot on
the sleeve? A mark that will never come out. That was a blow, sir,
made by a disgusting rotten fish's head, sir. Loathsome--loathsome!
While the insult to Her Majesty's flag called upon me to fire upon the
mob. Do you know what that means, sir?"
"Yes, sir; a good lesson. They won't be so saucy again."
"You ignorant young puppy!" he cried; "it may mean a serious
international trouble--a diplomatic breach, and all through you. There,
I was hot and bad enough before, now you have made me worse."
He stretched out his hand for the glass, but did not drink; and the
sight of the cool liquid half-maddened me, for the heat and emotion had
made my throat very dry.
"Now, sir," he cried, "I am your commanding officer, and no one on board
Her Majesty's cruiser shall ever say that I am not just. Now then,
speak out; what have you to say? How came you to let the men go away to
drink?"
"I didn't, sir," I said huskily. "They wanted to go, for they were
choking nearly, but I wouldn't let them."
"What? Don't seek refuge in a lie, boy. That's making your fault ten
times worse. Didn't I see you returning to the wharf?"
"Yes, sir," I cried indignantly; "but the men had not been to drink."
"Then how dared you disobey my orders, and go away?" he roared, furious
at being proved wrong.
"I went, sir, because it was my duty."
"What!"
"We stayed till the stone-throwing grew dangerous for us, and then I had
the boat rowed out and anchored."
"Oh!"
"But I kept watch till you came in sight, sir; and we were as quick as
we could be."
"The mob pelted you too, Mr Herrick?"
"Yes, sir," I said; "and we couldn't fire over their heads, nor yet row
right away."
He looked at me angrily, and then his countenance changed.
"Pert, Mr Herrick," he said, "but very apt. You have me there on the
hop. Dear me! I've made a great mistake, eh?"
"Yes, sir," I said hoarsely.
"And you sat out there in the broiling sun, and the miserable savages
pelted you as they did me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Tut, tut, tut! and the heat was maddening. Terribly irritating, too; I
felt excessively angry. I really--dear me, Mr Herrick, I'm afraid I
spoke very unjustly to you, and--I--ought a captain to apologise to a
midshipman?"
"I really don't know, sir," I said, feeling quite mollified by his tone.
"Well, I think I do," he said, smiling. "Decidedly not. As Mr Reardon
would say, it would be totally subversive of discipline. It couldn't be
done. But one gentleman can of course apologise to another, and I do so
most heartily. My dear Mr Herrick, I beg your pardon for being so
unjust."
"Pray don't say any more about it, sir," I cried.
"Well, no, I will not. But all the same I am very sorry--as a
gentleman--that I--as your superior officer--spoke to you as I did."
"Thank you, sir."
"And, dear me, my lad, you look terribly hot and exhausted. Let me
prescribe, as Mr Price would say."
He quickly placed a lump of ice in a tumbler, and, after pouring in a
little sherry, filled it up with soda-water.
I grasped the glass, and drank with avidity the cool, refreshing draught
to the last drop.
"Humph! you were thirsty."
"I was choking, sir," I said, with a sigh, as I placed the glass upon
the table.
"And now, Mr Herrick, perhaps it would be as well not to talk about
this little interview," he said quietly. "I rely upon you as a
gentleman."
"Of course, sir," I replied; and feeling, in spite of the severe wigging
I had had, that I never liked the captain half so well before, I backed
out and hurried to my own cabin.