I made of our captain, many of the men still heldto the notion that there was more talk than do in him.
"Just a lady's man--very fine to look at, with his cambric handkerchiefsand scent bottles, but you never get much out of such chaps."
Officers little think how much they are discussed by the men. Thesecond-lieutenant was thought still less of, and not without reason. Hewas fond of spouting poetry, and doing the polite to young ladies,whenever any came off to see the ship; but as to seamanship, he knewlittle about it. He often got the ship into a mess, but had no idea ofgetting her out of it again. Now, it happened to be his first watch; ithad just struck eight bells. The starboard watch had been called, and afew minutes afterwards the other watch was mustered. During this timethe rounds went to see all cleared up and safe below. The watchrelieved was just turning in. Some already had their clothes off, whensuddenly a fearful crashing sound was heard. No one knew what hadhappened, only that there was a feeling that the ship was in some awfuldanger. Not a word was heard from the officer of the watch. If we werein peril he was not going to take us out of it--so it seemed. NeitherPunchon nor I had taken off our clothes, so we scrambled on deck to seewhat was the matter. A seaman will understand our position, when I saythat the ship was taken right aback, and driving, stern first, at therate of some twelve knots an hour, with the sea breaking over her poop,two-thirds of which were already under water. No one spoke; not anorder was given. Suddenly, a loud voice was heard, shouting, "On deck,lads, for your lives?" and directly afterwards Ned Rawlings piped, "Allhands save ship!" The crew were on deck almost before the sound of thepipe had died away; and again the same voice--we now knew it to be thatof the captain--shouted, "Man the starboard fore-brace!" Officers,marines, any one who was near, grasped the rope, and hauled away on itwith a will. The head yards were very soon braced right up, and thehead sails took and filled at the very moment that the poop was nearlyunder water, and it seemed as if the ship was going bodily down. Themain and cross-jack yards were soon braced round, and in less than aquarter of an hour from the time the wind had shifted we were bracedsharp up on the starboard tack, and going seven knots through the water.
"We have had a merciful deliverance," I heard old Futtock remark to thegunner a short time afterwards. "It's not often that a ship gets intothe position we were in and gets out of it. In another minute the seawould have been rushing right over the poop down on our quarter-deck,and it would have been all over with us. If Mr. Muddlehead had had hiswits about him, he would have braced the yards up the moment we weretaken aback. A pretty go it would have been, if we had not been undersnug sail. Why, we should have gone right down, stern foremost, andnever have come up again. That's been the fate of many a ship out inthese parts, which has never since been heard of."
"A fine fellow, our skipper," I heard Mr. Plumb observe to a messmate."I really did think at first that the Brigadier and my mother would havehad to bewail my loss. I am deeply indebted to him."
A loud laugh followed the young gentleman's remark. "Ha! ha! ha!Dicky, remember that all people are not taken at their own value,"exclaimed an old mate, who was fond of putting Mr. Plumb down now andthen. After this night our captain was more than ever respected by thecrew, because he was now known to be a thorough seaman--a doer as wellas a talker--and in consequence he maintained discipline on boardwithout flogging and without difficulty.
We touched at the Cape, where Dicky Plumb really did go on shore anddine with the Governor, who happened to be a friend of his father's, andhe took good care afterwards to talk not a little about his visit to hismessmates, and the way he was treated by the Governor.
I was at this time appointed to wait on the midshipmen, the boy Isuperseded being the unfortunate Jem Smudge.
"I don't like having you to wait on us," observed Mr. Midshipman Plumbto me, one day soon after this. "I am afraid the fellows will beabusing you, and I could not stand that; but you must not mind it, ifthey do; and if you will bear abuse for a little time, I will manage tomake all square in the end."
"Do not trouble yourself about that, Master Richard," I answered."Depend upon it, I don't care what the young gentlemen say to me. Iintend to do my duty to them, and Sergeant Turbot says it will be allthe better for me. So, whatever they say, let it pass. Don't sayanything for or against me."
"As to that, Jack, you must let me take my own course," answered Mr.Plumb.
I found that Dicky Plumb got considerably laughed at by his companionsfor what they called his uppishness, and his boasting of his variousfriends and relations of rank. Still, nothing would ever put him down.
"It is no fault of mine if my father happens to have a Duke for acousin, or a Governor-General of India for a brother-in-law, or if he isintimate with the Prime Minister, or if the Queen herself holds him inhigh estimation; so I do not see why you chaps should laugh at me."
"But, I say, Master Dicky," exclaimed an old mate, Sampson Trueman byname, "is it a fact that your father has a cousin a Duke, and isbrother-in-law to the Governor-General?"
"I ask you, Mr. Trueman, whether it is becoming of you--a master's matein the British navy, and soon, I hope, should the Lords Commissioners ofthe Admiralty be made aware of your superlative merits, to become alieutenant--to call in question the word of another officer,notwithstanding that he may not be of your own exalted rank," exclaimedDicky, in his usual pompous manner. "I must decline answering thosequestions."
There was a general laugh, in which Mr. Trueman joined; and though,probably, the older members of the mess suspected that the gentleman hadbeen romancing, others were still under the impression that he reallypossessed the exalted connections of whom he boasted.
Helped along by a fine steady breeze we made good progress, and atlength reached the entrance to the river Hoogley. Dicky got leave toaccompany the captain up to Calcutta. Whether or not he was received asa relative by the Governor-General no one in his own mess couldascertain. He dined, however, at Government House, but that might havebeen in consequence of some introduction sent out by Mrs. Brigadier.She was, at all events, a person to take care that her son should not beoverlooked. We did not remain there long before we received orders tomake the best of our way on to China, where an expedition was engaged inteaching the Celestials to pay due respect to the outside barbarians, asthey call the nations of Europe.
CHAPTER SIX.
WE REACH THE FLOWERY LAND.
On a fine afternoon we found ourselves sailing into a beautiful bay,with high mountains rising up on either side. We soon dropped anchoroff a town, which we found was the new English city of Victoria, in theisland of Hong Kong, close to the mainland of China. A large number ofother vessels were already at anchor, men-of-war, merchantmen,transports, and store-ships. The transports had on board a body ofBritish troops destined, as Sergeant Turbot informed me, to teach theChinese manners.
Before long, several of the officers and men from other ships of thesquadron came aboard us, and soon told us what had been done, making us,of course, very eager to be engaged in similar exploits. Boxes,slippers, daggers, knives, and all sorts of articles were exhibited astrophies. The most highly prized were the Chinamen's pigtails, whichour men had cut off, they declared, when the enemy ran away. We had abusy time of it at Hong Kong. It was understood that there wouldprobably be a good deal more fighting with the Chinese. The marines, ofcourse, expected to be employed on shore. I could not help feeling,however, somewhat anxious for my friend, Sergeant Turbot; for in thatclimate to have to make a long march, or to storm a fort at the top of ahill, would, I thought, too likely prove fatal to him.
"We shall have some work, Jack, before long," he observed to me; "and Ihave no doubt our corps will uphold its credit. These Chinese arecurious fellows to fight with, I hear; for, though they are easilybeaten, they don't seem to find it out; they stop and fight till theyare killed. I rather think, however, Jack, that you will bedisappointed, as our ship is not likely to have much work to do herself,except, per
haps, attacking forts at the mouths of the rivers, or a bigtown or two near the sea. However, you will hear of it from those whoare sent away in the boats, and I dare say we marines shall havesomething to talk about when we get back."
A day or two after this, however, Mr. Plumb stopped me outside theberth.
"Jack," he said, "I have been appointed to a schooner--the _Fawn_--whichis to be fitted out as a tender to the ship. Mr. Ormsby, the thirdlieutenant, is to command her, and I have made up my mind to get you asone of her crew. Two or three boys are certain to be sent in her."
I thanked Master Dicky for his kind intentions.
"If I am ordered to go, I must," I observed, "but I would rather askSergeant Turbot what he thinks about the matter, if I am to have
Off to Sea: The Adventures of Jovial Jack Junker on his Road to Fame Page 9
