said I; "but I do not mind confessing to you that I have over and over
again regretted that circumstances did not permit me to enter His
Majesty's service. Not that I have any real cause to complain, for I
suppose I may now call myself a fairly rich man, with the division of
the galleon's prize-money in prospect; much richer than I should have
been by this time had I had an opportunity to enter the navy. At the
same time I have been impressed over and over again with the honour and
distinction attaching to His Most Gracious Majesty's service, and which
are wholly apart from any question of the length of a man's purse; and
it is impossible to shut one's eyes to the fact that, if a man happens
to be ambitious, there is no service where his ambition has more scope
for gratification than in the British navy."
"Precisely," agreed the Admiral. "And do you happen to be ambitious?"
"Yes," I answered frankly. "Every one of my successes, such as they
have been, has been robbed of a very appreciable amount of its sweetness
by the reflection of the far greater honour and glory that would have
been mine had I happened to have been a wearer of the King's uniform."
"Then," said the Admiral, "may I take it that, if an opportunity were to
offer for you to enter the King's service, you would accept it?"
"Undoubtedly you may, sir," answered I excitedly, as the drift of the
conversation suggested itself to me for the first time. Then, in a
flash, I qualified my statement by adding: "Of course I mean if I could
enter as a commissioned officer. As a warrant-officer I fear I should
be quite out of place. I have had so much liberty, and have been, so to
speak, my own master for so long--"
"That you think you would find the discipline irksome?" interrupted the
Admiral. "My dear boy, I have no doubt you would, and nobody but a fool
would ever think of spoiling a fine, dashing, young fellow like yourself
by attempting any such transformation. As you say, you would be
woefully out of place in such a position. You would be wasted. But
upon your own quarter-deck, with a good crew of thoroughly disciplined
men to back you up, and the authority of the King's commission to give
you confidence, you would soon make a name and a place for yourself.
Now, you did a very important and valuable service to the State when you
brought timely intelligence of the approach of the combined French and
Spanish fleets to West Indian waters, and you did a still more important
and valuable service in watching that fleet, and afterwards
communicating with Lord Nelson. In recognition of those services,
therefore, it affords me very great pleasure to offer you a commission
as lieutenant in His Majesty's navy. There it is, my boy," producing a
large official-looking document from his pocket; "and I sincerely hope
that you will not only accept it, but that also, with such friendly help
as I may be able to afford you, you will rapidly distinguish yourself
and do credit to my penetration in selecting you for so unusual an
honour."
For the moment I was altogether too thoroughly overwhelmed to utter a
word, which the old gentleman at once perceived, for he said hastily:
"There, there! no thanks, no thanks; I know exactly what you are
struggling to say, and I will take it as said. You need not trouble to
thank me in words. Let your deeds express your gratitude; and if you
behave as well under the pennant as you have hitherto done under the
merchant flag, I shall be more than satisfied. And I intend to give you
every opportunity of distinguishing yourself and doing me credit. For
it happens that the _Triton's_ boats captured a becalmed pirate schooner
last week, and brought her in. The lieutenant who led the attack lost
his life, poor fellow, in boarding, so that he has not to be considered;
and I propose, therefore, to purchase the craft into the service and
give you the command of her. She sails like a witch, I am told, and is
a wonderfully powerful vessel, just the sort of craft to give a smart,
young fellow like yourself every chance to race up the ratlines of
promotion. So now, all that you have to do is to arrange somehow to be
relieved of your present command as soon as possible, and then to step
into your new berth."
This I had no difficulty whatever in doing, thanks to the lucky chance
of Captain Winter being in the same port. I slept at the Pen that
night, my kind friend, the Admiral, insisting upon my so doing; and the
next evening I found myself in a position to inform him that all
arrangements had been made to relieve me of the command of the _Sword
Fish_, and to take the galleon home to England. And within forty-eight
hours of the receipt of my commission I had entered upon my new career,
and had ceased to be a privateersman.
THE END.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Log of a Privateersman, by Harry Collingwood