In which our hero proves that all on board should equally sacrifice
decency to duty.
The success of any young man in a profession very much depends upon
the occurrences at the commencement of his career, as from those is
his character judged, and he is treated accordingly. Jack had chosen
to enter the service at a much later period than most lads; he was
tall and manly for his age, and his countenance, if not strictly
handsome, wore that expression of honesty and boldness which is sure
to please. His spirit in not submitting to, and meeting, Vigors when
he had hardly recovered from his severe prostration of sea-sickness,
had gained him with the many respect, and with all, except his
antagonist and Mr Smallsole, good-will. Instead of being laughed at
by his messmates, he was played with; for Jolliffe smiled at his
absurdities, and attempted to reason him out of them, and the others
liked Jack for himself and his generosity, and moreover, because they
looked up to him as a protector against Vigors, who had persecuted
them all; for Jack had declared, that as might was right in a
midshipman's berth, he would so far restore equality, that if he could
not put down those who were the strongest, at all events he would
protect the weak, and, let who would come into the berth, they must be
his master before they should tyrannise over those weaker than he.
Thus did Jack Easy make the best use that he could of his strength,
and become, as it were, the champion and security of those who,
although much longer at sea and more experienced than he was, were
glad to shelter themselves under his courage and skill, the latter of
which had excited the admiration of the butcher of the ship, who had
been a pugilist by profession. Thus did Jack at once take the rank of
an oldster, and soon became the leader of all the mischief. We
particularly observe this, because, had it so happened that our hero
had succumbed to Vigors, the case would have been the very reverse. He
then would have had to go through the ordeal to which most who enter
the naval service are exposed, which cannot be better explained than
by comparing it to the fagging carried to such an iniquitous extent in
public schools.
Mr Asper, for his own reasons, made him his companion: they walked the
night watch together, and he listened to all Jack's nonsense about the
rights of man. And here Mr Asper did good without intending it, for,
at the same time that he appeared to agree with Jack, to secure his
favour, he cautioned him, and pointed out why this equality could not
exist altogether on board of a man-of-war.
As for himself, he said, he saw no difference between a lieutenant, or
even a captain, and a midshipman, provided they were gentlemen: he
should choose his friends where he liked, and despised that power of
annoyance which the service permitted. Of course, Jack and Mr Asper
were good friends, especially as, when half the watch was over, to
conciliate his good-will and to get rid of his eternal arguing, Mr
Asper would send Jack down to bed.
They were now entering the Straits, and expected to anchor the next
day at Gibraltar, and Jack was forward on the forecastle, talking with
Mesty, with whom he had contracted a great friendship, for there was
nothing that Mesty would not have done for Jack, although he had not
been three weeks in the ship; but a little reflection will show that
it was natural.
Mesty had been a great man in his own country; he had suffered all the
horrors of a passage in a slave ship; he had been sold as a slave
twice; he had escaped--but he found that the universal feeling was
strong against his colour, and that on board of a man-of-war he was
condemned, although free, to the humblest of offices.
He had never heard anyone utter the sentiments, which now beat in his
own heart, of liberty and equality--we say now, for when he was in his
own country before his captivity, he had no ideas of equality; no one
has who is in power: but he had been schooled; and although people
talked of liberty and equality at New York, he found that what they
preached for themselves, they did not practise towards others, and
that, in the midst of liberty and equality, he and thousands more were
enslaved and degraded beings.
Escaping to England, he had regained his liberty, but not his
equality; his colour had prevented the latter, and in that feeling all
the world appeared to conspire together against him, until, to his
astonishment, he heard those sentiments boldly expressed from the lips
of Jack, and that in a service where it was almost tantamount to
mutiny. Mesty, whose character is not yet developed, immediately took
a fondness for our hero, and in a hundred ways showed his attachment.
Jack also liked Mesty, and was fond of talking with him, and every
evening, since the combat with Vigors, they had generally met in the
forecastle to discuss the principles of equality and the rights of
man.
The boatswain, whose name was Biggs, was a slight, dapper, active
little man, who, as captain of the foretop, had shown an uncommon
degree of courage in a hurricane, so much so, as to recommend him to
the Admiral for promotion. It was given to him; and after the ship to
which he had been appointed was paid off, he had been ordered to join
H.M. sloop Harpy. Jack's conversation with Mesty was interrupted by
the voice of the boatswain, who was haranguing his boy. "It's now ten
minutes, sir, by my repeater," said the boatswain, "that I have sent
for you"; and Mr Biggs pulled out a huge silver watch, almost as big
as a Norfolk turnip. A Jew had sold him the watch; the boatswain had
heard of repeaters, and wished to have one. Moses had only shown him
watches with the hour and minute hands; he now produced one with a
second hand, telling him it was a repeater.
"What makes it a repeater?" inquired the boatswain.
"Common watches," said the cunning Jew, "only tell the minutes and
hours; but all repeaters tell the seconds."
The boatswain was satisfied--bought the watch, and, although many had
told him it was no repeater, he insisted that it was, and would call
it so.
"I swear," continued the boatswain, "it's ten minutes and twenty
seconds by my repeater."
"If you please, sir," said the boy, "I was changing my trousers when
you sent for me, and then I had to stow away my bag again."
"Silence, sir; I'd have you to know that when you are sent for by your
officer, trousers or no trousers, it is your duty to come up
directly."
"Without trousers, sir?" replied the boy.
"Yes, sir, without trousers; if the captain required me, I should come
without my shirt. Duty before decency." So saying, the boatswain lays
hold of the boy.
"Surely, Mr Biggs," said Jack, "you are not going to punish that boy
for not coming up without his trousers?"
"Yes, Mr Easy, I am--I must teach him a lesson. We are bound, now
that newfangled ideas are brought into the ship, to uphold the dignity
of the service; and the orders of an officer are not to be delayed ten
minutes and twenty seconds because a boy has no trousers on."
Whereupon the boatswain administered several smart cuts with his
rattan upon the boy, proving that it was quite as well that he had put
on his trousers before he came on deck. "There," said Mr Biggs, "is a
lesson for you, you scamp--and, Mr Easy, it is a lesson for you also,"
continued the boatswain, walking away with a most consequential air.
"Murder Irish!" said Mesty--"how him cut caper. De oder day he haul
out de weather ear-ring, and touch him hat to a midshipman. Sure
enough, make um cat laugh."
The next day the Harpy was at anchor in Gibraltar Bay; the captain
went on shore, directing the gig to be sent for him before nine
o'clock; after which hour the sally-port is only opened by special
permission. There happened to be a ball given by the officers of the
garrison on that evening, and a polite invitation was sent to the
officers of H.M. sloop Harpy. As those who accepted the invitation
would be detained late, it was not possible for them to come off that
night. And as their services were required for the next day, Captain
Wilson allowed them to remain on shore until seven o'clock the next
morning, at which hour, as there was a large party, there would be two
boats sent for them.
Mr Asper obtained leave, and asked permission to take our hero with
him; to which Mr Sawbridge consented. Many other officers obtained
leave, and, among others, the boatswain, who, aware that his services
would be in request as soon as the equipment commenced, asked
permission for this evening. And Mr Sawbridge, feeling that he could
be better spared at this than at any other time, consented. Asper and
Jack went to an inn, dined, bespoke beds, and then dressed themselves
for the ball, which was very brilliant, and, from the company of the
officers, very pleasant. Captain Wilson looked on at the
commencement, and then returned on board. Jack behaved with his usual
politeness, danced till two o'clock, and then, as the ball thinned,
Asper proposed that they should retires. Having once more applied to
the refreshment-room, they had procured their hats, and were about to
depart, when one of the officers of the garrison asked Jack if he
would like to see a baboon, which had just been brought down from the
rock; and, taking some of the cakes, they repaired to the court where
the animal was chained down to a small tank. Jack fed the brute till
all the cakes were gone, and then, because he had no more to give
him, the baboon flew at Jack, who, in making his retreat fell back
into the tank, which was about two feet deep. This was a joke, and
having laughed heartily, they wished the officer good-night, and went
to the inn.
Now, what with the number of officers of the Harpy on shore, who had
all put up at the same inn, and other occupants, the landlord was
obliged to put his company into double and treble-bedded rooms; but
this was of little consequence. Jack was shown into a double-bedded
room, and proceeded to undress; the other was evidently occupied, by
the heavy breathing which saluted Jack's ear.
As Jack undressed, he recollected that his trousers were wet through,
and to dry them he opened the window, hung them out, and then jammed
down the window again upon them, to hold them in their position, after
which he turned in and fell fast asleep. At six o'clock he was
called, as he had requested, and proceeded to dress, but to his
astonishment found the window thrown open and his trousers missing. It
was evident, that his partner in the room had thrown the window open
during the night, and that his trousers, having fallen down into the
street, had been walked off with by somebody or another. Jack looked
out of the window once more, and perceived that whoever had thrown
open the window had been unwell during the night.
A nice drunken companion I have had, thought Jack; but what's to be
done? And in saying this, he walked up to the other bed, and perceived
that it was tenanted by the boatswain. Well, thought Jack, as Mr Biggs
has thought proper to lose my trousers, I think I have a right to take
his, or at least the wear of them to go on board. It was but last
night he declared that decency must give way to duty, and that the
orders of a superior officer were to be obeyed, with or without
garments. I know he is obliged to be on board, and now he shall try
how he likes to obey orders in his shirt tails. So cogitating, Jack
took the trousers of the boatswain, who still snored, although he had
been called, and putting them on, completed the rest of his dress, and
quitted the room. He went to that of Mr Asper, where he found him
just ready, and, having paid the bill--for Asper had forgotten his
purse--they proceeded down to the sally-port, where they found other
officers waiting, sufficient to load the first boat, which shoved off,
and they went on board. As soon as he was down below, Jack hastened
to change his trousers, and, unobserved by anyone, threw those
belonging to Mr Biggs on a chair in his cabin, and, having made a
confidant of Mesty, who was delighted, he went on deck, and waited the
issue of the affair.
Before Jack left the hotel, he had told the waiter that there was the
boatswain still fast asleep, and that he must be roused up
immediately; and this injunction was obeyed. The boatswain, who had
drunk too much the night before, and, as Jack had truly imagined, had
opened the window because he was unwell, was wakened up, and hearing
how late it was, hastened to dress himself. Not finding his trousers,
he rang the bell, supposing that they had been taken down to be
brushed, and, in the meantime, put on everything else, that he might
lose no time: the waiter who answered the bell, denied having taken
the trousers out of the room, and poor Mr Biggs was in a sad quandary.
What had become of them, he could not tell: he had no recollection of
having gone to bed the night before; he inquired of the waiter, who
said that he knew nothing about them--that he was very tipsy when he
came home, and that when he called him, he had found the window open,
and it appeared that he had been unwell--he supposed that he had
thrown his trousers out of the window. Time flew, and the boatswain
was in despair. "Could they lend him a pair?"
"He would call his master." The master of the inn knew very well the
difference of rank between officers, and those whom he could trust and
those whom he could not. He sent up the bill by the waiter, and
stated that, for a deposit, the gentleman might have a pair of
trousers. The boatswain felt in his pockets and remembered that all
his money was in his trousers' pocket. He could not only not leave a
deposit, but could not pay his bill. The landlord was inexorable. It
was bad enough to lose his money, but he could not lose more.
"I shall be tried by a court-martial, by heavens!" exclaimed the
boatswain--"it's not far from the sally-port: I'll make a run for it,
and I can slip into one of the boats and get another pair of trousers
before I report myself as having come on board." So making up his
mind, the boatswain took to his heels, and with his check shirt tails
streaming in the wind, ran as hard as he could to where the boat was
waiting to receive him. He was encountered by many, but he only ran
the faster the more they jeered, and, at last, arrived breathless at
his goal, flew down the steps, jumped into the boat, and squatted on
the stern sheets, much to the surprise of the officers and men, who
thought him mad. He stated in a few words that somebody had stolen
his trousers during the night; and as it was already late, the boat
shoved off the men as well as officers convulsed with laughter.
"Have any of you a pea-jacket?" inquired the boatswain of the men--but
the weather was so warm that none of them had brought a pea-jacket.
The boatswain looked round; he perceived that the officers were
sitting on a boat-cloak.
"Whose boat-cloak is that?" inquired the boatswain.
"Mine," replied Gascoigne.
"I trust, Mr Gascoigne, you will have the kindness to lend it to me to
go up the side with."
"Indeed I will not," replied Gascoigne, who would sooner have thrown
it overboard and have lost it, than not beheld the anticipated fun:
"recollect I asked you for a fishing-line, when we were becalmed off
Cape St Vincent, and you sent word that you'd see me dead first. Now
I'll just see you the same before you have my boat-cloak."
"Oh, Mr Gascoigne, I'll give you three lines, directly I get on
board."
"I dare say you will, but that won't do now. 'Tit for tat,' Mr
Boatswain, and hang all favours," replied Gascoigne, who was steering
the boat, having been sent on shore for the others. "In borrowed of
all." The boat was laid alongside--the relentless Gascoigne caught up
his boat-cloak as the other officers rose to go on board, and rolling
it up, in spite of the earnest entreaties of Mr Biggs, tossed it into
the main chains, to the man who had thrown the stem fast; and to make
the situation of Mr Biggs still more deplorable, the first lieutenant
was standing looking into the boat, and Captain Wilson walking the
quarter-deck.
"Come, Mr Biggs, I expected you off in the first boat," cried Mr
Sawbridge; "be as smart as you please, for the yards are not yet
squared."
"Shall I go ahead in this boat, and square them, sir?"
"That boat! no; let her drop astern, jump up here and lower down the
dinghy. What the devil do you sit there for, Mr Biggs?--you'll oblige
me by showing a little more activity, or, by Jove, you may save
yourself the trouble of asking to go on shore again. Are you sober,
sir?"
The last observation decided Mr Biggs. He sprung up from the boat
just as he was, and touched his hat as he passed the first lieutenant.
"Perfectly sober, sir, but I've lost my trousers."
"So it appears, sir," replied Mr Sawbridge, as Mr Biggs stood on the
plane shear of the sloop where the hammock netting divides for an
entrance, with his shirt tails fluttering in the sea breeze; but Mr
Sawbridge could not contain himself any longer; he ran down the ship
ladder which led on the quarter-deck, choked with laughter. Mr Biggs
could not descend until after Mr Sawbridge, and the conversation had
attracted the notice of all, and every eye in the ship was on him.
"What's all this?" said Captain Wilson, coming to the gangway. "Duty
before decency," replied Jack, who stood by enjoying the joke.
Mr Biggs recollected the day before--he cast a furious look at Jack,
as he touched his hat to the captain, and then dived down to the lower
deck.
If anything could add to the indignation of the boatswain, it was to
find that his trousers had come on board before him. He now felt that
a trick had been played him, and also that our hero must have been the
party, but he could prove nothing; he could not say who slept in the
same room, for he was fast asleep when Jack went to bed, and fast
asleep when Jack quitted the room.
The truth of the story soon became known to all the ship, and "duty
before decency" became a bye-word. All that the boatswain could do he
did, which was to revenge himself upon the poor boy--and Gascoigne and
Jack never got any fishing-tackle. The boatswain was as obnoxious to
the men as Vigors, and in consequence of Jack's known opinions upon
the rights of man, and his having floored their two greatest enemies,
he became a great favourite with the seamen, and as all favourites are
honoured by them with a soubriquet, our hero obtained that of Equality
Jack.