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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Powder Monkey, by George Manville Fenn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Powder Monkey
+
+Author: George Manville Fenn
+
+Illustrator: Ambrose Dudley
+
+Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21362]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE POWDER MONKEY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+The Powder Monkey, by George Manville Fenn.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+This is a very short book, probably intended for a younger market than
+most of Fenn's books.  An old seaman finds a ragged and hungry young
+boy, to whom he talks, finding out that the boy was being brought up by
+an aunt and her brother.  The uncle used to beat the boy too severely to
+bear, and he had run away from home.  The seaman, Jack Jeens, decides to
+take charge of the boy, but both of them are taken by the press-gang,
+and end up serving on HMS Victory.  The boy, Phil Leigh, gets on well
+with the other seamen, but is especially fond of Jack. At first he
+doesn't get on well with the other ship's boys, but one day they are
+chasing each other round the rigging, and one of the boys, Tom Dodds,
+falls.  Phil is made, as a punishment for causing the fall, to be Tom's
+nurse, for Tom has broken his leg badly.
+
+In the next scene we find ourselves in the midst of the Battle of
+Trafalgar, and Phil's protector, Jack, is very badly wounded, so now
+Phil has a second person to nurse.
+
+In the final scene we are back in Portsmouth, where the Aunt appears,
+and tells Phil that the Uncle has gone away, and that he should come
+home.  Phil is unwilling to leave Jack, but the Aunt promises to have
+him come with them, and be nursed at her house, so that is where the
+story is complete.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+THE POWDER MONKEY, BY GEORGE MANVILLE FENN.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+"Hi-lo!"
+
+The little boy raised his head with a sudden start.
+
+"Hilli--hi--ho!  What cheer?"
+
+The little fellow started to his feet from where he had been sitting
+upon a sloping bank, and caught at the bars of the gate close by.  He
+said nothing, but stared through the gloom of the autumn evening at the
+strange man, who now roared out:
+
+"What cheer, I says!  What cheer?"
+
+The little fellow made an effort to speak, but only sighed at first,
+before stammering out:
+
+"Please, sir, I don't know what you mean."
+
+"You don't?" growled the man, fiercely, as he clapped the palm of his
+left hand upon the front of his waistband, and the back of his right
+hand level with it behind; then kicking out his right leg behind, he
+made a kind of hop on his left, as if to shake himself down into his
+clothes, as he hoisted them up.
+
+"You don't?" he said again, as he stared at the little fellow.  "What
+are you, then?  A furrener?"
+
+"No, sir," said the little boy, shrinking; for the man now took a step
+forward and clapped a big, brown, tarry hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Then why can't yer understand yer own lingo?"
+
+"I do, sir," said the boy, with a sound like a sob.
+
+"Then why did you say you didn't, and make me think you was a Frenchy?"
+
+"I didn't know what you meant, sir, by `hilli' something, and `what
+cheer.'"
+
+"Why, yer young savage!" cried the man.  "Arn't yer never been to
+school?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and had a tutor."
+
+"A tutor, eh?  What may that be?  But lookye here, my lad; I arn't a
+_sir_--on'y a marrineer."
+
+"A what, sir?" said the boy, staring.
+
+"Marrineer--seaman.  Fore the mast man, ship now lying off the port o'
+Torquay.  Whatcher doing there?"
+
+"Cry-ying, sir," came for answer, with a piteous sob.
+
+"Cry-hying, you young swab?" roared the man, as if he were speaking
+through a storm.  "Here, sop that up.  Father been leathering yer?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"No, Jack Jeens!" yelled the man.  "_Sir_, indeed!  Jack Jeens--that's
+my name.  England is my dwellin' place--leastwise, when I arn't off
+France and Spain, or in the 'Terranium leathering the French.  Now,
+then, who has been givin' it to you?  Mother, p'r'aps, and turned you
+out of doors?"
+
+"No, sir," sobbed the boy, with a piteous look, in the gathering
+darkness.
+
+"Yah!" came so savagely that the boy started to run; but the grip upon
+his shoulder tightened, and he was forced back against the bars of the
+gate.  "Now, just you look here, messmet.  You're such a little un that
+I don't like to hit yer for fear you should break; but don't you
+haggravate me by talking as if I was a hofficer."
+
+"No, sir; please, sir--" stammered the boy.
+
+"Hark at him!" growled the man, speaking to one of the stone gate-posts;
+and then, turning to the other, "Is he a hidgit?"
+
+"No, that I'm not!" cried the boy, speaking indignantly now.  "I wanted
+to say that I had no father and no mother."
+
+"Then why didn't you say so at first?" growled the man.  "But got no
+father nor mother?"
+
+"No, s--no, no!" cried the boy.
+
+"You're a horphan, mate?"
+
+"Yes--Jack Jeens, didn't you say you were?"
+
+"Right, boy; and that shows me straight and plain that you ain't a
+hidgit.  Shake hands, mate.  I'm just the same as you.  I'm a horphan,
+too, on'y I don't pipe my eye like you do."
+
+The boy held out his hand, which the next moment lay, looking dimly
+white, in the great, hairy paw which seized it.
+
+"Leave crying to the women, my lad.  Now then, what's the matter?"
+
+The tears started to the boy's eyes again and he uttered a kind of gasp
+as he strove to master the desire to sob aloud, and said in a broken
+voice:
+
+"I'm tired and cold and hungry."
+
+"Eh?  Then why don't you go home?"
+
+"I have no home now," said the little fellow, sadly.
+
+"That's queer agen," said the sailor, in quite a sympathetic tone now.
+"You're a horphan like me, and now you've got no home.  What, nowhere to
+go and sleep to-night?"
+
+"No--" said the boy, and the word "sir" nearly slipped out again.
+
+"Why, you're quite a ship in distress, messmet, and it seems lucky
+you've failed in with me.  Hungry and out o' water, are yer?"
+
+"Very hungry, please," said the boy; "but I found some water over there,
+running by the roadside, before it was dark, and I drank some."
+
+"Ah, that's why it came out o' them eyes o' yourn like a shipped wave
+out o' the scuppers.  Well, I got a shot or two yet in the locker, so
+come along o' me and I'll get yer something to eat, anyhow.  Here, hook
+on to my fin."
+
+The man's tone was so friendly, and he held out his hand in such a
+kindly way, that the little fellow caught at it eagerly, and with the
+darkness thickening fast, began to trot beside his new friend as he
+strode off, but only to totter breathlessly at the end of a few minutes
+and then stumble, ready to fall but for the strong arm which dragged him
+up.
+
+"Why, hillo!" cried the man.  "What's this here?"
+
+"I--I don't know," said the boy, feebly.  "I'm so tired--and my feet
+hurt--and--and--and I can't go any farther, please.  Don't be cross with
+me, sir; I can't help it--I'm obliged to cry."
+
+His legs sank beneath him as he spoke and doubled so that he naturally
+came down upon his knees, and raising the hand that was not held, to
+join the other, the boy seemed in the gloom to be praying for mercy to
+the big, rough man.
+
+"Why, matey, I didn't know you were on your beam ends like this here,"
+he growled, softly.  "Here, I'll help yer.  Let me lift yer on to this
+'ere bank.  That's the way.  Steady, now, while I turn round.  Give's
+t'other fin.  There you are.  Heave ho! and you're up and on my back.
+Now, then, I'll tow you into port where I'm going, and you an' me'll
+have a bit o' supper together, and after that--well, look at that now!"
+
+As he spoke the sailor had got the boy up on his shoulders, pig-a-back
+fashion, and began to tramp steadily along the road, not feeling the
+light weight, and talking pleasantly to the little fellow all the while,
+till, in his surprise, he uttered the last words in a low tone, and
+followed them up by exclaiming:
+
+"Tired out, poor bairn.  I'm blessed if he ain't fast asleep!"
+
+The sailor stood in the middle of the road thinking and talking aloud to
+himself as if he were someone else.
+
+"This here's a pretty set-out, Jack Jeens," he growled softly, so as not
+to awaken his load.  "Here you are, my lad, just finished your holiday,
+spent half your arnings along with your friends, and give t'other half
+to yer old mother to help her along till you come back from sea again--
+bless her old heart!  On'y I wish when she kisses yer and says,
+`good-bye, and bless you, my dear boy!' she wouldn't cry quite all over
+yer.  But as I was a-saying, Jack, here you're going back quite comfy to
+join the _Sairy Ann_ schooner, lad, with nothing to do but join your
+ship, when down upon you comes this here boy, tired and hungry, and
+crying as bad as your old mother, my lad.  You didn't want a boy, Jack,
+and now you've got him you don't know what to do with him, nor who he
+is, nor where he's going, nor where he comes from.  Strikes me he don't
+know himself.  Take him aboard the _Sairy Ann_, my lad, and show him to
+the skipper.  `Now, then,' says you, `here's a boy.'  `So I see,' says
+the skipper.  `Well, what's to be done with him?' says you, and he turns
+it over in his mind, and 'fore you know where you are he's settled it
+all and told you what to do and where to put him.
+
+"That's the way to do it," said Jack Jeens, with a low, soft chuckle.
+"Poor little bairn!  The skipper has got a wife and little uns of his
+own, and understands these sort o' things.  Shouldn't wonder if he finds
+a new father and mother for him."
+
+Jack's messmates said nothing, for they never knew, though the rough
+sailor began to carry out his plan, going onward with the boy fast
+asleep upon his back, too much wearied out to heed where he was going or
+to think of the troubles which had befallen one so young.  For his sleep
+grew deeper and deeper till the lights of Torquay came into sight round
+about the port at the bottom of the hill; and he did not stir when Jack,
+stopping short at the door of a shabby-looking little inn upon the
+Strand--a place much frequented by seamen--and the boy did not heed Jack
+Jeen's voice when he cried, "What cheer?" to the landlady, and asked for
+a room and bed for the night with supper to be ready directly.
+
+The simple supper was soon placed upon the table of the mean-looking
+room; but the boy could not eat.
+
+"Tired out?" said the landlady, sourly.
+
+"Ay, ay; that's it," said Jack.  "Here, missus, I'll carry him up and
+put him to bed."
+
+And this the rough fellow did, carrying his young companion as carefully
+as if he were afraid that he would break, and then without attempting to
+undress him, he laid him down, covered him up, and then went back to
+have his supper.  After which, weary enough himself, and thinking about
+his work in the early morning, he looked out to where his schooner lay
+moored to a buoy with a light swinging high in the rigging, and then
+went up to his room.
+
+The boy was faster than ever, and as Jack Jeens held a guttering tallow
+candle over the sleeper's face, "Poor little chap," he said, smiling.
+"Why, if I get tumbling into bed it'll wake him up, and I won't do that.
+Here, this'll do."
+
+Jack took the candle out of the stick and put it out very untidily by
+turning it upside down till the flame was choked, and then threw himself
+down upon the floor by the bedside.
+
+"Quite as soft--bit softer perhaps--than the schooner's deck," he
+muttered.  "Good-night, little un.  The skipper'll make it all right for
+you in the morning, and--Heigh-ho-ha-hum!  My word, I am jolly sleepy,
+and--"
+
+Jack Jeens said no more, but the next instant he gave vent to a snore
+that ought to have awakened the boy but did not; and he lay sleeping
+hard till there was something louder than his own snore upon the stairs.
+
+First there was the whispering of voices below; then a rough laugh; then
+the shuffling and stamping of feet, which ceased upon the landing
+outside the door, which was roughly tried, and being fastened, kicked
+in, while a fierce voice cried aloud in tones which made Jack Jeens
+spring to his feet under the belief that he was at home aboard the
+schooner and in his bunk.
+
+"Ahoy there!  Tumble up!  Tumble up!  In the King's name!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+Jack Jeens and his young companion started up, sitting upon the floor,
+and both confused and wondering.
+
+"Hillo!" ejaculated Jack.
+
+"What's that?" said the boy, who could not tell where he was, while at
+that moment the window was pushed up a little and the voice of a man
+said softly:
+
+"There's a ladder here.  Quick, run for it!  The pressgang!"
+
+"Eh, what?  Where?" growled the sailor, excitedly.  "Bring a light?
+Where's the light?"
+
+He knew the next moment, for the door was burst open with a crash and a
+party of men headed by an officer in uniform rushed into the room,
+filling it with light, for three of them bore ship's lanthorns, and Jack
+found that the warning had come too late, for he was seized by three men
+before he could even think of resisting, and held tightly with his back
+to the wall.  "Only one, my lads?" cried the officer.
+
+"Not sure yet, sir," replied one of the men, who ducked down to bring
+the light of the lanthorn he carried beneath the bed, while another of
+the party examined the cupboard, and a companion peeped up the chimney.
+
+"No, sir; only one, sir," said a man who seemed to be a warrant officer;
+"but here's a nipper on the bed."
+
+"I thought there had been more," said the leader.  "Now, then, my lad,"
+he continued, to the sailor, "it's of no use to kick against it.  How
+many mates had you with you?"
+
+"Ne'er a one," growled Jack, surlily.  "What do you want with me?"
+
+"Oh, you'll see soon enough.  Come along.  Mind you don't lose him, my
+lads."
+
+"Never fear, sir," came in chorus, while the boy upon seeing that his
+new friend was in trouble slipped off the bed, ran to Jack's side, and
+grasped his hand tightly.
+
+"You can't press me," cried Jack, now growing angry, and, as if obeying
+an instinct which made him feel it to be his duty to protect the boy,
+drawing him close to his side.
+
+"Can't we, my lad?" said the officer, laughing.  "Why, we have pressed
+you."
+
+"But I belong to a schooner in the bay," cried Jack.
+
+"You belong to the King now, my lad."
+
+Jack Jeens glanced wildly at the speaker and then at the open window,
+where a face was seen dimly for a moment or two by the light shed by the
+lanthorns; and the next moment he would have flung off the men who held
+his arms to right and left, and rushing to the opening, have sprung out.
+But somehow at that moment the tight grasp of his young companion had
+the effect of making him feel that he could not leave the little fellow
+who had so strongly appealed to his better feelings, and he stood fast.
+
+The next moment the chance was gone, for one of the gang ran to the
+window, shut it down with a bang, and fastened it securely.
+
+"There, bring them along, my lads," said the leader, and just then the
+man who seemed to be a warrant officer whispered something.
+
+"Eh?  What?  No, he's too little."
+
+"Powder monkey, sir; and he'll grow."
+
+"To be sure.  Of course," cried the officer; "and it's two instead of
+one.  Bring him along."
+
+"Here, what yer going to do?" cried Jack, excitedly.  "You mustn't touch
+this boy; he's--"
+
+"That'll do!" roared the officer, and at a sign from him a couple of the
+gang made a dash at the little fellow to separate them; but at the first
+touch the boy uttered a wild cry and clung tightly to his protector, who
+made a desperate effort to defend him, shouting the while for the
+landlady to come and take the little fellow.
+
+But it was all in vain: Jack and his young companion were torn apart,
+hurried down the stairs and out on to the Strand, and a few minutes
+later the boy was set at liberty, to spring to Jack's side, panting with
+excitement as he clung to him tightly; but it was with the water
+rippling and pattering against the bows of the boat which was being
+rowed rapidly out of the harbour towards the bay.  Not long after, as
+the coxswain's boat-hook caught a ring, the boat glided against the
+towering side of a great line of battleship, and the two prisoners were
+hurried up on deck, and Jack Jeens in spite of all protestations was
+made one of the crew of _HMS Victory_, and his little companion, the
+youngest boy on board, without a chance of setting foot ashore again.
+
+For at sunrise the sails were shaken out, and the great man-of-war with
+its tiers of guns was soon after leading the way down Channel in search
+of England's enemies, followed by the British Fleet, while the news that
+the fleet was commanded by Admiral Nelson seemed to Jack Jeens and the
+little fellow with whom he had become so strangely associated only so
+many empty words.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+Jack Jeens sat upon the bottom of an upturned bucket with his elbows
+resting upon his knees, gazing down at his young companion of the
+previous night's adventure, who was half sitting, half lying, upon the
+lower deck of the great ship, close to the open port-hole, through which
+the morning light shone upon his face as he went on eating a biscuit,
+through the edge of which his keen pearly-white teeth passed like those
+of a mouse.
+
+It was light enough close to the boy, but all inward was very gloomy,
+and every here and there a lanthorn was burning dimly, although it was
+morning.
+
+There was plenty of noise and bustle going on about the deck where the
+lanthorns burned, and the trampling of feet, and shouts that sounded
+like orders came now and then; but the principal sound just there by the
+port-hole through which the light came was the _crunch, crunch, crunch_
+of the biscuit.
+
+At last Jack Jeens spoke.
+
+"It caps me," he said.  "Seems wonderful.  Here you are, just aboard
+ship for the first time, and 'stead o' being badly and sick, eating away
+like a reg'lar biscuit nibbler."
+
+"I was so hungry," said the little fellow, with a bright smile.
+
+"Eat away, then," said Jack; "but I say, arn't you frightened?"
+
+"Not now," said the boy.  "I was when those sailors came and woke me
+up."
+
+"Course you would be," said Jack.  "Why, it scared me.  But arn't you
+frightened now?"
+
+The boy shook his head and took another bite at the hard biscuit.
+
+"Why arn't you frightened?" said Jack, after a good long stare at the
+biscuit-nibbler, as he called his companion.
+
+"Because you're here," said the boy.
+
+"Yes, I'm here, o' course," said Jack, staring hard as if puzzled.  "I'm
+a-sitting close to yer; but that don't make no difference because I'm a
+pressed man."
+
+"You'll take care of me and see that no one hurts me," said the boy,
+confidently.
+
+"Oh, o' course," said Jack, scratching his head.  "That is, while I'm
+here, but what's going to become of you when I'm gone?"
+
+"Gone?" said the boy, sharply, as he left off eating.  "You're not going
+away to leave me, are you?"
+
+"Well, no," said Jack, grimly.  "It's you who are going away to leave
+me."
+
+"That I sha'n't," cried the boy, quickly.  "I'll never go away from you.
+I like you."
+
+"That's right," said Jack Jeens, grinning with satisfaction; "and of
+course I like you too, youngster.  But they'll be setting you ashore
+soon, so that you can go back to your folk."
+
+The boy shook his head.
+
+"What do you mean by that?" said the sailor, sharply.  "Lookye here, you
+never told me what your name was, nor where you come from."
+
+The little fellow frowned and looked pained.
+
+"Got a name, haven't you?" said the sailor.
+
+"Yes, of course," cried the boy.  "Phil."
+
+"Phil, eh?" said the sailor.  "Phil what?"
+
+"Leigh," was the reply.
+
+"Phil Leigh, eh?  Hard a-lee.  Well, where do you live?"
+
+"At Greyton," said the boy, slowly and sadly.  "No, I used to live
+there, till--till--till--"
+
+"Yes, I know," said Jack, quickly, as he grasped the meaning of the
+boy's working face.  "But why don't you live there now?"
+
+"Because uncle came," said the boy, with a shudder, "and then I--I--You
+won't take me back, will you?"
+
+"Dunno yet," said Jack, sternly.  "Boys arn't got no business to run
+away from home.  Watcher run away for?"
+
+"He used to beat me so."
+
+"Beat you--a little un like you?" cried Jack, with a look of disgust.
+"What with?"
+
+"Walking stick."
+
+"Thick un?" said Jack, and the boy nodded.  "And didn't nobody stop
+him?"
+
+"Yes," said the little fellow quickly.  "Aunt did."
+
+"Who's aunt?" said Jack, sharply.
+
+"Why, my aunt.  She said it was a shame."
+
+"Ha!  I like her," said Jack, and he rubbed his hands.  "But what did he
+beat you for?"
+
+"He said I was always crying," said the boy, piteously.  "But I couldn't
+help it."
+
+"Course you couldn't," said Jack, softly.  "You cried a-cause o' them
+being took away, didn't you?"
+
+The boy nodded sharply--he did not dare to speak.
+
+"Ha!" sighed Jack Jeens, as he rubbed his hands softly together.  "I
+wish I'd been there.  But I say, look here.  And so you run away because
+he whipped you?"
+
+The boy nodded.
+
+"And went on walking till I run again' you?"
+
+"Yes," came like a sigh.
+
+"Well, you see, you'll have to go back."
+
+The little fellow dropped the piece of biscuit he held, and it fell with
+a rap upon the deck, as he started to his feet, glanced out of the open
+port-hole, and took a quick step or two towards it, darted off into the
+darkness of the 'tween decks, the sailor catching a glimpse of him as he
+passed the light shed by the lanthorns.
+
+"Scared, that's what he is," muttered Jack.  "Why, I do believe that in
+his fright he'd ha' jumped into the water and swum for it sooner than be
+sent back.  Well, I must find him again; and it don't seem easy in a
+great ship like this.  Poor little chap, he was 'most ready to jump out
+of his skin!"
+
+Jack took a few steps cautiously in the direction followed by the little
+fellow, but he had hardly started before the sound of a shrill whistle
+rang out, and he and some ten more pressed men were ordered on deck to
+be examined by the first lieutenant and some of the other officers,
+before being informed that they were now King's men, and ordered to
+receive their kits, after which they were distributed amongst the crew
+according to whether they were land or sea men, the latter having little
+to learn.
+
+Jack uttered a grunt as he learned his destination, which was to be
+under the order of the captain of one of the big guns on the main deck,
+and the meaning of that grunt was that he determined to make the best of
+it.  But his grunt sounded deep, because he had little Phil Leigh upon
+his mind, so he addressed one of the officers, and stated his case.
+
+"Eh?  The boy brought aboard with you when you were pressed?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Jack.  "Run away from home, he did.  Uncle thrashed
+him.  Young gen'leman he is, and I want you to put him in a boat and set
+him ashore."
+
+"Oh! do you, my lad?" said the officer, gruffly.  "Run away from home,
+did he?"
+
+"Yes, sir, because--"
+
+"That'll do, my lad; no more talk.  If he has run away from home he has
+run into the very best place to learn how to be a good boy."
+
+"But--"
+
+"That'll do, sir.  I've no time to listen to you.  We want boys."
+
+"But he's such a little un, sir," pleaded Jack.
+
+"Then we'll feed him well and make him grow big.  Where is he?"
+
+"Dunno, sir.  He run away again this morning."
+
+"What, again?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Ah, well, he can't run far, and we shall find him soon.  Set him
+ashore, eh?  Next shore we shall see will be somewhere on the coast of
+Portugal or Spain, I expect."
+
+The officer said the last words to himself as he tramped away, leaving
+Jack Jeens to stand scratching his head and muttering.
+
+"Pore little chap!" he said.  "They'll make a powder monkey on him?
+Well, and a fine thing too.  Better than being a boy at home with an
+uncle who gave him the stick for crying after his father and mother who
+are dead.  Here, Phil, messmate, where are yer?" he said softly, and his
+voice sounded as if somehow he had a soft place in his rough, honest
+heart.  "Where are yer, little un?  I want to tell you that you're going
+to be powder monkey aboard Admiral Lord Nelson's ship."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+Jack Jeens found himself at last piped down below, swinging his hammock
+and turning in like the rest, to lie listening to the wash of the waves
+against the rolling sides of the great man-of-war, whose timbers creaked
+and groaned, for a stiff breeze had sprung up as the fleet began to run
+down channel.  A rough night at sea did not trouble Jack, but he lay
+thinking about little Phil and wondering whether he could do any good by
+getting out of his hammock and trying to find him in the darkness; but
+he felt nothing but despair as he knew enough about a man-o'-war besides
+what he had seen during the time he had been on board, to feel sure that
+if he began to search he would soon be stopped by the marine sentries or
+by the watch.
+
+"A man can't do as he likes aboard a King's ship," he said to himself
+dismally, as he lay in the black darkness, "but only let me get this
+night over, and they may say what they like, I'll go straight to the
+captain, or to Lord Nelson himself, and ask him to have that little
+fellow found.  Here, what's that?"
+
+He said those last three words half aloud, for he had suddenly felt
+something cold brush across his face.
+
+"That you, Jack?" came in a soft whisper.
+
+"Yes.  That you, little messmet?  Hooroar!  Give's your fin."
+
+"Promise me you won't send me home, Jack, and I will."
+
+"Send you home, messmet!" growled the rough sailor, whose voice trembled
+with emotion.  "Why, o' course I won't!  You're to stay aboard, and be a
+powder monkey.  My word!  Your hands are like ice!  Where have you been
+all day?"
+
+"Down in the dark, and it was so cold," said the little fellow,
+shivering.  "But you won't send me back, Jack?  I can't--I can't go."
+
+"Send yer back?  Not me!" growled the sailor.  "On'y too glad to get yer
+again.  Don't I tell yer that you're one o' the King's men now, and are
+going to stop?  My word, you are cold!  Here, heave ho!  That's got you!
+You snuggle up here alongside me.  King's man!  Why, you're not much
+bigger than a frog, and just as cold.  My hammock feel warm?"
+
+"Oh, so warm--so warm, Jack!" came in a whisper, as two little hands
+were passed round the rough fellow's neck.
+
+"That's right, little un.  But are you hungry?"
+
+"No, not very; only cold and tired, Jack.  But I don't mind now you're
+not going to send me home.  Oh, Jack, I do feel so happy and
+comfortable!"
+
+"That's right, but I say, little un, it's making you cry again.  That
+don't seem so very happy, do it?"
+
+"Yes, it's because I'm so very, very happy, Jack; but don't speak to me
+for a bit."
+
+"Right, but what's the matter?  You're not going to get out again, are
+you?"
+
+"No, but don't speak, please," whispered the little follow.  "I'm afraid
+some of the other men will hear."
+
+Jack Jeens, the rough sailor, drew a deep breath, as he held on to
+Phil's jacket to make sure that he did not fall out, as he struggled up
+at the side of the hammock; and then for some little time he did not
+stir, while the huge vessel rolled and creaked and groaned, through
+which sounds came the heavy breathing of the men swinging in their
+hammocks.
+
+But at last the future powder monkey crept softly back into his old
+place and passed his arms round the rough sailor's neck, and a curious
+thrill of satisfaction ran straight to Jack Jeens' heart as he felt two
+little lips press his cheek, and heard a pleasant, soft voice whisper:
+
+"Good-night, Jack.  God bless you!"
+
+It was not many minutes afterwards, and while the light from the
+swinging lanthorn close up to the companion ladder by the marine sentry
+had turned so dim that the man had opened the half transparent door to
+snuff the candle within, that Jack Jeens, whose eyes in the gloom felt a
+little moist, muttered to himself.
+
+"He said `good-night.  God bless you, Jack!' he did.  And on'y think of
+it--him amongst all these rough chaps a-sleeping here in the dark--
+kneels up in my hammock, he did, poor little chap, and says his
+prayers!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+Phil sprang out of the hammock at the first sound of a whistle, looking
+rested and quite content, as he readily answered Jack's question about
+sleeping well.
+
+Then followed other questions put by half-awake sailors as to who he was
+and how he came there--questions which began to trouble the little
+fellow, till Jack Jeens came to his help.
+
+"Who is he?" cried the big bluff sailor.  "Why, he's my boy.  He was
+pressed along with me, and he's going to be a powder monkey."
+
+"Rather a little un, eh?" said one joker.  "Why, youngster, you'll do to
+get in and sponge out the guns, only you must mind and not get stuck in
+the touch-holes."
+
+But Phil's appearance was enough to make all the men his friends, and
+almost made Jack their enemy, for a strange kind of jealousy sprang up
+as the crew made efforts to entice the little fellow away from his
+companion.  But the ill feeling soon died out, for though Phil had a
+smile and a bright look for everyone, Jack Jeens was his great
+attraction, and he was never happier than when he was at the big, rough
+fellow's side.
+
+The novelty of such a little fellow becoming one of the crew soon died
+out, and in a few days he was so much at home, that the men treated him
+as one of themselves, while the officers soon took his presence as a
+matter of course, and had a nod or a smile for the active little fellow
+who had become the pet of the ship.
+
+"Why, you've quite put the tabby Tom cat's nose out of joint," said Jack
+one day, with a grin.  "Has he scratted you yet?"
+
+"No, of course not," cried Phil.  "He follows me wherever I go."
+
+"Humph!" grunted Jack.  "Everybody and everything seems to like you, old
+chap."
+
+Phil said nothing, but he thought a good deal, knowing only too well as
+he did that his friend Jack was not right.  For there were several other
+boys on board who, seeing the favour in which the little new-comer
+stood, were not long in trying to make his young life a burden.  All far
+bigger and stronger, they soon began to persecute him when they found a
+chance, one of their favourite plans being to, as they called it,
+"chivvy him" and hunt him about the vessel.
+
+Soon after dawn one morning Phil had crept on deck to stand looking over
+the bulwark through the soft grey light at the scattered vessels sailing
+slowly along, when all at once a faint _whish_ caught his ear, and
+turning sharply he saw one of his persecutors creeping cautiously
+towards him, followed by half-a-dozen more, while a couple had crossed
+the deck and were ready to cut him off if he attempted to retreat in
+that direction.
+
+Phil glanced towards the forecastle hatch, but there was a boy rising
+from the square opening, and he turned to look aft, but only to see that
+other lads were waiting there.  For the enemy had taken steps to cut him
+off in every direction, and the little fellow looked wildly round for a
+way of escape, and then made a rush to pass through his tormentors, who
+cut him off at once and with a cry of delight dashed in.
+
+It was all very quickly done; first one and then another of the lads
+nearly had him, but active as a monkey that has no dealings with powder,
+Phil dodged, feinted, and dodged again, brushing by the foremost of his
+pursuers, making for the starboard bulwark, and reaching the foremast
+shrouds before the first boy could recover himself.
+
+The last was after him, though, directly, but too late; for with a bound
+Phil had sprung up, caught at the nearest rope, swung himself on to the
+rail, and then begun swarming up the rigging, a mere morsel of a fellow,
+as he dragged himself up from ratline to ratline, mounting higher and
+higher towards the foretop.
+
+Sure of him now, the boys uttered a low cry of delight, and while two
+made for the starboard shrouds to follow him, a couple more made for the
+larboard, or port, as they call them now, while the rest gathered below.
+
+"Take a turn round him with the halyards!" whispered one boy, from the
+deck, "and then send him down to us."
+
+Phil heard, and climbed on breathlessly, looking up the while at the top
+and thinking that if his enemies followed him there he could climb
+higher.
+
+The fore top was reached, but this proved no sanctuary, and Phil had to
+climb higher still, for one boy in particular, the most active and
+daring of the party, followed fast and with such good effect, that to
+Phil's horror just before he reached the top gallant cross-trees, his
+pursuer was so close behind that he made a dash at his quarry's ankle,
+and grasped it; and in his horror Phil made a spring which took him out
+of his enemy's reach and proved disastrous.
+
+For the boy had thrown so much energy into his action that as Phil's
+ankle glided through his hand, he failed to clutch the ratline beneath,
+swung round, and unable to get a fresh hold, began to fall from rope to
+yard, to rope again, and then came heavily on the fore yard, which
+partially broke his fall, but after a moment or two he came down heavily
+upon the deck, making his companions there scatter and then make for the
+forecastle hatch, while those aloft scuttled down as hard as they could.
+
+As for Phil, white with horror, and feeling strongly that he was the
+cause of the accident, he clung to the shrouds, looking wildly down for
+a few moments, before seizing the halyards and sliding gradually down to
+reach the fallen boy lying alone, and began to feel him all over in
+silence, before his hand came in contact with the insensible lad's leg
+in such a way that the little fellow uttered a shriek of horror which
+brought the men of the watch to his side.
+
+Phil turned sick as he stood there listening to what was said; but he
+fought it back and walked with them as they raised the insensible boy
+from the deck and bore him to the cockpit, where the surgeon was soon
+busy setting and bandaging, and talking sourly the while in his
+ill-humour at being roused from his morning's sleep.
+
+His words consisted of scoldings and questionings.
+
+"You young dog," he said to Phil, who was the only boy allowed to be
+present.  "Skylarking in the rigging before breakfast!  What could you
+expect?  Well, my young shrimp, you have the satisfaction of knowing
+that you've broken your companion's leg, and you'll have to be his
+nurse.  Do you hear?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Phil; "but he won't die, will he?"
+
+"Not if I know it, boy.  Ah, he's coming-to now."
+
+For the injured lad opened his eyes, to stare about him, trying to
+understand what it all meant, and grinning as he saw Phil.
+
+"I say," he whispered, "I caught you!"
+
+"That you didn't!" said Phil, indignantly.
+
+"Well, nearly.  But what's the matter with my leg?"
+
+"Broke," said Phil, in a whisper.
+
+"That all?" said the boy, coolly.  "Well, then, I sha'n't be able to
+walk."
+
+"No," said Phil, in a hurried whisper.  "You're to be in hospital, and
+he says I'm to be your nurse."
+
+"Who?  The doctor?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said that individual, sharply.  "Your right leg's broken
+just below the knee, and you may think yourself very lucky it wasn't
+your neck."
+
+Phil turned upon him an indignant look which made the doctor stare.
+
+"Be a warning to you both not to play such monkey tricks again," he
+added, sourly.  "There, little one, stop with him, and I'll tell one of
+the men to bring you some breakfast here."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+That mishap and the boy's illness worked a complete change.  His
+companions were not allowed to come to what was called the sick bay, but
+somehow they soon came to know that Phil had been appointed nurse, and
+that he was constant in his attendance, and doing everything he could to
+help the sufferer.  Possibly they heard a good deal from Jack Jeens, who
+did manage to steal a few minutes with Phil once a day.  So did the
+ship's boys whenever Phil showed himself on deck.  He tried to avoid
+them at first, but they cut him off, and to his surprise instead of
+plying him with blows they wanted to shake hands, while ever after they
+were the best of friends.
+
+"Why is it?"  Phil asked Jack Jeens, who laughed, and said he supposed
+it was because he tended the injured lad so well.
+
+But Phil found that there was other work for him besides nursing a boy
+with a broken leg, for at certain times he was called up on deck when
+the men were working the guns, and he had to learn what was required
+from him in connection with the great gun to which Jack Jeens belonged,
+and in his quick way Phil soon did what was required, and that was, to
+run down to the magazine and fetch a flannel bag that seemed to be full
+of sand up on deck ready for the crew of the gun to push into the mouth
+of the gun, where it was rammed down with a long rod, before a big shot
+was taken out of the rack close by, and rammed down the gun in turn,
+which was then fired.
+
+It was all new to Phil, and he saw neither harm nor danger in it.  It
+was nothing to him but going below to fetch that flannel bag, and he was
+in profound ignorance of the fact that if it went near a light he would
+be blown to pieces, while he could not have had a more dangerous task
+than that of the powder monkey who fetched up the charges from the
+magazine, where if a spark should fall the vessel would be blown to
+atoms and sunk.
+
+Phil was not afraid, for he could not see the danger, and he laughed and
+liked to run up and down from the powder magazine to the main deck,
+because the big bluff men always laughed and said pleasant things to
+him.  He was not afraid either on that day when Jack Jeens looked very
+serious and sponged his face for him over a bucket of water.
+
+"Why, you're as black as a sweep with the powder," said Jack.  "I say,
+didn't you feel frightened when the guns roared?"
+
+"No," said Phil; "I only felt as if I should like to put my fingers in
+my ears.  That gun did make a noise."
+
+Just at that moment a little serious-looking officer in uniform, with
+only one eye and one arm, stopped short, took off his cocked hat, and
+after putting it on again, laid the telescope he carried upon Phil's
+shoulder.
+
+"Why, you're the little fellow they call Phil, arn't you?" he said.
+
+Phil nodded shortly.
+
+"You're the little powder monkey, they tell me."
+
+"Yes," said Phil, looking at the little man wonderingly.
+
+"And you've been bravely nursing the boy who broke his leg, eh?"
+
+"Oh, it isn't brave," said Phil, laughing and showing his white teeth.
+"His leg hurts him very badly sometimes, and he likes me to read to him
+then and tell him stories."
+
+"Oh," said the officer; "then you read to him and tell him stories?"
+
+"Yes," said Phil, "but I sha'n't read half so well as I should like; but
+I am trying very hard."
+
+"To be sure," said the little officer.  "You are the sort of boy who
+would.  And you can tell stories?"
+
+"Yes, three--I mean four; and Tom Dodds likes to hear them all over and
+over again."
+
+"Bravo!" said the little officer, tapping Phil on the shoulder with the
+telescope.  "There, be a good boy, and you'll get on and be something
+better than a powder monkey one of these days."
+
+"Who's that?" said Phil, as the little man walked forward and ascended
+the companion ladder.  "I like him, Jack, almost as much as I do you."
+
+"And so you ought," said Jack, gruffly, "for that's our admiral, Lord
+Nelson, the greatest man in the world."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+It was not long after that Phil was between decks, talking to his new
+friend, the crippled boy, whose face always expanded into a grin of
+satisfaction when his nurse appeared.
+
+"Here, I wanted you," he cried.  "I've got some news.  The doctor told
+me--"
+
+"Did he say that you might soon try to walk?" cried Phil, eagerly.
+
+"No; he said that my leg was going on well, but I was not to try to use
+it for a long time yet.  He told me that we are going to have a big
+fight with the French.  Isn't it a bother?  For I sha'n't be able to go
+to my gun."
+
+"Jack Jeens said he didn't think we should have a fight," replied Phil.
+
+"He doesn't know anything about it," said the lame boy, impatiently.
+"But I say, I shall be obliged to stop below; you might come and stop
+with me."
+
+"Jack said I should be sent below if there was a fight, so I will."
+
+"That's right," said the boy, with a sigh of relief.  "I didn't want for
+you to see it and me stop below."
+
+Phil looked at him in rather a puzzled way, for he did not know whether
+he was disappointed or pleased--whether he would like to see the battle
+or prefer to go below.
+
+But he was not to choose, and a few days later he was quite forgotten in
+the excitement of the great incident.  For he had been trained to
+certain duties in connection with one of the guns, and when the orders
+were given for the different crews to take their places, he ran to his
+naturally enough, perfectly ignorant of the fact that the British Fleet
+was in "Trafalgar's Bay," with the Frenchmen before them, while the
+British sailors, wild with excitement, were eagerly awaiting the orders
+that should set hundreds of guns bellowing like thunder as they poured
+their broadsides of shot into the enemy's sides.
+
+All that little Phil knew was that his ears were deafened by the roar,
+his throat throbbing and suffering from the dense clouds of smoke which
+darkened the sky, and that he could hardly see Jack Jeens, who, like the
+rest of the crew, was stripped to the waist, as he helped to load their
+gun, which grew hotter and hotter, and finally leapt from the deck at
+every discharge.
+
+He could only see dimly for the sulphurous mist before his eyes, but
+there was was Jack Jeens close at hand, always watching him anxiously
+and ready to make a sign to him from time to time--a sign which meant
+"More powder," and sent him running to the hatch-way and down to the
+magazine, from which he soon returned, heedless of the fact that if he
+stopped near a patch of burning tinder or wood the bag of flannel which
+he carried might explode in his hand.
+
+It was all wild noise and confusion, in the midst of which Phil,
+blackened and besmirched by the smoke and powder amongst which he moved,
+had eyes for nothing but his friend, who divided his time between
+toiling at the gun to which he was attached and watching his little
+_protege_, trembling for his safety when he had gone towards the opening
+in the deck through which he had to descend, and only breathing freely
+again when he saw the boy come panting back with his charge.  Like the
+rest of the crew, Jack Jeens knew nothing of how the battle went.  He
+had his duty to do, and he did it, till all at once, just as he turned
+his head aside to give Phil a welcoming look through the gloom, he was
+conscious of the tremendous shock of a sickening blow.
+
+Then all was blank for a time, till the darkness by which he was
+surrounded opened a little and he found himself lying upon the deck,
+with Phil looking horrified as he knelt beside him holding a tin of
+water to his lips.
+
+Poor Jack could not hear what Phil said for the roaring of the guns, but
+he could read the little fellow's lips as he pressed him to drink, and
+sick to the heart and suffering from the terrible wound which had struck
+him down, he raised his hand to the tin to steady it and drink, but only
+to see it fall upon the deck, a splinter having struck it from the boy's
+hand.
+
+Jack's wild eyes seemed to say, Are you hurt?  But he too made no sound,
+for at that moment a little group assembled upon the deck, opened out,
+and both he and Phil saw the figure of their great commander being borne
+towards them on his way to the spot where he breathed his last.  His
+eyes were open and he was looking wildly round as if in search of
+something to guide him as to the progress of the great battle, when all
+at once they rested upon the childlike face of Phil, as the boy knelt
+beside his wounded and bleeding friend.
+
+A change came over Nelson's face; the wildly anxious look died out, and
+as his eyes met those of the boy he smiled at him sadly, and Phil rose
+quickly to his feet, carried away by the childlike feeling of pity for
+the dying hero.
+
+It was almost momentary.  Then the little group closed in again and
+passed along the deck, while with the horror and confusion increasing
+once more, Phil found himself following Jack Jeens, who was being
+carried below to where the surgeon and his helpmates were busy over
+their terrible task, and all that the powder monkey saw more of the
+Battle of Trafalgar was a dim lanthorn swinging by a hammock in which
+lay poor Jack Jeens, badly wounded, but with energy enough left to smile
+at his nurse, who was watching by his side.
+
+It was the next morning when, after a stupor-like sleep, Jack opened his
+eyes, which brightened a little as he saw who was still with him.
+
+"Are you better, Jack?" whispered Phil, anxiously.
+
+"Lots, boy," was the reply; "only I want to know.  Tell me--who won?
+No, don't, if it was the French."
+
+"No, it wasn't them," was the quick reply.  "We beat, and everyone says
+it is a great--great--yes, victory--that's it."
+
+"Hoo-roar!" came in a faint whisper from Jack Jeens' lips, and a smile
+of thankfulness lit up his face for a few moments.
+
+But for a few moments only, for like a shadow came the recollection of
+something he had seen before he had fainted away from loss of blood.
+
+He lay for a while gazing at Phil as if afraid to speak.  Then summoning
+up his courage he whispered:
+
+"Phil, boy, when I was shot down and you held the water for me to drink,
+did I dream something?"
+
+Phil gazed back in his eyes, but did not speak, for he with the
+recollection fresh upon him knew what his poor messmate meant.
+
+And so they rested for a few moments looking in each other's eyes, till
+Jack's slowly closed, and he uttered a low groan.
+
+"I hoped it was a dream," he said, "and all fancy.  But tell me now,
+Phil, boy; is it true?"
+
+"Yes," said the little fellow, softly, and there was a choking sound in
+his fresh young voice as he whispered the words in the wounded sailor's
+ear: "Yes; Lord Nelson is dead."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+It was about a fortnight after the _Victory_ had returned to port, that
+a lady in deep mourning came off in a shore boat asking for the captain,
+but in his absence having to see the first lieutenant instead.
+
+This officer listened to her rather impatiently at first; but after a
+minute or two he began to take a good deal of interest in the statement
+she made.
+
+"Oh, yes," he said, at last; "we have such a boy on board.  He came with
+one of the men who were pressed; but it was just at a time when
+everyone's attention was taken up by our sailing.  There was some talk
+of the little fellow having been left an orphan and then being so
+ill-used that he ran away.  Was this so, madam?"
+
+"There is, I am sorry to say, a good deal of truth in it, for though
+well-meaning, my brother was so stern and harsh that the poor little
+fellow was afraid of him, and took that very foolish step.  It was long
+enough before I was able to trace him, and found the woman who kept the
+inn from which he was taken."
+
+"And now, madam," said the first lieutenant, "I presume that your visit
+means that you have come to claim the boy?"
+
+"Oh, yes," cried the lady, eagerly.  "He is my little nephew, my dear
+dead brother's child."
+
+"Exactly; but he is quite happy and settled down with our men, and I
+don't know that we should be justified in giving him up."
+
+"You don't mean," cried the lady, indignantly, "that you would keep him
+here to become a common sailor?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, madam," said the officer, stiffly, "but I was not
+aware that there was anything common about a sailor."
+
+"Oh, I did not mean that," said the lady, flushing.
+
+"And what is more, I feel sure that our captain would not allow our
+little powder monkey--"
+
+"Powder monkey!" cried the lady, aghast.
+
+"Only a sailor's playful term, madam," said the lieutenant.  "I say our
+captain would not give up our brave little fellow to go back to a life
+of ill-treatment."
+
+"He would come back to no ill-treatment," cried the lady, with the tears
+brimming in her eyes.  "I love my dead brother's son.  He would be with
+me, as his father expressly desired in his will.  My other brother would
+have nothing whatever to do with him.  Pray, pray let me see the little
+fellow, and I can prove to you that he would be happy."
+
+"Oh, he is no prisoner, madam," said the lieutenant.  "Will you come
+with me?  You will find him doing duty in what we term the sick bay--the
+infirmary--where are several of our wounded men."
+
+The lady uttered a faint sob, and looking more and more troubled,
+suffered herself to be led to where poor Jack Jeens, looking very white
+and thin, lay back close to an open port-hole, listening to something
+Phil was reading from a book.
+
+Unseen at first, the visitor stopped short, gazing wonderingly at her
+little nephew neatly rigged up in nautical style, bending over the book
+he held, and evidently enjoying his task.
+
+"Phil!" whispered the lady; but the boy did not look up, only went on
+reading.
+
+But Jack Jeens heard, and he started where he lay, guessed the object of
+the visit, and stretched out a hand to seize the boy.
+
+"I'm not tired, Jack," cried Phil.  "I can go on reading for--O,
+Auntie!" he shouted joyously, and dropping the book as he sprang up, he
+bounded into the lady's arms, to begin kissing her passionately again
+and again.
+
+"Phil--my darling!" she sobbed.  "Have I found you again?"
+
+"Yes, Auntie dear," cried the little fellow, "but--" He struggled from
+her embrace and darted behind Jack Jeens, gazing wildly around.
+
+"Is Uncle there?" he whispered, hoarsely.
+
+"No, my boy; he has gone, and you will not see him again."
+
+"Ah," cried Phil; "and have you come to fetch me home?"
+
+"My darling, yes," cried the visitor, and as the boy sprang to her arms
+again she held him tightly to her breast and turned proudly upon the
+lieutenant.  "Now, sir," she cried, "do you think he will be ill-used?"
+
+"I am satisfied, madam," said the officer, smiling.  "So, then, we are
+to lose our little powder monkey?  You are going away, then, sir?"
+
+"Yes," cried the boy, eagerly; "along with Auntie.  No," he cried,
+excitedly--"no!  I can't go and leave poor Jack.  Auntie, dear, oh, he
+has been so good to me, you don't know.  No, I can't come away now.
+Besides, they wouldn't let me come.  I'm a sailor, serving the King.
+But I'll come sometimes and see you."
+
+"O, Phil, my darling!" sobbed his aunt.
+
+"You don't know what he has done for me.  No, Jack, I won't go away now
+you're so weak and ill."
+
+"Weak--ill--with wounds?" cried Phil's aunt eagerly, as she turned to
+the lieutenant.
+
+"Yes, madam; one of our brave seamen, badly wounded at Trafalgar."
+
+"But ought he not to be ashore where he could be properly nursed?" cried
+Phil's aunt.
+
+"I nurse him," said Phil, proudly, "and feed him too.  He can't use his
+arms, Auntie."
+
+"Then why not bring him home, Phil, dear, where he could be well nursed
+back to health, and then--"
+
+That was the way it was settled, for an hour later Jack Jeens was being
+carefully slung down into the gig and then rowed ashore, while as Phil,
+after his aunt had taken her place, slid down one of the falls to join
+them, pretty well the whole crew was on deck to cheer the powder monkey
+till he was out of sight.
+
+Years passed before Phil stepped on board a King's ship again, and then
+it was in the uniform of a middy--the middy of one of the smartest
+frigates in the Navy.
+
+"Yes, Master Phil, sir, the very smartest frigate in the sarvice, and
+I'm glad to welcome you aboard, and so's all the crew.  I'm bo'sun, sir,
+and I've told all the lads how you and me served the King under Admiral
+Lord Nelson at _Traffle-gar_."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Powder Monkey, by George Manville Fenn
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