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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/75979-0.txt b/75979-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9259dec --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10733 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75979 *** + + + + + + +[Illustration: Cover art] + + + +[Frontispiece: "Nelson is struck by a grapeshot and falls bleeding +into the boat." _p_ 244.] + + + +[Illustration: Title page] + + + + _Hearts of Oak._ + + A STORY OF + + Nelson and the Navy. + + + By + + GORDON STABLES, M.D., C.M. + (_Surgeon Royal Navy_), + + AUTHOR OF "FROM SQUIRE TO SQUATTER;" + "IN THE DASHING DAYS OF OLD;" "EXILES OF FORTUNE;" + "ENGLAND, HOME, AND BEAUTY;" + ETC. ETC. + + + + "'Hearts of oak!' our captain cried; when each gun + From its adamantine lips + Spread a death-shade round the ships + Like the hurricane eclipse + Of the sun." CAMPBELL. + + + NEW EDITION. + + + _LONDON:_ + JOHN F. SHAW AND CO., + 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. + + + + + UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME. + + HEARTS OF OAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + FOR ENGLAND, HOME, AND BEAUTY . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + EXILES OF FORTUNE . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + IN SEARCH OF FORTUNE . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + TWO SAILOR LADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + IN THE DASHING DAYS OF OLD . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + FACING FEARFUL ODDS . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + GRAHAM'S VICTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + THE TWO CASTAWAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . LADY F. DIXIE. + HONOURS DIVIDED . . . . . . . . . . . . . W. C. METCALFE. + ON TO THE RESCUE . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + BEL-MARJORY. A Tale of Conquest . . . . L. T. MEADE. + EUSTACE MARCHMONT . . . . . . . . . . . . E. EVERETT-GREEN. + A TRUE GENTLEWOMAN . . . . . . . . . . . EMMA MARSHALL. + THE END CROWNS ALL. A Story of Life . . EMMA MARSHALL. + BISHOP'S CRANWORTH . . . . . . . . . . . EMMA MARSHALL. + FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW REED. + CITY SNOWDROPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. E. WINCHESTER. + COUNTESS MAUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMILY S. HOLT. + HER HUSBAND'S HOME. A Tale . . . . . . . E. EVERETT-GREEN. + IDA VANE. A Tale of the Restoration . . ANDREW REED. + ONE SNOWY NIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMILY S. HOLT. + FOR HONOUR NOT HONOURS . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + WINNING AN EMPIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + A REAL HERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + A TANGLED WEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMILY S. HOLT. + DOROTHY'S STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . L. T. MEADE. + BEATING THE RECORD . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + BRITAIN'S QUEEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . T. PAUL. + THE FOSTER-SISTERS . . . . . . . . . . . L. E. GUERNSEY. + A KNIGHT OF TO-DAY . . . . . . . . . . . L. T. MEADE. + NEVER GIVE IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + EDGAR NELTHORPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW REED. + MARION SCATTERTHWAITE . . . . . . . . . . M. SYMINGTON. + + LONDON: JOHN F. SHAW & CO., 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. + + + + +PREFACE. + +I have no need, I trust, to apologise for the introduction of the +name and chief exploits of so great a naval hero as Horatio Nelson +into this story of sea life. It is due to my readers as well as +myself, however, to state that it _is_ a tale of the sea, and not +intended as a life of Nelson. Nevertheless I have endeavoured +throughout to paint his character to the life by a series of +_tableaux vivants_, which I humbly hope will not be found altogether +ineffective. + +With the exception of the calm and peaceful days that Nelson spent at +the old parsonage of Burnham-Thorpe, I have dealt _solely_ with his +doings and deeds afloat, and from the time he joined the grand old +service until the day of his death on board the _Victory_ the sword +is seldom out of his hand. My Nelson is Nelson on the quarter-deck. +With Nelson at Court, whether at home or abroad, I have nothing +whatever to say. The young fellows for whom I write, I know well, +infinitely prefer the sailor's cutlass to a lady's fan. + +And Nelson is notably a boy's hero; so good, so gentle, and yet +withal so brave! And never during all his career was his mind so +overwhelmed with his own cares on shipboard, as to preclude him from +interesting himself in what pertained to his junior officers, with a +tenderness too that was almost fatherly. Another trait in his +character that must cause every true boy to look upon Nelson as a +hero, was his love of duty and justice. + +Says Alison, "He was gifted too by nature with undaunted courage, +with indomitable resolution, and undecaying energy. He possessed +also the eagle glance, the quick determination, and coolness in +danger, that constitute the rarest qualities in a consummate +commander." + +I pray heaven that in our next naval war--and it cannot be very long +ere this rages over the seas--our country may be in possession of a +few admirals who shall emulate the dash and _elan_ of our great and +mighty Nelson. + +* * * * * + +Descending to my lesser heroes, young Lord Raventree, and Tom Bure, +they are neither greater nor less than any true-hearted British boy +may be, who has the honour to draw dirk or sword in the dashing days +of warfare which most assuredly are before us. + +Descending to still humbler heroes, it will do the reader no harm to +know that poor Uncle Bob, and his honest and gentle old brother Dan, +have had their counterparts in real life. + +So, too, has the faithful collie dog Meg, with all her gentle, +winning ways, who so cheered the last sad days of her helpless +invalid master. + +May we not love even a dog for the possession of virtues higher far +than many mortals can lay claim to? + +GORDON STABLES. + + TWYFORD, BERKS, + _March, 1892._ + + + + +Dedication. + + +TO + +FRANK SMITH, ESQ., + +JOURNALIST, ETC., + +A FRIEND WHOM I HAVE NEVER YET SEEN, + +BUT WHO SO VERY OFTEN + +CHEERS ME WITH BRIGHT AND WITTY LETTERS, + +Himself a Heart of Oak, + +THIS BOOK + +IS DEDICATED WITH EVERY KINDLY WISH + +BY + +THE AUTHOR. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Book I. + + _IN PEACE AND AT HOME._ + + CHAPTER + + I. Poor Uncle Bob + II. The Wreck on the Gorton Sands + III. "I see it all," He said; "I see it all" + IV. Uncle Bob tells Tom's story + V. A Mountain Wave comes swelling o'er the Sands + VI. Summer Morning on a Norfolk Broad + VII. The Launch of the "Queen of the Broads" + VIII. "Stay at Home, my Lad, and plant Cabbages" + IX. Horatio Nelson's Earlier Days + X. "I will be a Hero, and trusting to Providence + brave every Danger" + XI. "There's a Storm brewing, and you'll be in it, Tom" + XII. "Dan will ne'er be Dan again," they said + + + Book II + + _WILD WAR'S BLAST._ + + I. Tom's Baptism of Blood + II. How Tom Bure joined the Service + III. In the Gunroom Mess--The Great War Game + IV. Were there really Tears in Nelson's Eyes? + V. The glorious old "Agamemnon" + VI. A Duel to the Death + VII. The Battle of St. Vincent + VIII. Life in Nelson's Ship + IX. Bombarding Cadiz--A madcap Expedition + X. A Dark Night's Work + XI. A Happy Home-coming + + + Book III. + + _IN HONOUR'S CAUSE._ + + I. A Gipsy's Warning + II. The Fight on Blackmuir Marsh + III. "Volunteers" for the Navy--The Burning of the "Highflyer" + IV. The Search for the French Fleet--At Last + V. The Battle of the Nile--Horrors of the Cockpit--Nelson Wounded + VI. The Burning of the "Orient"--A Heart of Oak + VII. Face to Face with the Danish Ships + VIII. A "Glorious Day's Renown" + IX. Nelson's Last Days and Hours + X. "Jack, I Feel there is Something Wanting in my Life" + + + + +HEARTS OF OAK + + + +Book I. + + +CHAPTER I. + +POOR UNCLE BOB! + + "Happy Britain! matchless isle, + Whose natives, like the sturdy oak, + Secure in inborn force, may smile + And mock the tempest's heaviest stroke. + + "If roused in war, shall dreadful move + Britannia's vengeance on her foes; to prove, + Where'er again her banners are unfurled, + The dread and envy of the wond'ring world."--DIBDIN. + + +"I wonder what makes Tom so late?" said Uncle Bob to himself, as he +opened his eyes and looked around him. "Why," he added, "it is +precious nearly three bells in the second dog-watch, as sure as I'm a +living sailor. Living! Well, there isn't a deal of life about me, +for the matter of that; but I'm right about the time. The shadow of +yonder poplar tree just touches my toes at four bells, and it doesn't +want a yard of doing so now. I must have been dozing a bit, too. It +is a drowsy kind of an evening anyhow. But it was that blackbird in +the cherry-tree that set me off, and maybe the hum o' the bees round +their hives yonder, and the whispering of the wind in the old cedar +must have helped a bit. Heigho!" + +Poor Uncle Bob yawned a little, then listened. + +"Made sure I heard Tom singing just then," continued the invalid half +aloud, "but I dare say it was the sea-gulls. They're coming inland +to-night, and I'm no seaman if it doesn't blow big guns before +morning." + +Uncle Bob talked to himself for the best of reasons: there was no one +else to talk to. For little Ruth, his niece, was helping her mother +in the house, and Daniel, his brother, had gone to the Hall with a +boat. No chance of Dan being home early to-night, for the boat +required the heaviest cart for its conveyance, and the mare had gone +a bit lame lately. + +To have looked at Uncle Bob's face as he lay there in his cot, which +had been wheeled out under the shade of the trees on the daisied +grass, no one would have taken him for an invalid. His rather +handsome face, with its short brown beard and well-chiselled features +was placid and contented, nay, even happy and hopeful-looking. + +O, yes, Uncle Bob had not ceased to hope. For seven long years and +over, day after day, whenever the sun shone, or it was dry weather, +that cot upon wheels had been hauled out of doors, where it is now in +this sweet May evening, by the sturdy and kindly hands of Brother +Dan. Yet if the boat-shed close by had taken fire, poor Uncle Bob +could not have lifted hand or foot to save himself from destruction. +The paralysis from which this seaman suffered had been accidental. +It was this, probably, that gave him hopefulness and made his sad +life in a measure bearable. And in certain states of the weather, +strange to say, Uncle Bob could move his fingers. + +Dr. Downs used to call as he passed by to talk with him for a few +minutes, and never failed to tell Uncle Bob that as he wasn't an old +man by any means, time might work wonders. + +Mr. Curtiss, the curate, a kindly-hearted young fellow from +Yorkshire, often dropped round, and would sit and talk to the invalid +for a whole hour at a time. Nor did he ever leave without some words +of consolation that, to say the least, were well-meant. Bob had very +much to be thankful for, the curate would say; he wasn't in pain of +any sort; he had his appetite and the use of his eyes and ears, and +everybody loved him and was good to him. + +Uncle Bob being a sailor, the curate thought it was his duty to +always introduce an allegorical ship of some kind in his conversation +with the stricken mariner. Besides, wasn't Mr. Curtiss himself +somewhat of an authority on nautical matters? Hadn't he been down to +the sea in ships--well no, not quite that, but he had made one long +and dangerous voyage from Great Yarmouth to London in a herring yawl, +which enabled him to talk with some degree of confidence about "green +seas," "contrary winds," "luff tackle, main sheets and shrouds," and +all the rest of it. Mr. Curtiss meant well therefore, and he never +left the invalid without leaving him something nice to think about, +without, in fact, leaving him better in mind, if not in body, than he +had found him. But after all said and done it isn't everyone who +could have lain in a cot all these years so peacefully as Uncle Bob +had done. + +Brother Dan, you must know, reader, was a boat-builder--not of +pair-oared gigs or outriggers, or any of the beautiful dashing boats +you see on the Thames and other rivers--Dan's speciality was cobbles, +or good, honest, strongly-built, broad-beamed boats, on which you +could float on the lovely waters of the Norfolk lakes, and at times +step a mast and hoist a bit of sail, without much danger of turning +turtle, so long as you sat to windward. Ay, and you might venture a +long way out to sea too in one of Dan's boats, and if you kept your +weather eye lifting now and then, and your hand on the main sheet, +you could crack on very prettily indeed through a lumpy sea-way. + +And Brother Dan's house was just over the way yonder, across a little +rustic private bridge that brought you here to this half lawn, half +paddock, but wholly pleasant and tree-shaded spot, where Bob's cot +was safely moored under the shade of the cedar. After you passed the +bridge you had to turn sharp round to the right, and on through the +garden by a well-kept gravel path, before you came to the porch of +Dan's old-fashioned, but comfortable, Norfolk cottage. + +Lying out here all by himself, one might have said that Bob looked a +little lonesome this evening. And perhaps he was, for with the +exception of the blackbird that seemed to be singing to the invalid, +and to him alone, he had no companion. Now and then the bleating of +sheep in the distance, the low contented moan of cows, or the barking +of a dog fell on his ear, and in a small lake almost close by his +cot, and over which the shadows of some giant poplars were thrown, +half-wild ducks played at hide and seek among the tall reeds, while +occasionally a fish leapt up and made rippling rings on the surface +of the water, but that was about all of life that was at present +indicated. + +In fine weather it was cheerful enough for Uncle Bob here, because +Dan worked close beside him in the boat-shed, into which he could +wheel the cot if a shower threatened. And Brother Dan with his rosy +face and his square paper cap, hammering at a boat, or making the +white curly shavings fly from his plane was a very cheerful figure +indeed. + +Over and above all this, Dan's property--he always called it his own +property--was situated on high ground, or what is called high ground +in this part of the world, for Norfolk is not Switzerland; so that +from between the trees Bob could catch glimpses of the far-off +country side, at which he never tired looking. For it takes very +little indeed to create interest in the mind of the confirmed +invalid. The trees in front of him were mostly tall and weirdly +Scottish pines, whose brown pillar-like stems hardly obstructed the +view. So Bob could feast his eyes on green fields, where sheep and +cattle sheltered themselves from the sun's rays under the spreading +elms; on an ancient gray-stone hall that rose boldly above a +cloudland of foliage; on an archery lawn near it; on the shimmer of a +silvery lake or broad, and on the flashing waters of a winding +reed-bordered stream. Among the woods to the right and left of the +centre of this picture was here and there a touch of red among the +greenery of the trees, representing the tiled roofs of farm-houses or +cottages. All combined did not make much of a picture perhaps, but +it was nevertheless a very peaceful and very pleasant one. + +Gazing dreamily at it, Uncle Bob had almost gone to sleep again, when +the voice of a young girl raised in song, awoke him thoroughly, and +looking up he saw Ruth herself, right on the centre of the rustic +bridge, waving a handful of wild flowers towards him. In front of +her bounded a beautiful black and tan collie dog. + +"Dear old Meg!" said Uncle Bob, as the animal put her fore paws +almost on his pillow and licked his ear. "Been away for hours I'll +wager, haven't you now, Meg, ranging over the hills and fields and +chasing the squire's rabbits?" + +The collie leant her cheek against her master's breast, in that +inexpressibly pretty way that such dogs have of showing pity and +affection combined. + +"Hullo! Ruth, my little sweetheart, you look as fresh and lovely as +the figure head of the old Queen Bess in a new coat of paint. Come +and kiss your old uncle, you rogue. Now I've been picturing you to +myself with your sleeves rolled up, washing plates and things in the +kitchen; 'stead o' that you've been gathering wild flowers." + +[Illustration: "Hullo! Ruth, you look as fresh and lovely as the +figurehead of the old _Queen Bess_."] + +"All for you, Uncle Bob. Look at the buttercups and the ox-lips, and +oh, uncle, just smell those red ragged Robins. See I've tied the +posie with grass, and I'll lay them on your breast so you can scent +them." + +She patted her uncle's brow, and added, "I've wetted both my feet +trying to get a yellow iris, so I shall run and change my stockings, +and get supper ready 'gainst father and Tom comes home. Ta, ta, +uncle. Meg will stop here, so you won't feel lonely." + +Ruth was a fresh-complexion, pretty girl of sweet thirteen, with shy +dark eyes, blithesome face and a lithesome figure. Mr. Curtiss, the +curate, had said more than once, than only to see Ruth going singing +about at her work of a morning made him feel good all day. + +Uncle Bob was naturally very fond of his little niece, but between +our two selves, reader, he was fonder far of Tom; for when the boy +was not away at school, or scouring the woods and hills with Meg, he +was the invalid's constant companion. + +"Tom won't be long now, Meg, will he?" said Uncle Bob when Ruth had +disappeared. "Ha! you're cocking your ears, old lady. D'ye hear +young master?" Meg emitted just one half-hysterical bark of joy and +jumped down. + +Her sharp ears had caught the sound of the boy's footsteps on the +road not far off, so away she bounded. + +A few minutes after, young Tom himself, red and dusty with running, +his eyes sparkling with joyous health and excitement, appeared upon +the scene. + +Instead, however, of coming quietly up behind Uncle Bob, and kissing +his brow--for the lad was almost girlish in the affection he +displayed for the helpless invalid--Tom stood at the foot of the cot, +a _Times_ newspaper over his head, and shouting-- + +"Hip, hip, hooray--ay! + +"Hip, hip, hooray--ay--ay!" + +"Whatever ails you, sonny? Where have you been to, and what have you +got?" + +"Why _The Times_, Uncle Bob. I walked all the way to the Hall, round +by the broad, to borrow it, after my tutor told me the news. 'Cause +why, uncle, 'cause I knew you'd like to read the news with your own +old-fashioned eyes. Oh! glorious news, I can tell you. That is what +Mr. Curtiss called it. The French are going to fight again, at least +he thinks so. Won't it be glorious? won't it be fun? After supper +Uncle Bob, after supper--oh, not now. It is too good to be scamped +and hurried over; besides, I'm so hungry. And, poor uncle, so must +you be. But there! I haven't told you all the news. The most +glorious part of it is to come. I went to the Hall, you know. Well, +I saw Lady Colemore, and she sent the footman into the garden with me +to see I should eat as many strawberries as I could hold, and +to-morrow, little Bertha Colemore and her maid are going to bring you +a great big, big basketful all to yourself, and I'm to feed you with +them, and not eat one." + +Then Tom laughed so merrily, that he was forced to lie down on the +grass and roll, and Meg was by no means slow to follow his example. + +Uncle Bob laughed too, though there wasn't anything very special to +laugh about, but the sight of happiness in others always pleased Bob. + +"Look here, you young rascal," said Uncle Bob at last. + +"That's me," cried Tom, springing up. + +He stood at attention, after touching his cap. + +"Away aloft, young sir, and have a look round the horizon. Take the +glass, sir." + +"Ay, ay, sir," said Tom. "Away aloft it is!" + +And next moment he was swarming up the rigging with all the agility +of a practised sailor. + +Up and up and up, hand over hand, till his head touches the bottom of +the crow's-nest, then he enters it from below and settles himself to +have a good look round through the glass. + +Now in case this last sentence should seem enigmatical to the reader +I must explain. The crow's nest was a hugely large and strong +barrel, that had been hoisted up into one of the poplar trees, and +firmly secured at a distance of forty feet above board, that is above +the level of the lawn. The tree, which was a very beautiful one, +with one strong trunk which reached a height of five-and-twenty-feet, +then bifurcated into two that tapered skywards for fully fifty feet +more, grew almost in the water of the little lake, and strong +ratlines or rigging, similar to that on a ship, led upwards to the +nest. Above this nest was a kind of Jacob's ladder, up which Tom +could swarm for twenty feet higher and seat himself on what he and +Bob called the top-gallant cross-trees. + +From near the bottom of the nest hung a stout rope, and up this Tom +could climb when he chose, or come down by the run. + +This out-look or crow's nest was one of the pleasures of poor Uncle +Bob's lonesome life. It was a pleasure even to look at it when Tom +wasn't there, but when the lad did come home--and his arrival was one +of the chief events of the day with Bob--hardly had he exchanged +greetings with uncle ere the order was, "Away aloft, lad!" Then +standing in the cosy nest, or seated high up on the cross-trees, Tom +would keep the invalid informed, for half-an-hour at a time, or even +a whole hour sometimes, of all that was going on at sea. + +"Now then, lad," shouted Bob, "is the brig still there?" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE WRECK ON THE GORTON SANDS. + + "How hard the lot for sailors cast, + That they should roam + For years, to perish thus at last + In sight of home."--DIBDIN. + + +"Yes, sir; and she has dropped anchor at the tail of the Gorton +Sands." + +"Her skipper's mad," cried Bob; "as mad as a March hare. Why it's +coming on to blow big guns from the south-east, or soon will be, and +if he doesn't trip it and be off, there won't be a stick of him left +together by moon-set. Don't look at him, Tom, he's no sailor." + +"Five yawls, sir, tacking through Hewett's Channel. Foremost has got +into the blue, filled, and is running north away." + +"Thank you, Tom. Fishermen, I suppose." + +"There's a three-masted ship, sir, coming straight in from the east, +under all sail. But there isn't above a capful of wind." + +"Did you say a ship, Tom? Now, be careful." + +"Yes, sir; I'll look again. Now she's gone about, and I can see +she's a barque." + +"Bravo, Tom! But mind you this, lad, I've seen a man had down from +aloft and receive four dozen at the grating, for just such a trifling +mistake as that." + +"Now," continued Tom, "I can just raise the topga'nt sails of a ship +far away north. It is a ship right enough, sir. Appears to be on +the la'board tack, and standing over for the French coast." + +"Fiddlesticks, Tom! She'll be about in half-an-hour." + +"Why, sir," cried Tom presently, "four of the fishermen are crowding +all sail to the nor'ard, but the fifth----" + +"Yes, Tom. What's the matter?" + +"She's luffed, and hugging the Gortons!" + +"See anything strange about her, Tom?" + +"Never saw a yawl so deep in the water before. She can't be going +fishing, uncle. I see something else, sir, now." + +"Well, Tom?" + +"But what are you whistling for, Uncle Bob?" + +"I'm whistling for the wind, lad." + +"Oh, you needn't, sir! That--that--strange craft is bringing it up +with her. But I can't quite make her out. She is long and low, not +big; and carries a press of fore-and-aft sail on two thin masts." + +"That isn't a very lucid nor very seaman-like description, Tom," +cried Bob, laughing. "Has she any top-masts?" + +"Ye--es, but----" + +"But what?" + +"But I can hardly see them. She seems in a hurry, but doesn't carry +topsails. She puzzles me." + +"Ah, lad, she's playing a game! She's the d----l in disguise, Tom." + +"Oh, uncle, if Ruth heard you!" + +"That's what shore folks call these craft, Tom. Now the brig must +see the strange sail. What are they doing?" + +"Why, they're signalling to the yawl, I think." + +At this moment the trees caught the wind. The cedar rattled its +great limbs as if in proud defiance of any blast that could blow. +The pine trees waved their dark heads like the plumes on a +Highlander's bonnet. The elm trees rustled, then roared, and the +tapering poplars bent like fishing-rods before the force of the +breeze. + +Uncle Bob laughed aloud. + +"Hold firm there, lad," he shouted. His long illness had not +weakened his voice. "Don't get emptied out. I knew that I could +bring the wind by whistling." + +"It is only a squall, I suppose, Uncle Bob?" + +"That's all; but there's another to follow, and one or two more to +follow that. Then it'll settle down for a dirty night and blow a +sneezer. Look at the blackhead gulls going shrieking round your +head, Tom." + +"But now, lad, tell me what's doing at sea. How does the sea itself +look, Tom?" + +"Waves all flecked with froth, sir." + +"With foam, Tom." + +"Yes, foam I mean." + +"Well, Tom, say so, else I'll have you down, sir, and introduce you +to the gunner's daughter. Liken the waves to white-maned horses if +you please, but not to quarts o' beer with good heads on them." + +Tom was very busy up in the nest for the next few minutes. There was +some little difficulty in holding the telescope steady, owing to the +breeze, and Bob noticed that first he would direct it east and by +south, then south-east, then east by north. + +"Oh, Uncle Bob," cried Tom at last, talking excitedly, "I do wish you +could come up here for a few minutes." + +"Ah! lad, I wish I could. I'd give my left eye for that pleasure." + +"Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot you couldn't walk." + +"Never mind. What's doing, my boy?" + +"Why, sir, they've all gone mad." + +"The brig was mad before, else she wouldn't have got so close to the +Gorton bank. What is she doing now?" + +"Shaking loose her sails. And she's getting up anchor to be off." + +"And the yawl, the deep one, uncle, has put right about, and is +driving north after the fishermen. Wind's gone two points more to +the south'ard now." + +"I notice that, lad. It's only the play o' the squall. What about +the d----l in disguise, Tom?" + +"She's mad too. Instead of taking in sail she has hoisted her +topsails, and she's heeling over till she looks like a paper kite, or +a kite's wake." + +"How's her head?" + +"She's close hauled, sir, and bearing down towards the brig." + +"And the brig?" + +"Just ready, sir. Going off on the sta'board tack." + +"Close work, won't it be, Tom?" + +"At least, I think she is----. Oh-h-h, uncle!" + +"What is it, Tom? Speak, boy; tell me, quick." + +"Why, she has----yes, Uncle Bob, she has missed stays, and is driving +on to the Corton sands. Oh, it's awful, awful!" + +A pause of some minutes. + +"Now she has struck. Down go the masts, and the seas are leaping +over her like wild hyenas." + +"Heaven help the poor ship," said Uncle Bob. "What a lubber of a +skipper. I told him, Tom--I told him--at least, I told you. I don't +know exactly what I'm saying, Tom. But what's the yawl doing?" + +"Carrying on, sir, heading right away north. But it's getting so +dark, what with the rising clouds and the dusk, that----." + +"You're sure, Tom, the yawl is cracking on?" + +"Sure, sir." + +"The dastard, not to help her consort." + +Tom looked down from aloft. + +"The wind caught the last word, Uncle Bob," he shouted. "I didn't." + +"I said 'consort,' Tom," cried Bob. "You don't understand the drama +that's being enacted before your eyes. Tom, it's a tragedy now. +That brig is or was a smuggler. They're not so likely to suspect +lubberly brigs of playing that game. The yawl was coming down with a +cargo to her. See, Tom. And the d----l in disguise is a government +sloop." + +"I understand now. But, sir, I can just see that a boat has been +lowered from her, and is making straight for the wreck with a bit of +sail set." + +"Bravo! bravo! I hope they'll save the men. The skipper deserves to +be choked in the Gorton sands. Now, lad, come below. Here is Ruth, +just heaving in sight at the other side of the bridge. Ah! Ruth, +lass, there is terrible news. The brig we talked about in the +morning has gone on shore on the tail of the Gorton bank. Heaven +help them, little sweetheart; but I fear by this time it is a sad +case." + +Ruth put the end of her apron up to her eyes as if to shut out the +terrible vision of breaking spars and timbers, rolling surf, and +waves more than houses high. + +"Come, Ruth," said Tom, touching the girl on the shoulder, "let us +wheel Uncle Bob home over the bridge. There is no time to lose." + +"Why what does the boy mean?" said Uncle Bob. + +"Wait, uncle, till you're in the house, and I'll tell you. Come, +Ruth, you pull and I'll shove. Heave-o-ee. There she goes. A +little more to sta'board, Ruth. That's it. Now then, steady as you +go; a long pull and a strong pull. Ruth, you're a beauty. What a +capital sailor's wife you'll make!" + +Talking thus, with Bob smiling in spite of himself, in spite of the +tragedy he knew was at that moment being enacted on the Gorton sands, +Tom and Ruth speedily wheeled the invalid's cot towards and right +into his own wing of the cottage. + +If ever a helpless man had a kind and thoughtful brother that man was +Uncle Bob. The whole aim and object of Daniel Brundell's life, +indeed, seemed to be to make the lad--as he often called Bob--happy +and snug; and in this good work he had a most faithful helpmeet in +his wife. As regards inventing invalids' comforts, I do believe that +such a man as Dan would in our days make his fortune. Let us follow +the cot on wheels for instance. Not into the house by the main +doorway was it taken, for it could not have been turned, but into +what was called 'Uncle's wing,' the door of which, although +surrounded by a rustic jasmine-covered porch, opened straight into +the room. Once inside, the cot was wheeled broadside on to a small +bed of the same height, a block and tackle were attached to the upper +or hammock portion of Bob's cot, both at the head and at the feet, +Ruth hoisted one end and Mrs. Brundell the other, and lo! in ten +seconds uncle was raised and swung easily and carefully on to his bed. + +Then the cot was wheeled out to a dry shed till it should again be +required; the invalid's head and shoulders were raised, and he was +snug and happy for the evening. As a rule Tom fed the poor fellow, +but to-night the lad had something else on his mind. + +"I'm going to drink a pint of milk," he said, "and put some bread and +cheese in my pocket to eat by the way, then run all the road to +Lunton Cave, and get Ashley's yawl under way to go round Gorton. +They'll meet the navy boat, won't they, uncle?" + +"Why, boy," said Bob, "as soon as the navy boat saves whom she can +off the brig she'll stand off for the sloop, and be picked up." + +"That she won't, uncle. I saw what you didn't." + +"Well, boy?" + +"Just before I came down I had another look, and could see that the +Government craft had filled sail, and was standing right away north +in pursuit of the yawl. So, of course, her boat will run in shore +and try to land at Gorton, or head away for the north pier at +Gorleston. Am I right, uncle?" + +"Why, lad, I'm proud o' you! My own bringing up too. Right? Yes; +an admiral of the fleet couldn't be righter. Well, God speed you, +Tom. Strikes me, though, that the disguised sloop has all her work +cut out if she means to overhaul that yawl. They'll slip their cargo +over the bows without being seen, and the lighter she is the faster +she'll fly. Besides in the dark and storm----" + +"Not so dark, though, uncle. There's a big round moon peeping up +already. But, good-bye, uncle, mother, and Ruth--I'm off." + +And away he went, and certainly very little grass grew under his feet +ere he reached the fisherman's cave. + +Ashley was there himself, and his two sons also, and Davies, a Welsh +fisherman, who lived at the cave. The yawl too was all ready in a +little artificial harbour the men had dug close to the cave in which +they lived. + +Tom soon told his story, and the men were in no way loth to try their +luck at piloting, as they phrased it. + +"But," said Ashley, "it'll be a dirty night, and we'll have to work +every inch o' the way to windward. Never mind, boys, it's to save +precious life!" + +"Yes, yes," said Davies, "and doubtless we will have the king's money +too, into the bargain, Mr. Ashley." + +Old Ashley looked at the man and laughed. + +"Take care," he said, "you don't have to take the king's money in a +way you'd little relish, now you've married a nice young wife." + +Ashley's sons laughed, and the Welshman was silent. The owner of the +yawl went up the steps to the door of the cave, which by-the-way had +once been a smuggler's den, but was now a comfortably-furnished +house, high above the sea-level, except during very high tides. + +"You're surely not going fishing to-night!" cried Mrs. Ashley, a +tall, lanky woman, as brown as a gipsy. + +"What if I were, good wife?" answered the old man gruffly. "Haven't +I been out on many a dirtier? See to it that you have plenty of hot +water, and some supper. We're expecting company." + +"Maggie," he added, addressing a young and pretty woman, "you help +mother. There's been a wreck on the Gorton, and we're going to bear +a hand in saving life." + +"All right, daddy," said Mrs. Davies. + +He beckoned to her, and she followed him out. + +"Is the brick cave safe?" he asked. + +"Yes, daddy," she answered, surprise and alarm depicted on her face. +"But----are they _friends_?" + +"No, not quite. Revenue." + +Maggie nodded and smiled, and went indoors. + +In a few minutes more the sail--all that could be carried--was +hoisted, and the yawl rushing out into the mist and darkness of a +squall, the spray dashing inward over the bows, while the cutwater, +rising and falling, struck angrily at each advancing wave. + +The _Fairy_ yawl was a handy little craft, and, _sub rosâ_, had been +found handy in many ways as well as in fishing. The Ashleys used to +boast openly in Yarmouth harbour, that in the _Fairy_ they could go +anywhere and do anything, high water or low, blow or fine. And +everybody admitted that the _Fairy's_ crew were just as daring as +they looked. + +It really wasn't all for the sake of gain, however, that the _Fairy_ +was now braving the dangers of this ugly night, nor had Ashley +anything at all to do with the brig that had gone on shore. The old +man really had a good heart of his own, and he could not have borne +the thoughts of men drowning or clinging to the hull of a wreck +without his doing his best to save them. + +"I don't think you should have come, boy," he said kindly to Tom. +"Here, get inside this spare oilskin, or bury yourself in the cuddy." + +"Thank you, Mr. Ashley," said Tom, putting on the oilskin and an old +sou'wester, "but I like to look about me." + +The sky soon cleared, and the moon was now well above the horizon, +and as they bore away on the sta'board tack everything around seemed +as bright as day. Indeed to Tom the cliffs on the shore they were +soon approaching looked most dangerously near. + +But to old Ashley at the helm all was plain sailing. He could read +the sea around here, and the wild sand banks, and rock or cliff and +cloud, as one reads a book. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"I SEE IT ALL," HE SAID. "I SEE IT ALL." + + "Be good, be honest, serve a friend, + Are maxims well enough; + Who swabs his brows at other's woe + That tar's for me your sort; + His vessel right ahead shall go + To find a joyful port."--DIBDIN. + + +No yacht ever sailed more closely to the wind than did the _Fairy_. +She needed all her powers to-night however to beat to windward, and +indeed there must have been times, while the squalls were at their +worst, when she was hardly holding her own. + +Old Ashley, with his bronzed and wrinkled face, was the very image of +an ancient mariner. His wet oilskin and sou'-wester glittered yellow +in the moonlight, his wet face glimmered red, his eyes positively +shone at times, despite the fact that they were almost hidden by his +bunchy eyebrows. Many and many a gale of wind the old man had stared +into, his eyes seemed formed indeed to face the tempest and the spray +from dashing waves. + +As he lay there snugly curled up in his oilskins, the boy, young +though he was--but little over ten--could not help admiring the old +man's coolness and courage, nor the way he steered. + +His sons, and Davies too, sat grimly staring ahead and watching the +sea, but ready to spring to sheet or tackle at the first word of +command. + +They had been out nearly an hour and a half, and in that time had +hardly made two miles of southing. Hardly anyone had spoken all this +time, certainly there had been no attempt at conversation, but now +just as the moon escaped from behind a great grey snowy-edged cloud, +Davies half rose, and pointing ahead and to windward shouted: + +"I was see her! I was see the boat! Look you quick, Mr. Ashley!" + +Luckily the wind had gone down between the squalls, when they drove +near the boat, a voice from which came loudly calling for assistance. +It was answered by Ashley himself. + +The sloop's boat had her mast carried away; she was swamped, and, +loaded as she was, would soon have gone down. + +Ashley passed her with a cheering word or two, put his yawl prettily +round, lowered his mainsail, and driving down under his jibs ashiver, +and little after sail, laid the boat aboard in the neatest way +imaginable. + +With some further skilful management everybody was got on board, with +the exception of two left to bale, and the boat was taken in tow. + +It was a lieutenant of the Royal Navy who came on board with his men +and prisoners--five only had been saved off the brig--about a third +of her crew. The officer was in undress uniform, but armed with +sword and pistols, and he was proceeding to thank old Ashley, when +that ancient mariner gruffly told him to "flop down out o' the way, +else how could he steer." + +The lieutenant said no more. But presently the yawl drew in near the +shore, for she had been positively flying before the wind. + +"Stand by," roared Ashley, "to lower away." + +So quickly did the _Fairy_ come round, that the proud lieutenant +found himself down to leeward with his sword between his feet, and +his cap in the sea. Next minute the yawl was in harbour. + +"'Scuse me," said Ashley, "if I talked a bit rough. We aren't much +used to king's officers here away. What, lost your cap? Here, take +mine." + +The ancient mariner pulled his own sou'-wester off as he spoke and +clapped it unceremoniously on the lieutenant's head, almost +extinguishing him. But the officer laughed right merrily, again +thanked Ashley, and then gave orders to his men to form a guard round +the prisoners, who had already begun to cast sheep's eyes towards the +cliffs, as if they'd like to be off. + +"Come, sir," said old Ashley, "follow me up the steps, and all your +merry men. What's your name, captain?" + +"Merryweather, at your service, my good fellow." + +They had just entered the lower and outer cave, a large room with a +rough deal table and wooden benches, but well lighted with whale-oil +lamps. Old Ashley turned to his guest, and laughingly edged the brim +of the sou'-wester off his brow, exposing the whole features of a +sun-bronzed but pleasant face, slightly disfigured, or, let us say, +rendered all the more interesting, by a white scar there over brow +and cheek. + +"Did you say Merryweather? Well, 'scuse me, but durn me if ye look +the least little bit like a merry-weather sailor. Got that cut +across your figure-head by fallin' on a foot-stool in church, eh?" + +And Ashley laughed at his own joke till the cave rang again. + +Meanwhile the sailors and their prisoners crowded in _sans ceremonie_. + +"Sit down there, lads," said Ashley; "you'll all have bite and sup +before long. Captain Merryweather, this way, sir, please." + +Up another staircase, through a short passage and into another cave, +far better furnished and more brilliantly lighted than the last. +Here, May though the month was, a fire of peats and wood burned on a +low hearth, and Ashley pointed to a chair near it and bade his guest +sit down. + +A table stood near, and presently Mrs. Davies bustled in and laid the +supper, the captain rising and bowing to her most gallantly. A huge +dish of potatoes boiled in their skins, and a great joint of beef, +the steam from which went curling to the cave's roof. + +Ashley went to the door, and shouted down to the under cave. "Below +there, sons! see that those poor fellows have plenty o' bread and +fish and beer. Tom Brundell, what are you doin' down there? Come up +here, quick." + +Tom entered shyly, and threw down his hat. + +"There, captain," cried Ashley, "that's the chap you have to thank +for savin' your life." + +Tom turned as red as a beet at first, but in five minutes he was +perfectly at ease, and thought this officer was by far and away the +most pleasant gentleman he had ever met in his life. + +But it really was love at first sight with both of them, and +Merryweather was soon laughing right heartily at Tom's description of +the poplar tree rigged like a ship's mast, and the crow's-nest and +cross-trees and all the rest of it. + +"And whose idea was it, my boy?" + +"Poor Uncle Bob's, sir. At least, he isn't my uncle, sir, but he +brought me home with father from Jamaica, where I was born. Father +was drowned, you know, sir--at least not quite drowned, because he +lived some time after--and Uncle Bob's brother Dan, my daddy, you +know, reared me. He and old mother, who isn't mother exactly----" + +"Stop, stop, boy! Why I am getting mixed, or you are getting mixed, +or---- Oh, I know how it is! Mr. Ashley, that rum of yours, that +you say has never paid duty, has gone to my noddle. Now, Tom, my +brave lad, will you begin again?" + +Ashley laughed right pleasantly now. + +"Why," he said, "that little birkie has a story to tell, or there's a +story to tell about him. It's too long though; besides, here is Mrs. +Davies and my old woman waiting." + +"I beg a thousand pardons," said Merryweather, jumping up and drawing +a chair towards the table. "What a pleasant home you have, Mrs. +Ashley!" + +"Handy enough at times," said the old lady. + +Mrs. Davies trod on her toes under the table. + +"Mother means," said old Ashley, "that it is a good habitation in +fine weather; but when the sea takes charge o' the downstairs, and +sobs and sighs against the door here, why it ain't quite so cheery. +Now heave round with the beef. The 'taties grew over your head on +the cliff-top, and, as I said afore, the rum never paid duty. Fine +thing to tell a king's officer. Ha! ha!" + +"Now Tom, birkie, fill the captain's glass." + +But though this story dates back to the old drinking days, +Merryweather was a very abstemious officer. He was very much +pleased, however, with his strange surroundings, and after supper sat +long in the easy chair, smoking and listening to stories of the time +when this had really been a smuggler's cave. + +"But now," said Merryweather at last, "I must go to my boat and try +to snatch a few hours' sleep. The little _Porcupine_ may be back +to-morrow, and then----" + +"Back to-morrow, eh?" said old Ashley, laughing. "No, sir, not if +she means crackin' on after the Dorothy yawl." + +"Yes, and my mate'll have her too," said the lieutenant. + +"Oh, sir!" said Tom, blushing at his own boldness, "do come home with +me. Father and mother have a nice little spare room, and----" + +"Why, Tom, you said your father was drowned? But come, my lad, I'll +go with you, if it isn't too far." + +"Only about a mile, sir, and I'll be up and down to the crow's nest +all the morning, and will see the _Porcupine_ ten miles away." + +"I'll go, lad." + +In another minute the ancient mariner had conducted his guest by a +private staircase to the breezy cliff-top. Merryweather shook hands, +and off went Tom and he together. + +When they reached home, Meg came joyfully barking to meet them, and +there was the wagon in the yard, and Tom could hear the mare stumping +her lame foot in the stable; so he knew that daddy had come. + +There was a light in Uncle Bob's window, and it occurred to the boy +that he might as well take Lieutenant Merryweather in here first. So +he began to sing, which was the invariable signal to Uncle Bob that +announced his arrival. + +Tom opened the door a little way and peeped in. "May I come in, +Uncle Bob, and bring--a friend?" + +"Come in, you young rascal. Wager two-pence you've got one o' the +crew o' the d----l in disguise with you." + +So in walked Tom. + +And in marched the officer. + +But certainly the boy was not prepared for what followed. Uncle Bob +had turned his eyes towards the door, but they positively seemed to +grow as large and round as saucers when they alighted on the +sun-browned features of Lieutenant Merryweather. Nor did the latter +appear one whit less surprised than Uncle Bob. But he recovered +himself sooner. + +"What!" he cried, "can it be possible? My old shipmate, Bob +Brundell, that sailed with me for years in the old _Turtle_, and was +in my own watch? Wonders will never cease. Why I heard you were +drowned ever so long ago. Wonders never do cease; but tip us your +nipper, for auld lang syne." + +Then Uncle Bob's face fell, and tears sprung to his eyes, aye, and +trickled over his face. + +"Ah! sir," he said mournfully, "poor Bob is on his beam ends, and +couldn't move a toe if the ship was on fire." + +"Oh, this is inexpressibly sad," said Merryweather. patting his old +shipmate's cheek. "But there is hope, isn't there? Ah! here comes +your elder brother. I knew him at once from you, Bob. How d' ye do, +sir? Glad to make the acquaintance of my old friend's brother. How +glad I am to see you both!" + +"Tom," cried Uncle Bob, "bring my pipe and light it for me. Sit you +down, mate. Well, you were mate you know in the dear old days, +though now you're lieutenant. Sit down, brother Dan. Thank you, +Tom. I do believe the young rascal'll soon learn to smoke just with +lighting my pipe. What's the time, youngster?" + +"Just gone one bell in the middle watch," said Tom seriously, after +consulting an old silver turnip that he pulled with an air of +manliness out of his fob. + +"Going to be a sailor, my boy?" said the lieutenant, putting his hand +on Tom's head. + +Uncle Bob answered for him. + +"Why, old shipmate," he said, "he's almost a sailor already. And he +was born in the service." + +"Oh, by the way," cried Merryweather, "I must hear the lad's story. +It's mixed up with yours I know, Bob. One bell in the middle watch +is no time at all, so heave round with your yarn." + +"I'll heave round," said Bob; "but brother Dan's mixed up in it too, +so he'll have to put a hand to the wheel as well. Light your pipe, +Dan. Ah! if you only knew what a dear old brother Dan is to me, Mr. +Merryweather----." + +"Hush, hush," cried Dan. + +But Merryweather stretched out his white, soft hand, and squeezed the +rough, red fist that Dan put in it. "I can see it all," he said. "I +can see it all. Now, Bob, it is you to begin the story." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +UNCLE BOB TELLS TOM'S STORY. + + "If to engage they give the word, + To quarters all repair; + While splintered masts go by the board, + And shots sing through the air."--DIBDIN. + + +"Mr. Merryweather," Uncle Bob began, "it's many years since the old +_Turtle_ was re-commissioned out at Bermuda, and you and I parted." + +"That it is, Bob. Ten, if a dog-watch." + +"And you stopped in the tub, as we used to call her, and I went out +to join the _Billy Ruffian_ at Jamaica. Now, mate--for mate I will +call you, though you're a bold lieutenant now--take a hold o' young +Tom there, and turn him round to the light. Focus the little chap +right, and see if he doesn't put you in mind o' someone you know." + +Lieutenant Merryweather did as he was told. + +"Why not Miss Raymond, surely? Yet indeed he does. The dark eyes, +the small mouth and nose, and all complete. Come, Bob, I shall +listen with more marked attention to this yarn of yours, now." + +"Well, first and foremost, it must be pipe down hammocks as far as +young Tom is concerned," Bob began. + +"I'll turn in at once, Uncle Bob," said Tom. + +So he bade good-night to all hands and trotted off. + +"Did you say ten years, mate, since you and I parted? Why it's going +on for a round dozen. Let me see, I'm two-and-thirty, and you can't +want a deal of thirty." + +"Worse luck, Bob, and only lieutenant yet. Should have been promoted +long ago. Don't think me on the swagger, Bob, if I say that my +services have been meritorious enough since I saw the last of you. +But I've seen youngster after youngster promoted over my head. More +interest, Bob; more interest!" + +"Well, Mr. Merryweather, you were a jolly young waterman anyhow when +I left you in Bermuda. And it was about this very Miss Raymond you +fought the duel on the very morning after the ball--aye, and winged +your soldier too." + +"So it was, Bob, and I remember how sleepy I was. But I resolved not +to take life; so instead of firing at the major, I took aim at a +bunch of bananas that hung on a tree some yards to his right." + +"Yes," said Bob, laughing, "and that was why you hit the major. If +you'd aimed at the major you'd have hit the bananas. Plucky little +fellow, though, he was, for even when the surgeon was probing his arm +with his pipe-cleaner he apologised to you most handsomely. Think I +see him yet, reclining in his second's arms on the grass, and you +standing forenenst him, stem on, and taking all the honour and glory +of that shot. 'Sir! It was a pretty shot,' cried the major, 'and I +owe you my life. A man who could rip open his opponent's pistol arm +so neatly as that could have put his bullet through the bridge of his +nose and spoiled his beauty for life. Excuse my left hand, sir, but +I want to grasp the fist of a brave and generous gentleman.' + +"'I don't believe in taking life, major,' you drawled out, 'when it +can be avoided, and so----' + +"'And so you wing your men. Bravo! I shall remember that, and sir, +you must dine with me as soon's I'm out of the doctor's hands.'" + +"Did you dine with him, Mr. Merryweather?" + +"I did, Bob, and he proved a brick; but then the bone of contention, +pretty Miss Raymond, had disappeared. I' faith, Bob, I did fall in +love with that girl, head over heels, and if she'd asked me to cut +the buttons off my coat, and pitch them at the admiral's head, I'd +have done it. But heave round, Bob." + +"Well, mate, Miss Raymond came to Jamaica with her father the +colonel. There were some disturbances in the bush, and Commander +Bure was sent on shore with a party of bluejackets to support the +soldiers. Why these Joeys were behaving about as silly as silly +could be, marching through the country with drums and pipes, to +attack an enemy that killed them right and left from behind the scrub +and the bush, but never showed a head. We altered all that, we took +the enemy in the rear, we never piped, and we never drummed, but we +killed 'em by the score, and the prisoners we hung like herrings on +the trees. It was wild work, but it had to be done." + +"Well, mate, Bure, our good commander, was a very active gentleman, +he would push on, and he would show himself at times when he didn't +ought to; so he got downed, ay, and would have been scuppered too, if +I and my mates hadn't rushed in and drove the butchers off." + +"Where did you drive them to, Bob?" + +"Made flies' meat o' them, sir. But the commander swore I'd saved +his life, and he would make me his servant, and have me always about +him on shore or afloat; and when he got engaged to Miss Raymond, why, +mate, it was me that carried all the billy-doos back and fore, you +know. Sometimes I'd be ashore and off again twice in every watch. +Well, Mr. Merryweather, what with all the billing and cooing and +billy-doo-ing the commander and she got spliced at last. Ah! that +was a spree, I can tell you. And a sweet bonnie bride the charming +lady looked!" + +"Hush, hush, Bob; you're opening old sores." + +"Well, mate, the commander was nearly always on shore after this, and +our old captain--O'Hare was his name--told Bure one day straight to +his face that marriage made muffs of men, and spoiled 'em for the +service." + +"It was pretty nearly ten months after my good commander's marriage +that we hove up anchor and went off east to look out for some flighty +Frenchees, that were playin' fast and loose with our merchant ships +that scorned to go in convoys. I never saw anything in my life, +mate, so affecting-like as the parting atween the commander and his +young wife--she in tears and clinging to him, and he----, well, it +doesn't do to say that a sailor pipes his eyes, but la! sir, I was +glad when it was all over and our boat was speedin' away towards the +ship. + +"For six mortal months we kept our weather eyes open looking for the +Frenchee's cruisers, and then we came up with two. And--why they +must between the pair of them have carried twice our number of guns. + +"We crowded all sail, mate, put her dead afore the wind, and the race +began. We were running away though, and however the Frenchees didn't +see through the caper is more than I can tell. In less than half an +hour there was three-quarters of a mile betwixt the foremost Frenchee +and her consort. So we got ready for action without making any extra +fuss about it. Then we wore ship, and the captain of that foremost +frigate must have begun to scratch his head. Seems to me, Mr. +Merryweather, he knew just as much about navy tactics as a cow does +about chess. Presently she put about though, with signals flying to +her consort--signals of distress we called them. When near enough we +sent a round shot or two roaring through her rigging, but if the +Frenchee thought our game was to be a stand-off fight he was +miserably mistaken. Under one pretence or another, and always firing +another shot or two, we got far enough to windward to bear down on +her with a beam wind. Why we were near enough to shave her stern +almost when we raked her. I think her wheel and steersman must have +been blown up to the moon. Down went her mast, and before the +confusion was over we had tacked and filled, and come up on her port +quarter. Our master laid the _Ruffian_ aboard as prettily as you +please, and next minute we were on the Frenchman's decks. + +"It was hammer and tongs for a good five minutes, then, on a +blood-stained battle-deck, a smiling and bowing French officer gave +up his sword to our bold Commander Bure. + +"O'Hare complimented him when he returned on board. 'Marriage,' he +said, 'may make muffs of some men, but it hasn't taken the heart of +oak out of you, Bure.' + +"I must make a long story short, Mr. Merryweather, for it's two bells +if it's a tick. Almost the first man to board us when we got back to +Kingston harbour was Colonel Raymond himself. I knew the moment I +saw him that poor Mary, as my commander called her, was dead. But +I'll never forget the state of utter collapse--the doctor called it +that--I found Bure in when I entered his cabin. + +"'Oh, Bob, Bob,' he cried, 'My poor Mary! my poor Mary!' + +"He was weeping like a school-girl, the self-same hero that had +received the French commander's blood-stained sword. + +"For months Bure never laughed or smiled. His chief pleasure and +delight was to go on shore and play with or talk to his baby boy. + +"Well, mate, we stuck together all the commission, and did a bit o' +fighting too whenever we had the chance. To tell you the truth, +after poor Mrs. Bure had been dead about two years, there were only +just two situations in which you might have said the commander was +happy--one was when little Tom was brought on board by his nurse, and +the other when Bure had a sword in his hand, and was boarding a +frog-eating Frenchee. + +"But it was in a boat action that my dear commander received a shot +that, for the time being, seemed to have clean knocked the life out +of him, and--I do think even now--was the beginning of the end. He +lay in hospital on shore for a long time, three months I think, and +it wasn't till the end of that time that the doctors found the +bullet. The beggarly thing had entered his shoulder in front, and +instead o' lodging there as a respectable bullet ought, it must go on +a cruise on its own hook, and was finally fished out of the poor +fellow's side. + +"'Bob,' he said to me one day, sometime after this, 'they are going +to send me home with a batch of invalids in convoy. I'm not sorry +for my little lad's sake, but, mind you, I don't think I'm going to +weather this illness.' + +"I tried to laugh away his fears, but he stopped me. + +"'Belay that, Bob!' he said, or words to that effect, 'and listen. I +like you, Bob, because you're a good, faithful fellow.' + +"I felt ashamed like when he told me that, and maybe he noticed it, +for he spoke up. + +"'Oh, yes, you have been faithful to me, Bob, and you love my little +chap Tom. Well, Bob, I'm not saying that I can't weather this, the +doctor says I may; but just for the present, imagine that you're +listening to the words of a dying man. You're like myself, Bob, a +Norfolk man, and, singularly enough, you come from the very coast +where relations of mine have estates that might--mind you, Bob, I +only say might--eventually belong to my little fellow. But--are you +listening, Bob?' + +"'That I am, heartily, sir,' I replied. + +"'Well, Bob, my cousin, who owned these estates, is dead, only a +month ago. He leaves behind him a son some years older than Tom, and +a baby daughter. Now this baby daughter doesn't count, the son is +the owner, and the mother, who loves me, Bob, about as a much as a +Frenchman loves red-hot shot, holds the estates in his behalf. I +hear the lad is sickly, and if anything happened to him I'd come in, +if alive, and if dead, my little Tom. If there was no little Tom, +Bob, the estates would pass to her ladyship's male relations, second +cousins of mine and hers, for there has been marrying and +inter-marrying, Bob.' + +"'Well, sir?' + +"'Well, Bob, you see that box?' + +"'Yes, sir.' + +"'Look to that, Bob, if I should die. Take it with you to your +brother's house when you go there. If your brother is half as good +as you, Bob----' + +"'He's twice as good, sir,' I cried. + +"'You and he will take it to my Yarmouth bankers, and they will keep +it safe for Tom.' + +"He held out his hand--a thin white one it was--and I gave him mine +with a heave O! and a hearty O! and the compact was made. + +"'About little Tom, here,' he said after a pause. 'I don't want him +to be a sailor you know, but if he wants to be--why he must be.' + +"'And his friends and relations, sir?' I made bold to ask. + +"The commander laughed bitterly. + +"'Friends, he has none,' he replied, 'except his father, you Bob, and +perhaps your brother.' + +"'Well, sir,' I said, 'I hope it won't come to that.' + +"'Hush! Bob, hush!' he said, 'It is our duty in this world to be +always prepared for the unseen.' + +"Well, Mr. Merryweather, I thought my poor commander was much better +after this. So indeed he told me. 'I've relieved my mind, Bob,' he +said, 'and the doctors have relieved my body.'" + +"After this he would chat with me for an hour at a time, about the +quiet and happy life he meant to lead on shore with his little son. +How they would shoot and fish on the broads throughout all the long +summer days, and how they'd live in a pretty little cottage in the +land o' poppies, all surrounded by gardens and shrubberies, and how +he himself would attend to the boy's education, and try to make a man +of him, fit to take his place in the battle of life, whether that +battle was to be fought on shore or on the deep blue sea. + +"Our voyage home in convoy was a long but not very eventful one. It +was long because the fleet o' merchantmen guarded by the convoys was +a very big one, and some kept dropping behind, or getting lost, and +as there was always, or nearly always, a Frenchman or two hovering +like hawks about us, we had to be cautious I can tell you. + +"But long before we reached the Downs little Tom had received his +baptism o' the briny, there wasn't a doubt about it. He was the pet +of the ship, he was dressed like a little tar, and looked it all +over. I only wonder he never tumbled overboard, for I've seen the +young nipper half-way up to the maintop, and nobody near him. + +"One day he told his father on the quarter-deck that he was going to +be 'a sailor man, and nuffin else, and fight the Flenchman for his +king and country O!' + +"I daresay some of the blue-jackets had piped this into him, but his +father looked about to where I was standing laughing--I couldn't help +it--and said, 'Ah, Bob, I'm afraid it's born in him.' + +"'I'm afraid so too,' I said, and his father kind o' sighed, but +didn't say any more. + +"We got into the Downs at last safe and sound, and lay there +wind-bound for a fortnight. But at last we got just the breeze we +were waiting for, and slipped away past the North Foreland, and in a +day or so more our ship was safe in dock. + +"I wrote to brother Dan here, and told him my master and myself would +start for Yarmouth within a week in the saucy _Polly Ann_. + +"But there, now, Dan will tell you the rest, but just stick my pipe +in my mouth first, Dan.'" + +Dan cleared his throat, lit Bob's pipe, and sat down near his bed to +hold it for the poor helpless fellow, while he himself continued the +yarn. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A MOUNTAIN WAVE COMES SWELLING OVER THE SANDS. + + "His form was of the manliest beauty, + His heart was kind and soft; + Faithful below he did his duty, + But now he's gone aloft."--DIBDIN. + + +"When I heard," said Dan Brundell, "that there was a brig ashore on +the tail of the Gorton Sands, I had no more notion that it was Bob's +_Polly Ann_ than I have o' what the weather will be this day month. +I'd been down with some oars Gorton ways, and I met old Ashley while +returning. + +"Would I volunteer, he said, to go in the _Fairy_; one of his sons +was from home, and we might, he said, pick up a bit o' salvage, as +well as flotsom. + +"'She's hard and fast now,' he says, 'but is bound to break up.' + +"So I thought too, when I embarked, for it was blowing 56-pounders, +and a heavy sea tearing in from the east. It was the heavy, tearing +sea that did it. 'Fore we had got well abreast o' the Gorton Tail, +we could see in the bright moonlight the dark hull o' the brig, both +masts snapped short off, lifting and falling in the jaws of the +foaming seas like a creature in agony. + +"'She can't stand it for half-an-hour," said Ashley; 'and what's +more, Dan, we can't get anyw'eres near her. There'll be widows +a-weeping to-morrow mornin', mate, at old Yarmouth docks.' + +"But what we saw next astonished Ashley himself, though, man and boy, +he'd been on the water all his life. It was a mountain sea coming +swelling over the sands and swallowing everything up before it, and +lo! sir, in a minute more, there was the dark hull of that brig being +borne bodily toward us.' + +"What happened after this I can't well describe, bein' as how I'm +slow o' speech like, but in half-an-hour all the beach for a mile and +more, was strewn wi' wreck, and many a body was washed in on the surf +and left dead, or for dead, on the sands. But lawk! sir, you could +have knocked me down with a sledge-hammer when, on turning over one +of these bodies, I found it was poor Bob yonder, and no one else." + +"He had a small deed-box alongside him, with a piece o' manilla round +it. He had come ashore with this. I didn't doubt that, even then. + +"At first I thought him dead. But he soon opened his eyes and spoke. + +"'Haul me high and dry,' he said, 'high and dry, dear brother, for I +can't move. It isn't drowned I am at all. It's a stroke, Dan; a +stroke." + +"This was a sad sort of a meeting 'twixt two brothers that had always +loved each other same as Bob and me has, and for the life of me I +couldn't have spoken then, no, never a word. I tried to swallow back +my grief and tears, as it were, and lifted the lad right up in my +arms, and carried him away beyond the reach o' the raging surf, and +there I laid him down. I knelt beside him there in the pale +moonlight. I cared for nothing nor nobody just then, but only Bob. +I noticed though, that his eyes and head were turned wistful-like +towards the boiling sea. + +"'Dan,' he said, 'bring the box and put it close by me. Thanks, dear +Dan; you were always good. Now go at once, Dan, and look for Captain +Bure and his little boy.' It wasn't long either 'fore I found 'em. +The poor little tot of a chap with long, silken hair, and bonnie +black eyes, was weeping and wailing over his father. + +"'Oh, sailor man,' he said to me, 'poor pa! poor pa! He's deaded! +he's deaded!' + +"'No, no, my little man,' I answered. 'Your father isn't dead.' So +I hurried away and got the gentlemen into the cave. Gentle and +simple, dead and maimed and living, they all lay there, with the cold +moonbeams glinting in through the doorway, and struggling like wi' +the yellow rays of the whale oil lamp. + +"In two hours' time the doctor had come, and we--the living +ones--began to gain hope and courage. + +"The good man did all he could for everybody, and next day Captain +Bure, with his little boy Tom--yes, Tom that has just gone to turn +in--and poor Bob, were fetched in the boat waggon to our cottage +here. The captain was soon able to get about, but Bob lay quiet +enough, and never yet has he lifted hand or foot. + +"But it wasn't a stroke, the doctor said, not of the 'pplexy, anyhow. +'More likely,' he said, 'it's been a stroke with a floating spar, and +the neck is injured right smart.' + +"Well, sir, it would have done your heart good to have seen how kind +and attentive the captain was to Bob. 'He's been my nurse many's the +time,' he said, 'and now, Mr. Dan, it's my turn.' + +"But all the time I could see as plain's I see the moon shining on +the curtains yonder, that the poor captain himself would soon be +under the daisies and grass." + +"One morning, says the gentleman to me smiling-like, 'I'm going to +charter your boat-waggon to-day, Dan, if you'll come with me to +Yarmouth, and young Tom'll stop with Bob till we return.' + +"It was a lovely day, sir, with the birds all singing as if their +hearts were swelling with the joy that was in them, and their +feelings had to find vent somewhere in song, or in lofty flight. So +we drove round by the big hill on the broad. + +"I could see the captain meant to make a day of it, and so I drove +slow. + +"When I came near the hall and the pretty grounds and the swaying +trees and rookeries and things, he told me to drive slower still, +that he might enjoy every thing, and all the beauties of nature +around him. But la! sir, I was surprised to see him so white and +pale like. At last he said, 'Drive on now, Dan as fast ye like.' He +was still white and ghastly-like, though, so I jumped down at a pub +and got a tot of rum. I took a sip myself, more for fashion sake +like, and made him swallow the rest. + +"He was better all day after that; but I remember he laughed once or +twice as he told me his feet were so cold. 'Seems funny,' he said, +'on so fine a day.' + +"I didn't answer much. I knew well there wasn't a deal of fun in it. + +"We had that deed-box with us, and we went into the bank. We left +the box there, and had a long talk with the banker. Leastways, +Captain Bure had. + +"Then he turned to me, and laughed again. + +"'My good Dan,' he said, 'if the cold of my feet gets higher up and +goes round the heart----' + +"The tears sprang to my silly eyes, sir. + +"'Oh, sir!' I cried, 'don't talk so, it grieves me to hear it.' + +"'There are times,' he said, 'when men must talk straight. Now, I've +known your brother so long, Dan, and heard so much about you, that I +want you to be a father to little Tom--if----' + +"'I know, sir!' I cried. 'Don't repeat it. My wife and I have +neither chick nor child savin' little Ruth. We'll see to Tom.' + +"He clasped my hand. + +"'Mr. Mackay,' he said, 'has full instructions, and enough money of +mine to give Tom bite and sup, and a good education. Come, Dan, and +we'll buy some comforts for poor Bob.' + +* * * * * + +"I am not sure," continued Dan, after a pause, "if that isn't all the +story." + +"Not quite," said Mr. Merryweather. "There is the death of Captain +Bure, you know." + +"Ah, sir, we won't speak of that. It happened soon; and he lies in a +quiet corner of the great churchyard at Yarmouth. Little Tom and I +go there one Sunday every month to put flowers upon the grave." + +The honest boat-builder ceased talking and lit his pipe. + +"Dear droll little Tom," he added a moment after, "he does say such +queer things. Maybe other folks wouldn't notice 'em, but I do. +'It's only pa's body that lies here, you know, daddy,' he said to me +two Sundays ago, 'his soul has gone up to the clouds to live, hasn't +it?' + +"I didn't speak for a minute, I was thinkin' o' the words of that +song, sir-- + + 'For though his body's under hatches, + His soul has gone aloft.' + + +"The little chap sat down beside the grave and arranged the flowers, +then smoothed all the long grass out straight as if it had been hair. +He took my hand after that, and we walked quietly and silently away. + +"'Pa,' he said afterwards, 'is only afraid I'll be drowned if I go to +sea. But I think he'll be pleased when I am a sailor all the same.' + +"No, Tom never looks upon his father as really dead, you know. + +"Mr. Curtiss is our curate, and he is Tom's tutor, though Bob there +teaches him a lot, and has pretty nearly made a sailor of him +already. And I'm sure I cannot blame poor Bob----for----" + +Dan paused now, and held up his forefinger warningly, while his eyes +rested on his brother's face. He took the pipe away and shifted the +light, for the invalid was fast asleep. Then he went silently away +on tip-toe, and Mr. Merryweather followed him, with just one +good-night glance at the sleeping form of his old shipmate, Bob. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SUMMER MORNING ON A NORFOLK BROAD. + + "The coot was swimming in the reedy pond, + Beside the water-hen so soon affrighted; + And in the weedy moat the heron, fond + Of solitude, alighted. + + "The moping heron, motionless and stiff, + That on a stone as silently and stilly + Stood, an apparent sentinel, as if + To guard the water lily."--TOM HOOD. + + +Our little hero, Tom, was early astir next morning. In fact he was +up with the lark. High up, too; for his first act, after sluicing +his sleepy face in a bucket of water, and drying off with a rough +brown towel, was to swarm up into the crow's nest and have a look +around. + +The morning was bright and clear, and the beach was swarming with +country people; but there was no sign of the government vessel or of +the yawl she had gone in pursuit of. Not content with scanning the +horizon from the crow's nest, Tom must needs climb up as high as the +cross-trees, and take observations from that coign of vantage. + +The wind had gone down to the gentlest breeze, but a heavy sea still +rolled over the sands, and broke in white surging waves upon the +beach. From where he stood, or rather hung, Tom could easily hear +the boom or roar of each mountain breaker, keeping up a kind of deep +bass to the screaming of the sea birds that floated near him. + +The sun had only just risen, and was flooding the ocean with a +strange yellow light, while bars of silvery and crimson clouds lay +parallel with the horizon, even far away to the west. + +It was indeed a lovely morning, one to make a person feel as light +and happy as the birds that sang in every bush or thicket. But +nevertheless a wave of sadness passed over the boy's heart as he +thought of the drowned men who lay so quiet and still upon the sands +out yonder, and of their friends and relations who were left to mourn. + +It somehow seemed to Tom unnatural that so much of sorrow should +mingle with the gladsomeness of this sunny summer's day. He had yet +to learn that all the world and all our lives are made up of light +and shade, and that even in the midst of life we are in death. + +But as he walked homeward now over the rustic bridge, he checked the +song that rose to his lips. He would not sing, with dead men lying +unburied on the sands of Yare. + +* * * * * + +It seemed to Tom that this morning would take a long, long time to +pass by. He got his books, and went with Meg to the little +summer-house by the lake, and tried hard to settle down to the tasks +Mr. Curtiss, his kindly tutor, had set him to perform. But all in +vain; so he left the books on the garden seat, putting a stone over +them lest a spiteful puff of wind might blow the leaves about. Then +"Come on, Meg," he cried, "we'll go for a row." + +"Wouff--ff," barked Meg, and away they went. + +For a boy of his years Tom was wonderfully well developed, and when +he stripped off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, the white +forearm he showed seemed as hard and round as the backstay of a +gun-brig. + +Meg sat forward in the bows of the little boat, with her forelegs +leaning over the gunwale that she might bark at the fish and the +birds, and make brave pretence that she meant to jump over and catch +them. + +By-and-by Tom came to a winding worm of a stream or lead that he had +some difficulty in navigating his craft through, but he managed at +last, and soon found himself afloat in one of the most beautiful of +all the Norfolk broads. + +The lake was a deep one, and not only plentifully encircled with +tall, reedy bulrushes, but in many places lined with "wild woods +thickening green," and banks whereon grew the most lovely of wild +flowers. Tom paused often that he might inhale the early-morning +perfume of these wildlings of nature, and watch the movements of the +numerous birds that had their homes on this peaceful broad. + +And not a bird is there among them all that seems very much afraid of +the boy in his little boat or of Meg either. Perhaps the birds know +Tom, for wild creatures are very observant, and know too that neither +he nor that gentle-faced collie will do them any harm. Indeed Meg +has dropped her bonnie head upon her paws, and appears to have gone +fast asleep. + +The sky above is very blue, albeit a fleece-white cloud is floating +here and there, and the waters of this still lake are very dark, yet +clear. How richly, softly green is the foliage on yon cloudland of +trees, how tender the tints of verdure on the rustling, whispering +reeds. Look at the pink on that flowering rush, to which a +reed-warbler is clinging as it sings its low, sweet lilt. Only for a +few moments does it cling there, however. It is far too busy to +spend all the morning in song, for the pretty thing has a grass +hammock of a nest swung between some reeds close to the bank. No boy +in the neighbourhood knows where that nest is save Tom, and he won't +touch it, but he marvels while he admires the freak of nature that +has almost surrounded the birdie's hammock with the bells of the pink +convolvulus. + +Hark! there is a nightingale trilling its heaven-taught song in a +thicket not many yards away. How sharp and clear is every note, and +yet how pathetic and mournful are the lower ones! But presently the +bird ceases to sing, for he too has a mate sitting close at the foot +of a bush in a nest so artfully disguised as hardly to be discerned, +and this little mate needs her breakfast of succulent slugs and +beetles. + +"Cheeky--cheeky--chee--chee--chee," sings the sedge bird, who has far +too much to say, and instead of listening reverently to the song of +the nightingale, the thrush, or the blackbird, must needs put his oar +in and throw harmony quite out of joint. But there are many other +birds that do the same, for each and all sing for their own mates +only. + +Very quietly now glides Tom's little boat; very still the boy sits +too, fascinated as it would seem by the beauty of his surroundings, +and as if afraid to disturb the privacy of the lovely feathered +creatures whose home he has invaded. + +He almost holds his breath as a pair of dark-plumaged coots with +white brows go quietly sailing past ahead of him, gazing at him with +their expressive beads of eyes, but ready to start off at the +slightest movement on his part. A little way farther on are a family +of charming water-hens, that go paddling and nodding on across the +deep dark water, so intent on their own business that hardly do they +notice the slowly-gliding boat. + +But Meg lifts her head to look about her and take her bearings, and +off scurry the coots; the water-hens too take alarm, and in a moment +more all have sought the shelter of the whispering reeds. + +More birds take the alarm here and there among the sedges; and in the +water there is plashing and whirring and diving, while, uttering a +sound that is partly a croak and partly a cry, a great heron, that +had previously been standing as still as a statue on the edge of a +bank, goes sailing away high in air. + +Tom lies on his oars now, and in a few minutes peace and repose is +once more restored to the reed-bound brood. + +"Meg," says Tom quietly, "you just go to sleep there please, or at +least pretend to." + +Meg shuts one eye and gives one little wag of her tail, and the boat +forges slowly ahead. Tom pulls more in towards the edge now, where +the flat round leaves of the water lilies are floating, with flowers +snow-white or brilliant yellow just appearing, where the flowering +ash blooms prettily, and the orange iris shows against the fresh +green of young reeds. + +Though it is very early in the morning, the sun is gaining power, and +busy among the gnats and midges that dance over the water and over +the whispering reeds, filling the air with their dreamy humming, flit +and fly the swallows and martins. They even touch the surface at +times, long enough to drink or have a little bath, then off and away +again, like chips of lightning with the sunlight on their wings. + +Tom lands at last among soft green moss, among many a budding alder, +many a silvery drooping, dwarf birch-tree, and many a feathery fern. +He warns Meg that she is not to follow, but only lie and watch, while +he goes wading over the marsh. Oh, what beauty and loveliness on +every side! Oh, what a wealth of wild flowers! Yonder is a bush of +yellow furze, and a rose-linnet's nest is there. The cosy wee mother +sits still on the eggs even when Tom peeps in under her scented +golden roof-tree, but the cock-bird that erst sang so sweetly on that +bush of sallow changes his notes to a peevish cry of alarm. + +Not a nest of any kind of bird that Tom does not know where to seek +and find; the titlark's and skylark's near tussocks; the yellow +bunting's in the low, close thorn or bank; the sedge-bird's, with its +warm wee eggs and even nests of snipe, and coot, and teal--all are +known to him, but all are sacred. + +The boy spends fully an hour roaming around here; but, getting very +hungry, he begins to retrace his steps at last, yet not before he has +culled a bouquet of the choicest wild flowers, the flowers that uncle +Bob loves best. + +In his way back to the boat Tom goes round by a patch of woodland, a +closely-planted thicket of pines, the tasselled larch, the +dark-nodding fir, and the sombre spruce, each branch of the latter +bedecked with points of tenderest green. He has to pass a reedy +pond, when, as he stoops to gather some pink silenes, he startles a +wild duck that with outstretched wings goes whirring over the water; +there is a wagtail nodding to him on the opposite bank. High in the +air the skylark sings, from bushes near come the babbling notes of +sedgelings, and soaring over the marsh he can just distinguish a +mire-snipe, its intermittent cries sounding like bleating of a goat. +He crosses a green bog that moves and heaves under his footsteps, as +if ocean waves were all beneath. And now he enters the thicket, and +a different kind of bird-song falls on his listening ear--the mellow +notes of the blackbird, the sweet wild lilt of the chaffinch, the +mocking voice of the mavis, and the low mournful love-croodle of the +cushat. + +Tom walks through this woodland as solemnly as if he were in church. +He is almost awed by all the beauty and loveliness he sees around +him, and actually sighs as he stands once more in the open, with the +waters of the reedy broad spread out before him like a mirror, and +only the blue unfathomable sky above. He reaches the boat at last. + +The boat is there right enough, the painter tied to the alder bush +just as he left it, but Meg has gone. While he is wondering what +could have induced her to leave her post, he hears her glad bark in +the distance, and next minute she comes bounding over the marsh +towards him. + +But not alone, for behind her, laden with a huge and +sadly-disorganised bunch or wisp of wild flowers, comes a little +blue-eyed lassie. So large are her eyes, so small her rosebud of a +mouth, that, with her hair all afloat behind her as she runs, she +might easily be mistaken for the good fairy of this flowery marsh. + +"Oh, Tom," she cries, "I'm so glad you've come'd!" + +"But, dear me, Bertha, what _are_ you doing here so early?" + +One of Bertha's legs is clothed in a pure white woollen stocking, the +foot encased in a buckled shoe; the other leg, which, laughing +roguishly, she extends for Tom's inspection, is clad in black, slimy +mud up to the knee, and the shoe is gone. + +"Such fun," she says, panting a little. "You know, Tom, I'se been +nearly dwownded. And I screamed, and Meg come running; but I'se lost +my shoe, and perhaps ma will punish me--perhaps not, 'cause she loves +Bertha--sometimes." + +"But I'm lost," she added, "and where my home is _I_ don't know." + +"Well, Bertha," said Tom, looking very old and serious, "I love you +always, you know. And when I grow a big rich man, with a cocked-hat +and a sword, I'll perhaps marry you--if you are good, that is." + +Bertha shook her yellow hair rebelliously. + +"Oh, I can't be always good," she said. "It wouldn't be fun at all, +Tom." + +"Well, jump in, Bertha, and Meg and I will take you right to your own +grounds." + +Bertha was happy now, and soon began to sing a little song to herself +and Meg. + +With the thoughts of the shipwreck on her mind, somehow the child's +singing jarred on the boy's feelings. + +"Bertha," he said, "there was an awful thing happened last night! A +brig was knocked to pieces on the Gorton Sands, and the dead sailors +are all lying on the beach." + +"Well, silly Tom," cried Bertha, laughing, "it isn't my fault." + +Tom didn't know what to reply to this, and Bertha commenced to sing +again. + +But the boy and this little light-minded maiden were very old friends +indeed. For Tom was a favourite with Lady Colmore, and was +frequently invited to the Hall, when her ladyship was there, which +she usually was during the summer and autumn, spending most of the +winter and spring in the south of England, where her son was at +college. + +Tom was a gentlemanly boy, and Mr. Curtiss had informed Lady Colmore +that there was some strange mystery about his birth, which, however, +even he was not altogether acquainted with, though it was in some way +connected with a Jamaica marriage. But this was quite enough. A boy +of manly bearing, and big dark eyes, evidently of gentle birth, heir, +when of age--as she had heard--to a large fortune, and with a +mystery, was a very interesting character indeed, despite the +additional surmise that his mother might have been a Creole or +half-caste. + +Bertha sprang lightly on shore when the boat was rowed alongside the +bank. + +"Good-bye, Tom," she cried. "After breakfast me and Brown'll bring +the strawberries to your Uncle Bob, and then we can all go and see +the rows upon rows of dead men. Such fun! Good-bye." + +Next minute Bertha, with her yellow hair and shoeless foot, had +disappeared, and Tom, after a moment or two of thoughtfulness, made +all haste back home. + +In half-an-hour, or a little over, he had once more moored his boat. +Then he hurried away aloft again to scan the horizon. + +Yes, yonder was the sloop--the something naughty in disguise--she was +tacking slowly up to windward, still about seven or eight miles off, +and there was no yawl near her, so she had not won the race. + +This was news to carry to Captain Merryweather, anyhow. + +He found that bluff, good-natured sailor walking about on the gravel +path smoking, early though it still was. + +"Oh," said Tom, saluting him military fashion, "I'm so sorry to bring +you bad news, sir." + +"Bad news, youngster? What is it?" + +"Well, your sloop, sir--if she _be_ a sloop, sir--is in sight, and +she hasn't caught the yawl!" + +"Ah, never mind, Tom! Better luck next." + +"Yes, sir," said Tom. "I hadn't thought of that, sir." + +Ruth now came blushing and smiling to call the captain to breakfast, +and he gallantly took her hand and led her back to the cottage. + +They breakfasted in Uncle Bob's wing, so that he might join in the +conversation. + +And breakfast was not long over when Bertha and her maid Brown came +in with that basket of beautiful strawberries for Uncle Bob. + +"What a charming little lady!" said Merryweather, who had been +looking at Bertha. Like most sailors, he was fond of children. +"Come hither, dear, and talk to me." + +Bertha seemed used to obey, for she came at once, and stood demurely +by his side. This pensiveness of hers, however, did not last long. +She and the captain were soon the best of friends, and he on his part +hardly knew which to admire most, her beauty or her candour. + +"Do you know," he said laughing, "you are very pretty, Bertha?" + +"Oh, yes!" she answered, her head a little on one side, "I know well +enough, but mamma says people are not to tell me so." + +"Why, dear?" + +"Cause it spoils me, of course." + +"Ma doesn't spoil me. No! Everybody else spoils me, though." + +Then she noticed the scar on Merryweather's brow, and touched it +tenderly with her little forefinger. + +"Have you been fighting with the cat?" she asked innocently. + +"Yes, dear; a big disagreeable old cat." + +Seeing her gazing admiringly at the big bunch of seals that dangled +from his fob, he pulled out his gold watch and placed the whole in +her lap. + +"Is all this yours?" she asked wonderingly. + +"Yes, _petite_." + +"Your own _own_ yours?" + +"Yes, my own own." + +"And your mamma doesn't take them away, and say, 'By-and-by, dear, +when you're grown up'?" + +"No, my mamma lets me do as I like." + +"How lovely!" She was examining the seals. + +"They shall be all yours," said the captain, "all your own _own_ +yours, if you marry me." + +"All my own own mine?" Her eyes were bigger now than ever. + +"Yes, dear." + +"You see," she said thoughtfully, "I'se goin' to marry Tom; and you +is not so pretty as Tom." + +"No, he certainly has the advantage of me in good looks; but then I +have so many nice things that Tom hasn't, you know." + +"Yes, and you spoil me. Tom doesn't." + +"I daresay," she added after a pause, "I mustn't marry both." + +"Oh, no! that wouldn't be allowed in this country; you must decide to +have me or Tom." + +She looked at Tom, and she looked at the jewels. + +"I think," she said at last, "I must marry you, and poor Tom can +marry Brown." + +"Hurrah!" cried Merryweather. "What a perfect little woman it is! +Tom, you're jilted. Now, Bertha, get on my back, and we'll go off +out into the sunshine and spend our honeymoon." + +And away they went galloping and rollicking round the garden paths, +and it was evident, from the shouts of merry laughter, that Bertha +thought very little of her discarded lover. + +"Now," she cried at last, "let us all go and see the lovely dead men, +all in rows and rows. Hoor-ay!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE LAUNCH OF THE "QUEEN OF THE BROADS." + +The men saved from the wreck of the brig on the Gorton sands were +dealt with in a very summary way indeed. They were Englishmen all, +and were told by Merryweather that if they chose to "volunteer" into +the service of the King and serve in the Royal Navy, they should +receive a free pardon; but if not, they must stand the consequences. + +Four of the smuggler-sailors volunteered at once and cheerfully. The +fifth was the redoubtable skipper of the brig, a dark-haired, +eagle-eyed little fellow, little as to stature, but of powerful +build, and a Welshman by birth. + +"I refuse," he cried, "to serve your King of England. He is not a +man, but a baboon!" + +The words were scarcely out of his mouth before Merryweather struck +him straight from the shoulder, and down he rolled on the sand. + +[Illustration: "Merryweather struck him straight from the shoulder, +and down he rolled on the sand."] + +He got up, scowling at the lieutenant, and wiping the blood and sand +from his face. + +"Coward!" he hissed, "to treat a prisoner so. But faugh! it was +always the way with the lily-livered Saxon. See!" he added, "you +daren't do it, but for the gold swab on your shoulder, the sword by +your side, and your hired assassins around you." + +Off went Merryweather's coat and his sword. He flung them to Dan +Brundell, who was standing scratching his head and looking very +puzzled. + +"These good fellows," he said, "will see fair play between us. I am +no longer lieutenant in the King's service, but plain Jack +Merryweather. Stand forth, David Jones, and see how soundly a Saxon +can thrash a Welshman." + +Jones sprang upon the lieutenant almost before he had finished the +sentence. + + "Like mountain cat that guards its young, + Full at the Saxon's throat he sprung." + + +That Welshman had arms like a gorilla, and Merryweather was all but +strangled before he got clear away. + +"Keep out of grips," shouted his own men. "Fight fair, skipper, and +good luck to you." + +He didn't mean to fight fair, however, if he could help it; but +Merryweather got in one with his left and, figuratively speaking, +knocked his man clean over the ropes. The Welshman never had another +chance. He was no sooner up than down again. Embracing the soft +sands didn't hurt him, it is true; but Merryweather's fists were +rapidly making a mummy of him. + +"I cave in," he cried at last. + +"That isn't enough. Do you volunteer?" + +"I do, sir," said Jones. "I've never met a harder-fisted Saxon in my +life. Shake hands, Englishman. I volunteer on one condition." + +Merryweather began to spar again. + +"No more, thanks," said Jones, smiling grimly. "I want to serve in +your ship when you go to fight the French. I want to be with a brave +man. That is the condition." + +"Granted," said Merryweather, coolly putting on his coat, "and I +won't forget it." + +"Neither will I," murmured David Jones; but no one heard him except +Tom. + +And just at that moment a bright idea occurred to young Tom. Why +shouldn't he also sail with Merryweather? He determined to broach it +to the kindly officer as soon as he had an opportunity, and it was +not many weeks before this opportunity came. + +All haste was now made to ship the prisoners. Prisoners now no +longer, but brave "volunteers." The sloop had quietly dropped anchor +at the very time the fight was going on between her commander and the +skipper of the wrecked brig. + +Before embarking Merryweather shook hands with Dan and Ashley, +thanking them most heartily for their hospitality. Then he shook +hands with Tom. + +"Good-bye, youngster," he said; "but just take my advice. Don't be a +sailor. Stay at home and plough the fields; be an honest fisherman, +be a gardener, a hedger, or ditcher; but don't come to sea." + +Young Tom was astonished at his own boldness as he made reply: "I +shan't be a ditcher, nor a hedger, nor a gardener, nor a fisherman, +and I shan't plough the fields; but I shall plough the sea." + +Merryweather laughed as he leapt into his boat. He waved his hand +again, then away he went, leaving the people to bury the dead, and +pick up the spoils of the wreck as their reward. + +* * * * * + +Tom went off to school that day as usual, though he was very late. +But Mr. Curtiss forgave him. Yet somehow he could not fix his +attention upon either his books or his sums; and probably, therefore, +the curate was just as glad when lessons were over as the boy was. +He went home more slowly than usual, and less joyfully. He kept +kicking the pebbles as he marched along the road, a sure sign he was +deep in thought, and the first words he said to Uncle Bob on his +return were these, "I wonder if ever Captain Merryweather will come +again?" + +"He is sure to, my lad. He said he would call and see us. Besides, +he has an old shipmate not a great way off." + +"What, another old shipmate as well as you, Uncle Bob?" + +"Why, bless your dear heart, boy, I was only a man before the mast +when in the same craft with Mate Merryweather, but since that time +he's been in many a ship; kicked about like a wet swab. No, Tom, his +friend is an officer and gentleman." + +"Where does he live, and what is his name?" + +"He lives, my lad, at Wells, or rather near it, at his old father's +parsonage at Burnham Thorpe." + +"And with his mother, Uncle Bob?" + +"His mother is dead, long, long ago, lad." + +"Is he as tall and pretty as Mr. Merryweather?" + +"What droll questions you ask, Tom. But I have never seen Mr. +Merryweather's friend. But I am told that he is but a little man, +and very delicate in health." + +"Oh! then he isn't a hero like brave Captain Merryweather. Oh, +uncle, you should have seen how he fought the skipper of the brig; +and Mr. Jones didn't know where to hit, and his nose and mouth were +all blood and sand. I'd like to be a hero like the captain. What is +the little man's name?" + +"Horatio Nelson, lad." + +"Oh!" said Tom. "It isn't much of a name, is it?" + +But from that moment this strange boy seemed to regain his wonted +spirits. He had something to live for. His hero, Captain +Merryweather, who thrashed the Welshman, was coming back. Hooray! +and he should count the weeks and days till he returned. So he went +about his studies more energetically now, only one day he told Mr. +Curtiss that he must teach him all he knew about navigation, because +a sailor he meant to be and nothing else. + +All that Mr. Curtiss _didn't_ know about navigation would have filled +a big book, only he was a right good fellow, and determined that he +should at least teach his little pupil the history of the British +navy, and the geography of the world. And I may as well say here, +that these subjects proved of great present interest to Tom, and of +future utility also. + +* * * * * + +It was about this period of young Tom's career that Daddy Dan +completed a project he had long had in view, to give his poor brother +Bob a little more interest and pleasure in life. Dan, it should be +remembered, was a very hard-working man, and seldom either idle or +laid up, so that the building of a private barge for Bob was work +that he could not keep steady at. Rome, however, was not built in +one day. Indeed, I question if that ancient city was completed in +two. But "every little helps the mickle" you know, reader, and it is +surprising what a deal one can do by degrees, and day by day. So in +the merry month of June, much to Bob's joy and Tom's delight, the +barge, _Queen of the Broads_, was all finished and ready for +launching. + +Little saucy Bertha, who had made it all up again with Tom, came with +her maid Brown to the cottage to christen the barge with a bottle of +gooseberry wine and she--the ship I mean--left the slips in grand +style and took the water like a duck, amidst the wild huzzas and +hoorays of the children and the neighbours, who had gathered from all +quarters to behold the ceremony. + +The _Queen of the Broads_ was nothing much to look at, she was square +in bows and square in stern, with no freeboard to speak of; in fact +she was a kind of punt, but so constructed that Uncle Bob's +low-wheeled cot could be run on board and on shore with the greatest +ease, and without the slightest danger. She had a bit of a mast +forward, and a little yawl mast aft, where there was room enough for +quite a party. Moreover the barge was provided with oars and punting +poles, so it must be confessed she was pretty complete upon the whole. + +Well, after the barge herself was launched, Bob's cot was launched on +board of her, and everything passed off so beautifully and +"lovelily," as Bertha put it, that once more wild huzzas rose from +the assembled multitude, and Meg, barking and frantic with joy, +jumped on board, and took her place in the bows, just like a +Christian. + +Old Daddy Dan was so gratified that he couldn't speak for some time +after the cot was successfully run on board. He just stood smiling +and scratching his head. + +Then everybody gathered round him and shook hands, and wished him so +many good wishes that the tears rose to his eyes, and he had to +swallow a big lump in his throat before he could make any adequate +reply. + +But the day was fine, with a gentle breeze rippling the broad, and +whispering softly among the reeds, and so with Dan at the helm sail +was hoisted, and the barge glided silently away into the open water. + +This was but a trial trip, but it was a very successful one; +everybody, including Bertha and Meg, returned happy and hungry, and +Mrs. Brundell and Ruth, met them on the quay. + +Somebody else as well. You see it never rains but it pours, and +'there, sure enough, with one arm round Ruth's waist, as gallantly as +you please, and waving his cocked-hat in the air with the other, +stood the bold Captain Merryweather himself. + +You may be sure Tom was glad to see him, and took no pains to hide +his joy either, for his eyes sparkled like farthing candles, and he +turned as red as a ripe tomato with perfect joy. + +Merryweather's "ship" was in the bay, and she had a consort this +time, no other than the smuggling yawl, which it had taken him a +whole fortnight to chase and secure. So the gallant officer had +secured not only prize money, but several new "volunteers" for the +Royal Navy. No wonder therefore that he was merry, or that the +dinner which was partaken of on the lawn was--as the lieutenant +himself phrased it--one of the pleasantest meals he had ever partaken +of, either on board ship or on shore. + +After dinner Tom volunteered to row Bertha and her maid home across +the broads. But the child stipulated that Captain Merryweather +should come also, and although this was a heavy cargo for the little +boat, Tom was very glad indeed to have his hero on board. + +Bertha had arranged her flirtations on a basis that was eminently +satisfactory from her own point of view. When Mr. Merryweather was +away at sea Tom was to have her company, and as much of her affection +as could be spared from her pets and playthings; but whenever the +captain should arrive, then Tom was to be, for the time being, thrown +overboard. + +And with this arrangement Tom was obliged to be content. + +Well, Mr. Merryweather, much to the boy's sorrow, went off that very +night, but promised that he would return in about a fortnight, and +then--if Mr. Curtiss would spare him--would take Tom with him for a +trip to Wells to see + +HORATIO NELSON. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +"STAY AT HOME, MY LAD, AND PLANT CABBAGES." + + "The Yarmouth Roads are right ahead, + The crew with ardour burning; + Jack sings out, as he heaves the lead, + On tack and half-tack turning, + 'By the d'p eleven!'"--DIBDIN. + + +It is just one hundred years to-day--June 25th, 1892--since Tom +started off with his friend Merryweather in the saucy sloop he +commanded, on a visit to the home of the man who in future was +destined to be Britain's greatest naval hero. The weather was fine, +and the short voyage quite uneventful. + +After they landed they had some distance to walk; but it was early +morning, and Tom Bure felt quite equal to a journey of fifty +miles--he told his friend--so on they marched right cheerily, till +they came to the little village of Burnham Thorpe, and enquired for +the parsonage. It wasn't very far from the old-fashioned, +square-towered church, with its rather dilapidated looking graveyard. +Not a beautiful house by any means, nor a large one either; little +more, in fact, than an old-fashioned, high-roofed Norfolk cottage, +with an additional wing to it, which latter, seeing the large family +that the clergyman, Horatio's father, had, was very much needed +indeed. + +There were plenty of trees of a sort about the place, however, with +flowers and bushes, and a rough attempt at a lawn, and on the whole +the house looked homely, if not neat. The first to welcome Mr. +Merryweather, in the small and curiously-furnished parlour into which +he was shown, was the old parson himself. That they had met before +was evident even to Tom. + +"But, dear me, I'd hardly have known you," said Mr. Nelson. "Time +works such wonders, and, you see, it has turned me pretty grey. Ah! +well, we've got to work in this world; we'll rest in the next. +You'll stay to dinner, of course. Horatio? Yes; and you'll find him +in the garden doing a bit of work. No, poor lad, he is far from +well, and he frets and fumes and worries so, I wonder he is alive or +so healthy as he is. You'll find him if you go round. And this bold +little man?" + +"A boy whom Horatio will be glad to see for the sake of old times. +He is determined to go to sea." + +"Go to sea, eh! Well, I pity him. Better a millstone were placed +about his neck, and he were cast into it. But there, I shan't say a +word to discourage the youth." + +Merryweather laughed, and went away to look for Horatio. They had +not to walk far to find him. In an old coat he was; old shoes, old +everything, and looking very serious over his work of digging and +raking some ground from which potatoes had been dug in order to stick +a few cabbages in. + +"Shall I run down and ask that old gardener fellow," said Tom, "where +the lad is?" + +"What lad?" said Merryweather. + +"The sailor. The lad his father spoke about." + +"Why, that's our hero. That's the boy himself. What ho, there, +Horatio! What cheer, my hearty?" + +Nelson turned towards them, pitched away his spade, and ran up to +shake hands with Merryweather. + +A bright smile lighted up his whole face as he did so. Not a smile +from the lips alone, for it went curling up round his large and +expressive eyes, and seemed to change the contour of his whole +countenance. + +"Come and sit down, Jack, and sniff the roses. I heard you had been +cruising round here, and doing all sorts of nasty things to our bold +boys of Norfolk, who can neither get a drop of good rum nor a pinch +of snuff for you. There you are; bring yourself to anchor. I'll sit +on the tub." + +"So you expected me?" + +"Half-expected you. You always were such an erratic customer, you +know, Jack, that I couldn't be sure of you. Seen my wife? No. +Father's failing, isn't he? Ah! it hurts me to see it. His +companionship, even more than that of my dear wife, is what partially +reconciles me to this life of inactivity. Mind, I say more than my +wife's society only for one reason--the young you may meet again, you +know; but the old, ah! never." + +Nelson kept rattling on, as Merryweather afterwards called it, +without giving him much chance of putting an oar in. He would ask +questions, and then answer them himself supposititiously, and go from +one subject to another as quickly as he sometimes put his ship about +in action. + +"Egad, Merryweather!" he continued. "After all, you must consider +yourself a very lucky fellow. While you are bounding o'er the ocean +blue, chasing herring-boats, I'm doomed to--to plant kale. It is +hard--hard--hard, after all I've done." + +Here his brows were lowered, and his face became set and stern. + +"But I have enemies at head-quarters, Jack." + +"I think, Nelson," said Merryweather, getting in a sentence edgeways, +"your greatest enemy is influence, or the want of it." + +"Yes, yes, that's it, I do believe. I'm but a humble parson's son. +I possess few if any great friends. Merit alone isn't worth a +cabbage-stump. Your lordling, your duke or duckling, your moneyed +scoundrel, your toady, your pimp, can walk into good positions, while +honest men like myself are left to shiver in the cold. Come, we must +change the subject, or I'll get angry and kick over the tub. I even +wrote to the Admiralty to appoint me to the command of a cockle-boat, +but--no. + +"Heaven save me from my friends," continued Nelson bitterly. + +"Your friends, Horace?" + +"Ay, my friends. Not men like your honest self, Jack, but those +old-wife fellows, who, by a few careless words, after dinner, for +instance, can do more harm to a man under the guise of friendship +than volumes of abuse could do. Ah, Jack Merryweather, I've known a +tiny spark light a bigger conflagration than a red-hot shot. Why, it +was only a day after my marriage that a friend fired off the +following remark: 'Poor Horatio Nelson! Married and done for. And +this marriage loses to the navy one of the brightest and most +promising ornaments. It is a national loss, for otherwise he might +have become the greatest man in the service.' + +"But, Jack, did my marriage prevent my activity? Did it not rather +increase it, just as it did my happiness? Did I not save to my +government and my country over a million sterling by exposing in the +West Indies the devilments of contractors and prize-agents who were +robbing right and left? + +"Burn and sink 'em, Jack; but I'd----." + +"Horatio!" + +"What, you here, Fanny?" + +It was his wife who stood smiling behind him. He laid a gentle hand +on her shoulder, and his whole demeanour altered in a moment. + +"There!" he cried, "I'm glad you've come. Entertain my friend Jack +Merryweather--Jack, my wife--till I dig away my wrath. These +cabbages ought to go in." + +Not only was Jack himself, but even little Tom, amused at the way +Nelson now threw the earth about. He seemed burying old sores and +paying off old scores. Finally he planted the cabbages, handling +them meanwhile as tenderly as if they had been living, sentient human +beings. Then he came back his smiling old self to his tub, beside +Jack Merryweather. + +"What a peevish old hulk you must think me, Jack!" he said; "but +then, you see, I'm not over well; for really my activity of mind +preys upon this poor, puny bit of a body of mine, because it is the +only fuel within its reach. But who is this modest but wondering +young lad?" + +"A sailor born, Nelson." + +"I hope not." + +"And I hope not too," said Mrs. Nelson. "He is far too handsome a +boy to be wasted on the service." + +"Fanny! Fanny! look at me. Behold the Herculean proportions of this +husband of yours, thrown like pearls before the pigs." + +"Horatio," said his wife, "I won't have you kick over the tub again, +so beware, sir." + +"Come hither, youngster." + +Tom went over and stood beside Britain's future hero, and Nelson +kindly took his hand and held it as he looked him in the face. Tom +never winced. + +"I believe you're a brave boy, and I hope not a bold one; but who is +he, Jack?" + +"You've heard speak of Miss Raymond?" + +"Yes. Old Tom Bure wrote me about her, and said he was going to +marry the most beautiful woman in all creation." + +"And so he did," said Jack. "I was all aflame in that quarter too; +but Tom wed her. Poor Tom is dead. Died on this very coast." + +"And this is young Tom?" + +"That is young Tom. Now, as an old sailor, give him a word of good +advice." + +"Stay at home, my lad, and plant cabbages." + +Merryweather laughed heartily, though Tom felt ready to cry. But his +friend came to his rescue. + +"He won't thank you for that advice, and between you and me, Horace, +there are signs in the air that tell me your days of cabbage planting +are nearly numbered." + +"You think I'll be put under the ground myself then?" + +"No, not planted that way, but planted on the quarter-deck of a jolly +ship of war." + +"Wouldn't I make it hot for the enemy if I were. But it's too good +to come true." + +"Well, if I turn out a correct prophet, will you remember this boy?" + +"If he comes to a ship that I command I'll be his friend for your +sake, Jack." + +"Aha! Horace, perhaps Jack will be there himself, then you'll have +two to look after." + +"Well, Jack, I'll show you both some fun, if the Frenchmen will but +give us a chance." + +"Never fear about the chance, my friend. It is coming; there is +something in the air." + +"You smell powder, then?" + +"I do, and shot as well." + +"So glad you've come, Jack. Come along, Tom. Merryweather, just +give Fanny a convoy. Tom and I want to have a talk. Go right away +in and tell father to commence carving. I'm going to show Tom a +flower." + +Ten minutes after the boy came in with a beaming face, and behind +him, looking contented and happy, walked Horatio Nelson. + +Tom forgot to tell his friend Jack Merryweather what Nelson had said +to him, but all the way back to the shore that evening he could speak +of no one else except the coming hero. + +"He is such a dear, nice, good man," he said more than once, "and I +don't care a bit for Bertha now. That sailor gentleman is so brave +and good! But, Captain Merryweather, you must tell me his story. I +know he has a story, because he has been fighting, and been at the +North Pole too. He said he ran away from a great bear; but I don't +believe that. He was laughing when he said it." + +"Well, Tom, when next we go on the barge with Uncle Robert, I promise +you I'll tell you Nelson's story; all, at least, that there is of it +as yet." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +HORATIO NELSON'S EARLIER DAYS. + +"The child's the father of the man." + + +The broad or lake on the banks of which Dan Brundell's property stood +in days of old has diminished considerably in size since then; but +even at that time it was not very big, while the worm of a stream, +that led therefrom into the larger and more beautiful lake, presented +here and there difficulties that militated against the easy +navigation of the barge. But Dan was not a man to do anything by +halves, so he hired hands to widen the stream wherever necessary, and +they did so in less than a week. Tom, with Ruth's assistance, was +then able to guide the barge right away into the large Decoy, and a +new life seemed to open out before Uncle Bob from the day of his +first visit thereto. He even began to move his fingers more, and +there were great hopes that in time his cure would be complete. Mr. +Curtiss's duties were very light, and he used often to take Ruth's +place in the barge. Then the party would embark, and on the broad +itself and in the barge Tom's lessons would be conducted; Bob +listening intently, and appearing to be quite as much edified as the +boy himself. + +And so the summer wore away, and autumn came with its tints of +yellows and browns, and its darker and more sombre foliage for the +trees. But the fine weather continued, although there were, of +course, dark, rainy days now and then, which are to be expected even +in sunny Norfolk. + +And one fine morning, when Tom was away aloft in the crow's nest, +telling Bob, who lay below, everything that was going on at sea, he +suddenly gave vent to a wild whoop, that would have made a Sioux +Indian bite his lips with envy. + +"The _Porcupine_ is in sight, Uncle Bob. Hooray-ay!" + +Bob was quite as much pleased as Tom, for nothing delighted him more +than a talk about old times with his quondam shipmate. + +"Are they bearing up in this direction?" he asked. + +"Yes, Uncle Bob. On the larboard tack, with the wind on the quarter, +standing in shore-ways." + +"Well, Tom, I don't think you can do better than run and meet him. +Take Meg with you; she wants a run too." + +Within an hour Merryweather was standing by his old shipmate's side, +and the very sight of his happy face seemed to make Uncle Bob the +happiest invalid that ever existed. + +Dan came out of the shed in his paper cap to welcome Merryweather; +Meg ran off to the house to say that somebody had come; and Ruth +herself was very quickly on the spot; so everybody was as jolly as +jolly could be. + +After an early dinner, Bob's cot was wheeled on to the barge, and the +young folks, including Meg and Ruth, went off to spend the afternoon +on the beautiful broad. + +The sun was shining very brightly to-day, and an awning was stretched +across the middle part of the barge. She was anchored in a cosy +corner, close to the tall whispering reeds. Merryweather lit his +pipe. Tom sat down beside Uncle Bob and lit his for him, while Meg +and Ruth curled up in the bows. Then there was silence for the +interminably long space of fifteen seconds. + +"What are you all waiting for?" asked Merryweather, "and all looking +at me for?" + +"Why," answered Tom, "you said you would tell us all you know about +Nelson, you know, who is going to thrash the French, with--with my +assistance." + +"Bravo, Tom!" cried Bob, "you're made of the right stuff." + + +HORATIO NELSON'S EARLIER LIFE. + +"Well," said Merryweather, "no one in the service has been more +talked about than my friend Horatio. Nobody who knows him can help +liking him, and yet, I believe, it is his friends who have caused him +to be overlooked so far. All I know about him has not been gleaned +from any one source, but from dozens, but being interested in my +friend, I have tried to winnow the chaff of untruth from the solid +grains of fact, and it is these I'm going to serve out to you." + +"Well done!" cried Uncle Bob. "You were always a regular reefer at +spinning a yarn, mate. So heave round. Cheerily does it, Mr. +Merryweather!" + +"Well," said Merryweather, "be that as it may, I first knew Horatio +Nelson when my grandmother took me to that same old-fashioned village +of Wells, Tom, where you and I went the other day, though there +weren't quite so many houses there then. We went from Cromer in a +fishing-boat, and a rough sail I mind we had. But this was nothing +to me. I was a regular sailor even then, and I wasn't five years of +age. I'm not sure that the rector of Burnham Thorpe wasn't a distant +relation of grandma's; anyhow, I know the family were very good to +us, and I know something else, namely, that Horatio's father turned +out of his own room that we might have it. There was but little +ceremony in the Rectory; but plenty to eat, without a superfluity of +dainties. That didn't trouble me in those days; why, I could have +eaten a seagull. + +"Horatio would be about ten at the time of my visit, for he is a good +five years older than I am. But he wasn't much of a chap, and I +couldn't help thinking, young as I was, that his grandmother--for he +had a grandma as well as myself--spoiled him. My grandmother didn't +spoil me; but she often spanked me. + +"Well, poor lad, he had only recently lost his mother--about a year +before, or thereabout--and this loss, I think, was the hardest blow +to the rector ever he had. His family was a big one; eleven, if I +remember rightly, and the majority sons. Rough and right boys they +were, and though Horatio was delicate, there wasn't a bit of the girl +about him. He was as fond of a joke as any lad in creation; but +always tender towards the inferior animals. How he would have adored +a dog like Meg there, for instance! + +"I went to school at North Walsham two years after this, and found +young Nelson there. He hadn't grown much; but he was tough--tough as +regards enduring pain. He had many a thrashing; but he would purse +up his mouth, lower his brow, and never cry a bit. Our flogger was +called Jones, and I need hardly say he was a Welshman. The only +revenge we could take upon Jones--or rather the bigger boys, for +being but a nipper I shouldn't include myself--was pretending he +couldn't hurt us. That used to make the Welshman wild. + +"Geography, maps, and stories from history, were young Horace's chief +delight in those days. In the house I mean; out of doors or away on +the marsh and moor, hunting for birds' nests, it was quite another +thing. He seemed born to live in the fresh air, and I'm sure that it +was doing him an injustice and stunting his growth to keep him poring +over old musty books so constantly. + +"I used to visit at the Rectory pretty often after this, and +Horatio's grandmother had always something to tell about him, that +redounded to his credit. But she never told the same story twice the +same. + +"'Horace is such a brave lad,' she would say, 'I don't believe he +knows what fear is!'" + +"And she would go on to exemplify this in a dozen different ways. +'And he is a God-fearing boy too,' she would add. + +"This last I could well believe. His father is one of the most +simple-minded Christians I ever met. His faith is like that of a +little child. + +"But about his not knowing what fear was I always had my doubts. +However, there was one boy whom Horace had invited to the Rectory for +a few days, and who used to spin wonderful yarns to the old lady +about her grandson's pluck and courage. But he rather overdid the +thing, and he didn't always blend piety with the bravery he imputed +to Horace. For instance, he told his grandma that at Downham Market, +where he and Horace were at school, there was a nasty snarly old +woman who used to paddle through the muddy streets on high pattens, +knitting stockings and mumbling to herself. The boys used to imitate +her, when off would come one of the pattens, which she threw like a +boomerang, and always hit some of them. But one day Horace, who +happened to be in the crowd, coolly picked up the patten, and +marching home with it put it in the fire. The old creature had to +limp to her house in one patten, and she never threw another. A very +limp yarn, I thought, and one that was so little appreciated that +Horace was told not to bring that lying boy back again to the Rectory. + +"Of course, all brave, good boys rob an orchard, because the others +are afraid; and, of course, they never eat any of the apples +themselves. Oh, no! Whenever, Tom, you hear a story of this kind, +you are safe enough to put it down as a grandmother's yarn. + +"Independent, however, of my friend Horatio's love of freedom and +stories of the sea, he was a thinking lad, and he couldn't but notice +that his father had more than enough to do in supporting so large a +family in a semi-genteel way. He thought of this, and made up his +mind to go to sea. If he couldn't go as a young officer he would go +as a cabin boy, in the old-fashioned style. But he had an uncle in +the navy--a rough and right true blue sailor, Captain Suckling--and +Horace induced his father to write to him in his behalf. + +"The reply came pat enough, and I have seen it. 'What on earth has +poor little Horatio done,' the letter ran, 'so weak a boy that he, +above all the rest, should be sent to rough it out at sea? Well, let +him come, and the very first time we go into action a cannon-ball may +knock his head off, and so at once provide for him.'" + +"There was a rough kind of jocularity in this; but for all that +Captain Suckling was a kindly-hearted man. + +"And now, young Nelson was destined for the sea. He had only to +wait. He returned to the Walsham school, and in the spring of 1771, +one miserable, drizzly morning--such a morning as gives one the +shivers to think of getting up--a man came from the Rectory to take +poor Horace away. + +"Were those tears, I wonder, in his eyes, as he said 'good-bye' to us +all? I think they were, and I know that as he got together his small +belongings he did not speak much, and was so nervous that some of us +helped him; but I'm sure we didn't envy him. + +"His ship was the _Raisonnable_, 64 guns, his captain Maurice +Suckling, and Horace was rated as middie. To add to his small +outfit, and see him on the way, his father went with him as far as +London, then the poor boy had to bundle and go all by himself to +Chatham, off which his ship was lying. + +"Horace has told me that the misery of arriving in that strange, busy +port, all friendless and alone, was about the most acute ever he +suffered in his life. There were scores, ay hundreds, of ships +there, hundreds, ay thousands, of bluejackets and marines in the +slushy streets, revelling, drinking, brawling, and fighting. He was +hustled by dockyard-men, he was mocked and laughed at by women of the +bare-headed class; cold, damp, and hungry, yet no one knew or cared +where the _Raisonnable_ lay. When he asked some sailors if they knew +Captain Suckling, they suggested his standing a flowing can and +they'd soon find out. + +"Young Horace was hesitating what to do, when a stern voice shouted, +'Gangway, lads.' The men saluted and made room at once, and here, +with his sword under his arm, stood a tall naval officer. + +"'Captain Suckling, my boy? I know him well. Come along with me.' + +"He led poor hungry Horace, not to his ship, but to his own quarters +in the dockyard, and gave him a good dinner, asking him many +questions about his life in the country, his father and brothers and +sisters. He finished off by saying-- + +"'Well, whatever brings some boys to sea I can't tell, though I was a +boy myself once upon a time. Never mind, lad, I'll see you off, else +the rascally boatmen will cheat you.' + +"The _Raisonnable_ lay well off in the middle of the tideway, and +braced up by the good dinner he had eaten, he began to think a +sailor's life was just the thing for him after all. Besides, with +her frowning red-muzzled guns, her tall and tapering spars, and +spider-web of rigging, the frigate was a noble sight. Then there +were the neatly-arranged hammocks over the bulwarks, a flash of +crimson here and there, and here and there the glitter of a bayonet. + +"Horace got in over the port or larboard side, up a rope ladder, and +his box was hauled up after him. + +"Then he stood there, alone in a crowd, for many an interminably long +minute. No one took any more notice of him than if he'd been a bag +of biscuit. Nor did Horace know what to do, or what to say, or whom +to address. + +"He spoke to a man in a dark blue jacket at last, and called him +'sir.' It was only the doctor's servant, but he answered him kindly, +and in due time he found his way to the cock-pit, and was afterwards +bundled into his own mess--the gunroom. + +"Captain Suckling did not join for days after this, so Horace had to +fight his first battles single-handed. Bloodless battles no doubt +they were, for Horace was but a weakly lad at this time, and but ill +able to play that game of fisticuffs which, Tom, I think you will +admit I played with some skill that day when the Welsh giant, David +Jones, challenged me to mortal combat on the sands of Yare. + +"No, poor Horace at this time, you must remember, was only newly cut +loose from his grandma's apron-strings. But, Bob, your pipe is out. +Tom, my hearty, light Uncle Bob's pipe before I put another spoke in +the wheel." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + "I WILL BE A HERO, AND TRUSTING TO PROVIDENCE + BRAVE EVERY DANGER." + + "Avast! nor don't think me a milksop so soft + To be taken, for trifles, aback; + For they say there's a providence sits up aloft, + To look after the life of poor Jack."--DIBDIN. + + +"There is one trait in my friend Horatio's character," continued Mr. +Merryweather, "that I think is prominent enough, and that is +decision. Mind you, Tom, lad, I like it in a certain way, but it may +lead one wrong at times. But nevertheless, it is better to leap than +flounder in a bog, and if you've got to do a thing there's no time +like the present. If ever Horace _did_ rob an orchard--and I rather +think he did more than once--I feel certain he didn't hang about long +before commencing operations, that he didn't wait to see whether the +farmer's wife was having a walk in the garden, or whether Bouncer, +the dog, was tied up or not. No, Horace is a bad hand at waiting. +He wasn't long in the navy, however, before he found out it was +pretty nearly all waiting, that the youngsters or griffins had to +wait on their elders, and the elders to wait on those older still. +Even the captain himself has to wait, and very often in vain, for +promotion. Horace, poor fellow, expected to find as much courtesy, +sympathy, and kindness in the behaviour towards each other of the +junior officers of ships in the navy as was displayed among his +brothers in his happy and well-regulated home. Alas! he was sadly +disappointed. He found roughness and brutality displayed on deck, +between decks, fore and aft, and a good deal in the wardroom as well +as in the gunroom. If he expected to meet with young gentlemen full +of zeal for the service, burning with a desire to serve their king +and country, or even to die, if need be, for their fatherland on the +blood-stained battle-deck, he was terribly disappointed. If he +expected even to find naval affairs discussed at all in his mess, +again he was disappointed. If ambition dwelt in the hearts of the +young fellows he found around him, they kept it to themselves. It +was every man or lad for himself, and 'hang the service'; 'hang +superior officers'; 'hang etiquette'; 'hang fine language'; +'hang--hang everything'; only let the beef and the biscuit have a +fair wind, and if anybody smaller wanted the beef first, let him wait +or have a dig in the eye. _Meum_ and _tuum_? There were no such +words, except in the Latin dictionary. If you had anything to eat, +_I_ must have a bit, if 't were only an oyster, that is, if I were +bigger than you, or harder in the shell and in the fist. + +"So Horace, who was really a tender-hearted boy, although ambitious, +saw nothing but roughness around him, and not a little sin. That he +soon was sick of all this goes without saying--that he was not +polluted by the filth among which he had fallen is a marvel, but he +never did forget his father's teaching, nor the prayers he had +learned at his mother's knee. + +"When my friend, then, joined the _Raisonnable_, there were +reasonable expectations that he would soon see a little fighting, +from the fact that the Spaniards were cutting up rough about a +certain harbour in the Falkland Islands. Britain wanted that +harbour; Britain was a bigger boy than Spain, and a bigger +bully--always has been, and ever will be--so Britain threatened to +punch Spain's head if Spain didn't hand over the harbour, quietly as +well as quickly. Spain did so, and after five months of waiting in +the 64-gun frigate, she was put out of commission; the boy's uncle, +Captain Maurice Suckling, was appointed to the _Triumph_ for harbour +service in the Medway, and as this did not suit Horace, who was +burning to be on blue water, his captain sent him on a voyage to the +West Indies, in a small ship commanded by John Rathbone, who had +served in the _Dreadnought_ as master's mate, until he had either got +sick of the service, or the service had got sick of him. + +"Nevertheless, it seems that Horatio got better on with 'old +Rathbone,' as he somewhat irreverently styled him, than with his +uncle Maurice, or rather with the idle dandies on board the guardship +_Triumph_. Rathbone succeeded in making a man of him, for, mind you, +Tom, even a boy can be a man--at heart. + +"Perhaps Horace roughed it considerably in Rathbone's ship. He +doesn't say much, but I'll warrant you it was 'away aloft to reef +topsails' on many a dark and stormy night. + +"When my friend Horace returned, he was a sailor every inch, 'every +hair a rope-yarn, every finger a fish-hook.' + +"Indeed Horatio himself says, in speaking about this cruise in the +merchant service, 'If I didn't improve much in my education during +the voyage, I came back a practical seaman, with a horror of the +Royal Navy, and with a saying then very common among sailors, "Aft +the most honour, for'ard the best man." It was many weeks before I +got in the least reconciled to a man-o'-war, so deep was the +prejudice rooted, and the pains taken to instil this erroneous idea +in my young mind.' + +"Well, anyhow, when Horace returned from his delightful cruise in the +West Indiaman, he came once more under the lee of his uncle Maurice, +of H.M.S. _Triumph_. This gentleman, with most disinterested +kindness, did all he could--though for a time with only partial +success, to reconcile young Horace to man-o'-war routine. As a +reward for services done, and attention to his duties, he was allowed +to go piloting in the decked long-boat or cutter to the commanding +officer's quarters at Chatham, and from Chatham, sometimes round to +the North Foreland, or up stream to the Tower of London itself. + +"But Horace stuck manfully to his duties, and gradually came to love +the Royal Navy. + +"It was in the year 1773, if my memory serves me well, that an +expedition was set on foot to visit the North Pole, or, in other +words, to find out how far north the sea was navigable in a northern +direction. + +"Two ships were commissioned for this purpose, namely, the +_Racehorse_, Captain C. J. Phipps, and the _Carcass_, Captain +Lutwidge. + +"It was the _Carcass_ to which, much to his joy, Horatio was +appointed. In the old _Triumph_ he had first been rated as captain's +servant, then promoted to midshipman, and it was as captain's +coxswain he joined the _Carcass_. + +"His seamanship--learned, be it remembered, in the West +Indiaman--came well to the front now. He was permitted to take his +trick at the wheel, and steered the ship safely through very heavy +ice. The ship, however, had the misfortune to get frozen in, and the +wonder is ever she got back to tell her tale. + +"Horatio is very reticent as to his adventures in Polar seas, but he +told me that he was severely reprimanded for disobeying orders. He +followed a bear into a position of imminent danger, for Horace not +for the bear. He says his gun missed fire, and that he thought he +might as well try to brain the beast with the butt end. The bear +seemed not at all reluctant to be brained, for he came boldly on to +meet the boy who was to perform the operation. No doubt, this +particular bear had the utmost confidence in the thickness of his own +skull, and if a well-directed bullet had not caused him to change his +mind and sheer away on another tack, Horace would never again have +planted cabbages in his father's garden at Burnham Thorpe. (That +bear's skin, by the way, Horatio had meant to give to his father as a +Christmas present). + +"Well, on the paying-off of the _Carcass_, which, with her consort, +got safely back to England, Horace, who, although only fifteen, was +an out-and-out able seaman, was recommended for service to Captain +Farmer of the _Seahorse_, a smart and saucy craft of twenty guns. He +was a watch-and-watch seaman of the foretop now, but Farmer soon +recognised his ability, and so he was promoted to the quarter-deck +and made one of the midshipmen. + +"Not only that, but he was allowed to carry on the duty, and crack on +too when he pleased--in fact he was, to all intents and purposes, a +naval officer. His cruising ground was now the Indian Ocean and all +round about there. But in eighteen months his health began to break +down, owing, not so much to the badness of the climate, he told me, +as to the beastliness of the beef and evil disposition of the water. + +"So he was transferred to the _Dolphin_, and in this ship returned +for a spell to his native land." + +"Not interrupting you, Mr. Merryweather," said Bob, "mightn't you +tell Tom about the gallant end poor Captain Farmer had?" + +"Ah! that was sad enough, though it was gallant, Bob," said Mr. +Merryweather. "I hadn't meant to mention it, but here goes-- + +"It was on the fatal sixth of October, 1779, that bold Captain +Farmer, in the fine old frigate _Quebec_, of thirty-two guns, sighted +_La Surveillant_, off Ushant. + +"This ship carried forty guns, and was more heavily manned, as well +as more heavily metalled, than the _Quebec_. That didn't signify to +Farmer. The drum beat merrily to quarters, and at it the two ships +went pell-mell. + +"It was a long and terrible struggle, lasting for over three hours +and a half. Both vessels were utterly dismantled. Unfortunately in +the struggle the sails of the _Quebec_, shot down by the enemy, +caught fire by falling over the guns, and very soon the whole ship +was wrapped in flames. + +"The brave Captain Farmer however, although grievously wounded, +refused to surrender, and was blown up with his ship, the colours +flying defiantly till the last. So that was the glorious but +terrible end of poor Farmer." + +Merryweather paused here for a minute or two, busying himself in +refilling his pipe. + +No one spoke, however; for even Meg seemed to know that his story was +not finished. + +The midges danced above the quivering reeds, the twittering martins +went skimming to and fro, there was a hum of insect life in the air, +and all nature seemed rapt in blissful content. + +"On so lovely a day," said Merryweather at last, "I am loth to sadden +my yarn by any allusion to death or to gloom, but the truth must be +told, else you, Tom, and you, Bob, will not understand my friend +Horace's inner character, and it is the mind, you must remember, that +prompts our every action. + +"It was on board the _Dolphin_, then, on her homeward voyage, that +Horatio Nelson first learned to think. The passage was not a +pleasant one, for the ship was badly found. There were many men ill +on board as well as Nelson, and it was the thoughts of getting back +to merry England that kept those poor fellows hopeful and alive. + +"When one is sick and ill, especially if tossed about on the ocean +wave, one cannot help feeling both despondent and weary. Hear what +Horatio himself says about this: + +"'I felt impressed,' he writes, 'with the idea that I should never +rise in my profession. My mind was staggered with a view of the +difficulties I had to encounter and the little interest I possessed. +I could discover no means of reaching the object of my ambition. +After a long and gloomy reverie, in which I almost wished myself +overboard, a sudden flow of patriotism was kindled within me, and +presented my king and my country as my patrons. "Well then," I +exclaimed, "I will be a _hero_, and, trusting to Providence will +brave every danger."' + +"That then, Tom, was the resolve my good friend made when still a +boy. The thought of being a hero was the star that guided him on, +and that will, I trust, guide him still to victory; for that he is +the coming man I have not a doubt. + +"But, lads, I can, I think, read Horatio's mind even better than he +can do himself. You see, it was in the hour of sickness and gloom he +made this firm resolution. He could not help remembering that he was +but of puny frame, though with a mind fitted for a far stronger body. +He might be cut down by disease at any time. What bolder or better +resolve therefore could he make than to give his life to his king or +country, be it long, be it short. If short it were doomed to be, the +more deeds of heroism he could crowd into it the better. 'Let us +work while it is called to-day, for the night cometh when no man can +work.' These were the words on which his father once preached a +sermon, and lying in his weary hammock Horatio remembered them. They +gave him hope, they helped to raise his spirits, and with this +new-born hope came strength and happiness. And so far as he has had +it in his power Horatio has kept his resolve, but now that he is +lying on his beam ends at Burnham Thorpe, is it any wonder that he +chafes and fumes? He told me he felt as if standing high and dry on +a rock beholding a ship on the sea-ridden sands, and powerless to +help; for, he added, 'Am I not witnessing the shipwreck of all my +hopes and ambition?'" + +"Pardon me, mate," said Bob, "but you've kind o' drifted away from +your story. Your friend Nelson didn't come straight away from the +_Dolphin_ to his father's parsonage. He hasn't been planting +cabbages there since '76, I'll lay a wager." + +"No, Bob, no. Thank you for bringing me up with a round turn and +holding me with a clove hitch. Just let me, however, make one +digression, Bob, and I'll go ahead again right cheerily with my yarn. +You've just spoken, Bob, about laying a wager. When you get well, +Bob, as I trust you will, let me tell you that the less you have to +do with wagering or betting the better. Horatio tells me that when +still in his teens he one night sat up playing cards till very late. +He thinks now that the devil must have sat by his side, tempting him +and leading him on to good luck, for during the whole evening his +winnings, and the 'devil's picture-books' that he held in his hand, +were all he thought about. Duty, resolution, ambition itself, were +in abeyance, were far away from his thoughts. And he rose up from +the table at last, flushed and excited, the winner of £300! 'You'll +play to-morrow night, too,' the devil appeared to whisper to him, and +he appeared to promise. + +"But with the morrow came reflection. 'Oh!' he thought, 'what, if +instead of winning, I had lost. I, without money to pay? Horrible! +I should have been broken, ruined, disgraced, and my father--I will +never touch a card again.' + +"Nor has he, Tom. + +"You see the devil doesn't always have his own way in this world, no +matter how alluring the bait may be that he dangles before the eyes +of his would-be victims. + +"Well, then, young Nelson's next vessel was the 46-gun ship the +_Worcester_. And with kindly Mark Robinson as his captain, he sailed +for Gibraltar across the stormy Bay of Biscay. + +"Stormy then at all events, for the wind rose and the billows were +houses high. It was indeed a fearful night, what with guns broken +loose from their moorings, with racing shot and shifting ballast, +with boats and bulwarks broken, with rent and riven canvas, there +were few on board who hoped to see the morning light. + +"It had been the old, old story--a ship hurried away to sea before +things were properly stowed and everything made ship-shape, with a +half-drunken crew, and officers wild with rage because the duty could +not be carried on as they desired it. Ah! many and many a good ship +has the stormy bay swallowed up at darkest midnight from causes such +as these. + +"But the _Worcester_ weathered the storm, and Captain Robertson was +not slow in telling his officers they had done their duty in this +trying time, like Hearts of Oak or British sailors. + +"Above all he thanked young Horatio. + +"'I shall have quite as much confidence in you in future,' he told +him, 'as in any one of my older officers, and, indeed, I shall feel +quite easy in my mind when you are on deck. You are a man in actions +if not in years.' + +"No wonder Nelson's face glowed with pleasure and shyness combined to +hear these words of praise. + +"For, Tom, your brave man is ever shy to some degree. + +"We next find Nelson passing his examination as lieutenant, which he +did with flying colours. His uncle, Captain Suckling, was the chief +officer on the examining board, nor did he spare his nephew. + +"At the conclusion of the examination he put the usual question to +the other officers. + +"'Are you satisfied, gentlemen?' + +"'I am more than satisfied,' said a senior. + +"'Hear, hear,' from all the others. + +"Then Horatio was called in, and informed gravely that he had +sustained the examination. + +"'And now,' added the kindly-hearted Captain Suckling, 'let me +introduce you to my nephew. My nephew, Horatio Nelson, gentlemen.' + +"They were taken aback. + +"'But why,' they asked, 'didn't you let us know this before?' + +"'Well,' replied the bluff old uncle, 'I was afraid that, had I done +so, you might have favoured him. I felt convinced he would pass a +good examination, and you see, gentlemen, I have not been +disappointed.' + +"Right heartily then every officer on that board shook young Nelson +by the hand, and hoped he would be an honour to the glorious old flag +under which they all served their king and country. + +"The very next day Nelson was made second-lieutenant of the +_Lowestoft_, which after a time sailed for the West Indies. + +"Nelson during the voyage became a great favourite with the captain, +owing to the prompt way he obeyed all his instructions and carried on +the duty. + +"One day an American privateer hove in sight, and the +first-lieutenant was ordered to board and capture her. However, the +sea was so high and stormy that he lost heart, and returned to the +frigate. The captain was wild with rage. 'Is there,' he cried, 'an +officer in this ship who can make a prize of that letter of marque?' + +"Both Nelson and the master stepped up at the same time. But Nelson +had the honour, and honour it proved. He not only reached the +privateer, but boarded and carried her, although the waves really +were so high that the boat was washed over the Yankee. + +"Horatio was a greater favourite now than ever with good Captain +Locker." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"THERE'S A STORM BREWING, AND YOU'LL BE IN IT, TOM." + + "D'ye mind me, a sailor should be every inch + All as one as a piece of the ship, + And with her brave the world without offering to flinch, + From the moment the anchor's atrip. + Even when my time comes, ne'er believe me so soft + As with grief to be taken aback, + For the same little cherub that sits up aloft, + Will look out a good berth for poor Jack."--DIBDIN. + + +"The _Lowestoft_," continued Merryweather, "arrived at Jamaica, and a +proof was given now that Captain Locker was a true friend to Nelson. +For knowing that he was running over with zeal for the service, he +had him appointed to a separate command. Though, had the captain +consulted his own wishes, he would much have preferred having the +bold young lieutenant with himself. + +"In the saucy wee schooner, _Little Lucy_, Nelson could lord it on +his own quarter-deck, monarch of all he surveyed, and, in his own +words, he made himself a complete pilot of all the passages through +the islands situated to the north of Hispaniola. + +"My friend's next preferment--through the interest of Locker--was to +the third lieutenancy of the flagship _Bristol_, under Admiral +Parker. But he was after a time promoted to the rank of first +lieutenant. During his cruise in the _Bristol_, though Nelson +himself says but little about it, he was not idle, and undoubtedly +did his share of the duty of capturing no less than seventeen sail +belonging to the enemy. + +"Then Horace was appointed to the command of an old-fashioned, sturdy +brig called the _Badger_, and was sent off to the coast of Mosquito +and Bay of Honduras, to make it hot for the swarms of Yankee +privateers that were cruising around there on the outlook for British +shipping. + +"I fear, Bob, that if I told you how excellently well young Nelson +performed the duties required of him, you would imagine I was trying +to make my friend too much of a hero; but if he joins our service, +Tom will soon know that the Admiralty considers the performance of +duty no act of heroism, however well it is done. But Nelson +protected the settlers on this coast so faithfully and well, that he +was not only admired, but in reality adored by them. + +"It was while still in the _Badger_, and lying in Montago Bay, that +the _Glasgow_, a 20-gun vessel, arrived. In about two hours' time +she was wrapped in vast sheets of flame, and it was only through the +extraordinary exertions of Nelson, aided by Captain Lloyd himself, +that the crew were saved. Nelson, in speaking of the disaster, gives +Captain Lloyd his due meed of praise. But he deserved it. There was +one man on board the poor _Glasgow_ who richly deserved flogging +first and hanging afterwards; this was the steward." + +"Was he flogged and hanged?" said Tom. + +"I don't know, lad. I expect he was flogged at the very least. The +scoundrel had gone to steal rum for himself and mates from the after +hold. He succeeded in capsizing a cask of rum, and setting fire to +it with the purser's dip he carried. + +"Now the _Glasgow_ was laden with gunpowder, and Captain Lloyd knew +that if she blew up, not only would every one on board perish, but +the magazines and warehouses on shore would also be destroyed. He +immediately called all hands therefore, declaring that until every +cask of powder was had up and thrown into the sea, not a man should +leave the ship. + +"The crew, who dearly loved their honest Welsh commander, obeyed his +instructions, and saved themselves and him from a fearful death. + +"Then Nelson came to the rescue, and the crew were got off before the +charred timbers sank hissing in the waves. + +"On the 28th of April, '79, my friend Horace, in his bold brig +_Badger_, carried and captured _La Prudente_. + +"Well, Tom, I haven't time to tell you all Nelson's brave deeds in +the West Indies, and indeed I do not remember half of them, but about +this time both France and Spain, you know or ought to know, were at +war with Britain, and what with having now no men from America, we +were not only rather short-handed, but somewhat short of ships, and +by way of encouraging good men and officers to join the service, +Prince William Henry became a midshipman, and many more of the scions +and offshoots of nobility followed his example. + +"Nelson received his post-captaincy, and Collingwood* became +commander of the _Badger_. Horace was appointed to the +_Hinchinbrook_, and during the cruise with the _Major_ and _Penelope_ +took many prizes. + + +* Afterwards Lord Collingwood. + + +"But now, at the age of twenty-one, Horace had still higher +promotion, for, as it was expected that the French admiral, Count +d'Estainy, would attack Jamaica in force, he was appointed to the +command of the batteries of Fort Charles, at Port Royal. + +"But this bold count did nothing, and did it well. + +"Nelson's next service was one of great importance. General Sir John +Balling had formed a plan for an expedition against Fort St. Juan, in +the Gulf of Mexico, and the sea operations were entrusted to Horace. + +"It was the object of this expedition, by taking the fort and +obtaining command of the Rio San Juan, running between the lake +Nicaragua and the Atlantic, to obtain possession of the cities of +Granada and Leon, and thus cut the communication of the Spaniards +betwixt their northern and southern possessions in America. + +"My friend's duty was the conveyance of the transports and the +landing of the troops. + +"But Nelson was not to be satisfied with so simple a share of the +honour and glory of this expedition, and both Sir John and Captain +Polson, of the 60th, testified in words of burning admiration to the +great skill and indomitable energy of poor Horace. 'He was the +first,' says Polson, 'on every service, whether undertaken by day or +by night, and hardly a gun was pointed that was not laid by himself +or by Lieutenant Despard.'* + + +* Twenty years after this, Despard was tried and executed for high +treason with six of his fellow conspirators. He was, nevertheless, a +brave and daring, though misguided man. + + +"It was a sad expedition this from beginning to end. The game, +indeed, was hardly worth the candle; but Nelson was its real head. +He not only landed with the men, and led them on to death or glory, +but piloted them up the river, and took port after port from the +astonished Spaniards, and all this in a climate so unhealthy, so +rotten and malodorous, that pestilence was a greater foe to success +than the resistance offered by the enemy. For on the march men fell +dead in the ranks, others were poisoned by water, they were short of +provisions, being forced to kill and eat monkeys, while several were +killed by serpents. Not since the days of old Spanish buccaneering +had any troops suffered as did those with bold Nelson. He says +himself he carried troops a hundred miles up the river, he boarded +the enemies' outposts situated on an island in the river, and made +batteries and afterwards fought them, and was a principal cause of +the success that attended our operations. + +"Was it any wonder that in a place so pestilential fever broke out? +It was fearful, Tom. I should not talk about such things to-day, but +in Nelson's ship of 200 men, 87 were seized and confined to their +beds in one night, and 145 were buried there, only ten men surviving +the terrible expedition. + +"Nelson himself was nearly dead, and but for the kindness of Sir +Peter Parker, who appointed him to the 44-gun frigate _Janus_, at +Jamaica, he would doubtless have succumbed. But even the tender +nursing of Lady Parker and her little girl on shore was unable to +restore my friend to health, and on the first of September, '80, he +sailed for England with Captain Cornwallis. + +"He lay ill for a year at Bath, and was then sent on a winter's +cruise to Elsinore to protect the homeward trade. This cruise was +but little relished by Horace, who rightly thought that his service +in the West Indies, where he fought so well and so nearly lost his +life in the service of king and country, deserved higher recognition. + +"In '82 Horace sailed with a convoy of traders for Newfoundland, in +his ship _Albemarle_. + +"One clever action out there can be laid to Nelson's credit. It +should be remembered that he was a perfect sailor and pilot. When +chased, therefore, by three of the French ships of the line and the +_Iris_ frigate whilst cruising off Boston, and finding they were +coming up with him hand-over-hand, he boldly sought the shoals. The +frigate alone could follow, and Nelson made all preparation to fight +her, but the _Iris_ refused to accept the challenge, and sheered off. + +"Horace next took a convoy to New York, and there he joined the fleet +under Lord Hood. Here he was introduced to the Duke of +Clarence--Prince William--and each found in the other a true-blue +seaman and British sailor. + +"On the return of the fleet, Lord Hood took Nelson to St. James' +Palace, where he had the high honour of an introduction to the King. +And, to use the words of Scripture, Tom, he found 'favour in the +King's sight,' though there wasn't much to boast of in that. + +* * * * * + +"Peace was concluded with France in '83, and in July of that year +Nelson was placed on half-pay. + +"He next went to France--not to learn to dance Tom, but to improve +his knowledge of the language. He, however, managed to fall over +head and ears in love with a clergyman's daughter--a Miss Andrews. +Many a ship and many a fort had my friend captured, and now, lo and +behold, he himself had to haul down his flag to a girl. + +"Oh, he would have died for her I doubt not, but she would not marry +him. She showed bad taste in my opinion, Bob, but _n'importe_, there +was happiness in store for Horace independently of this fair girl. +Having sailed the ocean so long, no doubt he had found out the truth +of the proverb, 'There's as good fish in the sea as ever came out of +it.' + +"In France, Nelson met two naval officers, to whom he seemed to take +a dislike from the very first, for the simple reason that they tried +to keep up the dignity of the service to which they belonged, by +dressing in a somewhat dandified fashion, and wearing epaulettes. +One of these was Captain Ball. + +"Nelson, my friend and hero, is a man of deeds, and his hatred of +vain-glory and show has ever been very marked. We did not find him +digging in his garden, Tom, and planting cabbages, with his +cocked-hat on his head and a sword by his side." + +"No, sir," said Tom, laughing. "He would have looked funny like +that; but he wore very old clothes indeed. He was droll." + +"Yes, my lad, and when the Duke of Clarence first saw him, he seems +to have been droller-looking still. + +"'I was,' said his Royal Highness, 'then a midshipman on board the +_Barfleur_, lying in the narrows off State Island, and had the watch +on deck, when Captain Nelson came alongside in his barge. He +appeared to be the merest boy of a captain I had ever beheld, and his +dress made me smile. He had on a full-laced uniform, his lank, +unpowdered hair was tied in a stiff Hessian tail of an extraordinary +length, and the old-fashioned flaps of his waistcoat, added to the +general quaintness of his figure, produced an appearance which quite +riveted my attention. I had never seen anything like this before, +and could not imagine who he was or what he had come about. My +doubts were however removed, when Lord Hood introduced him to me. +There was something irresistibly pleasing in his address and +conversation, and an enthusiasm when talking on naval matters, that +showed he was no ordinary being. + +"'I found him,' continued the Duke, 'warmly attached to my father and +singularly humane; indeed he had the honour of the King's service, +and independence of the British Navy, particularly at heart. As for +prize money, such a thing never entered his thoughts.' + +"Now, Bob, I want you to note this, my friend Nelson, God bless his +honest heart, hated dress and foppery, and he hated Captain Ball +because he was a fop; but, as I said once to Horace, Miss Andrews +would have thought a deal more of him, had he too donned the +epaulettes and been a little less old-fashioned, for, Bob, the ladies +are attracted by gay colours. It is nature you know. Look even at +the birds of the air, they don't care a slug how they knock about all +winter; but as soon as spring time comes, and they go a-wooing, +behold how gay and brave they are. They know precisely when to put +on their fancy waistcoats, and when to leave them off. But _Nelson +didn't_. + +"Well by-and-by Horace was appointed to the _Boreas_, twenty-eight +guns, and sailed for Barbadoes. + +"Sir Richard Hughes was then commander-in-chief of these colonies, +but he was an easy-going commander and did not trouble his head very +much about British interests. + +"But Nelson meant to do his duty _maugre_ fear _maugre_ favour, +although the big soldier men out there did not thank him for his +interference. So he seized many vessels that he knew had no business +at all to trade in British colonies, and got persecuted in +consequence, as Horace himself says, 'from one island to another.' + +"Out on this station Nelson met the charming widow Nisbet, and +married her. + +"Tom, the story stops here. You know pretty well all the rest, how +the _Boreas_ came back in 1787 and was paid off on the 4th of July, +and how my dear friend went on half-pay, and has been left high and +dry to fret and fume and 'rot,' as he calls it, ever since, waiting +in vain for the appointment that, it seems to him, will never, never +come. + +"Tom, look eastward, lad, there is a storm brewing, and we better +take the advantage of the cat's paws before it breaks and get +homewards." + +Tom did as he was desired, poled round the barge, set sail and got +home before the rain and high wind ruffled the lake. + +Just as they had landed, however, and Bob's cot was being wheeled +towards his own wing of the cottage, Mr. Merryweather touched young +Tom on the shoulder. + +"Tom," he said, "look eastward, there is a storm brewing." + +"Yes," said Tom, "but didn't you----" + +"Didn't I tell you that before? + +"Yes, lad, but I mean it now in a figurative sense. There is a storm +brewing in the east, and you'll be in it, I'll be in it, and brave +Horatio Nelson too." + +"You mean war, sir?'" + +"I mean war, Tom." + +"Hurrah!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"DAN WILL NE'ER BE DAN AGAIN," THEY SAID. + + "A boding voice is in my ear, + "We're parting now to meet no more."--OLD SONG. + + "See yon bark, sae proudly bounding, + Soon shall bear me o'er the sea. + Hark! the trumpet loudly sounding, + Calls me far frae love and thee."--A. HUME. + + +It was a sad day for my hero, young Tom Bure, when Mr. Merryweather +resigned command of the sloop, and went on half-pay. When he came to +bid good-bye to Dan and his old shipmate, Uncle Bob, to say nothing +of little Ruth and her mother, everyone was as sad as sad can be. It +was one of those dull, depressing days in December; great waves +tumbling in from the east and breaking in thunder upon the sands of +Yare; hosts of seagulls flying in-land; snow in the air; general +gloom everywhere. + +"Good-bye, Bob, my good fellow, I hope to see you again, and see you +well. I'm coming back from the wars with my post-captaincy, Bob; +then you and your good brother Dan here will be the first to bid be +welcome, I know." + +There was a huskiness in poor Bob's voice when he made answer that +was not difficult to account for, and there was moisture in his eyes. + +"Ah, mate," he said, "you must forgive an invalid for showing the +white feather at the last. I didn't think, you know, I'd be so sorry +to part with you, but your presence, coming back and fore to the +cottage here, brought back old memories, and I've had a right happy +time. Good-bye, mate. Heaven preserve you. I'll pray for you, an +honest tar's prayer. But something whispers to me--we'll meet again +no more." + +Ruth went as far as the rustic bridge with Mr. Merryweather. + +He kissed her as he bade her farewell. + +"I'll meet many a maiden ere I return again, Ruth," he said, "but +none more modest and fair than you, my winsome lassie." + +Ruth went away sobbing, with her apron to her face. + +Tom walked as far as the beach with Merryweather, for he was Tom's +hero. + +Besides, he had promised to use his influence at the Admiralty to get +Tom appointed as a middie in the same ship as he himself joined. + +"Good-bye, Tom." + +"Good-bye, Mr. Merryweather." + +They were now on the cliff. + +"Good-bye, sir, I wouldn't cry for the world, I--wouldn't--good-bye." + +"There! there! lad. Never be ashamed of honest tears. Just let them +fall. The bravest men that ever drew sword or wielded cutlass on the +blood-slippery battle-deck have wept when saying that little word +'good-bye.'" + +He patted the boy most kindly on the shoulder. "Tom," he said, +smiling, "do you know what I'm going to do?" + +"No," said Tom, smiling himself, though his eyes were wet. + +"Well, as soon as I get up anchor and wear round I'll fire a gun for +you. And do you know what that gun will say?" + +"No, sir." + +"It'll say 'Good-bye, Tom,' as plainly as ever a gun can speak. Now +sit there and look and listen." + +And off ran this honest sailor, while Tom sat down on the cliff-top +to wait for developments. + +He saw the boat hauled up. He heard the rattle of the windlass as +the men got up the anchor. He saw the loosened sails fill as the +little craft wore round, then there was a quick wicked-looking puff +of white smoke, with a tongue of fire in the centre of it, and next +moment the cliffs reverberated with the sound of the farewell gun. + +Tom took off his jacket and waved it in the air; his cap would not +have been sufficient for the requirements of so auspicious an +occasion. + +"Good-bye, Tom," said the gun. + +And Tom went sadly home all by himself. + +* * * * * + +There is one method of getting over sorrow that every boy has in his +power, namely, sticking to his books and his studies. + +Many a time and oft, dear reader, has sorrow in this world been the +parent of fame, and Tom Bure found that after a somewhat gloomy +fortnight the time did not hang so wearily on his hands. + +Hadn't Mr. Merryweather assured him that war was coming, and that he +would exercise all the influence he possessed to obtain him an +appointment as midshipman. + +How glorious that would be! How he wished for the storm to break, +for the war to begin. He did not think of the fine uniform he might +wear, or of the dirk that should hang by his side. He resolved to +emulate Horatio Nelson, and despise dandyism; but whenever a chance +offered to do all kinds of daring, plucky things, he was sure he +should rise rapidly in the service, and have his name written on the +scroll of fame. + +Tom had heard of the scroll of fame, but possessed very hazy notions +indeed as to what it was or wasn't. But in an old copy-book Mr. +Curtiss, his tutor, one day discovered the following ready-made +scroll of fame-- + + "Tom Bure, midshipman. + Lieutenant Tom Bure, R.N. + Commander Thomas Bure, R.N. + Captain the Hon. Thom. Bure, R.N. + Admiral of the Red the Hon. Thom. Bure. + Admiral of the Fleet Lord----." + + +The scroll of fame was left unfinished just there; it was evident +that young Tom was uncertain what title as a lord he should confer on +himself. + +But he happened to enter the room just as Mr. Curtiss was examining +this scroll of fame and laughing heartily over it. Forgetting for +the moment all the respect that was due to his tutor, Tom rushed +forward, seized the paper and tore it in pieces, his eyes flashing +with anger, his face burning like a coal. + +"Oh! forgive me, Mr. Curtiss," he said immediately after, "I didn't +mean to be rude, but I really felt so ashamed." + +"Say no more, my boy, no more," said Mr. Curtiss, "we all of us +manufacture for ourselves a scroll of fame, though we don't all +transcribe it in an old copy-book. Never be ashamed of ambition, my +boy, so long as it is honest ambition." + +* * * * + +Christmas of 1792 came round at last, and Tom Bure had the +distinguished honour of being included among the invited guests to a +ball given by his little inamorata, Miss Colmore, at the Hall. This +party was not held on Christmas-day, however, else Tom, much as he +loved the fascinating fair one, would have declined the invitation. +Christmas-day was Uncle Bob's day _par excellence_, for he happened +to have been born on this day of all days; so it was the one festival +of the year at Dan's cottage. The dinner was spread in Bob's own +wing, the room was specially decorated for the purpose with +evergreens and holly-berries and mistletoe nearly a week beforehand, +Bob himself superintending, Ruth and Tom doing the work. + +The table, with its snow-white cloth and sparkling glasses, and Mrs. +Dan's very best delf, was placed so that, as Bob lay in his cot and +Dan sat at the foot of the table, the two brothers were close +together, and Dan could attend to Bob's every want. + +There were always a few neighbours invited, and mirth and jollity and +songs and yarns were the rule of the evening. + +And this Christmas formed no exception. Poor Bob was never merrier, +and declared that he had been able to move his fingers in the morning +better than ever he had done, so that a new hope was awakened within +him. No wonder he was happy. + +And Bob being happy, his brother Dan's face was all the evening +brimming over with joy. Even Meg, the collie, knew that something +extra was on the tapis, and when everybody drank to Bob, wishing him +many happy returns of the day, and Dan his brother patted his cheek, +the dog jumped up and licked his ear, then seemed to go to sleep with +her head sideways on his chest in her old loving fashion. + +This was indeed a never-to-be-forgotten evening. + +Two days after the party at the Hall took place, and though perhaps +Tom was not the greatest dandy there, he nevertheless looked as well +as anyone. And, singular to say, Bertha was kinder to Tom than ever +she had been. She gave him more dances than she gave to the +Honourable Fred Langridge, although the latter wore silver buckles in +his shoes besides silk stockings and a satin waistcoat, and sported a +bunch of seals at his fob as large even as Mr. Merryweather's. + +Tom was accordingly very happy indeed, and the evening wore away with +magical quickness. Bertha had never looked so like a fairy before, +but nevertheless this fairy maiden even condescended to let Tom----; +but stay, I shall not tell tales out of school, and the least said +about the mistletoe the better. + +But that, too, was a never-to-be-forgotten evening. + +Our young hero was now in his twelfth year, and began to think he +really and truly was a man. + +It being winter Uncle Bob spent nearly all his time indoors, but Tom +went often to the crow's-nest, and came back and reported to Bob all +about the weather and how the wind was, how the sea looked and what +was in sight, and this used to make Bob so happy. + +Tom often went out in the _Fairy_ yawl with the Ashleys. They were a +rather rough lot, but really capital seamen, and taught the boy quite +a deal that was useful to him in after life. + +And with all due respect for classical education, the knowledge of +how to reef and steer and splice and knot, and of how to look a gale +of wind and dashing seas in the teeth, is not thrown away even on a +midshipman of the present day. + +* * * * * + +The cold dreary winter wore away at last, and spring began to clothe +the marshes in tender green, and scatter wild flowers everywhere. +The catkins were showered groundwards from the tall poplar trees, and +yellow-green leaves covered them like the shimmer of evening +sunshine, the tassels hung on the larches, the gold covered the +furze, gentler winds went whispering through the young shoots of the +bulrushes, and the song of birds was heard in all the land. + +Happiness, joy, and hope were universal. + +Uncle Bob began to look forward now to his first glad day on the +broad in his barge. Dan his brother was to come with him, Ruth and +Meg and all were to go, and Tom intended to invite little Bertha +herself. + +It was indeed to be a day of rejoicing. + +One evening the stars shone with unusual brilliancy, and yet Dan told +Bob there wasn't an air of frost in it either. Dan sat longer up +with his brother that night than usual. They were talking of dear +old times when father and mother were alive, and they were boys +together. Such joyous days those used to be, and how free from care +and thought. + +When at last the old clock in the corner groaned out the hour of +twelve, Dan bade his brother a kindly good-night, and prepared to go. + +The last thing Bob asked him to do was to draw back the curtains, +that he might see the beautiful stars. + +"Take the candle, brother, take the candle," Bob said. "Good-night, +dear Dan. Now I shall see the stars. Oh, what glory!" + +These were the last words ever Dan heard his brother utter. Mayhap +they were the last he ever spoke on earth. + +When Tom went in next morning he found Uncle Bob apparently asleep. +But his face was white. + +Tom touched his brow; it was hard and cold. + +He stood in the chamber of death. + +It was Bob's wing no longer. + +Tom felt for a moment as if turned to stone, then, uttering one long +and bitter cry, he sank down on his knees beside the bed and burst +into tears. + +When brother Dan went in he found two mourners there; one was little +Tom, the other Bob's collie, Meg. Her paws were on the bed, her +cheek leant lovingly against the hard, dead chest of her master. + +[Illustration: "Dan found two mourners there, little Tom, and Bob's +collie, Meg."] + +* * * * * + +A very humble funeral. Only a plain deal coffin, and only a few +friendly neighbours to follow it to its last resting-place. + +But when these neighbours looked in the face of poor Dan, who erst +was ever so cheerful, they shook their heads. + +"Dan has aged sadly," they said. + +"Dan will ne'er be Dan again." + + + + +Book II. + + +CHAPTER I. + +TOM'S BAPTISM OF BLOOD. + + "Set every inch of canvas + To woo the favouring breeze. + Oh, gaily goes the ship + When the wind blows free!"--OLD SONG. + + +"Luff, lad, luff," said the skipper to Tom Bure, who was at the +wheel. "We'll give them a race for it anyhow. They'll think none +the less of us for that." + +"See," he added, a minute after, but talking now to his mate. Tom +was too busy to look about. "Yonder was a shot, it fell plump into +our wake a quarter knot astern. Blaze away, Frenchie, but we're not +overhauled yet, and not a herring o' mine crosses your throat for the +next two hours anyhow. + +"Ah! mate, they don't know the life that's in the _Yarmouth Belle_ +when she gets a wind on the quarter. And the more it blows the +faster she goes. Another shot! Ah! Frenchie, you haven't run us +aboard yet even. Keep her as she goes, Tom, lad, keep her as she +goes." + +The skipper and his mate might have been taken for brothers, so much +alike were they in face and build. Short, squat almost; men about +forty years of age, with faces as rough as a crab shell, and not +unlike to a crab in colour when that dainty has been boiled; noses +that seemed to have sunk considerably by the pressure of gales of +wind innumerable; eyes that were mere slits from the same cause; +dressed in sea-boots and blue sweaters, with black sou'-westers. +They carried their hands deep in their trousers' pockets when not +handling anything; kept them stowed away, as it were, till wanted; +and they chewed tobacco, as a rule, walking down to leeward when they +wanted to expectorate, which they did apparently for the benefit of +the sharks. + +The men belonging to this schooner were five in number, and +hardy-looking fellows every one of them, though not so tough as mate +and master. They wore blue night-caps, and were naked as to feet, in +other respects they were dressed like their superiors. + +There was little or no lording it over the men displayed by the +senior officers of the _Yarmouth Belle_, Equality and fraternity was +displayed fore and aft. Even the skipper himself would be seen +forward at times, talking and laughing and yarning with the +forecastle hands, and any one of these would take a pull at sheet or +brace without an order from the officer on duty, if he thought the +sails needed trimming. + +But both master and mate looked pleasant enough, and good-natured +too, for men like these, who have been, literally speaking, reared +upon the waves, are not easily put out. At the present moment, for +instance, they were running away from a French cruiser, and it did +seem too that they were likely to win the race. + +The stage of action was the Mediterranean sea, or blue Levant, as +novelists often call it. It was blue as blue could be to-day, as +blue as the sky above it, albeit there was a white horse visible here +and there on its surface, for a stiff but steady breeze was blowing, +and if it only held, Mr. Hughes, the skipper, felt sure he could show +that Frenchman a clean pair of heels. + +"Wo! wo!" he cried presently, as a shot fell closer astern than was +agreeable. + +"I'd let her pay off a trifle, George," said the mate. + +"Have it your own way, Tim, only don't let us get hulled." + +"For'ard there!" he shouted. "Have the jollyboat all ready. Now, +Tim, let her rip. Sandie, run aft here and haul up the British Jack. +The red rag that makes the Frenchman as mad's a bull. See, I knew it +would, and yonder comes another shot. Short this time though. +Short, you dirty old frog-eating Moosoors. Mate, I'll have a tot o' +rum. Don't see why we shouldn't splice the main brace, eh?" + +"Steward!" cried Tim, "fill black-jack, and bring him up here." + +The steward, in shirt and trousers, and a pair of slippers down at +the heels, soon appeared, with a cup in one hand and a black iron +measure with rum in it in the other. These were days of can-tossing. + +"Here's confusion to the French!" cried the skipper. + +Then he tossed his can. + +The mate followed suit. + +"No good offerin' you, younker, any, I daresay," he said, looking at +Tom. + +"Not to-day, thanks." + +"Keep her full then, Tom. Keep your eyes aloft, lad. Steward, take +a pull yourself, then trot for'ard with black-jack." + +* * * * * + +In order to understand how Tom Bure happens to be down here in the +blue Levant, taking his trick at the wheel on board the saucy +_Yarmouth Belle_, it will be necessary to hark back a month or two in +our story, but I promise you that we shall soon make up our leeway. + +* * * * * + +After poor Uncle Bob was laid in his quiet grave, then, Tom received +several letters from Mr. Merryweather, the last of which was very +brief. He (Mr. Merryweather) was appointed to a ship at Chatham +which was fitting out for sea, the letter explained, and as soon as +possible he meant to have an interview with no less a personage than +Lord Hood himself, with whom he had served out in America. Tom might +rest assured that it was on his account wholly he was going to see +the admiral, and he, Tom, might really hold himself in readiness to +join a ship at any time. + +Now, at this date, '93, history was moving on at a very rapid pace +indeed. + +Things had not gone over well with Horatio Nelson in '92. Hope +itself seemed dead within him. His applications for service were +utterly ignored by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. + +It was not very long, however, before Nelson had proof that the +darkest hour of night is next the dawn, and that "_post nubila +Phœbus_," after clouds come sunshine. He had still two good +friends in high quarters, namely, Lord Hood and the Duke of Clarence. +Both knew how good and enthusiastic an officer he was. Both knew +that the cloud in the east would soon break. The French were, to use +a slang but expressive adjective, "cockie." The French were +insolent. They were already proved to be--so they themselves +thought--the best soldiers in the world, and they thought also there +would not be the slightest difficulty in proving their superiority to +the British at sea. + +They had already fired on British ships, and, with every desire to +maintain the peace of the world, our Government saw there was nothing +for it but fight. + +Very much to his surprise, therefore, as well as intense delight, +Nelson found himself appointed to the _Agamemnon_, a 64-gun ship of +great excellence. + +And so he sailed from England on the 27th of June, making one of the +squadron of Lord Hood, whose ships were bound south, with a large +convoy of merchantmen under their lee. + +It was upon the 25th day of this very June that our bold young Tom +Bure set out on a cruise of his own seeking. The _Fairy_, Ashley's +yawl, was running round Hunstanton way, and Tom begged for a passage, +or rather he asked for one. There was very little begging needed in +it, for gruff old Ashley was as proud and fond of Tom as he was of +any of his sons. So in a day or two--the _Fairy_ being delayed by +wicked wee winds--Tom found himself on shore at Wells. His object +was to see Captain Nelson, and beg him to take him with him even as a +cabin-boy. + +Alas! Nelson was gone. His father was there, however, and as Tom +sat in a high-backed chair opposite the kind old parson, he was for +fifteen minutes under a fire of good advice, the text of which was, +"Stay at home, boy, and become a useful member of society. Don't go +to the sea to become a target for French gunners, and to feed the +fishes eventually." Of course the worthy parson fixed his sermon up +in a more appropriate guise than this. And there sat Tom as quiet as +a mute; but, in the interests of truth, I am bound to say that, like +round shot which go clean through a wooden ship at close quarters +without doing much harm, the rector's advice went in at one of Tom's +ears and out at the other, making no impression whatever. + +"Now, my dear boy," said old Mr. Nelson at last, "you have listened +most attentively to what I have said, and I pray heaven you may +benefit by it." + +Tom Bure had hardly heard a word of it. + +"Thank you," he said, "and now, sir, might I write to your son?" + +"Down you sit, lad, right here at this desk, and scribble away. I'll +forward your epistle in one of mine." + +Here is Tom Bure's letter to Horatio Nelson: + + +"DEAR CAPTAIN NELSON,--This comes hoping you are well and fighting +the french, O, sir, I want to fite the french too. My father was a +galant offiser and fought the french and the americans and Spanish +and all. So did you, sir. You, sir, wanted the admiralty to give +you a cockle-boat if you could not go as captain, if I cannot go as a +midshipman sir, I want to go as a cabin boy. + + "Yours Respectably, + "TOM BURE." + + +It must be confessed that this letter was not free from some errors, +but then action and common-sense were more admired in these brave old +times than grammar and orthography. + +Old Mr. Nelson promised faithfully to send the letter, and having +given the lad a good dinner and a little more good advice, Tom +marched boldly and hopefully away to Hunstanton and met the Ashleys. + +On the passage back the _Fairy_ ran into Yarmouth harbour, and Tom +went with old Ashley on board a schooner to see a friend of his. + +"As plucky a fellow as ever hauled a net," he explained to Tom before +they crossed the plank. "Netted a bit o' money too. For five years +now he's been running down the Levant wi' dried herrings, and comin' +back wi' fruit. But what I tells him is this, 'You may do a thing in +peace times ye can't in war.' Only George is as headstrong as a +mule. And there he is. Ha, George, me and this younker was just +talkin' about you. Here is a young sailor for you, if you like!" + +"Can he do aught? A gent, ain't he?" + +"Ay, a gent; but I brought him up, and, look see, he's going to be +something yet. Tom Bure'll be a credit to me. He won't miss stays, +you wager. But, George, I was just telling him what an old idget ye +was." + +"Oh, thank you!" said George, laughing. "I'm sure I'm obliged. Come +below and have a tot of rum and bit o' baccy. Don't the _Yarmouth +Belle_ look nice?" + +"Ah! yes, slick and trim. I'd have no fear o' her and you, George, +if 't weren't war time." + +While these two men were talking, Tom Bure had a happy thought. Why +shouldn't he sail with George--as Ashley called the skipper. Nelson +went in a merchant ship. "Sir," he said, "will you take me for a +cruise? I'll obey orders, and do all I can to help you sail the +schooner." + +George laughed in a rough but kindly way, and the three went below +together, and it all ended by young Tom Bure becoming one of the +crew, or say rather an apprentice, on board the saucy _Yarmouth +Belle_. + +Honest old Dan was much distressed when he heard that Tom had engaged +himself, and poor Ruth, whom Tom always called sister, was +inconsolable. + +"However, it may be all for the best," said Dan. "He's been well +brought up, though I say it, wife, and Providence can protect him." + +"Besides," said Mr. Curtiss, "he must begin to see life some time, +and the sooner the better, Dan, now-a-days." + +Tom's things were gotten ready with all speed. Rough wearing +every-day articles they were, warm and useful. Mrs. Brundell saw to +their abundance and utility. + +His outfit for the navy had already been bought and packed, and as +Tom's chest was a good-sized one, Ruth proposed that he should take +his uniform clothes in the bottom. "It may bring Tom luck, mother," +she said. So this was agreed to. + +On the evening before his departure, the Colmores being then at the +hall, Tom launched his boat, and with Meg at the prow started off up +the Broad to bid farewell to his Bertha. + +Poor Bertha cried bitterly for a little while; but she brightened up +considerably when Tom told her it was all to win honour and glory for +her he was going to brave the dangers of the treacherous ocean. She +put it to him very straight though. + +"What will you bring me, Tom?" she said. + +And there wasn't a thing in the world that Tom did not promise to +bring home and lay at his love's feet, so it is no wonder she dried +her eyes and laughed at last. Bertha indeed seemed at this early +stage of her existence quite cut out for a sailor's bride. + + "That girl, who fain would choose a mate + Should ne'er in fondness fail her, + May thank her lucky stars if fate + Decree her to a sailor. + He braves the storm, the battle's heat, + The yellow boys to nail her, + Diamonds--if diamonds she could eat, + Would seek her honest sailor." + +* * * * * + +So away went Tom. + +And the voyage had all along been a most pleasant one. In a few +days' time the skipper of the _Yarmouth Belle_ had reckoned upon +reaching the port of destination, selling off his cargo, and +investing in another. But it seemed at present that it was not going +to be all plain sailing with him. + +Whizz! Another shot. Much nearer this time too. "That +privateersman," said the skipper, "is a wonderful craft to fly. +Well, it'll be a feather in her cap if she runs the _Yarmouth Belle_ +aboard." + +Whizz! + +"I say, George, ain't it getting a trifle too hot?" said the mate. + +When the next shot went ripping through the fore topsail, George +turned his quid in his mouth, and nodded to his mate. + +"I must admit, matie," he said, "it's getting a bit warmish. We've +done all we could as Englishmen to maintain the honour and glory of +the flag, now we'll haul her down." + +The _Yarmouth Belle_ was now brought to, and ere long was boarded by +an officer from the cruiser. + +When he came on the quarter-deck he was in a terrible passion, and +swore roundly in French. + +But as no one except Tom Bure understood a word he said, it did not +matter a deal. + +Tom did all he could to pacify the French officer, by explaining that +being Englishmen, they were obliged either to fight or retire. Being +unable to fight they naturally ran away to save their cargo, just as +they hoisted the British flag to save their honour. + +"Where is that flag?" hissed the officer, striking his sword-scabbard +on the deck. "Give me the rag." + +Now Tom had the old Bure blood in him, and his face glowed with anger +to hear his country's flag called a rag. He determined it should not +be surrendered. + +"Here is the flag, sir," he said. "Let me roll it up for you." + +As he did so he deftly managed to tie within it two marline spikes, +old-fashioned, heavy articles. + +Then he coolly pitched the crimson bundle overboard. + +"There, sir; a gentleman knows how to respect even the flag of an +enemy. You are not one, and shall never finger flag of ours." + +This, it must be confessed, was a bold as well as pretty speech for a +lad of Tom's age. Those, however, were the days of bold speeches, +and doughty deeds as well. + +But dire were the results that followed. + +The Frenchman drew his sword, and struck poor Tom Bure a terrible +blow with the hilt. + +Tom fell senseless to the deck. + +Next moment the Frenchman lay beside him. + +"Fair play, you cowardly frog-eater," the skipper had shouted, +bringing his fist to bear full between the officer's eyes. + +It was too late now to draw back. + +"Overboard with the lot," shouted skipper Hughes. + +As he spoke he tore the sword from the grasp of the fallen man, and +the pistol from his belt. + +The mate seized a capstan bar. The crew followed his example. A few +pistol shots were fired, and cutlasses were drawn by the Frenchmen; +but the attack had been all too quick and unexpected to be met. In +less than a minute the crew of the boat were overpowered and +disarmed, then pitched pell-mell overboard. + +Those Norfolk sailors had fought like demons. + +The foreyard was hauled forward, and away once more went the +_Yarmouth Belle_, skimming over the water like a living thing. + +By the time the cruiser had picked up her boat the schooner had +secured such an offing that, as night was coming on, the baffled +privateer was fain to give up pursuit and go off on another tack. + +And this was Tom Bure's baptism of blood. + +He certainly lost some, and there was an ugly gash on his brow; but +he was soon sufficiently recovered to sit up and look about him. + +The skipper had bound up his brow, and the steward was kneeling +beside him, trying hard to get him to swallow a little +three-water-grog. + +Tom couldn't believe his eyes when he looked about him. + +There was the _Yarmouth Belle_ once more under full sail, and there +was the French officer sitting disconsolately under the lee rails, +side by side with one of his own men, both with their legs in irons. + +And now Tom showed his generosity by begging that both men should be +placed _en parole_. + +The skipper consented, and with his own hands Tom unlocked the irons +and set them free. + +"The English are von brave nationg," said the officer, and, much to +Tom's astonishment, he was caught and kissed on both cheeks. + +The Frenchmen, however, settled down very happily in their new +quarters, and were as merry as merry could be. + +After all, it was only the fortune of war. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +HOW TOM BURE JOINED THE SERVICE. + + "Let cannons roar loud, burst their sides let the bombs, + Let the winds a dread hurricane rattle; + The rough and the pleasant, Jack takes as it comes, + And laughs at the storm and the battle."--DIBDIN. + + +The _Yarmouth Belle_ had baffling winds for a few days after this, +which considerably delayed her progress to Naples, the port of her +destination. But the weather was beautiful on the whole, and the +skipper and the mate were both philosophers of the happy-go-lucky +school. + +"I'm not going to fret my little self," said Mr. Hughes one morning +at breakfast, when Tom reported that the _Belle's_ head was not +directed to that point of the compass he should wish. + +"We're not going to fret our little selves," said the mate. "Pass +the ham, skipper. We've plenty to eat, we've plenty to drink, and we +have 'baccy, and there's no hurry home." + +"You are rich men den?" said the French officer. + +"Oh, no, sir. Rich in content, that is all." + +"You veel make one profitabeal voyage?" + +"I hope to make fifty," said the skipper. + +"Ah, dat is not vot I mean. _Dis_ voyage, saar. Here, I veel pay +you _tres bien_ if you take me to Tunis." + +The Briton shook his head. + +"That cock won't fight, sir," he said. "I'm a poor man, but I trust +I'm an honourable one; least I hope so." + +"Ah, good! I make my respects to you. I honour you, I love you. +Good-bye." + +He stretched his hand over the table, seized Hughes' rough fist, and +shook it heartily. + +"Are you off then?" said the mate, laughing + +"Ah, saar! I not mean that, my good-bye is not all de same as yours." + +At this moment Tom entered once more. + +He looked excited. + +"Three frigates in sight, Mr. Hughes, sir," he said. "I've been to +the mast-head with the glass, and they look like Frenchmen." + +It was the officer's turn to laugh now. + +"Ah!" he cried, "now it may be 'Good-bye' after all in de Eenglish +way. Ha! ha!" + +"Don't you whistle till you're out of the wood, Moosoo," said Hughes, +nodding to him good-humouredly. "You don't know yet what the _Belle_ +can do on a wind." + +Stout though he was, the skipper found his way into the top, while +the mate stood below looking up. + +"Right the boy is!" he shouted down presently. "They are French as +sure's I'm Yarmouth. Ready about, mate! We may as well keep out o' +the way. But, bless you, mate," he added, when he got down again, +"they seem far too busy to bother us." + +"May I take the glass and go into the cross-trees, sir?" asked Tom. + +"Go on to the truck if ye like, lad. Why, you've got eyes like a +lynx." + +Away aloft went Tom. No cat could have gone aloft half so neatly. +Honest pride was swelling his young heart as he brought the telescope +to bear on the Frenchmen. + +"On deck!" he shouted presently. + +"Ay, ay, lad!" cried Hughes. + +"There are three big frigates, a smaller" (? corvette), "and a brig." + +Hughes laughed and turned to Moosoo, as he called his prisoner. +Hughes was fond of a joke. + +"We can't do it, Moosoo," he said. "Had there been only three +frigates now, we might have boarded and carried them one after +another. But four and a brig to boot--that's just two more 'n we can +eat. Ha! ha! ha! See the point?" + +If Moosoo didn't see the point he felt it; for in order to emphasise +his joke Hughes dug him in the ribs with his red fat forefinger. + +"One of the frigates has dropped astern, sir," was the next hail from +the cross-trees. "A bigger one than any is coming up on her, hand +over hand." + +"Is _she_ French?" + +"Can't make out. Shall soon, I think." + +In twenty minutes' time came another hail. + +"British, Mr. Hughes, British! and now she's fired a shot." + +"Hoorah!" cried Hughes. "Mr. Moosoo," he added, "here's news. My +second mate aloft there tells me there's seventeen French sail o' the +line running away from a Britisher. Hoorah!" + +"Below there!" shouted Tom. + +"Ay, ay!" + +"The fight's begun; but they've all borne away on the other tack." + +"Ready about!" cried the skipper. "Mate, we'll see the last of this. +Nothing to pay, you know." + +In less than an hour the saucy Belle was so near to the +belligerents--no pun meant, reader, the occasion is too serious for +punning--to witness from the deck the running fight between the +frigates. + +It was hotly contested on both sides for more than two hours, after +which the foe was silenced. + +"They are going to board," cried Tom. + +The boy was dancing with excitement on the cross-trees. + +"Hurrah!" cried Hughes again. + +But they were all disappointed. + +The British ship veered round with her head to the west, and men +could be seen in the rigging immediately after making good repairs. + +"She means to fight again, I'll wager a barrel of herrings. They're +only putting things right a bit to go ahead." + +"Now, mate," continued this valiant skipper, "I move we keep her up +and join the Britisher. Let us see if we can't be of any assistance +to her. Eh?" + +"Bravo, sir!" said the mate, "I'm on. The idea's first rate, and we +may share the prize money and the glory, you know." + +"Oh, bother the glory! We may sell our herrings." + +There was another and final hail from the cross-trees. + +"The beaten frigate, sir, has hoisted signals, and the others are +bearing down towards her." + +"Now the fun'll begin," cried the warlike skipper. "That British +ship is good enough for the five of them, I know." + +But it was soon evident that the French frigates had no desire to +renew the combat. Perhaps they had important engagements in some +other part of the Levant. At all events, after a time they sheered +off. + +Then the _Yarmouth Belle_ stood towards the British man-o'-war, and +was duly hailed, and finally ran alongside. The man-o'-war, which +proved to be the _Agamemnon_--Nelson's own ship--had her mainsail +hauled aback, a boat was lowered to board the _Belle_, and in a few +minutes returned, bringing the Norfolk skipper and Tom himself. + +Both were sent on the poop. + +Tom Bure certainly did not look a very picturesque figure just then, +for his brow was still bound up with the blood-stained handkerchief, +and he wore a sou'-wester and blue jumper. + +The glad blood mounted to his face, however, when he saw it was +Horatio Nelson himself who advanced towards him. + +There were several officers besides on the quarterdeck, but Tom had +eyes only for the hero. + +Tom saluted, and waited to be questioned. + +"Why, my lad," said Nelson kindly, "you are Tom Bure, aren't you? +But why this masquerade?" + +Tom looked puzzled. + +"I received your letter, boy"--Nelson smiled--"and I have it still," +he said, "and wrote soon after to the Admiralty requesting your +appointment to this very ship. But you must have left England before +that appointment came." + +"I hope I haven't done wrong, sir; but I had no hopes you would think +of me." + +"Not think of you, boy? Nonsense." + +"So, sir, I sailed with Mr. Hughes here, sir." + +"Captain of the saucy _Yarmouth Belle_," put in that worthy. "Finest +herrings, sir." + +"One minute, Mr.----a----_Captain_ Hughes. Well, Tom Bure, give an +account of yourself and that cut on your head." + +Tom briefly related all that had occurred, Hughes helping him now and +then--putting a spoke in his wheel, as he phrased it. + +Nelson laughed heartily, and shook hands now with the skipper. + +"You're an honour to England, Mr. Hughes," he said, "and I shall not +fail to mention your gallantry in the right quarter. Now I'll +relieve you of your prisoners, and if you can spare me this young +gentleman I'll have his services here in my ship." + +"Delighted, I'm sure," said the skipper. "Any herrings, sir?" + +Nelson smiled again. + +"See my steward about that," he said, "and you can stay here for +twenty minutes and do business forward. Whither are you bound?" + +"To Naples, my lord." + +"No lord as yet, Captain Hughes; but I'll show my trust in a Norfolk +man by giving you a letter to deliver at Naples." + +"I'll give it, sir, if it should be to the king himself." + +Seeing Captain Nelson engaged talking to the worthy skipper, one of +the officers now advanced and laid his hand on Tom's shoulder. + +"Well, my hero!" he said. + +It was Merryweather himself, and Tom's cup of bliss was full to +overflowing. + +Mr. Merryweather marched him off to the lee side of the poop after +telling a middy to see "this young gentleman's" chest on board the +_Agamemnon_. + +The middy, who was some years older than Tom, saluted as he said "Ay, +ay, sir"; but he surveyed Tom with haughty superciliousness as he +descended from the poop. + +So Mr. Merryweather had all the last and freshest news from Norfolk. + +"Pity," he said at last, "you have not your uniform." + +"Oh, I had forgotten!" said Tom in a low voice. "Ruth put that in +the bottom of my sea chest." + +"Bravo! poor dear, winsome, wee Ruth. Shouldn't wonder if I married +her, Tom; but now, lad, bid your skipper good-bye, and come below to +my cabin. There you can dress you know. Wait one moment though." +He advanced to Captain Nelson. + +"May Mr. Bure go below now, sir?" + +"Certainly, Mr. Merryweather; and he better see the surgeon and have +his face washed." + +One of the junior surgeons, who looked more like a butcher's +assistant than anything else, was coming up from the cockpit. He +took Tom in tow, and speedily dressed his wound for him. + +In ten minutes he was washed and arrayed in his midshipman's uniform. +And now he reported himself formally to Captain Nelson, who seemed +much pleased. "I hope you will make a good and efficient officer," +he said. "There are three things you are to bear specially in mind, +Mr. Bure. Firstly, you must always obey orders most implicitly, +without attempting to form any opinion of your own as to their +propriety; secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who +speaks ill of your king or your country; and thirdly, you must hate a +Frenchman as you do the----." + +A spar fell on deck, and Tom didn't hear the last word. + +The Agamemnon and _Yarmouth Belle_ now parted company, the crew of +the latter with a cheer that was heartily responded to. + +Then the skipper turned to his mate. + +"Mate," he said, "I've done first-rate. Captain Nelson's a brick. A +brick, mate, and a Briton." + +"And being a brick and a Briton, let us say a Heart of Oak ----," +said the mate. + +"That's it, mate, a Heart of Oak. You have it." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +IN THE GUNROOM MESS--THE GREAT WAR GAME. + + "Though careless and headstrong if danger should press, + And rank'd 'mongst the free list of rovers, + Jack melts into tears at a tale of distress, + And proves the most constant of lovers, + + "To rancour unknown, to no passion a slave, + Nor unmanly, nor mean, nor a railer; + He's gentle as mercy, as fortitude brave, + And this is a true British sailor."--DIBDIN. + + +The gunroom of the _Agamemnon_ was right aft and beneath the +wardroom, and a big empty barn of a room it was, with a large table +athwartships, which was made to be removed at a moment's notice. +There were ports in the place, and guns too; very little light, very +little air, and about twenty junior officers of all sorts and sizes, +from the youngest middy--quite a child--to the tall ungainly form of +the surgeon's mate. There were seats and lockers and coils of rope +and a shockingly bad odour, which seemed to be a compound of tar, +bilge water, stinking fish, and Stilton cheese. + +Tom was horrified at seeing huge cockroaches inches long running +about the lockers and bulkheads, and even over the biscuits in the +trencher that stood on the table. + +Mr. Merryweather had shown Tom in here without much ceremony. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "here is Mr. Bure, a new messmate, son of the +late Commander Bure, R.N. Some of you will perhaps put him up to the +ropes"; and away went Merryweather. + +Put him up to the ropes indeed! Why, the first thing Tom did was to +tumble over a coil of that commodity. + +"Look out, awkward!" cried one middy. + +"Keep your head up and you'll never die," said another. + +Tom stood still for about a minute till he became accustomed to the +dim light. Then he was about to step forward and seat himself, when +the midshipman whom Mr. Merryweather had ordered to see his chest on +board stepped forward to meet him. + +He lifted his cap. + +"I'm Lord Raventree, Mr. Bure," he began. + +"Belay your jawing tackle," shouted a mate, "I want to read. What, +d' ye think Bure cares if you were twenty lords rolled into one?" + +"You hold your peace, Selby. I'm talking to a gentleman, and not to +you." + +"Now, sir," he continued, turning once more to Tom, "I believe I owe +you an apology, and I make it." + +"But for what, Lord Raventree?" said Tom, much puzzled. + +"I insulted you with my eyes, on the poop." + +"Sit down, Cockie. Hit him with a bit o' biscuit, somebody." + +"Now I apologise; but if you'd rather fight I'll meet you at Tunis +with pistols." + +"I've always fought with fists," said Tom boldly, "and as I'm the +challenged I've got the choice. I have heard it said this was the +rule." + +"Sir, fists are not weapons. I've always fought with pistols." + +"Fiddlesticks!" cried someone derisively. + +Tom turned quickly to the speaker, and won all hearts by saying right +merrily: + +"Well, I don't mind fiddlesticks. Will you be my second, sir?" + +"With pleasure," cried young Fraser. "Fiddlesticks are good enough +for Raventree anyhow. The last time he fought a duel it was with his +feet against the usher, when he was being birched at school." + +The laugh was against his lordship now. + +"I won't fight with fiddlesticks. This is an innovation. A +_reductio ad absurdum_. I am sorry to say that there is an absence +of moral tone about the mess that----" + +What else he would have said may never be learnt, for the surgeon's +mate entered at that moment. + +He looked from one to the other of the would-be belligerents, and +seemed at once to note how the land lay. + +"Cookie at it again?" + +"Cockie should be cobbed," suggested someone. + +"No," said the medico, "we won't cob Cockie. Desperate diseases need +desperate cures. If, my Lord Raventree, you won't round in the slack +of your cockiness, we'll make you fast to a rope and tow you astern +for a minute and a half." + +"Cockie on the end of a cable! Ha! ha!" + +"Cockie on the end of a lanyard!" + +"Or a bit o' spunyarn! That would be strong enough to hold Cockie." + +The entrance of some of the servants with the evening meal of salt +meat and biscuits put an end to the squabble. But Tom Bure had +learned a lesson even this early. He had found out that the gun-room +mess was in reality a little republic. That self-assertiveness or +cockieness would not be tolerated at any price, but that merit and +modesty would be fully appreciated if they went hand-in-hand, and, +moreover, that good-nature and a merry temper would go far to make +any member of the mess a favourite. + +Lord Raventree, or Cockie, as he was often called for short, +sometimes put "side" on. Consequently he was knocked down and jumped +upon. Figuratively speaking, I mean. Knocking a man down and then +jumping on him is a good (?) old English custom which still prevails +in England. In Lancashire, and some portions of the Midland +counties, the trick is performed literally and physically by the +rougher and probably more honest classes. In polite society it is +done just as often, only figuratively and not physically, and hurts +quite as bad. + +There were several men in this mess, and they ruled their juniors in +various ways. Sometimes by rule of thumb, sometimes by rule of +thump. Two or three masters' mates, well grown specimens; two +doctors' mates, one Scotch, one Irish, who were constantly engaged in +verbal battle, banter, or learned discussion, but who stuck together +like amalgamated bricks in the cockpit, and liked each other very +well on the whole; several hairy midshipmen, whom the Lords +Commissioners had forgotten to promote because they lacked landed +interest to push them into prominence, and one middy--two-and-thirty +years of age--with silver hairs among the gold of his temples, +O'Grady to name. He had crept in through the hawse-hole, but would +no doubt be a lieutenant before the war was over. A mixty-maxty kind +of a mess you will observe, not burdened with any very embarrassing +amount of etiquette, but right as well as rough. Hearts of Oak in +fact, for these were the days when true courage, manliness, muscle, +dash, and go were appreciated to their fullest extent. There was +honesty in the mess also--and it is a rare thing to find much of this +in our day--honesty and fair play, so that even a lord or a prince +had as good a chance of becoming first favourite in the gun-room, if +he behaved like a man, as the humblest laird's or parson's son. + +When Tom Bure joined the service it would have been difficult to say +who was favourite, or a favourite. Perhaps honest O'Grady was as +much respected as anyone. + +Hoste, afterwards Sir William, was a member of the mess, a thoughtful +and undoubtedly clever young officer. Josiah Nisbet also, a +midshipman and stepson to Nelson. This young fellow was really +brave, or "plucky," which is more of a midshipman's adjective than +"brave" is; but at this time, at all events, he was quiet and +unobtrusive. He was a modest lad, and Bure quite took to him. +Perhaps Josiah felt that, being so nearly related to his captain, he +was right in keeping himself in the background to some extent. + +Tom did not quite like Hoste. The young gentleman did not say much, +it is true, but, like Paddy's parrot, it was evident that he was +thinking all the more on this account. + +Well, this first night had not passed away before Tom found that he +had made several friends. O'Grady took him very much in tow, for +example; the butcher's assistant--I beg his pardon, the Scotch +surgeon's mate--drew Tom out, called him greenhorn in a friendly way, +laughed at his innocence and at nearly all he said, and finished by +ordering him off to his hammock. This he did also in a roughly, +friendly way. + +"Here, Master Griff," he said, "we've had enough of you. Bear up for +your hammock. Daddy O'Grady'll put you up to the ropes." + +"_Mister_ O'Grady, if ye plaze," said the quondam bo's'n, laughing. + +"Let's call you Daddy," said the surgeon's mate. "You're no so vera +mickle older than mysel', but it sounds so friendly like." + +"Troth, then, it's little I care, my valiant Scot, what I'm called so +long's I'm not called down to the cockpit when you've got your big +apron on." + +Josiah went with Daddy O'Grady, and the surgeon's mate bade Tom good +night in a very friendly way--for _him_. + +"Good-night, laddie. Say your prayers, and there's no fears o' ye. +Have ye a Bible in your kist? Weel, read a bittock ilka nicht o' +your life. Then kneel down aside your kistie (sea chest) and commend +yoursel' to Him that hauds (holds) us a' in His ban's. Man, you'll +sleep like a tap aifter that. I like't your bearing the nicht in the +mess. Keep it up, lad. Be friendly wi' all, be ower free wi' nane. +And never be cockie. A cockie younker soon gets the starch ta'en oot +of his frills in oor gunroom. Aff wi' you." + +* * * * * + +Nelson's ship, in which we now find our little hero, was bound for +Tunis to join Commodore Linzee, and a very pleasant trip or outing it +proved to be. Neither the word trip nor outing is a very warlike +one, I grant you, reader; but it suits this voyage to Tunis +admirably. They had fine weather all the way, and never a single +adventure worthy of the name, so had there been ladies on board it +would have been a very pretty picnic. Nelson had been sent to the +court of the barbarous Dey of Tunis, to endeavour, by means of his +sweet persuasive tongue to get his Highness, or Celestiality, or +whatever he called himself, to kick the French out of Tunis. + +"A most cruel and blood-thirsty nation," said Nelson. + +"Do you know," said the Dey, "I like them all the better for that?" + +"Why," continued Nelson, "they have killed their lawful king!" + +"Ahem!" said the Dey. "Pray tell me, Captain Nelson, if it be true +that the English never killed their king." + +This settled it, and Nelson rejoined his fleet, and was shortly sent +to the coast of Corsica with a small squadron, to co-operate with +General Paoli, who was the leader of the insurgents in that island. + +Now, dear reader, I know that cut-and-dry history is quite as +unpalatable to the young taste as physiology or any other +ology--_i.e._ to the average taste. Still, a little of either is at +times necessary to make sense of a story, and now-a-days especially, +everybody wants to know the reason why of everything. Verily our +private soldiers and common sailors, as they are irreverently +called--just as if any sailor could be common--fight all the better +when they know what they are fighting for. + +Why, then, it may be asked, did the British want to banish the poor +nincompoops of Frenchies from Corsica? For this reason: _We_--the +British nation--found it necessary to have the command of the +Mediterranean. It gave us the command of Egypt, and Egypt is the key +to other countries that our enemies even then were throwing +sheep's-eyes upon. Toulon would have suited us nicely. + +Pray cast your eagle eye, reader, on a map of the Levant and see +where Toulon lies; also Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Alexandria, and +that nasty little--but handy--hole of a Tunis. + +A great war game was just commencing; the French had mighty armies +and a great navy, as well as mighty commanders and admirals on their +side of the board, and we had----well, + + "Our ships were British oak, + And hearts of oak our men." + + +Our first move, however, did not turn out trumps. Our first move had +been to send Lord Hood out to blockade Toulon with his squadron, +which, by the way, was none too big for anything. And just before +Tom Bure was taken on board the _Agamemnon_ from the saucy _Yarmouth +Belle_, a very wonderful thing had taken place. Briefly it was this, +France being divided against itself, the southern half wished to +become a separate republic under English protection, and so Hood had +not been long in front of Toulon with his lads in blue before, in the +name of the French king, Louis XVIII., Toulon was delivered up to +him, ships and all. + +"What an event," writes Nelson to his wife, "this has been for Lord +Hood! Such an one as history cannot produce its equal, that the +strongest place in Europe, with twenty-two sail-of-the-line, should +be given up without firing a shot! It is scarcely to be credited." + +Hood, who was at this time along with the Spanish fleet, landed +fifteen hundred men to man the forts; and Naples and Britain being +then for political reasons hand and glove, the king offered to send +six thousand men to Toulon to assist in holding it. Hood, however, +had demanded ten thousand. And these would have been few enough to +defend the royalists in Toulon against the number and fury of the +republicans who marched against it. + +The British, however, were before very long obliged to evacuate +Toulon, and I think there is no more awful page in history than that +which describes this evacuation--the blowing up of the arsenals, the +burning of the ships of war. + +Sir Sidney Smith acted on that awful night with a bravery that amidst +the fearful surroundings was like that of a demon. + +"It was a rehearsal," I make one of my heroes in another book* say, +"of all the glories and all the horrors of war combined in one long +act. + + +* _For England, Home, and Beauty_. Same publishers. + + +"I must be brief," he adds, "the recollection is not one of +unmitigated pleasure. + +"The thousands of galley slaves, then, got free at last. Sidney had +not the heart to think of them perishing in the flames. + +"They got free, soon after the night became almost as bright as day +with the glare of fires that rose up simultaneously in all +directions, such fires as I never witnessed before, and have little +desire ever to see again. Many of the stores were of a most +combustible nature, and every now and then the explosion of a +magazine seemed to rend the heavens and the earth, increasing the +fierceness of the fires tenfold, by scattering blazing brands and +rafters in all directions, and blowing down the walls of the +buildings already in flames, thus admitting the air. + +"In the midst of all this there were the constant cannonade of the +fire-ships, the guns of which being heated went off, the wild screams +of the murdering galley-slaves, and the songs and shouts of the +soldiers. + +"But more of fearful and awful took place before the work was +finished, and even bold Sir Sidney was staggered at the terrific +forces he had let loose, when first one powder-ship and then another +blew up. + +"The fire storm was everywhere--on earth, in air, and sea. Beams of +fiery wood and showers of sparkling, crackling timbers dropped +hissing into the water on every side. + +"The sight displayed the magnificence of warfare on a scale perhaps +never before witnessed. But, alas! its horrors were there also; for +the slave-fiends had possession of the town, and were committing the +most frightful atrocities. I must not describe what I saw and heard, +but the shrieks of men and women will ring in my ears till my dying +day." + +* * * * * + +The next card then played by the British in this war game was +Corsica, and this proved a good one. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"WERE THERE REALLY TEARS IN NELSON'S EYES?" + + "Hame, dearie, hame, + And it's hame that I would be; + Hame, dearie, hame, + To ma ain countrie."--OLD SONG. + + +We now find Nelson and Tom Bure, our big hero and our little one, on +the coast of Corsica. + +Paoli, the insurgent leader, a very brave soldier by the way, desired +the assistance of the British, and it suited the British to grant his +request, for now that Toulon was taken from us, it was a matter of +great importance to have Corsica. + +So Paoli ceded the island to us. + +In 1824 Nelson was cruising around here, and having "great fun." +That was what O'Grady of the gun-room mess called it. His +object--Nelson's I mean, ably assisted no doubt by both O'Grady and +Tom--was to make it as hot as possible for the French. + +The _Agamemnon_ was very busy indeed in that month of February, ever +on the alert, always in chase. + +Tom soon settled down to the routine of the service, and being lithe +and active, was plentifully employed indeed, and often on the +outlook. Nothing delighted the lad more than to discover a sail in +sight, and be perhaps the first to report it. + +Tom was one of a party who landed near San Fiorenzo, and helped to +set fire to a mill. It was the only one in the district. So the +French would have no more flour there. + +Nelson destroyed a dozen sail of ships, laden with wine for the +enemy--thousands of tons of it. + +"Sorra another dhrop o' dhrink will they have either," said O'Grady. +"Sure, that is worse than all." + +Nelson captured a courier boat. + +"Stopped the news," quoth O'Grady. + +But Nelson did worse; he bombarded Bastia, "bringing the houses and +the staiples and things down about the poor craytures' ears." Thus +the old Irish middy. + +Yes; and Nelson was taking notes all the while, and afterwards +furnished Lord Hood with an excellent report upon Bastia and its +defences. + +He was detailed therefore to cruise with his little squadron off +Bastia, and in fact to blockade it. On February 20th he drove the +French from a work they were erecting to the south of the place. + +Dundas was commander of the forces at St. Fiorenzo, between him and +Nelson a difference of opinion occurred with regard to Bastia. + +Nelson, be it remembered, was a most courageous man, and his enemies +therefore said he was too rash. + +One of his mottoes was reported to be, "Hang manœuvres, go at 'em." + +He did "go at 'em" to some purpose, as Nile and Trafalgar afterwards +proved. + +But he could not induce Dundas to go at Bastia in the way he (Nelson) +would have done. + +As Sir David Dundas was a Scotsman, and Scotsmen in those days were +born with swords instead of silver spoons in their mouths--using the +swords afterwards to "mak' the siller speens," he could not have been +otherwise than a brave man, but he was also a cautious one. + +"If," says Nelson in a letter to his wife, just after a brush with +the enemy, "I had carried with me five hundred troops, I should to a +certainty have stormed the town, and I believe it might have been +carried. Armies go so slow, that seamen think they never mean to go +forward, but I dare say they act upon a surer principle, though _we_ +seldom fail." + +"Our fine fellows," he adds, "don't mind shot any more than if they +were peas." + +But the day of battle came at last, Hood having arrived with +reinforcements. And on the 4th of April our men were landed, and the +siege was commenced. Not a large army, but little over 1,200 men, +consisting of seamen, marines, and soldiers. + +The island of Corsica, reader, is a very beautiful one, and it never +looked more lovely perhaps than some days before the batteries of the +British opened fire. Yonder were the ships at anchor in the blue and +tranquil sea, the white houses of the town seeming to sleep and dream +under the low but fortified hills; and the wild and lovely mountains +in the rear, greenwooded half way up, with many a glade and glen +between. + +Now this siege of Bastia, be it remembered, spoke volumes for the +invincibility of the seamen and marines under Hood, and indeed it +redounds to the honour and glory of all who fought there, for the new +general, D'Aubunt, who had succeeded Dundas, was of the same opinion +as his predecessor, namely, that the siege of Bastia was "a visionary +and rash attempt"; he therefore washed his hands so completely of the +affair, that he sent neither men nor guns to aid Hood's brave +fellows, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Villettes and our +hero Nelson. + +Guns were dragged up almost inaccessible heights, and everything +being ready by the 11th of April, an officer was sent with a flag of +truce to demand the surrender of the place. The answer was as +insolent as it was bombastic. + +"Tell your admiral I have hot shot for your ships and bayonets for +your troops. Probably when about two-thirds of our brave men are +killed, we shall then trust to the generosity of the British." + +The firing commenced at once therefore, and on the 22nd the place +capitulated, the tricolours of France were hauled down, and British +flags hoisted in their place. This is what bold Nelson called "the +most glorious sight a Briton could experience, four thousand five +hundred men laying down their arms to one thousand British soldiers +who were serving as marines!" + +At this siege Nelson was wounded in the back. Not severely, however. + +The Scotch surgeon's-mate characterised the wound as "a scratch," and +the hero himself made but light of it. For, frail and ill though his +body might have appeared, he was well inured to fatigue, to mental +suffering, and to pain also. + +Probably no captain was ever more loved by his officers and men than +Horatio Nelson was on board the _Agamemnon_, of which ship he was so +justly proud. The man had indeed a most bewitching manner about him, +despite the fact that he was a most strict service officer. + +To the junior midshipmen he ever behaved as a father, drawing them +out when shy, encouraging them in every way in the performance of +their duties, and inculcating in them reverence for God on high, +obedience to command, and love for their king and country. + +He used to have the gunroom officers to dine with him by turns, not +in large batches, but in well-chosen groups at all events. One or +two wardroom officers would also be at these dinner parties, and this +truly great man never failed to put every one on the very best of +terms, not only with himself, but with everybody else. On such +nights there was no preaching either to or at the youngsters, and +this was probably the reason why dining with the captain was +considered such a treat. There was, of course, the more carnal +reason also--"a good blow out." Well, young fellows are, young +fellows, and "a good blow out" is a treat to growing youth. + +I am pleased to say that Lord Raventree and Tom Bure soon became very +good friends. Both had been at the siege, and neither had shown the +white feather, even when shot tore up the ground near them, +scattering stones and splinters all around, and wounding seamen or +soldiers. They did not show the white feather, but more than once +during those eleven days they felt its touch. It was one evening, +when the firing was at its very hottest, that Tom, being stationed +not far from young Raventree, looked about and smiled in a friendly, +companionable kind of way. + +"Are you afraid, Raventree?" said Tom. + +"_Entre nous_, Yes," said his lordship. "How do you feel?" + +"Much as you do," answered Tom. "It is a funny sort of fear though. +I'm afraid I'm a coward at heart, and that everybody will soon find +me out; then I'll be shot, I suppose, and serve me right too." + +Both Merryweather and O'Grady were at the siege, and perhaps, though +they certainly felt no fear, they were not altogether easy in mind. + +"Och! bother, Mr. Merryweather," Tom heard O'Grady say, "this is no +fighting at all. I'm itching all over to have my cutlass in my two +hands, and a Frenchman or two forenenst me." + +"I'm not itching," said Merryweather, laughing, "only Irishmen and +Scotchmen itch, but I'm burning to get to close quarters." + +"Ah! Mr. Merryweather, you will have your joke; but, you see, this +battery business is a foine thing for sodjers--look out, there's a +shot coming--for sodjers or sailors?" + +Another shot filled O'Grady's mouth with grit. He spat gravel and +blood for half an hour, and didn't say much more. But none knew +better than this old midshipman how to train a gun, and he did his +best to repay the French for nearly knocking his front teeth out. + +Both Raventree and Tom had a chance of fighting side by side some +months afterwards, at the siege of Calvi; and perhaps, during the +whole course of this sad and eventful war, no operations were more +trying to the health and strength of our brave sailors, and the +troops who fought shoulder to shoulder with them in the batteries, +than those at Calvi. + +During this long and trying siege, Nelson had as his colleague the +gallant Sir Charles Stuart, a man quite after his own heart; a man +who was never more happy than when in action, and the hotter the +better; a man too who, like Horatio, never spared himself, and who +slept in the advanced battery every night. + +The guns too--five-and-twenty pieces of heavy ordnance--had to be +dragged to the different batteries, mounted and all, but fought by +seaman, with the exception of an artilleryman to point the guns. + +Was it any wonder that the men fell ill under such hardships, exposed +to the burning sun, and in a climate which, during the autumn months, +was far from healthy? Of two thousand men, more than half were sick, +we are told, and the rest looked like so many phantoms or scarecrows. + +Yet Nelson describes himself as like a reed among oak trees bending +before the storm, while his men--his Hearts of Oak--were laid low by +it. "All the prevailing disorders have attacked me," he wrote, "but +I have not strength enough for them to fasten upon." + +Nelson, it seems, had lived to find out a fact well known to medical +men, that thin, nervous people will often recover from illnesses that +prostrate and kill strong, full-blooded men in a few days. + +This puts me in mind of a remark once made to Horatio Nelson by his +Scotch surgeon's mate. The captain was attacked by acute pain in the +side during the night, and the honest medico thought it as well to +administer a good dose of a medicine which in another form is used in +the Highlands as a panacea for every ill--namely, spirits. + +"I'd drink the rum," said Nelson, "but I fear I am attacked by +inflammation, and the rum may increase it." + +"Tak' up your dram," said the Scot. "Inflammation? Man, _there's no +enough blood in a' your body to mak' a decent inflammation!_" + +Nelson drank his rum, sighed, and slept. + +At this siege, although so many died of illness, the loss caused by +shot and shell was comparatively slight. + +But a very sad loss indeed befel Nelson. A shell bursting near the +battery bespattered him with sand and gravel. An officer and several +men with Nelson had thrown themselves on their faces when the shell +was approaching; the latter arose bleeding freely from the mouth and +nostrils. He only complained, however, of pain in his right eye. +And so determined was he to continue his duty, that he could not be +prevailed upon to lie in bed more than one day. + +The sight, however, was destroyed, though not at once. + +Now, it will hardly be easily credited, that notwithstanding Nelson's +valour and energy at both the sieges of which I have given a brief +description, his services were scarcely mentioned in the reports sent +to the Admiralty at home. + +No wonder that a man of his proud and sensitive nature felt himself +sadly aggrieved to be thus neglected. "For one hundred and ten +days," he wrote, "have I been actually engaged at sea and on shore +against the enemy; three actions have I fought against ships; two +against Bastia in my ship; four boat actions; two villages taken; and +twelve sail of vessels burnt. I do not know that anyone has done +more. I have had the comfort to be always applauded by my +commander-in-chief, but never to be rewarded. And what is still more +mortifying, for services in which I have been wounded others have +been praised, who at the time of these actions were far away, and +snug in bed. They have not done me justice." + +"But never mind," he adds, "one of these times I shall have a whole +Gazette to myself." + +It must have been thoughts like these, combined with weakness of +body, not to say positive illness, that caused the hero at this time +of his career to dream of home. Ay, not to dream of it only, but to +long for the refreshing solace of a humble cottage in the country. +In Norfolk, no doubt. + +Nelson, I have already said, was not in the habit of preaching to his +junior middies, or at them either, when he invited them to dinner +(although in my own time I have known captains do this, and quite +take the wind out of the poor lads' sails). But, nevertheless, many +a time and oft, by night especially, he would get hold of some one or +other of his boys on the quarterdeck, and walking along by his side, +perhaps holding him by the arm just above the elbow, would give him +many a bit of sound advice, and many a kindly word of encouragement. + +One night, shortly after the siege of Calvi, although still suffering +with his eye, he put his hand kindly on Tom's shoulder, and began to +talk to him and to draw him out. + +It was a bright, beautiful moonlight night, the great clouds of +canvas bellying out before the breeze, and the waves to the south'ard +all a-sparkle, as if the fairies were raining showers of flashing +diamonds on them. + +He had often given Tom good advice, but all he said to-night was that +he was pleased with his conduct, and would do all he could to advance +him. + +"You're a Norfolk lad, aren't you?" he said. + +"No, sir; that is--yes. My father was, you know, sir." + +"Your father was a brave sailor, Tom Bure; but I am glad you too have +come to our service. Soldiers are not fit to hold the candle to +sailors." + +"No, sir." + +"They're too slow. Too much manœuvring. Not enough dash and go. +Well, lad, I still have your letter. That was what got you into the +service. Our Merryweather mentioned you to Admiral Hood though, but +he--excellent fellow--is troubled with a bad memory at times." + +Then he laughed as he added, "You're a capital diplomatist though. +What an excellent idea, to go to my dear father's house to write your +letter." + +"Oh, sir!" cried Tom, looking up in the captain's face, "I assure you +I did not go there for the purpose of writing that letter. I wanted +so much to see you, and I didn't know you had gone." + +"I believe you, boy; I believe you. The letter was a forlorn hope +then?" + +"Yes, sir; all the world seemed so forgetful and cold to me then----" + +"Just as I feel it now, Tom; so cold! so forgetful!" + +"And," continued Tom, "you had spoken to me so kindly once in the +garden, that day when you were planting cabbages, you know." + +"Yes, lad, the day I was planting cabbages. Egad, Tom, I wish I were +planting cabbages now." + +"They wouldn't grow on board ship very well, sir, and you can't go on +shore." + +"Why?" + +"Because your country has such need of you, sir." + +Nelson looked at him for a moment in silence, then sighed. + +"Well, sir, I wrote the letter because I felt I would rather be a +cabin boy in your ship than an officer in any other." + +"Silly lad! But tell me, Tom, all about Dan, Daddy Dan you called +him, Merryweather says. Daddy Dan's cottage and your adopted sister +Ruth. Pretty cottage, isn't it?" + +Then Tom felt in his element, and launched at once into an ocean of +praise of his cottage home, and Dan and Ruth and poor dead-and-gone +Bob. Nelson seemed to listen hungrily to the lad's story of home, of +the house itself, of the garden, with its wealth of old-fashioned +flowers; of the porch around the cottage door, with its sweet and +fragrant jessamine; of the rustic bridge across the stream; of +loving, gentle, Meg, the collie, who used to rest her cheek so fondly +against poor Bob's chest; of the tall, tall poplar trees, so tall +that when not a breath of wind would be stirring the grass on the +earth, their tops were always gently moving, and seemed always +whispering something to the passing clouds; and about the calm dark +waters of the placid broads, with green reeds softly rustling round +them; of the wild birds that made their home among the reeds; and +about wild flowers, rich and rare, that were scattered over marsh and +morass. + +Tom stopped at last, half afraid he had said too much. + +"Oh, boy," said Nelson, "how you have pleased and delighted me! How +I should like to have just such a happy home. 'Tis now the dream of +my life." + +Tom looked timidly up into his face. + +Could he be mistaken? he wondered. Was it some trick the moonbeams +were playing? or were there really tears in Nelson's eyes? + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE GLORIOUS OLD "AGAMEMNON." + + "Our barque is on the waters deep, our bright blades in our hand, + Our birthright is the ocean vast, we scorn the girdled land; + And the hollow wind is our music brave, and none can bolder be + Then the hoarse-tongued tempest, roaring o'er a proud and swelling sea. + + "The warrior of the land may mount the wild horse in his pride, + But a fiercer steed we dauntless breast--the untamed ocean tide; + And a nobler tilt our bark careers, as it stems the saucy wave, + While the herald storm peals o'er the deep the glories of the brave." + --MOTHERWELL. + + +It must not be thought that Tom Bure's life was a very easy one, even +when on board ship, and far away from battle and siege. A sailor's +life in those good old days was not confined to roasting peanuts, or +eating winkles with a pin. It was "hard tack and salt horse" with +Tom in the gunroom, and hard work on deck. Nelson believed in +bringing up his midshipmen as men, thorough men, who could do duty +before the mast below or aloft. + +There wasn't a midshipman in the _Agamemnon_ that would be ashamed to +dip his hand in a bucket of tar or slush, if there was any occasion +to, or do any other duty whatsoever either on poop or fo'c's'le. +Work kept the youngsters healthy, and when healthy they were as happy +as the day was long. Nor was their education neglected. In a year +at the most from the siege of Calvi, Tom Bure, Josiah Nisbet, and +even Lord Raventree were going to pass their examination for +lieutenancies, or at all events they were going to make a brave +attempt to do so. + +The examinations in those times were far more practicable and less +theoretical, and of course less scientific, than they are in our day. +The _Agamemnon_ was not lighted by electricity; the power of steam +was unknown; there was no such thing as moving guns by machinery, nor +any patent reefing tackle. But a lieutenant at his examination was +placed with his ship in all sorts of hypothetical positions of danger +and difficulty, and expected to be able to extricate her therefrom. + +On that green cloth in front of the President of the Board and the +examining officers, all kinds of storms and hurricanes raged, and all +sorts of battles were fought. The ship was taken aback, she was +thrown on her beam ends, boats were washed away, bulwarks were rent +and torn, and sails riven into roaring, rattling ribbons, and the +officer who aspired to be captain must know, and be able to tell +quickly and decidedly, how best to encounter every difficulty. +Enemies' ships appeared too on the horizon of the green cloth, and +the candidate's frigate had to meet them, two to one sometimes. He +had to fight them or chase them, batter them, burn them, or scupper +them; his own ship too might take fire, or his own rudder be blown +away with shot or shell, or he might have to lay alongside the foe to +board her with cutlass and pike. Oh, I can assure you, reader, the +examination was a right tough and right practicable one, and it +needed a Heart of Oak to face it; but having passed with flying +colours, you felt indeed you were a man, and could face the +traditional number of Frenchmen in the field of battle, according to +your nationality--three if you were English, five if Scotch. + +Besides, to one who really loved his profession there was probably +less difficulty in a practical examination of this sort than in the +technical ordeal one has to pass now-a-days. And now-a-days you can +cram, and having passed, forget one half the useless and senseless +subjects you have been crammed with. + +There was no cramming in Nelson's time. The examinations were +terribly real, just as the Spanish and French fleets were real; every +question the Board put went straight to the mark, like a British +cannon ball. + +* * * * * * + +Ever hear of Hotham? Admiral Hotham? Well, he certainly does not +live in our hearts as do Hood and Howe and Hardy, Collingwood and +Nelson. But, nevertheless, Hotham was a bit of a power in those +days. He had command of the fleet about this time, but he was rather +easy going, though brave enough after a fashion. He lacked "go" and +enthusiasm. Sir W. Hamilton, who was the British plenipotentiary at +the Court of Naples--his wife, the famous Lady Hamilton, Nelson's +guiding star--summed up the character of Hotham prettily, and in a +very brief sentence. "_Entre nous_," he writes to Nelson, "our old +friend Hotham is not quite awake enough for such a command as that of +the British fleet in the Mediterranean, although he is the best +creature imaginable." + +Best creature indeed! Who wanted best creatures in stirring times +like these? Men who were good-natured and fat perhaps, who loved a +pipe and old port, who could tell a good story after dinner, and go +to sleep in an arm chair. Verily, there were men in the service in +those days--pitchforked into power because they happened to be titled +or had interest--who could not have made their mark behind a draper's +counter. + +Comparisons are odious perhaps, but we cannot help making them +sometimes. Just think of these two men then for a moment, Nelson and +Hotham, the latter all but minus ambition, certainly minus that +burning ambition which is part and portion of the soul of every true +hero--taking things as they came. + + "Contented wi' little, canty wi' mair," + +but hardly going out of his way to fight for fame and glory; the +former full of ardour and zeal, and a noble desire to do the best for +his king and country. When Hotham got word, on March 10th, '95, that +the French were actually on the sea in force, near the Isle of +Marguerite, Nelson felt sure that a grand general action was close at +hand, and writes to his wife thus: + +"My character and good name are in my own keeping. Life with +disgrace is dreadful. A glorious death is to be envied; and if +anything happens to me, recollect that death is a debt we have all to +pay, and whether now or a few years hence can signify but very +little." + +True philosophy that; but if poor Nelson expected that our old friend +Hotham, "the best creature imaginable," was about to lead him on +either to death or very much victory, he was disagreeably +disappointed. The French fleet, however, were sighted at last, and +the British were in battle array, but the light winds that had been +cavorting all round the compass died away into a dead calm, or nearly. + +I must give the French the honour that is here due to them by saying +that during the calm they made a very gallant show indeed, but as +soon as it came on to blow they--ran away. + +Hotham chased them. + +Bravo! Hotham. + +The French cracked on most furiously and famously! + +Determined to win the race, if not the battle! + +So hot was the race that the great line of battleship, _Ca Ira_, 84 +guns, carried away her fore and main topmasts, and fell behind a bit. +The French had had a fair start of about six miles. + +A frigate of ours, the _Inconstant_, closed in, but the awful iron +hail from the _Ca Ira_ was too much for her, and she had to withdraw. + +Though two other great Frenchmen are close at hand--the _Sans +Culotte_, 120 guns, and the _Jean Barras_--Nelson, in his +_Agamemnon_, boldly heads for the _Ca Ira_, that had been taken in +tow by _Le Censeur_. + +This fight between Nelson's ship on the one hand, and the two +Frenchmen on the other, was one of the prettiest and pluckiest bits +of fighting it is possible to imagine. Again and again Nelson raked, +the _Ca Ira_ and he so maneuvered his frigate that, though the French +fought like fiends and did their best, they were unable to broadside +our hero. + +Books tell us that the reason why the Frenchmen fought so pluckily +was that they believed they should receive no quarter if taken, so +they used red-hot shot, and threw Greek fire. + +Now, with all due respect for the historians, I refuse to believe +that the French had so bad an opinion of us. No, let us rather give +them the credit of being honourable and courageous. Why not be +charitable, even to our enemies? for, like mercy, charity + + "----is twice blessed, + It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes + The throned monarch better than his crown." + + +Night fell at last, and our fight-worn men on board the _Agamemnon_ +sank wearily down to obtain sleep and rest, even like the soldiers +Campbell speaks about in his beautiful poem, "The Soldier's Dream"-- + + "Our bugles sang truce--for the night-cloud had lowered, + And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky; + And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered, + The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die." + + +There were, alas! many casualties on board the _Agamemnon_, and many +wounded men in the cockpit fell asleep ere morning light, never to +wake more in this world. + +Both the surgeon and his mates were as kind and gentle to those under +their charge as kind could be. + +Poor little Raventree was struck down by a splinter of wood close by +Tom Bure's side, and was carried below from the blood-slippery deck +in the arms of a sturdy sailor. + +It was not until after dark that Tom found time to go to see his +friend. He was very weak from loss of blood, and looked ghastly +white in the lantern's dim light, as he lay there in his hammock, but +he smiled feebly when Tom pressed his hand. + +"I've done my duty," he said; "and what do you think, Tom? The +admiral has been down to see me, and he talked so kindly, Tom, I +could have cried." + +"Well," said Tom Bure, "keep up your heart, you lost such a lot of +blood. I tried to carry you below, but you were far too heavy." + +"But you bound up my arm with your own neckerchief, Paddy"--Paddy was +the Irish surgeon--"it was so good of you." + +"Never a bit of it, Raventree. It may be my turn next, who knows?" + +"The captain says he is going to renew the fight to-morrow morning; +so sorry I won't be in it," sighed Raventree. + +"Well, good-night. Sleep if the pain will let you." + +At earliest dawn the battle was renewed as far as Nelson's portion of +it was concerned, and very soon the _Ca Ira_ and _Le Censeur_ struck +to the _Agamemnon_. + +Nelson had now a proposal to make to Admiral Hotham, and he made all +haste to lay it before him. + +Tom Bure was Nelson's coxswain, so he had an opportunity of getting +on board the admiral's ship, and even heard the conversation between +his chief and Hotham. + +The _Illustrious_ and _Courageux_ were both disabled--British +ships--and Nelson's suggestion was to leave these two and the two +prizes with four frigates, and to chase and destroy the French fleet +with the others. + +Hotham laughed blandly, kindly even. + +"You're too impulsive, Nelson," he said. "I don't think we had +better give chase. We must be contented. We have done very well." + +Nelson returned to the ship silent and crestfallen. He made but one +remark to Tom: + +"You heard what our bold admiral said, Mr. Bure?" + +"I was close beside you, sir." + +"'Done very well,' he said. Bah! Had we taken ten sail-of-the-line, +and allowed the eleventh to escape, when it was possible to take her, +I should not have called it enough. Had we got at them we should +have taken or destroyed the whole fleet." + +It was not until the 14th of July that Hotham again caught sight of +the French. + +Raventree was by this time well and on duty again, and Nelson had +promoted him to mate, or acting lieutenant. And undoubtedly the +young fellow deserved his promotion, which was afterwards confirmed +by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. + +There was no great battle this time either, between the French and +British, although one ship, the _L'Alcide_, 74 guns, struck to the +_Cumberland_. + +A terrible thing now occurred, however. This unfortunate _L'Alcide_, +on board which were no less than six hundred men, caught fire in the +fore-top, and in a very short time was sheeted in flames fore and aft. + +Boats were despatched from every British ship that was anywhere near, +and they did all in their power to save the crew. But, alas! in the +dreadful scene that followed no less than three hundred were burned +alive, or perished in the waves. + +Such is war at sea, dear reader. It was very awful in those days, it +will be ten times more terrible when Britain's naval might next rides +over the waves-- + + "----to match another foe; + And sweep through the deep, + While the stormy winds do blow; + While the battle rages loud and long, + And the stormy winds do blow." + + +But what need Britain fear, boys, so long as she is true to her own +glorious story? + + "The meteor flag of Britain + Shall yet terrific burn, + Till danger's troubled night depart, + And the star of peace return." + + +But-- + + "The spirits of our fathers + Shall start from every wave, + For the deck it was their field of fame, + And ocean was their grave. + Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell, + Our manly hearts shall glow, + As we sweep through the deep, + While the stormy winds do blow; + While the battle rages loud and long, + And the stormy winds do blow." + + +To tell of all the gallant deeds that Nelson performed in the +invincible _Agamemnon_, with the bold Hearts of Oak that so +thoroughly trusted him and loved him, would take all the rest of this +book. + +In this year, and towards its close, Hotham was relieved--after all +his arduous conflicts perhaps he needed a rest--and a mightier than +he, namely, Sir John Jervis,* became admiral of the Mediterranean +fleet, and Nelson took his ship to Leghorn to undergo repairs. + + +* Afterwards made Earl of St. Vincent. + + +She certainly required refitting. She was an honour to her captain +in one sense, for her terribly battered condition showed how bravely +and well he had fought. We are told that every yard, mast, and sail +was riddled, torn, or splintered with shot, and that even her hull +was only kept together by cables! + +In that glorious old _Agamemnon_ Nelson had captured, burned, or +destroyed, in one way and another, no less than fifty sail of vessels +in about two years' time. + +But he had to leave his battered old ship in June--with sorrow, no +doubt, for he loved the _Agamemnon_ as if she had been a living +thing. He hoisted his flag now on board the 74-gun ship _Captain_, +with the rank of commodore. + +And the _Agamemnon_ went home to England with a convoy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A DUEL TO THE DEATH. + + "The stern joy that warriors feel + In foemen worthy of their steel."--SCOTT. + + +This story of mine, lads, is not altogether fiction. Indeed there is +very little fiction about it, and none at all in those portions that +speak of the brave deeds of our Hearts of Oak in those dashing days +of old. + +But I should not be true historian were I to lead any of my readers +to infer that we invariably had it all our own way on the wave. War +would be the merest picnic, destitute of the slightest honour or +glory, if there were no terrible obstacles to encounter and to crush. +The navy certainly was never beaten on the whole or in fleets; but in +single ship actions we sometimes had the worst of it. + +Nelson knew how to fight, and he knew also that it was discreet to +sheer off rather than be captured by vastly superior numbers. In the +_Agamemnon_, for instance, he had once been chased for twenty-four +hours by a fleet of three-and-twenty French ships. The odds here +were a trifle too great for even Nelson's powers, and had I been in +command of the _Agamemnon_ I'm not sure I wouldn't have ran away just +as she did. Fact! + +The French greatly respected Nelson. They wanted to catch him all +the same. His opinion, however, of the French was not a very exalted +one. During that chase he told Merryweather on the poop that the +enemy were neither seamen nor officers, else they could have caught +him easy. He appeared grieved about it. + +"Really, sir," said Mr. Merryweather, smiling, "you seem to be vexed +that they haven't caught us." + +"Well, not quite that," said the commodore; "but I can't bear to see +even Frenchmen making fools of themselves." + +"It's an inshore wind you see, Merryweather," he added, "else we 'ed +soon have our own fleet out to assist us, and, small in comparison +though it is, you'd soon see those Frenchmen working to windward +then." + +* * * * * + +I have already told the reader about the capture of Corsica. It did +not prove of much service to us in the long run, however; for now a +new page of history is turned over, and we find France in league with +Spain against us, so it is deemed expedient to evacuate Corsica. + +The Spanish were probably our friends at heart, but that signified +very little. They were now going to assist in destroying our ships. + +Spain had at this time a splendid navy, as far as ships were +concerned; but their officers were certainly not much to boast about. +Indeed, they needed no one to boast about them, they could do this +themselves; but their courage after all was of the Bombastes Furioso +type. + + "Whoever dares these boots displace + Must meet Bombastes face to face." + + +The Corsicans somehow were not ill-pleased to be rid of the British, +and the French were overjoyed at the coming evacuation. Nelson +superintended it with all his skill as a sailor, and all his +adroitness as an undoubtedly clever man. + +Of course the French tried to throw as many obstacles in his way as +they could think of. The property of the British was confiscated, +and there was even a conspiracy on foot to seize the viceroy. + +Nelson showed his usual energy on this occasion. He despatched +Commander Merryweather with a message into Bastia, to the effect that +if there was the slightest opposition made to the embarkation of +persons and property, he (Nelson) would batter down the town about +the committee's ears. + +The committee were Frenchmen who had formed a government, and thought +they could do just what they pleased, and do it in their own way. +They had not only sequestrated British property, but stationed armed +Corsicans everywhere to guard it, while a privateer was moored near +the mole to prevent the exit of our merchant craft. When +Merryweather drew near, he found not only the guns of the privateer +pointed at his boats, but muskets levelled at him from the mole head. + +Merryweather, however, had looked down the muzzles of French guns +once or twice too often to be easily frightened, so he delivered his +message, instead of sheering off as the committee had fully expected +he would. + +"And now," said Merryweather, pulling out his watch, "I have +delivered my message, and I give you precisely a quarter of an hour +to deliberate. If I do not have your answer by that time, Nelson's +guns shall open fire." + +The answer came in five minutes, and a very practical one it was. +The very sentinels had fled at the threat of Nelson's fire, and the +vessels were permitted at once to leave the mole. + +The embarkation occupied the greater part of a week, and, independent +of private property, the public stores thus snatched from the harpy +claws of the French were worth to our country about a quarter of a +million of money. + +* * * * * + +"Well, boys," said Nelson one evening to Raventree and Tom Bure, who +were standing by the bulwarks in the ship's waist, "you have a better +chance of prize-money now than ever." + +"Indeed, sir," said Lord Raventree. + +"Yes; we have Spain to fight, as well as France." + +"Well, sir," said Raventree, "I suppose there is also a better chance +of honour and glory; for I don't care so much for the gold." + +"And you, Mr. Bure?" + +"Oh," said Tom, laughing, "I should like a share of both." + +"Candidly spoken, lads, and I can assure you that it won't be my +fault if you don't have both. I'm going to make the sea uncommonly +hot for somebody." + +It was on the frigate _Minerve_ that this conversation took place, +and on which Nelson's broad pennant was now hoisted. + +He was proceeding, in company with the _Blanche_, to Porto Ferrajo, +his object being to assume the command of the fleet there, after +which "the fun was to begin." + +But adventures commenced before this, one at least; for on the 29th +of December our hero Tom, who happened to be on the outlook, hailed +the quarterdeck, or rather poop. + +Merryweather, who had joined Nelson's ship, and was then on deck, +knew that Tom had good news to impart from the very tone of his voice. + +"A sail in sight, Mr. Bure?" he said. + +"Yes, sir; a large Spanish frigate. I can easily make out her +colours." + +This was just off Carthagena, and at once the ship was cleared for +action. In less than three minutes every man was at his quarters. + +A more bravely contested fight than this we have no account of in all +the war. + +I have said already, that though the Spanish ships were good, they +were badly officered. In the case of the _Santa Sabina_, however, it +was quite the reverse. + +You must remember, reader, that after the union of Scotland and +England, in which our king, James VI., fell heir to the English +throne, there was no such outlet as before for the untameable courage +of our great Highland families. The scions of these houses despised +trade--they were warlike to a degree--therefore they took service +freely with their ancient allies the French, and indeed drew sword +for any good nation, when in a good cause they could win honour and +glory. + +And this _Santa Sabina_, that scorned to fly, but boldly faced and +haughtily addressed the hero Nelson himself, was commanded by Don +Jacobo Stuart, or, in plain English, Captain Jamie Stuart. He was a +direct descendant of the Duke of Berwick, son of James II. Probably +there were several other Scottish officers in that ship as well, for +our clans keep well together. History, however, does not say. + +Now let Nelson himself, in his terse seaman language, speak of what +followed. + +"When I hailed the Don," he says, "I told him, this is an English +frigate, and demanded his surrender. His answer was noble, and such +as became the illustrious family from which he descended--'And this +is a _Spanish_ frigate, and you may begin as soon as you please.'" + +"I have no idea," continues Nelson, "of a closer or sharper battle. +The force to a gun the same, and nearly the same number of men, we +having 250. During the action I asked him several times to +surrender; but his answer was, 'No, sir, not while I have the means +of fighting left.' + +"When only himself, of all the officers, was left alive he hailed, +and said he would fight no more, and begged I would stop firing." + +The brave Stuart was then taken prisoner on board the _Minerve_, and +a prize crew, under the command of two lieutenants, one of whom was +Lieutenant Hardy an officer of whom Nelson was very fond, and who +comes into our story again later on. The Irish doctor was also sent +to the assistance of the Spanish. Great indeed was the havoc he +found there, the vessel was badly hurt, and dead and wounded lay +around in dozens, the decks resembling a shambles. + +Nor had the _Minerve_ escaped severe damage; so badly crippled was +she, and so many dead and wounded lay on her decks, or hampered the +cockpit, that when next day four other Spanish ships of war hove in +sight, Nelson was unable to give the veriest show of fight, and it +was only through his energy and skill as a seaman that he escaped. + +These vessels were two frigates and two line of battle ships, so +that, even had he been in the best of form, discretion would have +dictated to the hero that flight was advisable. + +Nelson speaks of Stuart in the highest terms of praise that one good +and brave sailor can use towards another. + +The _Sabina_, however, had to be abandoned. In other words, she was +re-taken. + +And Nelson returned Don Jacobo Stuart his sword, and sent him under a +flag of truce to Spain. + +"I felt it," he says, "consonant to the dignity of my country to do +so, and I always act as I feel right without regard to custom. +Stuart," he adds, "was reputed to be the best officer in Spain, and +his men were well worthy to possess such a commander. He was the +only surviving officer of the ship he fought so nobly." + +So ended this awful duel to the death. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BATTLE OF ST. VINCENT. + + "The thunder of the battle-deck, + The lightning flash of war." + + +In my last chapter I stated that Nelson, with his broad pennant +flying on board the _Minerve_, met with and fought the _Santa +Sabina_. I also mentioned that the _Blanche_ was companion ship to +the _Minerve_. Where was she then during the fight? it may be asked. +Did Nelson have her assistance in fighting the gallant Stuart? Was +it two to one after all? + +No, certainly not, for during the engagement the _Blanche_ was far +away to windward in chase of the _Ceres_, whom she sadly wanted to +fight, but who escaped. + +Porto Ferrajo was a strong fortress on the Isle of Elba, to which, +you remember, Napoleon Bonaparte was banished, but from which he +subsequently escaped. + +After the evacuation of Corsica, the viceroy of that island, whom the +French would have captured had it not been for Nelson's guns, was +escorted by the hero to Ferrajo; but Sir Gilbert Elliot--for that was +his name--went afterwards in the _Minerve_ with Nelson to hold a +consultation with the British Admiral of the fleet (then Sir John +Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent), who was at that time cruising +off Cape St. Vincent. + +On the 9th of February, '97, Nelson arrived at Gibraltar, and here he +received on board by exchange the two lieutenants, Culverhouse and +the immortal Hardy, who had been taken prisoners with the recapture +of the _Sabina_. + +And now comes an adventure worth relating. Hardly had the _Minerve_ +got fairly under weigh again than two Spanish ships of the line got +up sail and gave chase. + +It seemed indeed that the _Minerve_ would assuredly be captured now, +for no sooner had she entered the Straits, than the foremost line of +battleship outsailed her consort, and was coming up hand over hand +after Nelson's frigate. + +Sir Gilbert Elliot made so sure that the _Minerve_ would be taken, +that he had his state papers all ready to throw overboard, so that +they might not fall into the hands of the enemy. + +Nelson, however, cleared for action. + +It would have been madness for him to have attempted to try +conclusions with two lordly liners, but as the fight was now being +forced upon him, he determined to sell his ship dearly. + +Indeed, he never meant to let the Dons get her at all. + +Pointing to his flag, he said to an officer near him, "Before the +Spaniards have that bit of bunting I'll have a tussle with them, and +sooner than the ship should fall into their hands I'll run her on +shore." + +They were just going below to dinner, when suddenly there was a cry, +"Man overboard." + +In a moment all was bustle and stir. Lieutenant Hardy and a few +sailors sprang into the jolly-boat, which was at once lowered away to +pick up the man. + +It was soon evident, however, that the boat could make no headway on +her return against the strong current. She was rapidly drifting +onwards to the advancing Spanish ship. + +Nelson grew excited. + +"I will not lose poor Hardy for all the Dons on earth," he shouted. +"Back the mizentop-sail!" + +Now it is here where the smile comes in. + +That "cockie" Don was full of warlike ardour as long as the _Minerve_ +kept cracking on, but as soon as Nelson stopped ship, the rapidity +with which the Don began to shorten sail was amusing. + +He positively refused what he considered Nelson's challenge. + +So our boat was picked up, stun'sails were clapped on the _Minerve_, +and with the wind on her quarter, away she went like a thing of life, +and the Dons were left behind. + +* * * * * * + +The following night a still more strange adventure took place, for in +the thickness and darkness Nelson found himself sailing through what +appeared to be a great fleet of tall spectre ships. + +He had actually sailed in, amongst, and through the Spanish fleet. + +This made him very anxious indeed to join Sir John Jervis, which, to +his great joy, he did two days after. + +He now left the _Minerve_, and rejoined his own good ship the +_Captain_. + + +THE BATTLE OF ST. VINCENT. + +Such was the respect and even affection that Nelson never failed to +inspire in the breasts not only of his officers, but even the men +under his command, that those who had once served under him thought +themselves lucky indeed if they could again fight beneath his flag. +Nor was Nelson himself averse to being surrounded by "ken't" faces; +he was like a father to his people, and they to him felt as children. + +It is confidence like this that begets bravery and deeds of +derring-do, whether in the field or on the battle-deck, and I have no +hesitation in saying, that a 40-gun frigate with bold Nelson in +command, was as good as, if not better than, most ships of the line. + +I think, however, that Nelson to some extent abhorred a cut-and-dry +style of fighting. Like all brave men, he was nervously excitable; +he became in a measure intoxicated with the sound of battle, like the +war horse who scents the combat from afar, but he never lost his +head. He was quick to see any offered advantage or mistake of the +enemy, and to profit by it at once. His object too was often, at the +commencement of a fight, to confuse, bewilder, and paralyse the +enemy, and sometimes they never regained self-control until the +battle was over. + +You have heard, reader, of that style of argument, or rather counter +argument, which is called the _reductio ad absurdum_, and also of the +"descent from the sublime to the ridiculous." Pardon me if I use one +of these, the better to illustrate my great hero Nelson's character. + +When, then, I was a boy of thirteen or fourteen, a wiry, big, strong +Scotch "nickum," I was at what is called a fighting school. I do not +believe that a day ever passed without a fight between two boys. +They were pitched battles; generally arranged during school hours and +fought to the bitter end the same evening. I myself, although a poor +hand at first, eventually fought my way from the lowest to the +highest factions. I somehow, however, usually preferred fighting a +boy who was bigger and stronger than myself; art came in to my aid, +and if I did happen to be beaten I had no dishonour. Hut there was +one lad who, though of my own age, was considerably smaller. He was +a red-faced, towsy-headed, nervous tyke of a boy, and--he was more +than a match for me. I had several battles with him, in which he +invariably came on like a wild cat. With hard-clenched fists he +seemed positively to claw at my face, and for one swinging blow from +the shoulder I got in, he landed half a dozen at least. It was +puzzling, confusing, and paralysing, and I had to lower my flag each +time, with perhaps two pretty black eyes, a swollen nose, and a few +loose teeth. + +Now, that boy--his name was John Aberdeen, and he may possibly read +these lines--was a perfect little Nelson in character. You will see, +therefore, why I have made my descent from the sublime to the +ridiculous. + +The morning of the 14th of February was dull and hazy, the British +ships steering southwards with a bit of westering in it. + +Although by no means rough, there was a swell on, and it must have +been a grand sight to see those two lines of British men-of-war, as +straight in column almost as soldiers on parade, rising and falling +on the ocean billows. + +But when, at about one bell in the forenoon watch, the drum beat to +quarters, a still more lordly sight was visible some distance up to +windward, for the mist had lifted before the morning sun, and there +floated one of the largest and most terrible fleets ever formed in +battle array. Truly they were leviathans afloat. Their tall dark +sides bristling with guns, their lofty riggings and commanding sails +imparting to them a dignity that was awe-inspiring, a dignity from +which the huge flags of orange and red certainly did not detract. + +Not all at once, however, was the picture presented to the astonished +gaze of our British tars, for the huge fog-curtain was lifted but +gradually. + +Sir John Jervis was walking the quarter-deck of the _Victory_ as +coolly as if the men had only been piped to scrub decks, and as the +Spanish fleet was gradually evolved its numbers were reported to him. +Did the officer who made the report, I wonder, imagine for a single +moment that the admiral was going to be deterred by numbers? + +"There are eight sail of the line, Sir John." + +"Thank you, Mr. T----." + +"There are twenty sail of the line, Sir John." + +"Very good, sir." + +"There are seven-and-twenty sail of the line, Sir John. Considering +the disparity of numbers, do you think we are justified in engaging +the Dons?" + +"Hold, sir!" cried the bold admiral. "Enough of this. The die is +cast, and if there are fifty sail of the line, I should go through +them just the same." + +"Hurrah!" cried Hallowell, who was standing near him; so delighted +was he that he clapped the admiral on the shoulder. "You're right, +Sir John, you're right. We'll fight them, and we'll give the Dons a +hiding too." + +It is said that confusion seemed to spread among the Spaniards from +the very first. Parsons says: "They made the most awkward attempts +to form their line-of-battle, and looked a complete forest massed and +huddled together." + +Now, before going further, I wish the reader to cast his eye down the +following columns, which I give by way of showing the disparity in +numbers and guns between our fleet and that of Spain.* + + +* I have placed Nelson's ship in Italics, also those that were taken. + + BRITISH FLEET. SPANISH FLEET. + + SHIPS. GUNS. SHIPS. GUNS. + + 1 Victory 100 1 Santissima Trinidada 130 + 2 Britannia 100 2 Mexicana 112 + 3 Barfleur 98 3 Principe de Asturias 112 + 4 Prince George 98 4 Conception 112 + 5 Blenheim 90 5 Conde de Regla 112 + 6 Namur 90 6 _Salvador del Mundo_ 112 + 7 _Captain_ 74 7 _San Josef_ 112 + 8 Goliath 74 8 _San Nicolas_ 84 + 9 Excellent 74 9 Oriente 74 + 10 Orion 74 10 Glorioso 74 + 11 Colossus 74 11 Atlante 74 + 12 Egmont 74 12 Conquestador 74 + 13 Culloden 74 13 Soberano 74 + 14 Irresistible 74 14 Firme 74 + 15 Diadem 64 15 Pelago 74 + 16 San Genaro 74 + 17 San Francisco 74 + 18 _San Ysidro_ 74 + 19 San Juan 74 + 20 San Antonio 74 + 21 San Pablo 74 + 22 San Firmin 74 + 23 Neptuna 74 + 24 Bahama 74 + 25 St. Domingo 74 + 26 Terrible 74 + 27 Il Defenso 74 + + +Seven-and-twenty huge Spanish ships of war opposed to fifteen British! + +Two thousand and two hundred and ninety-two Spanish guns, against one +thousand two hundred and thirty-two British--nearly two to one. + +This glorious fight, on this most memorable Valentine's-day, began +about seven bells in the forenoon watch, when Admiral Sir John +Jervis, with all sail set, came dashing at the Dons, and passed right +through their lines. Now the Spanish admiral had nine of his ships +down to leeward, and he at once determined to pass astern of the +British fleet, and thus effect a junction with his divided ships. + +And it is at this point where the genius of Nelson becomes so +conspicuous. Remember that the signal had been made for the whole +fleet to engage, and had he strictly obeyed orders he would have gone +on with the rest of the Britishers, and tacked with them. But his +quick eye--poor fellow, he had now but one--noticed the Don's +intention, and he resolved to frustrate it at all hazards. He put +his helm up, therefore, and steered straight for the Spaniards. + +No more daring, dashing deed was ever done! + +Nothing more confusing could have occurred for the Spanish admiral. + +Not a soul on the upper deck of the Captain who did not marvel. +Merryweather confessed afterwards to Tom Bure that he thought +Commodore Nelson had suddenly gone mad. + +Even Tom and Raventree, little though they knew of naval tactics, +could not refrain from talking momentarily over the affair. But the +roar of the guns that had been stilled for a minute or two +recommenced now with triple force, and Tom had his duty to perform. +Yonder was the mighty _Santissima Trinidada_ towering high above +them, and Nelson in his Captain was close alongside her. + +The position of Nelson's ship at that moment was not one to be +envied, with the monarch of the Spanish fleet beside him beam to +beam, and three-deckers pouring in their fire fore and aft. + +But down to his assistance came the _Culloden_ of 74 guns, bold +Troubridge her commander, and the _Blenheim_ of 90 guns. + +The fire of the British ships at this time was terrible in the +extreme. Our brave fellows fought half naked at their guns, and +though messmates fell killed or wounded on all sides, they were +speedily carried or hauled on one side and the fight went on. There +was no more thought of leaving their batteries among those Hearts of +Oak, than if the battle had been but a mere parade. + +The dangerous position of the _Captain_ may be imagined when we +remember that at one time she was actually exposed to the fire of no +less than nine ships! + +Nelson was the hero of this glorious fight. Am I not right in +calling him so, seeing that around his sadly-mutilated ship the +battle raged the fiercest? + +But the _Captain_, with her rigging in tatters, her fore-top mast +gone, and her wheel shot away, was now almost unmanageable. She was +at this time engaged with two of the enemy's liners--the _San +Nicholas_ and _San Josef_--and Nelson purposely fouled the former. + +The credit of this is due to Miller, his second captain, who, +disabled as the ship was, managed to lay her aboard the starboard +quarter of the Spanish lee, so that her sprit-sail yard passed over +the enemy's poop, and hooked in her mizen shrouds. + +"Away--ay--ay, boarders." + +It was a scream, it was a yell from a British throat, and it thrilled +every Heart of Oak on board, and was answered by a cheer. + +With the butt of his musket a soldier of the 69th (a number of this +regiment being on board) dashed in the window of the Spaniard's upper +quarter-gallery and leapt in. Nelson and many more were with him, +Tom Bure and Raventree among the rest. But they found the cabin +doors secured against them. These were speedily dashed to pieces. +One man in a fight like this has the strength of three. A volley was +fired by our brave fellows, the Spanish commodore fell, and hurrying +onwards, sword in hand, Nelson found that the poop had already been +taken by Lieut. Berry, and our friend Merryweather, and that the +enemy's ensign was coming down by the run. Nelson ran forward and +received the submission and the swords of several officers. + +But although the _San Nicholas_ was thus taken, a pattering musketry +fire was kept up from the _San Josef_, which was close alongside. + +She too must be captured. Nelson felt in form now to capture a +dozen. The order was therefore speedily given to place sentinels on +the ladders to guard the prisoners of the _Nicholas_, and more men +were ordered into her from the _Captain_----to make sure, for Nelson +forgot nothing. Then once more the shout, "Away--ay--ay, boarders!" + +[Illustration: "'Away--ay--ay, boarders,' cried Nelson."] + +Our brave and great hero was at the head of his men this time, and +the _San Josef_ fell as her consort had fallen. + +The captain of the ship on his knees sued for mercy, saying the +admiral was dying of his wounds below. + +Nelson says, "I thereupon gave him my hand, and ordered him to call +to his officers and ship's company that the ship had surrendered, +which he did." + +Glorious day for Nelson! There on the quarter-deck of this huge Don, +112 guns, he received the swords of the vanquished Spaniards. + +There comes in here an element of the comic, for by the hero's side +stood the bold bargeman, Bill Fearney, to whom the swords were given +as they were received. Bill hitched up his trousers, turned his quid +in his mouth, and stuck the swords under his left arm with less +ceremony than if they had been as many fiddlesticks. + +The very essence of this gallant fight lies in the fact that Nelson, +having fought almost to the death, his ship of 74 guns being all but +a wreck, puts this disabled craft of his to such marvellous account, +that he captures two of the enemy's largest ships by the glorious old +British system of boarding. + +There they lay, the victor and the vanquished--the three of them all +in a huddle. And was it any wonder that the _Victory_ and every +other British ship cheered our Nelson as they passed? + +I do not feel inclined to say any more about this glorious battle. +To mention the bare unvarnished facts is enough, and the boy along +whose spine there does not pass a cold thrill of pride and excitement +while reading these is no true Briton. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +LIFE IN NELSON'S SHIP. + + "The flag of Britannia, the flag of the brave, + Triumphant it floateth o'er land and o'er wave, + All proudly it braveth the battle and blast, + And when tattered with shot it is nailed to the mast." + + +It goes without saying that Nelson returned thanks, humble but +fervent, to heaven, for his merciful preservation on the day of +battle. + +For his services on this Valentine's-day he was knighted, and also +received the Order of the Bath. He was moreover made rear-admiral of +the blue. + +Probably after all it was the private congratulations that flowed in +upon him which affected him the most, and chief of these, perhaps, +were the love and respect of his ship's crew. Well they knew that +Nelson was not only a true sailor, but in heart and soul almost a man +before the mast. No one ever heard the hero abuse a man verbally in +bullying language with oaths and fulsome gesture, as many and many a +captain did in those days. Moreover they knew he hated the lash, and +that he even saw the justice of the complaints of the mutineers of +the Nore. + +It was when on board the _Theseus_--the _Captain_ was almost a +wreck--that the men's regard for their commodore--now admiral--was +shown in a manner essentially sailor-like, and therefore in a measure +innocently childish, for a round-robin was picked up on the +quarter-deck which read as follows: + +"Success attend Admiral Nelson! God bless Captain Miller. We thank +them for the officers they have placed over us. We are happy and +comfortable, and willing to shed every drop of blood in our veins to +support them, and the name of the _Theseus_ shall be immortalised as +high as that of the _Captain_.--Signed, THE SHIP'S COMPANY." + +This poor little but heart-felt speech upon paper must have cost much +care and thought to concoct. Meetings on the sly would have been +held down below, as secret and confidential as those of conspirators +or mutineers, and I can almost see the shy and somewhat ungainly +actions of the seaman, who was finally told off to drop the precious +document on the quarter-deck after it had been read a dozen times and +finally approved. + +"See you does it properly now, Jack." + +"Don't let the officers see you, you know, Jack." + +"Don't make a bullocks of it, Jack." + +"Keep your weather eye lifting, Jack." + +These and a score of other warnings were doubtless given to Jack +before he departed on his mission, and I'll warrant that, when he +performed it successfully, he was welcome to all the grog in the mess +that day if he chose to have it. + +Nelson and Miller too appreciated that simple note for all it was +worth, you may be perfectly sure. + +But possibly the letters from home affected him quite as much as +anything. His wife's was quite a woman's letter. Nelson must have +smiled to be told that she was very much against the dangerous +practice of boarding, and that he must really promise not to venture +on any such thing again. + +But his father's, the dear, kindly, and now proud old man--proud of +his son--affected him most. "I thank my God," he says, "with all the +power of a grateful soul, for the mercies he has most graciously +bestowed on me in preserving you. + +"Not only my few acquaintances here, but the people in general met me +at every corner with such handsome words, that I was obliged to +retire from the public eye. The height of glory to which your +professional judgement, united with a proper degree of bravery, and +guarded by Providence, has raised you, few sons, my dear child, +attain to and fewer fathers live to see. Tears of joy have +involuntarily trickled down my furrowed cheeks. Who could stand the +force of such general congratulations? The name and services of +Nelson have sounded throughout this city of Bath--from the common +ballad singer to the public theatre." + +* * * * * * + +So much for honour and glory, reader. Do you like it? Honour and +glory are but empty baubles, and yet somehow they commend themselves +most heartily to the empty soul. + +Honour and glory, however, are, in my opinion, not such empty baubles +as those who never receive them would have you believe. On the +contrary, they are the most satisfactory proofs a hero could receive, +that he has nobly done his duty. They are the payments made to him +by a grateful public and people for services done for which no amount +of money or jewels could ever form adequate reward. Whenever, +therefore, you hear a person railing against honour and glory, you +may be perfectly sure he has never had any such "baubles" offered +him, and never done anything to deserve them. Think of the fable of +the fox and the grapes. + +Well, no star can shine by itself without imparting its lustre to +other and lesser stars around it. This is another way of saying that +even Nelson's junior officers shared in his honour and glory. Ah! +well, they deserved to, for right nobly that day had every man done +his duty fore and aft. + +But in a great many cases that honour and glory look the form of a +sailor's grave. And alas! poor Jack, many a man before the mast was +buried in the deep sea who had fought as well as ever man fought a +veritable lion with heart of oak, but whose name would not even be +mentioned in his country's story. + +As for the doctors? Well, the day had not yet come when doctors were +to have even the least little morsel of honour and glory, and, to +tell the truth, in our own day very little glory falls to a surgeon's +share. Down in the gloomiest depths of a ship he must work--nay, +slave, even on the day of battle. If engines burst he is among the +first scalded; if the vessel is blown up or is sunk, he has not even +the shadow of a chance of saving his life, as have the honour and +glory men on deck whose bravery may after all be but the outcome of +excitement or terror itself. The surgeon, on the other hand, has to +do his duty with a cool head, and even long after the rage and roar +of battle have ceased his duties keep him to his post. + +But Nelson was a man who really loved his doctors, both senior and +junior, quite as much as he loved the parson, and had every respect +for their feelings. Even when coming quietly round to see the sick +or wounded, he invariably took a surgeon with him, to ask him +questions about the poor fellows who lay uncomplainingly in their +hammocks. + +Young Raventree's letters from home rejoiced him very much indeed, +and he showed several of them to his friend Tom Bure. + +Poor Tom had letters also; three--yes, only three, but how he valued +them only those who have been long away on the ocean wave could say. + +One was from Dan--Daddy Dan. This he showed to Raventree. "It is +from my dear old foster-father," he explained. + +Raventree read it by the light of the moon, as the two lads stood +together under the lee bulwarks. + +"It is so good of you, Bure," he said, "to show me this. Bad +spelling, worse writing, stilted and somewhat hackneyed expressions, +but, Tom, a spirit of such kindliness and love, and so noble a nature +breathing through every page of it! Tom Bure, you are lucky in +having a foster-father like this man. Dan Brundell is a hero in +humble life!" + +"I'm so glad you like him," said Tom, and the tears came rushing to +his eyes as he spoke. + +"Some day I should like to go and see Dan's cottage," continued +Raventree. "My home is away in the midlands. It is one of the +ancestral halls of England, and my people are proud and wealthy; but, +Tom, they would make you right welcome. I think," he added, "I have +some reason to be proud of my family, because, like the Stuarts, of +whom we saw so noble a specimen in that brave Don Jacobo, we gained +all our honours by the sword." + +Tom had a letter from Ruth--such a dear, sisterly, old-fashioned +epistle. This he gave to Merryweather to read, knowing it would not +interest Raventree much. + +Jack Merryweather, who was in excellent spirits after the recent +battle, because he, for a wonder, had not been wounded, read Ruth's +letter with delight--not once, but twice. + +"What a sweet, good girl," he said, as he handed it back to Tom. + +But there was one other letter that Tom, singularly enough, showed to +nobody. + +It came from Bertha. It was enclosed in Daddy Dan's. Quite a +charming specimen of love letter it was, but so innocent and +childish. She sent it through Dan, she said, because she did not +wish it supervised by her mother and her maid. + +I hope the reader will not jump to the conclusion all at once that +this conduct on the part of Bertha was naughty or clandestine. Her +mother, she said, wanted her to write to Tom Bure "all in fine +english and all well speld," and also to address him as "der Mr. +Bure," instead of "der old Tom" all through the letter. So she had +ran off to Daddy Dan's, where sweet freedom awaited her, a huge sheet +of age-stained paper, and an enormous sputtering old quill pen. + +However, Bertha's letter, although not "well speld," was very +delightful, and for some reason or another, best known to himself +only, Tom Bure put it under his pillow on the night of the day he +received it. + +History is mute as to what his dreams were. O'Grady's letters were +so pleasing to him that he handed them all round the gunroom mess--at +least he handed round the one he had received from his mother, who +lived "in a swate little cottage in the kingdom of Connemara, and +owned the foinest pigs in the county, faith." + +O'Grady's mother was "a lady in a small way and in her own roight," +he explained to his messmates, though what on earth he meant by that +nobody could tell, and as it was getting on for three bells, with a +drop of rosy rum on the table, no one thought of asking him for an +explanation. But Mrs. O'Grady could write a good old-fashioned +letter, there was no mistake about that. No long sentences; all +short and crisp. No tall English; but every line containing an item +of news. There wasn't a person in the parish from the priest +downwards who missed mention in the lady's letter, together with +everyone who had been put in the mould and every baby born, and it +finished up with what honest O'Grady called a red-hot shot, thus: +"And may the Lord's arms be ever around you, son, and sure your old +sweetheart Peggy O'Houghleehan was married yesterday to Rory McKoy, +and may heaven have mercy on his sowl, for the jade was never good +enough for my dear boy, at all, at all. No more from your +affectionate old mother Molly O'Grady. Postage paid, free." + +The red-hot shot, however, didn't affect this good old middy much; +for, it being Saturday night, the dead all buried more than a +fortnight ago, and the wounded getting rapidly well, the boys were +enjoying themselves in an innocent, good-tempered way. So presently +O'Grady volunteered a song. + +Then somebody else sang, so that really, as Burns puts it-- + + "The nicht drave on wi' songs and clatter,* + +* Clatter=talk. + + +Away forward in the men's messes, Dibdin's verses very well depict +the scene, bar the lashing of the helm a-lee. Nelson was hardly the +man to have his helm lashed a-lee. With all due respect for the +clever Dibdin, he did occasionally give his imagination a very free +run. + + "'Twas Saturday night: the twinkling stars + Shone on the rippling sea, + No duty called the jovial tars, + The helm was lashed a-lee." + + +But even Saturday night at sea has an end at last, and the bo's'n's +pipe has a disagreeable knack of bringing it to a close at times, far +more suddenly than honest sailors like. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +BOMBARDING CADIZ--A MADCAP EXPEDITION. + +Nelson was off Lagos Bay in the middle of March of this year, '97. + +"I am here," he wrote to a friend, "looking for the Viceroy of +Mexico, with three sail of the line, and hope to meet him. Two +first-rates and a 74 are with him; but the bigger the ships the +better the mark." + +Nelson, however, thought the Spanish ships were the finest in the +world; but he added: + +"Though they can build ships, thank Heaven the Spaniards cannot build +men." + +The Spanish ships were undoubtedly splendid and vast, but they were +badly fitted, badly found, badly handled, and badly manned. + +Nor was it always an easy matter to manœuvre such vast machines of +war in a sea way. If battles upon the ocean wave had been fought +simply by the antagonists drawing themselves up in two lines and +peppering away at each other till one gave in, was blown up, or sunk, +the Dons would have had it all their own way--perhaps. But during an +engagement of any size the British fleet kept pretty much on the +move, delivering terrible broadsides on the foe when least expected. + +The Dons didn't like it. + +On the 11th of April we find our hero blockading Cadiz, but next day +he started for Porto Ferrajo to bring the troops from there. The +blockade of Cadiz was therefore entrusted to Sir James Saumarez. +This officer had already proved himself to be + + +A HEART OF OAK. + +His story previous to the blockading of Cadiz is briefly as follows: +He was born in '57, and joined the service when thirteen years old, +and was first employed in the Mediterranean. He soon became a +lieutenant, and sailed in the _Bristol_, off America, under Commodore +Sir Peter Parker. He took and destroyed many privateersmen here. +Under Lord Howe, he commanded at Rhode Island a galley, which he +burned to prevent it falling into the hands of the enemy. Returning +home in the _Leviathan_, he, after some service in the Channel fleet, +sailed in the _Fortitude_, and went with Sir Hyde Parker to the North +Sea. Next we find him sailing with a detachment of the Channel +fleet, and being the first to sight the squadron of Count de +Guicheni, and so well did he behave on this occasion that he was soon +after appointed captain of the _Russel_, 74 guns, though then only +twenty-four years of age. + +In 1793 we find Saumarez boldly fighting the French frigate +_Reunion_, off Cherbourg, for which he received the honour of +knighthood. + +He was next made captain of the _Orion_, and cruised with the Channel +fleet. + +And in the battle off St. Vincent it was this brave fellow, who with +his 74, the _Orion_, captured the 112-gun ship _Salvador del Mundo_, +without the loss of a man, having only nine wounded. + +I ought here to mention the losses on the British side at the battle +off St. Vincent. They were not large for so spirited a fight, being +but 73 killed and 297 wounded; but in proof that this engagement was +more Nelson's victory than anyone else's, it should be remembered +that his ship alone suffered a loss of 24 killed and 56 wounded: the +next in point of numbers being the _Blenheim_, 12 killed and 49 +wounded; Collingwood's _Excellent_, 11 killed and 12 wounded; and +Troubridge's _Culloden_, 10 killed and 47 wounded. + +* * * * * * + +Nelson returned from his cruise sooner than he expected to do, and +was appointed in the Cadiz blockade to in-shore duties. + +"The fatigue, anxiety, and personal danger incurred in this service," +says Pettigrew, "were very great. To confine the enemy as closely as +possible to their port, it was the custom every night to send from +each of the ships forming the blockade one or more boats, well +manned, armed, and supplied with a good store of ammunition, into the +very mouth of the harbour. + +"These boats were supported by gunboats, which had been expressly +fitted out for this occasion, and these could only be protected by +the inner line of ships which Admiral Nelson had posted to render the +blockade complete, and the escape of any of the Spanish ships nearly +impossible." + +After the battle off St. Vincent the whole navy of the Dons, it will +be remembered, had taken refuge in Cadiz to refit. + +"When the boats were all arranged Nelson was in the habit of rowing +through them for inspection. The duty was therefore most active, and +as far as possible all danger of surprise from the enemy effectually +guarded against. + +"But the Dons were also well up in this mode of precaution and +warfare. They equipped numerous gunboats and launches to check the +too near approach of our boats, and many a skirmish thus took place +between the Spaniards and our brave fellows." + +* * * * * * + +On the night of July 3rd began the awful bombardment of Cadiz. + +"I wish to make it a warm night at Cadiz," wrote Nelson. "The town +and their fleet are prepared, and their gunboats are well advanced. +So much the better. If they venture out beyond their walls I shall +give Johnnie his full scope for fighting." + +Well, Nelson, in an attack by the Spanish gunboats, had probably the +narrowest escape of his life he ever had. While in his barge with +Captain Freemantle, his coxswain, Sykes, and an ordinary crew of ten +men, he was laid aboard by a huge barge from a gunboat rowed by +six-and-twenty oars beside officers, all under the command of a brave +fellow--Captain Miguel Tyrason. A tougher boat action was never +fought by Britons against such fearful odds. + +Our men, in fact, fought like lions. It was a hand-to-hand battle +with sword, cutlass, and knife. Never before was the personal skill +and prowess of this little man Nelson seen to such advantage. Again +and again his sword drank blood, and foe after foe fell before him. + +Twice too, during the engagement, his life was saved by bold Sykes, +who even interposed his own person 'twixt his admiral and the +descending sword. The fury of the combat may be best understood from +a statement of the results, for not only was the Don's barge beaten, +but eighteen were killed, and all the others were wounded and taken +prisoners. + +If there was a _Heart of Oak_ in humble life on board a ship it was +John Sykes, the admiral's coxswain. He was rewarded--after a +fashion--by being made a gunner, and consequently a warrant officer, +and appointed to the _Andromache_; but the poor fellow was killed on +his own deck by the bursting of a gun. + + _Sic transit gloria mundi._ + + +The bombardment of Cadiz was a grim and awful affair. + +Not only were houses and public buildings laid low, and even churches +demolished, but the beautiful city was set on fire in three different +places, and, to add to the horror of the situation, the roughs of the +populace had it all their own way, and murdered, robbed, or plundered +wherever they pleased. + +* * * * * * + +I have told you, reader, very little about Josiah Nisbet, the +step-son of Nelson, for several reasons. Though a very good fellow, +he is not my _beau ideal_ of a hero; secondly, he was separated from +Tom Bure and Raventree, being made lieutenant of the _Theseus_. But +now he comes forward once more--or presently will--in a new light, +which shows that he not only had a heart of oak, but had it stowed in +the right place. + +Nelson, then--though never fond of prize money himself--had for some +time been keeping himself awake at night concocting a scheme for the +financial ruin of Spain and the aggrandisement of his own beloved +country. + + +HEARTS OF OAK AT SANTA CRUZ. + +I am not at all sure, boys--now I come to think of it--that Nelson +was not in some way or other distantly related to the Camerons of +Lochiel. One of these days I shall "speel" his genealogical tree and +have a look round, and if I can see a kilt hung out to dry thereon, +or a Highland bonnet and plumes, I shall forthwith claim him as +Scotch; then the English bodies may look for a naval hero somewhere +else, or whistle their dogs to dance. But if he wasn't a Cameron, he +at all events acted on the motto of the Camerons--"Whate'er a man +dares he can do." + +Mind you, reader, that this is a very excellent motto, for "nothing +venture nothing win," and the higher one's aim the higher the mark he +hits--if he hits anything. + +However, the Cameronian Highlanders' motto does sometimes lead one +into difficulty. + +It was very shortly, then, after the bombardment of Cadiz that Nelson +wrote to Sir John Jervis--or let us now call him the Earl of St. +Vincent--proposing his little scheme for the capture of Santa Cruz. + +Santa Cruz was a place of not the slightest importance, but it was +rumoured that a Spanish ship--_El Principe de Asturias_--more richly +stored with gold and precious stones than a fairy mine, had arrived +at that port from Manilla, and Nelson's idea was to cut her out--in +other words, to capture her. This would not only put millions of +money into British coffers to carry on the war withal, but tend +considerably to the downfall of Spain by helping to impoverish her. + +In fact, and in plain English, Nelson intended for a time to +masquerade and swagger as a pirate bold or a buccanier. So on the +12th of April we find him writing as follows to his admiral of the +fleet: + +"My Dear Sir,--Troubridge and I were talking last night about the +Viceroy (of Mexico) at Teneriffe. Since I first believed he might +have gone there I have endeavoured to make myself master of the +situation, and the means of approach by sea and land. I shall speak +first of the sea. + +"The Spanish ships then generally moor with two cables to the sea, +and four cables from their stern to the shore; therefore, though we +might not get to be masters of them, should the wind not come off the +shore, it does not appear certain we should succeed so completely as +we might wish. As to any opposition, except from natural +impediments, I should not think it would avail. + +"The approach by sea to the anchoring-place is under very high land, +therefore the wind is either in from the sea, or squally with calms +from the mountains. Sometimes at night a ship may get in with the +land wind and moderate weather. So much for the sea attack, which, +if you approve, I am ready and willing to risk, or to carry into +execution. + +"But now comes my plan, which would not fail of success, would +immortalize the undertakers,* ruin Spain, and has every prospect of +raising our country to a higher pitch of wealth than she has ever yet +attained; but here soldiers must be consulted, and I know from +experience that, excepting General O'Hara, they have not the same +boldness in undertaking a political measure that we (sailors) have. +We look to the benefit of our country, and risk our fame every day to +serve her. A soldier obeys orders and nothing more. + + +* By "undertakers" Nelson doesn't refer to the manufacturers of cheap +coffins, but those who undertake to carry out his plan of operations. + + +"By saying soldiers should be consulted, you will guess I mean the +army of 3,200 men from Elba, with cannon, mortars, and every +implement now embarked. They could do the business in three days, +probably much less. I will undertake with a very small squadron to +do the naval part. + +"The shore, though not very easy of access, is yet so steep that the +transports may run in and land the army in one day. The water is +conveyed to the town in wooden troughs. This supply cut off would +induce a very speedy surrender. Good terms for the town, private +property secured to the islanders, and only the delivery of public +stores and foreign merchandise demanded, with threats of utter +destruction if one gun is fired. + +"In fact, sir, the business could not miscarry. + +"If," the letter goes on to say, "the six or seven millions sterling +thus secured were thrown into circulation in England, what might not +be done? It would ensure an honourable peace, with many other +blessings." + +Such was Admiral Nelson's letter to St. Vincent, or the gist of it at +least. + +Now had the hero been better supported by soldiers than he was the +result might have been a triumph. + +The attack, however, was to be a purely naval one. Nelson sailed for +Teneriffe on the fifteenth of July, and the passage not being a very +long one, got over in under a week. At all events, the fleet which +he commanded was discovered on the 21st of July. + +This was a bad beginning, and augured nothing but evil fortune to +follow. + +Probably Nelson had but little idea of the kind of place he had made +up his mind to take by storm, for it is fortified by nature. Writing +about this unhappy expedition Brenton makes the following remarks: + +"Of all the places that ever came under our inspection, none we +conceive is more invulnerable to attack or more easily defended than +Teneriffe. The island, like most of its neighbours, is a volcanic +production, consisting of mountains, ravines, rocks, and precipices. +The bay of Santa Cruz affords no shelter for shipping; the shore is +nearly a straight line, and the bank so steep that no anchorage can +be found beyond the distance of half a mile, and that in forty-five +fathoms of water; the beach from north to south is one continued +series of broken masses of loose rock and round, smooth stones, +smooth either from friction or from the seaweed. On this a perpetual +surf breaks, rendering the landing at all times difficult, except at +the mole or pier of Santa Cruz. To these obstacles there is another +which Nelson experienced in its fullest force. Teneriffe, like all +other mountainous countries, is liable to calms, sudden squalls, and +violent gusts of wind, which, rushing down the ravines, frequently +take a ship's topmasts over the side without a moment's warning. + +The fleet, or rather squadron, appointed for the expedition was as +follows: + + SHIPS. GUNS. + + 1 Theseus . . . . . 74 + 2 Culloden . . . . . 74 + 3 Zealous . . . . . 74 + 4 Leander . . . . . 50 + 5 Seahorse . . . . . 38 + 6 Emerald . . . . . 36 + 7 Terpsichore . . . 32 + 8 Fox (cutter) . . . 12 + + +There were many Hearts of Oak among the commanders of these ships as +well as daring Nelson, notably Troubridge, Hood, Freemantle, &c. +Indeed, to one and all the honour of their country was as dear as +life itself. + +In the next chapter I have to tell of + + +A DARK NIGHT'S WORK. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +A DARK NIGHT'S WORK. + +It was not until the 24th of July that the _finale_ to this madcap +expedition was attempted; viz., the landing and the facing of those +fearful odds. + +If Nelson had had but men to contend against, it would have been very +different, but in their undertaking it was the forces of Nature he +had to struggle against. There is no doubt about his daring, +however. Nor did he underrate the difficulties he had to encounter. + +It was with a feeling of sadness even that he sat down to write his +letter to St. Vincent--the last he was ever to pen with his right +hand. + +"This night," he says, "humble as I am, I command the whole. I am +destined to land under the batteries of the town, and to-morrow my +head will probably be crowned with either laurel or cypress." + +* * * * + +The first plan of attack on Santa Cruz, which, as I have already +stated, was spoiled by the discovery of the squadron, was this: The +boats were to land at night, between the town and the fort on its +north-east side, capture that fort, and afterwards demand from the +governor that the town be given up. + +But about midnight the three frigates, with the landing party on +board, had got within three miles of the shore, when it came on to +blow so hard that the forces were still a mile from the shore when +day dawned, and they were seen. A consultation or council of war had +then been held, and it was determined to land at all hazards, with +the object of securing the heights. While the landing forces were so +engaged, Nelson was to batter the fort for the purpose of distracting +the attention of the garrison. + +However, as bad luck would have it, a calm had followed the storm, +and owing to this and the contrary current the admiral was unable to +get near enough to rain his iron shower upon the fort. Meanwhile the +heights were occupied and held by a force so great that it was deemed +impossible to take them, and now we come to + + +THE DARK NIGHT'S WORK. + +Well knowing how desperate the attack on Santa Cruz would in all +probability prove, and how valuable were the services of our hero to +his country, the admiral of the fleet, St. Vincent, had given orders +that Nelson was not to land unless "his presence was absolutely +necessary." + +Nelson, with his usual headstrong tendencies, interpreted this to +mean that he should do just as he chose. + +So to-night he determined in his own person to lead the storming +party. + +The last thing that Nelson did was to send for his stepson, Josiah, +into his cabin. + +Josiah--Lieutenant Nisbet--was soon there. + +"Why, lad, you are armed," said Nelson. "I sent for you to help me +to burn your dear mother's letters." + +"Is the affair then likely to be of so dangerous a nature, father?" +said Josiah. + +"It is, my boy. I have written to St. Vincent, and in that letter I +recommended you to him and to our country. The Duke of Clarence, +should I fall, will, I am convinced, take a lively interest in my +stepson on his name being mentioned." + +"But _I_ am going too, father," said Nisbet, smiling but calm. + +"Let me entreat of you, Josiah, to stay behind." + +"No, no, dear sir." + +"But, Josiah, I comm----" + +"Hold, father, hold! Pray do not command me." + +"I _beg_ then. Think, Josiah, if we both fall, what would become of +your poor mother? Besides, the care of the _Theseus_ falls to you; +stay, therefore, and take charge of the ship." + +"Sir," said the young man respectfully, but with determination, "the +ship may look after herself. I will go with you to-night if I never +go again." + +On board the _Seahorse_ frigate the captains all met that night to +dine with the admiral. Captain Fremantle, the commander of the +vessel, had been lately married in the Mediterranean, and, his wife +being on board, presided at the table. There was no lack of +conversation at this little dinner party, no lack of liveliness even, +though an acute observer might have noticed that now and then, on +Nelson's part, it was almost forced. Hardly anyone touched the wine +in the way it was usually touched, tasted, and handled in those old +bacchanalian days, and at eleven o'clock the boats were called away, +and all ready. + +The night was very dark indeed, hardly a star shining, and closer in +shore, where the rugged mountains frowned over the ocean, it was +darker still. + +There were, however, the glimmering lights of the town to guide them, +and the black shapes of the great hills themselves. + +All the boats that could be spared from the ships of war took part in +this invasion, carrying altogether nearly one thousand bluejackets +and marines. + +It is almost half-past one now, and the invaders are rapidly nearing +the shore. They can hear the thunder of the breakers that dash and +foam on the stones and boulders, each receding wave adding to the +dreary sound by sucking back with it the smaller stones. They are +not far from the mole. + +"I can see it, sir, I can see it!" exclaims Tom Bure, who is in +Nelson's own boat, but forward in the bows. + +The lad was right. Keen eyes can now descry the mole or pier, and a +true British cheer rises from a thousand throats, and onwards dash +the boats. But scarcely is the cheer echoed back from rock and hill +ere bells are rung on shore, and a wild huzza tells the invaders that +the Spaniards are prepared to give them a warm welcome. + +And now the misfortunes begin; for most of the boats have missed the +mole, and are stove among the boulders. However, Nelson, Fremantle, +Bower, with five other boats, have found it; but how can they storm +it against twice two hundred armed men? + +_Whate'er a man dares he can do!_ + +Another shout, another huzza; the fight has commenced, and the +Spaniards, beaten off the mole, take refuge in flight. But such a +fire of guns as now lights up the darkness of this terrible night few +have ever faced and lived. Musketry and grape from the citadel and +from every window near. + +Against this iron hail advance is impossible. + +Our brave fellows attempt it over and over again, but fall dead or +wounded on the pier. + +And Nelson himself, just as he is about to step on shore, sword in +hand, is struck by a grape shot in the right elbow, and falls +bleeding into the boat. + +Nisbet, his step-son--surely it was Providence who sent him hither +to-night--is by his side in a moment. His first thought is that +Nelson is killed. + +The hero, however, gathers himself up, and shows that he has not lost +presence of mind, for he clutches his sword with his left hand. That +precious sword had been given him by Captain Suckling, and he will +not part with it while life doth last. + +Assisted by Tom Bure, whom even in his agony Nelson recognises, +Nisbet lays the wounded hero in the bottom of the boat, and a hurried +examination is made of the wound. With Tom's and Josiah's silk +handkerchiefs a bandage is formed, the knot placed over the artery +higher up the arm, and by means of this ready-made tourniquet the +bleeding is stopped. A sailor of the name of Lovel tears his own +shirt from his back, and forms a sling to support the wounded arm of +his beloved admiral. Josiah seizes an oar. + +"Shove off, lads," he cries; "let us get closer under the battery, +and thus out of its fire." + +With the help of Tom, and at his own request, Nelson is raised up in +the boat. But nothing can he perceive except the surf lit up every +moment by the awful flash of the guns, the heaving sea, and the +distant cutter _Fox_. + +Suddenly, high above the din of the contending foes, rises a wild +shriek of dying agony from the crew of that very cutter, and before +his eyes, by the fitful light of the blazing cannon, Nelson can +perceive that she is struck--that she staggers, fills, and goes +bodily down. + +"Give way, my lads; now for the cutter," cries Nelson, the moment the +shriek is heard. "Give way with a will!" + +And on towards the drowning seamen rushes the boat. There is no +thought of self with the hero at this moment. All his kindliness of +heart, all his indomitable British courage, rise to the surface--pain +and danger are forgotten quite. Who is there in all the wide world, +friend or foe, who cannot admire and love a man like this? + +Of all the 180 men the cutter had been bearing toward the shore only +83 are saved, and many of these were hauled into Nelson's own boat. +Some are even caught by Nelson's unwounded arm. + +Tom Bure does all he can, and helps many aboard; and seeing how +energetically the lad worked--for he is now astern, and had been +helping to support the admiral--Nelson finds opportunity to whisper +these encouraging words: "Well done, my Norfolk lad; I will not +forget you!" + +All being done that can be done, no more heads above the water to +clutch at or save, the boat is speedily rowed seawards beyond the +reach of danger. + +A ship now looms above them. + +"What is she? What is she?" cries Nelson feebly, and even +impatiently, for the loss of blood is telling on his nervous system. + +"The _Seahorse_, sir," cried Tom Bure. + +"Go on. Go on, Josiah, to the _Theseus_." + +"She is farther away!" entreats his step-son. "Think, sir; your very +life may be lost by our going on." + +"Shove off, men, for the _Theseus_!" cries the hero himself. "Think +you," he adds, as the men obey, "that I would present myself before +Mrs. Fremantle in this pickle, and bringing her no news of her +husband? I'd sooner suffer death." + +The _Theseus_ is made at last. + +Nelson will not allow himself to be carried on board. "I have still +my left arm remaining," he exclaims, "and my legs as well." + +"And now," he cries, when he reaches the deck, "tell the surgeon to +get his instruments out. I know I must lose my right arm, and the +sooner it is off the better." + +* * * * * + +We must get back on shore now to see how it fared with the other poor +fellows. + +Like Admiral Nelson himself, Captain Fremantle was badly wounded in +the right arm, but escaped to his ship, very much to the relief of +his agonised wife, who was not long in finding out that all was lost. + +Captain Bowen was among the slain, and this was a very great grief to +Nelson, who loved him well. Another officer killed was Lieutenant +Weatherhead, a man whom the hero also had much respect for and who, +like our Merryweather, preferred being with Nelson even to taking a +higher grade in another ship. + +But Troubridge, the captain of the _Culloden_, and Weller, who +commanded the _Emerald_, were among those who managed to secure a +footing on shore with the crews of several other boats. + +The boats themselves were instantly swamped, and dashed to pieces +among the heavy boulders. + +Their scaling-ladders were lost, but, although few in number, the cry +was "Forward!" + +The gallant little party dashed onwards to the great square of the +town, expecting here to join Nelson, and those who had stormed the +mole. Alas! they were, as we know, all scattered, dead, or lying +wounded and exposed, on the blood-slippery pier. + +Had Troubridge succeeded in saving the ladders, he would undoubtedly +have scaled the citadel walls and silenced the guns. + +Meanwhile, Captains Hood and Miller had secured a landing on the +other side of the pier, and the two forlorn parties met, or, in other +words, effected a junction. Previously to this a sergeant, with two +of the towns' people, were sent to the citadel to summon it to +surrender. He never came back. + +These brave captains at daybreak reviewed their forces, and a bold +little array they made, consisting of about 160 marines and pikemen, +with 180 well-armed bluejackets. + +They increased the amount of ammunition they were possessed of, by +requisitioning that of a number of prisoners they had taken. + +Wet and miserable, but with hope still aflame in those hearts of oak +of theirs, they commenced to march on now towards the citadel. There +was just a possibility, they thought, that it might be taken without +scaling-ladders. + +But lo! thousands of armed Spaniards were already seen advancing +towards them, with hundreds of their allies the French, while every +street was defended by one or more guns. + +Troubridge, however, proved himself the hero of the hour. He +instantly formed his plans, and bold they were in the extreme. One +cannot help even smiling at the audacity--call it "cheek" if you +please, reader--of this handful of British tars. + +Troubridge then despatched Captain Samuel Hood with a flag of truce, +towards the advancing enemy. His message was to the governor of the +town, and was to the following effect: + +"If," said Hood, "the Spaniards come but an inch nearer to the +British, their commander, Troubridge, will immediately set fire to +the town, which he is fully prepared to do. If he has to do so, it +will be with the deepest regret, because he has not the slightest +wish to injure any of the inhabitants. + +"He is therefore prepared to treat on the following terms: Provided +the British forces be allowed to re-embark, taking with them all +their arms of every kind, and in their own boats, if saved; if not, +in boats lent us by the town--Troubridge, in the name of Admiral +Nelson, agrees not to molest the town, nor shall the squadron bombard +it. The prisoners to be delivered up on both sides." + +The commander smiled as he made reply. + +"We think that instead of laying down the law to as, you should lay +down your arms and consider yourselves prisoners of war." + +"That," said Hood, "we never shall do." + +"And suppose I refuse to treat, sir?" + +"Then the destruction of the town and the utter annihilation of all +your troops lies on your head. I give you five minutes to consider. +If in that time your answer is not favourable, Troubridge will +instantly proceed to fire the town and attack your soldiers at the +point of the bayonet, and Nelson will bombard you from the sea." + +"I do not think," said the governor, smiling once again, "that you +would find yourselves very successful; but your Commander Troubridge +is a gallant sailor, I shall therefore accede to your request." + +This officer's name will be handed down to posterity as that of a +brave and generous gentleman--a gentle maa--Don Juan Antonio +Gutiarraz. + +Ah! boys, those were the days of chivalry and romance, for the treaty +being ratified, nothing could exceed the kindness of the governor and +his men to our wet, shivering, and hungry troops. One hundred men +were removed to hospital and carefully tended by the Spanish +surgeons, a young man, Don Bernardo Collagen, even tearing his own +shirt in pieces to make temporary bandages for wounded men who lay on +the mole. The governor, in sending back our fellows to their ships, +sent word at the same time, that while our squadron lay outside any +of our people might land and purchase whatever they cared to eat or +to drink. + +Nelson, ill as he was, dictated a letter of thanks to this brave and +kindly fellow, and sent them with presents. He also offered to carry +the governor's letters and despatches to the Spanish government. +This offer was accepted. + +There is no doubt about one thing, however. Troubridge was in +earnest when he threatened to fire the town and charge with the +bayonet. + +So the madcap expedition was at an end. + +But how sadly it had ended; for in killed and wounded our loss was +somewhat over 250 men. + +Nelson's letters to the admiral of the fleet after his defeat were +sorrowful in the extreme. But their tenour was no doubt influenced +by the miserableness of his bodily condition and his sufferings, for +owing to the bungling way the operation had been performed both the +chief artery and the chief nerve were included together in the +ligature, and the pain was in consequence of a most agonising +character. + +Here are one or two extracts from his letters to St. Vincent: + +"I am now become a burden to my friends, and useless to my country; +but by my last letter to you, you will perceive my anxiety for the +promotion of my step-son Josiah Nisbet. When I leave your command I +myself become dead to the world. I go hence and am no more seen. If +from poor Bowen's loss you think it proper to oblige me I rest +confident you will do it. The boy is under obligations to me, but he +has repaid me by bringing me from the mole at Santa Cruz. I hope you +will be able to give me a frigate to convey the remains of my carcass +to England." + +"The sooner," he says in another despatch, "I get away to a humble +cottage the better. I shall thus make room for a sounder man to +serve the state, for a left-handed admiral can scarcely be considered +useful." + +His step-son was promoted immediately, as he deserved to be. + +Great though the admiral's sufferings were, he did not even forget +our Tom Bure, who since the attack on Santa Cruz had been prostrated +with illness. Probably his being promoted to a lieutenancy by Nelson +himself went a far way towards restoring his health. Tom returned +home in the same ship with Nelson. + +Merryweather was wounded in a boat action soon after, and by his side +fell Raventree, who was taken on board his ship and stretched for +dead. + +O'Grady, however, hadn't a deal of faith in a doctor's opinion, so he +went soon after to the lee side of the gun, where the poor young +officer lay covered up by the flag under which he had served so +gallantly. + +His wounds were bleeding afresh. His eyes were open, and he could +talk. + +O'Grady rushed pell-mell to the Irish surgeon's mate. + +"Come here, you omadhaun," he shouted, "follow me, ye spalpeen av the +world, to go and stretch a poor bhoy for dead that was never dead at +all. Yes, sare, it's Raventree I mane." + +"Not dead?" + +"Och, no! The bhoy tells me so himself. He is a gentleman that +wouldn't tell a lie for the loife av him. Come to him at onct, or +I'll carry you." + +* * * * + +All the way home to England poor Nelson suffered agonies with his +arm. He was afterwards most carefully nursed, however, by his wife, +and the pain departed in a single night with the coming away of the +ligature, which the bungling hands of that wretched surgeon had +placed around the nerve. + +Honours were heaped upon him. + +Britain seldom forgets a true hero. + +Nelson was happy now. He seems at this time to have had little wish +to serve again. + +There was true religious feeling ever dwelling around the heart of +Nelson, and he did not forget to return thanks publicly, through the +officiating clergyman, at St. George's Church, Hanover Square. There +was the usual modesty about this, however, that marked all Nelson's +actions, for from the pulpit his name was not even mentioned. + +The following are the words of this thanksgiving, precisely as they +were dictated by the hero, and precisely as they were delivered by +the clergyman: + +"An officer desires to return thanks to Almighty God for his perfect +recovery from a severe wound, and also for the many mercies bestowed +upon him." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A HAPPY HOME-COMING. + +Four long years! yes, they did seem very long to Tom Bure, as he +shipped on board a trading schooner that was to bear him over the +sunlight sea, in bright September weather, to his home in Norfolk. + +Four years! Why to look back appeared an eternity, so filled were +they with wild adventures, with battles and sieges, and storms by sea +and on land. We can only judge of distance on the ocean when ships, +rocks, or islands are visible, and so can only judge of distance on +the ocean of time by the events that stand out here and there, and +seem to stud its surface. + +"Four years!" he said to himself as he gazed over the taffrail at the +rippling water, that went gurgling past the vessel's side as she +headed north and away from the mouth of the Thames. "Four years! +Why I was but a boy when I went to sea. Now I am a man, seventeen in +a few months, and no mite at that. And a lieutenant! I wonder what +Bertha will say. I do believe I used to make love to the child. +Well, she is but a child yet, not more than twelve. But---- I +wonder what she looks like. She'll hardly remember me. I do believe +I've got her letter still." + +"Beautiful day, isn't it?" said the skipper, who had now got his ship +into a safe position. "Lovely weather I calls it for the season of +the year. Just returned from the wars, haven't you?" + +"Yes," said Tom, smiling. + +"And haven't lost ne'er an arm nor a leg. Sad thing about poor +Nelson, sir; but, lor' bless ye, he's a hero every inch! There isn't +a man in Yarmouth that wouldn't die for him. Mind you, sir, +Yarmouth's precious proud of him." + +"As Yarmouth well may be, Mr. Auld." + +"You've been to Norfolk afore, sir?" + +"Why, I may say I belong there. My father died a poor man. His +sword and his honour were about all he could call his own, but he +belonged to a good family, I believe--the Bures." + +"Bless my soul and old hull of a body!" cried the skipper. "You +don't mean to say you're Tom Brundell, or Bure, that lived as a +nipper wi' old Dan, and that we now hears so much talk about?" + +"I'm all that stands for that youth," said Tom. + +"Who would have thought it? Such a strapping, handsome fellow too. +Why, tip us your nipper, my boy. Taking home Tom Bure am I? Why +this is the happiest day in my life." + +Tom shook hands right merrily, and the conversation continued. + +There wasn't a man or woman apparently all over the north and east of +Norfolk that Mr. Auld did not know the history of; and every question +Tom asked was answered in a moment, and right heartily too. + +He was unfeignedly glad to hear that Daddy Dan was well, and Ruth and +his foster-mother. That the Ashleys were still afloat in the +_Fairy_, and that "there wasn't a bit of difference in Yarmouth or in +anybody or any place anywhere." These were Skipper Auld's own words. + +"It seems to me," said Tom, "that all the change is in me alone." + +"Ah! you're growing, young sir; but I daresay if one could see into +your heart it isn't a deal of difference he'd see in that after all." + +"Not a bit!" cried Tom. "That is in the right place, and I'll never +forget dear Norfolk as long as my head is left above water." + +"Bravo! Spoken like one o' Nelson's own!" + +And at this point of the conversation Mr. Auld was constrained to +spit in his palm and shake hands with Tom Bure once again. + +* * * * * + +Yarmouth at last! Not a bit of difference in the long, muddy river, +nor in the quay alongside, nor in the shipping alongside. + +Tom felt once more that the change was all in himself, but he was +glad enough to get on shore nevertheless, for he meant to hire a +trap, it being early morning, and drive straight away down to Daddy +Dan's property, and give all hands a pleasant surprise. + +He bade Mr. Auld good-bye, hoping they should meet again. + +About half way up towards the spot where the town hall now stands he +came abreast of a clean, taut, and trim-looking schooner. He started +and stopped. + +"I should know her," he thought. "Why, yes, I declare it's my first +ship--the saucy _Yarmouth Belle_. + +"Ship ahoy!" he shouted, in a voice so stentorian that a score of +sailors and fishermen on the quay turned quickly round to look. + +"Hullo!" cried a voice from on board; and up from the companion hatch +popped the rough and warty old figure-head of Skipper Hughes himself. + +Tom Bure went rushing over the gangway, stuck out his fist, seized +the skipper's, and literally gaffed him on deck as if he'd been a +forty-pound salmon. + +Hughes didn't know Tom at first, but when he did he could hardly +utter a word with excitement. + +"Mate! mate!" he cried at last, "come up at once." + +The mate--same old phizog--came up as quickly as if the ship had +caught fire, and when about a hundred questions had been asked and +answered to the satisfaction of all, "Mate," said Skipper Hughes, "on +this auspicious occasion let us----" + +"Hurrah!" cried the mate. + +"Let us," continued the skipper most impressively--"let us----splice +the main-brace." + +* * * * * + +There was a rat at the foot of that poplar tree without the slightest +doubt. + +Meg, Uncle Bob's collie, knew that. She had known it for a very long +time. Indeed, the rat made little or no secret of the matter +himself, for there was the door to his sub-arboreal residence close +beneath the exposed portion of a root that Meg had often clawed and +clawed at in vain. This was only the rascal's front door, however; +he had several back doors, and he had an underground tunnel also, +that led all the way to the old mare's stable. + +That rat was a married rat too, and to Meg's certain knowledge had +brought up a large family in there this last summer. + +Meg was standing with her head turned a little on one side on this +bright autumnal forenoon, and fancying she could almost see the rat +grinning at her from the depths of his long, dark passage. She +couldn't be sure though, for her eyes had grown more dim of late for +some reason or another, which she didn't understand. + +Her hearing was not so good as it used to be either. That was very +curious! + +"Meg, Meg, old girl!" + +Her ears were in the habit of playing her strange tricks at times too. + +"Meg!" For example, if she didn't know that Tom Bure had disappeared +from off the earth ages and ages ago, just as her poor dear master +had, she would fancy she heard his voice even now calling to her. + +"_Meg_, you silly old girl!" + +She turned her head at last. + +Fancy? No, no, it was not fancy. Here was Tom himself, grown up +from his puppyhood, as she had known all along he would, but Tom all +the same--the eyes of Tom, the scent of Tom, the voice of Tom. She +went for him straight with a rush and a run, and jumped upon his +breast with a cry of joy that was half hysterical, and for all the +world as if tears were choking her. + +Then she must have a caper round and round the grassy lawn, where +poor Bob used to lie so patiently in his cot. + +Round and round. + +Round and round. + +Oh, if she had not capered and danced just then the excitement of her +feelings might have given her a fit! + +One more daft caper. + +One more hysterical joy-bark. Then off over the bridge she flies, +and in two minutes more comes back with Ruth. + +Ruth had been making a cake, but those bare, plump, mealy arms of +hers are thrown round her foster-brother's neck all the same, and she +hugs him to her heart. + +And----why the poor lassie is crying! + +* * * * * + +Altogether, this was indeed a happy home coming. + +Neither Daddy Dan nor his wife were a bit changed. The garden was +the same, the porch around the door and the roses and flowers, and +even the jasmine that clung about Uncle Bob's wing. + +Nothing altered. + +Bob's bed yonder too, in Bob's own end of the house. + +Aye, and the hooded crow's nest up in the poplar tree. + +"And on fine days in summer," said Mrs. Brundell that evening as they +all sat round the blazing hearth, with Meg, the collie, leaning her +chin on Tom's knee, "on fine days in summer your Daddy will wheel out +poor Bob's cot to its old place near to the shed where he works, +though I tell him it is foolish." + +Daddy Dan took his pipe from his lips and gazed upwards at the +curling smoke with a strange moisture in his eye. + +"Poor Bob," he said, "I like even yet to think the dear lad's near +me." + + + + +Book III + + +CHAPTER I. + +A GIPSY'S WARNING. + +Wonders will never cease. + +Tom Bure had found something at last that had changed during the time +he had been at the wars. + +That something was the dainty little person of Bertha Colmore. + +She was not at the Hall when Tom first came to Daddy Dan's cottage, +but in two week's time both she and her mother arrived. Tom had +permitted one long day and night to elapse before he paid a visit. +He did not like to appear too precipitate. Then, with Meg in the +bows of the boat, just as in the dear days of yore, he went paddling +away along the beautiful broads, and finally stood on the green mossy +bank not far from the Hall. + +Lady Colmore was delighted to see him. + +So was lovely Bertha. Yes; she was a very lovely, though very young, +girl; pretty enough to be a queen, Tom thought. + +Bertha said she was delighted to see Tom. That is how Tom knew she +was. + +He wouldn't have known else. + +She approached him, not with a glad rush, as of old; she gave him no +kiss, but only a little gloved hand. She had just come in from a +walk, and she said: + +"How are you, Lieutenant Bure? Mamma and I have been so pleased to +hear about you always, and from you also, and we are delighted to see +you." + +Tom was asked to stay for dinner. He needed little persuasion. + +After that meal, as they were passing along through the hall, Lady +Colmore stopped Tom near to a picture. It was the portrait of a +soldier of a bygone time. + +"Strange," she said, "but, my dear Mr. Bure, you get more like that +picture every day; and, now I come to think of it, he was a Bure, or +some such name. He is my son's great-grandfather by the father's +side." She laughed as she added, "It is just possible, you know, +that you are some distant relation of ours." + +Tom found himself in the conservatory with Bertha some time after +this. + +"It is cooler here, Lieutenant Bure," she said. + +Then Tom found his tongue, and to some purpose too. + +"Look here, Bertha," he said. "I'm not going to stand any more +lieutenanting. So there! If I can't be Tom to you, as I used to be, +I'll join the first ship I can get, and go off to the wars and get +shot." + +"Oh, Tom!" + +"There! It's out at last. I'm always going to be Tom to you and +nothing else." + +And thereupon, in good old sailor fashion, he took his little +sweetheart in his arms, and gave her a kiss. + +The ice was broken, and the "lieutenanting" all done with from that +day and date. + +* * * * * + +One morning, about three months after this, the old postman brought a +letter or two for Tom. He had been walking in the garden with his +foster sister, but he sat down in the arbour to open them. + +"Why, Ruth," he cried all at once, "who do you think is coming here? +You would never guess." + +"Oh! but I do guess," she replied, blushing like the autumn roses +that were clustering overhead. "It is Mr. Merryweather. I dreamt +about him last night." + +"Poor Jack Merryweather!" continued Tom, reading to himself. "Poor +Jack!" + +"Tom," said Ruth, laying a hand on his arm, "he isn't ill, is he?" + +She was very pale now. + +"No, no, Ruth, he isn't ill; but he'll never serve his country more. +He has lost a leg. Just fancy honest Jack Merryweather making a dot +and carrying one. Ah, well, I may lose my own next. It is all the +fortune of war, Ruth." + +In a week's time Jack arrived. The same old Jack as ever in mind and +manners; the want of both legs couldn't have changed Merryweather a +single little bit. + +With him came Raventree, looking somewhat sickly, but very happy to +meet his old friend again. + +What a vast cargo of news each one of these three sailors had got +stowed away under hatches. Dan and his wife were exceedingly pleased +to see Merryweather again, though with the real live lord, Raventree, +they didn't know well what to do, nor at dinner did Ruth or her +mother know how to address him. "My lord," and "your lordship" were +words that they thought it was but the proper etiquette with which to +lard every sentence. It amused Merryweather and Tom Bure also. + +"Lord Raventree, may I help your lordship to another tatie?" + +"My lord, your lordship hasn't got a drop o' gravy." + +"Does your lordship like the bishop's nose?" + +But Raventree settled the difficulty in fine sailor-like fashion +before the dinner was half finished. + +"Now, mother," he said, laughing, "and you, my pretty sister Ruth, +there isn't going to be any more 'lording' at this table; just call +me Raventree, as Tom and Jack do, or Mr. Raventree if you like. If +you don't I shall call you the Lady Brundell, and my sissy here the +Princess Ruth, which title, seeing how modest and beautiful she is, +would suit her to perfection. Now let us be all equal, all fair, +square, and above board. The charm of spending a night or two in a +delightful old-fashioned cottage like this lies in imagining I live +here always, that there are no wild wars, no battles, no bo's'n's +pipe to call me at the dark hour of a stormy midnight, and only cock +robin's song to greet me of a morning. Don't dispel my dream, +mother. I was young and foolish once, now I'm older and wiser. Once +I thought it was a fine thing to be a lord. I'd as lief be a miller +now, I think, if I could always live in a place like this. Do you +quite understand, mother?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"Ah! that's better. Now I have a mamma and a mother both. Mamma +lives at Raventree Court, mother lives in a sweet little cottage on +the edge of a broad." + +"Raventree," said Merryweather, "you're what old O'Grady would call +'a broth of a boy.'" + +"His heart's in the right place," said Dan. "It would be better for +this country if we had more lords like this one." + +"Why don't you enter Parliament?" said Jack. + +"Mamma wants me to," said Raventree. "But it isn't good enough. No, +I shall fight my way to the poop cabin of a 90-gun ship, hoist my +pennant, chase the French from the seas, and then----." + +"Then what?" said Jack Merryweather. + +"Why, come back and marry Ruth, of course, and live happy ever after." + +"That I'm sure you won't." + +"Why, Jack, why?" + +"Why? Because a man can't marry his sister." + +"To be sure," cried Dan, laughing. "It's agin' scripture." + +But the ice was broken now, and a right merry evening was spent. +Although, it must be confessed, the younger folks did most of the +talking, Dan was content to sit and listen and smoke. + +Merryweather rose to go at last. + +"No, no, no," cried Dan emphatically, "you don't leave here to-night. +The missus will stow you both in one room. I shan't even apologise +for it. You've been in a smaller before." + +So the matter was ended in that way, and Raventree and Jack stayed at +Dan's cottage, not one day, but several days. It was getting near +Christmas time, however, and Raventree determined to take his two +friends with him to Raventree Court, and to hire a carriage with +postillions for the purpose. + +First, though, they all paid a visit to the Ashleys. The old man was +delighted to see his pupil again, and Merryweather too. + +"My eyes! though," he said, "you do stump along lovely with that +timber toe o' yours. Nobody 'ud know you hadn't been born with it." + +Raventree was greatly delighted with the curious home of the Ashleys, +with room above room, or rather cave above cave. + +And with the _Fairy_ too. + +"Goin' round, I am," said Ashley, "day after to-morrow, to Yarmouth. +Can't you young 'uns man the _Fairy_, and we'll leave the sons at +home to fish?" + +"Ah! we'll be delighted." + +"Well, that's agreed. Help yourselves to more rum." + +"I say, Ashley," said Merryweather, "pay any duty on this?" + +"Never a penny," cried Ashley, laughing; "and what's more, I don't +intend." + +* * * * * * * + +The next visit of the trio was to the Hall. Lady Colmore was her own +proud self now, and, much to Raventree's annoyance, paid all her +court to him--to the lord--leaving his friends, figuratively +speaking, out in the dark and the cold. + +But Raventree hoisted his topsails after a time, and stood right away +on the other tack. He overhauled the saucy craft Bertha, and made +violent love to her, greatly to her mother's delight. + +"One never knows what may happen, dear," she told Bertha that +evening. "Why, his lordship might come back some future day and +marry you!" + +"Please, mother," said Bertha, "I'd rather marry Tom." + +"Tom was dragged up in a cottage, Bertha. You should study dignity, +my love. There, go to bed, child; you are too young yet. Just let +your mother think for you." + +Our three friends had a delightful trip Yarmouth and back. Of +course, they boarded the _Belle_, and it goes without saying that the +skipper made his usual speech, beginning: "On this auspicious +occasion," and ending with a strong recommendation to his mate to +"splice the main-brace." + +* * * * * * * + +There were no railway trams in those days, be it remembered, but +there were good coaches and horses; and just a week before Christmas, +Raventree, with Tom and Jack, left Dan's cottage in an open carriage +with four horses and a pair of postillions. + +There was just one matter in which young Raventree delighted to +assert his dignity, and that was the matter of equipage. It was +certainly not for pride, however, albeit, he used to say, "What's the +use of being a lord at all if you can't keep it up on shore?" + +Raventree, being a sailor, loved horses, that was all, and he would +have them too. Expense? That didn't signify, for once in a way. +His mamma would pay. She loved her sailor boy. So right merrily +they drove off from the cottage, Dan and Ruth standing on the rustic +wee bridge, and waving their handkerchiefs to them as long as they +were in sight, and Meg barking her hardest. + +[Illustration: "Dan and Ruth stood on the rustic bridge, and waved to +them as long as they were in sight."] + +Those three sailors were all as happy as sailors could be. Two were +young, and if Merryweather was not precisely a spring duck, his heart +was as fresh as a boy's. + +The last thing Dan and Ruth saw, before the bend of the road and the +trees hid the carriage from view, was Jack waving aloft his wooden +leg, with a handkerchief bent on to the top of it. He had unshipped +it for the purpose. + +Ninety miles they had to go, but the weather was fine and the roads +were hard. The horses too were as good as gold, and the postillions +smart, and small enough to be coxswains for an Oxford or Cambridge +boat race. + +They made the first five-and-twenty miles of their journey that day +in fine style, and slept that night at a cosy little old-fashioned +inn, in front of a market square, where they astonished the landlord +by the sumptuousness of the dinner they ordered. + +The landlord was a bit put about too, for he was quite unused to such +an order at this season of the year. + +But his wife came to his assistance. G----, Esq., of M---- Hall, was +from home, but his cook wasn't. So a polite request brought her down +to the inn, with the result that the dinner was a repast fit to place +before a Russian Emperor. + +Just about sunset, and before they sat down to table, Raventree and +Tom were crossing the village green--a huge great park of a place, +with a pump in the centre--when a couple of swarthy-looking, but by +no means ill-favoured, gipsy men came up to them. One was carrying a +dark-eyed little child. + +"Good gentlemen," this man said, "it is near Christmas time, and we +haven't much in the caravan yonder except five small children. We +can't eat those." + +He smiled pleasantly as he held out his hand. + +Something yellow crossed his palm, and with blessings sounding in +their ears our sailors marched on, and soon forgot all about it, for +the time being. + +* * * * * * * + +"By-the-by," said Tom that evening to Merryweather, "did you ever +hear anything more of that fellow Jones whom you thrashed so prettily +on the sands?" + +"Well," was the reply, "he volunteered, as we call it, and I took him +in the ship with me as I had promised." + +"And he showed his gratitude?" + +"Yes; he nearly brained me with a capstan bar at Gibraltar, then +jumped into the sea, and the men said he was sucked down in an eddy. +I don't want any more gratitude like that." + +In due time the carriage arrived safely at Raventree Court, which of +course was all _en gala_. Tom thought that Lady Raventree was the +most perfect lady he had ever seen, and his friend's sisters after +the first few hours seemed positively his own. Never in all his life +had he felt more completely at ease than at Raventree Court, and time +appeared to fly on golden wings, so that three whole weeks went by +like one long delightful dream. + +No wonder that when good-byes were said at last, both Tom and Jack +Merryweather had willingly promised that they would on no account +make strangers of themselves. + +The postillions were sorry to go. They had had a real good time of +it, as the Yankees express it, and departed with tears in their eyes. + +Crack went the whips, and away rolled the carriage, heading east once +more--east with a little bit of south in it. + +Thirty miles made their first day's journey, for the horses were as +fresh as salmon, and although snow had fallen to some extent the +roads were clear and hard, so the whole expedition, as Raventree +called it, was as merry and happy as the traditional sand-boy. + +Next day's run, however, would only be twenty miles, so an early +start was not thought necessary. The sky looked thick and hazy, with +the horizon closer aboard than Merryweather liked it. + +"There is snow in the air," the landlord said; "but you can do it +easily, gentlemen, if you push on. Good luck to you, and the safest +of journeys." + +A little way past the hostelry where they had stayed all night was a +steep hill, that led upwards through a clump of trees. Raventree +permitted the horses to slacken speed here, for the ground was +somewhat slippery, and an accident would have been awkward. + +As it was the animals had almost to claw their way uphill, stumbling +often, but keeping on their feet. + +By the time they reached the top they were well pumped, and Raventree +called a halt. The steam rose from the animals' hides in the frosty +air in clouds, while their sides heaved like billows. + +"I think we can go on now, my lord," said the leading postillion at +last. "'T won't do, your lordship, to let 'em get too cold." + +"Right then," said Merryweather. + +At that moment a man sprang from behind the trees, and placing a +piece of rather dirty-looking paper in Raventree's hand, disappeared +again as suddenly as he had come. + +"Why, what is the meaning of this?" said Raventree, laughing, as he +handed the note to Merryweather. + +"Well," said the latter, "it's a warning from a friend, there is no +doubt about that." + +"_Look well to your priming as you pass through Blackmuir woods._" + +"That's plain enough," said Raventree. "Why, how jolly! We're going +to have a real adventure with footpads." + +When they pulled up at the top of the next hill to breathe the horses +once again--for the snow was now whirling round their heads in gusts +that were almost suffocating-- + +"Boys," said Merryweather to the postillions, "where is Blackmuir +wood?" + +"Twelve mile far'er on, sir." + +"Are your pistols loaded?" + +"That they be, sir. We knows Blackmuir well." + +Crack went the whips again, and it was evident the boys were not +afraid of anything. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE FIGHT ON BLACKMUIR MARSH. + +"It is the very captain of the thieves."--TENNYSON. + + +The sun was setting by the time the carriage reached Blackmuir; going +down in a sky of great rolling snow-laden clouds, with here and there +a rift of blue between; going down with a yellow, angry glare, that +boded no good for the travellers. A more dreary waste than this +wind-swept moor, on such a wintry afternoon, it would be difficult to +conceive. Lonesome and lovely it would be in summer time, when the +linnets sang among the patches of golden furze, when the partridges +called to each other among the grass, and water birds made love in +the reedy ponds, while the blackbird's mellow music, and the wild +lilts of the mavis, made the echoes ring in copse and woodland. But +the pools were now frozen, the bushes were but ghostly shapes, the +spruce trees and pines pointed their snow-laden branches groundwards +and looked like sheeted spectres; and when the carriage pulled up for +a short time, before plunging down into a wooded ravine, there was no +sound to be heard save the moan of the wintry wind. + +The forest they soon entered was fully two miles in extent--tall +beech trees, oaks, elms, and pines, but with here and there an ocean +of undergrowth that would afford excellent ambush for a footpad. + +Slowly the carriage descended the hill. There was a bridge at the +bottom that crossed a rushing stream, then the hill began to ascend +again. But here the trees almost overhung the road. + +No one spoke. The postillions kept their heads constantly on the +move. Tom was kneeling on the front seat of the carriage, which was +an open one, and peeping into the semi-darkness of the wood. +Raventree and Merryweather sat behind, each grasping a pistol, while +several more lay handy. + +"If we are attacked," said Merryweather quietly, "take good aim, +lads, each at the man nearest to him. Keep steady, and we'll beat +the rascals off if there be fifty----." + +Crack, crack, crack. Smoke and flame came from a thicket near. The +leading off horse stumbled and fell, and the postillion came tumbling +to the ground with him. + +"Hold your fire," cried Merryweather. + +There was a shout from the wood, and six armed and masked men +suddenly sprang into view. + +"Give them fits now," roared Merryweather. + +Bang, bang, bang, bang, went a volley, and two men fell. The others +rushed in. + +"Hold and deliver!" cried one. "If you fire again you are dead men." + +At that moment the other postillion fell, and horses and men were now +so mixed up that to fire at the ruffians was impossible, with any +degree of safety to the postillions or horses. + +Four huge pistols were levelled at the carriage, and its occupants +seemed marked. + +"You haven't a show for it, Merryweather," cried one of the footpads. + +But the fellow's voice, instead of cowing the sailors, appeared to +act like the match that fires a mine. + +"By Jove! I know you, Jones," cried Merryweather. + +He kicked the door of the carriage open as he spoke, and sprang like +a deer into the road. The wooden-leg seemed an advantage rather than +a drawback. + +Pistols cracked again, swords clashed, and horses plunged. There +were shouts, oaths, and screams. Then high above the din of battle a +wild huzza from the woods, and two new combatants, armed with +cudgels, rushed upon the stage of battle. + +Were they footpads? No; but gipsies, and right sturdily they laid +around them. In two minutes more the battle was decided, every +robber _hors de combat_ or pleading for mercy, and Tom and Raventree +shaking hands with the two swarthy Romany Ryes they had been kind to +three weeks before. + +Merryweather had torn the mask from the face of one of the robbers +with no very gentle hand, and there stood revealed the villainous +face of David Jones, the Welsh smuggler. + +Merryweather was angry, virtuously, but _very_ angry. He clenched +his fist, and for a moment it seemed he was about to dash it at the +scoundrel's head; but he restrained himself. + +"This is the second time you've attempted my life, Jones," he said, +"you cowardly rascal." + +"The third'll come," was the cool reply, "if I have the chance." + +"That you never shall. You'll hang as high as Haman." + +"We'll see," said the fellow. "If I'm hanged my ghost shall haunt +you." + +The prisoners were now secured--death indeed had secured two--and the +postillions once more mounted, much afraid still, but all intact. +One horse had been killed, and this was the only fatality on the side +of the sailors, although the carriage was riddled with bullets. + +The gipsy caravan was not far away, and this was requisitioned next +day, and a start made from the nearest inn, for Yarmouth; the +prisoners being shut up in the van, and safely guarded by the sturdy +gipsies. + +At Yarmouth three prisoners were handed over to the authorities. No, +not four. Jones was found dying in the caravan the evening before +they reached town. He had loosened one hand, found a small knife, +and therewith done the deed that soon hurried him into the presence +of Him who made him. + +* * * * + +Every man Jack in those dashing days, who could wave sword or cutlass +or trail a pike, was needed by the service, so it was unlikely that +Raventree or Tom would be allowed to rest at home. + +Nelson himself, minus an arm, minus an eye, had once more joined the +service, and was on duty at this time in the Mediterranean. + +So Raventree and Tom Bure, who had both passed their examinations +with flying colours, and were therefore full-blown lieutenants, were +appointed to a ship then fitting out for sea at Portsmouth. + +Nor was Merryweather entirely overlooked. He was overhauled, +however, by a body of bold ship's doctors. They agreed that, +although a wooden leg would be awkward on board a ship, it would not +incapacitate its wearer from certain kinds of duty on shore. So +Merryweather found himself in command of as brave and reckless a lot +of blue-jackets as ever reefed a topsail. They were nominally called +coast-guardsmen, but no one knew better than the townspeople of +Portsmouth, that their principal mission was connected with the +pressgang. + +By no means a very elevating employment was this, nor was it one that +Merryweather cared for, only it had to be done by some one. The king +needed men for his navy, and Merryweather would have carried a musket +for his majesty had he been asked to do so. + +In this service--coast-guard--O'Grady, formerly of the ships in which +our heroes had fought, was Merryweather's best man, and between the +two of them they managed to obtain quite a large number of +"volunteers." + +They did not confine their operations to any one town or place, +however. They would be in Portsmouth one week, probably, and in +London or Dover the next, Mr. Merryweather thinking it best not to be +too well known in any particular port. + +Now the _Highflyer_, in which Tom and Raventree were to take passage +to the Levant, in order to join the fleet under the Earl of St. +Vincent--Sir John Jervis--was short of men, and what more natural +than that Merryweather and O'Grady should undertake to supply them? +Both officers knew every corner and alley of old Portsmouth, and what +was better still, they knew every crimp therein. + +A crimp was a mean kind of a reptile that lived in clover upon the +earnings of poor Jack in those days, and that still exists in various +forms about the London docks. But the genus is nowadays threatened +with extinction, for sailors have grown wiser, and instead of going +to low lodging-houses they very frequently are to be found at those +very excellent institutions called Sailors' Homes. + +When Raventree and Tom, delighted to be together. joined the +_Highflyer_, they found everything in the direst confusion. The ship +had only just been got out of dock, and the "woodpeckers," as the +carpenters were called, were still on board fitting up, the tapping +of their hammers resounding fore and aft all day long. + +The _Highflyer_ was an old-fashioned gun brig, with strong masts and +lofty; capable of good speed under a heavy press of canvas, but at +the same time a craft that needed a sailor's eye and a sailor's head +to watch and manœuvre, in dirty weather at all events. Just the +sort of vessel that, if taken aback suddenly in a squall, was as +likely as not to go down stern foremost in five minutes time or far +less. + +The captain of the _Highflyer_ was a much older man than either of +our young heroes. His rank, however, was not post, although he gave +himself all the airs of an admiral of the fleet. + +Tom and his friend came off in the gig which had been sent for them, +and McTough, the captain, condescended to meet them as they came over +the side. He smiled as he returned their salute, or rather he made a +grimace that was meant for a smile. + +A little short dark man he was, with a Highland accent, and a manner +that was intended to denote that on his own quarter-deck there was no +one in all the wide world to compare with McTough, and that it would +only be waste of time to attempt to get to windward of him. + +"We're all in blessed confusion at present," he said, "and sure we'll +be so too for days and days. Not half my men either; but +Merryweather will soon find them. Ah! he's the right sort. I was a +middy with him. Come below, gentlemen, to my cabin. It's the only +place in the ship that isn't thoroughly thro'-other." + +"Steward!" he cried, when they had seated themselves, "bring the +wine." + +It was Scotch wine that the steward brought--in other words, Highland +whisky. + +The captain half-filled a tumbler and tossed it off, and seemed a +little astonished that Tom and Raventree did not tackle the stuff in +the same off-hand way. The captain's first glass was drunk "neat," +that is, without water; the second was diluted, and this one was +evidently meant only to trifle with as he kept talking, for before +they rose to go on deck he helped himself to another, saying, "Pooh! +no, it spoils the flavour," as Raventree passed the water across to +him. + +That evening Merryweather and O'Grady came off, and all four dined in +the captain's cabin. There was plenty here to eat and drink, and the +wines were of the best vintage; but nothing would Captain McTough +touch except the wine of his native land. + +"I'll have fifteen as handsome volunteers for you," said Merryweather +in the course of the evening, "as ever kept a watch." + +"It's me myself that is pleased to hear it," said McTough, ignoring +the rules of grammar in his excitement. "And they'll come of their +own free will, of course?" + +Merryweather smiled. + +"Better have your surgeon on board," he said, "for I expect there'll +be a broken head or two to see to among the lot." + +"And let me just tell you this, Merryweather, I like the men best +that come on board with broken heads. It shows they're no +hinkumsneevies."* + + +* Hinkumsneevie--a mean, worthless fellow, with no "go" in him. + + +"Ah! well, McTough, I like to lay them aboard as easily as possible." + +"You always were soft-hearted, Merryweather." + +"And, Tom, you'll come with us and see the fun. I know Raventree +will." + +"Well," said Tom, "I'd just like to know how it is done. But it +seems rather hard on the poor sailors." + +"For king and country," said Merryweather. + +"If that's a toast," said McTough, "we'll drink it." + +And he did. McTough never missed an opportunity of drinking a toast. + +And soon after he went to sleep in his arm-chair, which was always +McTough's way of intimating to his guests that they might leave when +they liked. + +"Dine with me to-morrow evening at the 'Fountain,' then," said +Merryweather, as he shook hands with his friends and went over the +side. + +"A different kind of craft this from the old _Agamemnon_," said Tom +when the boat had shoved off. + +"I don't like her, Tom." + +"And I don't like McTough." + +"Well, suppose we get clear of her as soon as we can." + +"Agreed." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + "VOLUNTEERS" FOR THE NAVY.--THE BURNING OF THE + "HIGHFLYER." + + "I'm a freeman--a nabob--a king on his throne, + For I've chattels and goods and strong beer of my own." + + +The "gentleman" who wished to see Commander Merryweather, just as he +and his two friends had finished dinner at the "Fountain" next +evening, was not a person one would have taken to very readily. + +A tall, fair-haired, bland, inscrutable kind of man, with a shifty +eye. He bowed most obsequiously to Merryweather, then looked +doubtingly at Tom and Raventree, who were both in mufti. + +"Friends," said Merryweather curtly. + +"Officers, I presume," said Bloggs, for that was his sweetly-savoured +name, and he smiled and bowed again. + +"Enough of that, Bloggs," said Merryweather. "Help yourself to some +wine, and let's get to business. Are your men all ready to +volunteer?" + +"To a man, Capting Merryweather." + +"There now; no names, please. Where are they now, and what doing?" + +"They're all on the carouse. Tossing cans, and singing, at No. 9 +back-room." + +"How many in all?" + +"Over twenty; nearer thirty. I've refused them more liquor." + +"Fool!" + +"See here, Capting--I means mister. I knows my biz, you knows yours. +Supposing I'd been too liberal wi' the grog, they'd have suspected. +There's some among 'em suspects now. I knows what I'm about." + +"All right. And they're in the back hall?" + +"Ay, and a fiddler's just gone in." + +"Keep them dancing and gay, Bloggs, till after midnight. We'll be +there. Yes, empty the bottle if you like." + +Bloggs had a double allowance of wine, bowed, smiled, and retired. + +"Awful villain!" said Merryweather. "Those poor fellows we're going +to have, if we can, have most of them been there a week, and hardly +ever seen daylight." + +"Does he keep them in the dark?" asked Tom innocently. + +"You don't understand," said Merryweather, laughing. "He keeps them +drunk that he may cheat them, and they hardly know whether it is +night or day. If we didn't have them, Bloggs would bundle them, +still drunk, on board some merchantman, five, six, or even ten at a +time, receive their advance, and go smiling on shore again, to allure +more to his dismal den. The ships that take them lie in the harbour +for a day or two, and as soon as the poor seamen are sober it is up +jib and off." + +The back hall of No. 9 was considered the safest crimp's crib in all +Portsmouth. It lay fifty yards off the street. You entered by a +narrow alley, then found yourself in a kind of garden, at the bottom +of which stood the hall, or dancing howff. Here poor Jack drank, +danced, ate, and slept, awaking only to eat, dance, and drink again. + +Let us look in here to-night. It will be some time before our eyes +are quite used to the clouds of tobacco smoke; then we can dimly see +Jack and Sally, or Poll, seated at tables round the room, smoking, +singing, and yarning. There is a screechy old fiddle at quite the +other end of the big room, and half-a-dozen couples on the floor +footing it lightly on the fantastic toe, or the heavy heel. + +The hubbub and din is fearful, for more than one song is going on at +the same time, though if you listen you can just make out the words +of the singer at the nearest table. His eyes sparkle with mirth as +he trolls out the following ditty: + + "Wounds! here's such a coil! I'm none of your poor + Petty varlets, who flatter and cringe, and all that; + I'm a freeman, a nabob, a king on his throne, + For I've chattels and goods, and strong beer of my own. + Besides, 't is a rule, that good fellows ne'er fail, + To let everything wait but the generous ale. + + _Chorus_--Besides----" + + +That chorus was never sung. + +"Long live the King," shouted Merryweather, entering by the only +door, and apparently all alone. + +"Now, good fellows, it's all up; so who's going to fight the French +for St. George and merrie England?" + +There was just one moment of stillness after this bold, brief speech, +then pandemonium seemed suddenly let loose. A shower of bottles, +jugs, and cans came floating towards Merryweather, but he ducked and +retired; women screamed, tables were overthrown, and amidst oaths and +maledictions a rush was made for the door. + +A few were knocked down and handcuffed as they came, but the rush was +too great, even for the force of bluejackets. + +The fight in the garden was a fearful one. The moon shone as +brightly as day, and in less than a minute showed at least a dozen +couples struggling on the ground. + +It was not the object of the seamen to stop to fight, however, but to +escape. + +The second rush was through the alley, but here they encountered +Merryweather's rear-guard. So well, indeed, had he disposed of his +men, that out of the thirty odd merchant seafarers only about seven +escaped. + +There was no happier man next morning than Captain McTough, as he +reviewed his volunteers--twenty-two in all, and scarcely one among +them who had not a cut face or blood-matted hair. + +And now a strange thing occurred. The very man who last evening had +been singing about being + + "A freeman, a nabob, a king on his throne," + +stepped out of the ranks and saluted the captain. + +"Men," he said, "I'm a volunteer." + +"And we're all volunteers, Bill," they shouted. + +Then he turned to Merryweather. + +"It doesn't matter a deal," he said, "now we're here, whether we +volunteer or not. But, sir, I wish you were going with us, timber +toe and all; for, faith! you fought finely, and I love a brave man." + +Merryweather shook the man by the hand, and the volunteers cheered +him as he went over the side. But I may as well state here as +anywhere else that Bill Williams--and a bold Welshman he was--turned +out one of the best men in the ship. And if a man could be good +under such a tyrant as Commander McTough he could be good anywhere. + +The brig had not got half-way over the Bay of Biscay before this +officer showed the cloven hoof. He had no less than two men down +from aloft in the same forenoon, stripped and flogged--four round +dozen each, _sans ceremonie_. + +His language was also, to say the very least, far from polite. + +McTough was a sample of the naval officers who are despots on their +own quarterdecks, and who, even in those days, I am happy to say were +comparatively rare. + +Tom Bure was sick of the fellow in four or five days' time, and could +hardly be civil to him. + +Raventree ventured to take a man's part, and received such a torrent +of invective that he told McTough, there where he stood, that he was +a scoundrel and a villain. + +"Mutiny! Rank mutiny!" roared McTough, growing almost black in the +face. "Down--below--under arrest, sir. I have half a mind to hang +you to-morrow morning at the yard-arm. I have." + +Raventree smiled, gave up his sword--it was at divisions--and went +quietly below to his cabin. + +"I have orders to let no one in to see the gentleman," said the +sentry, when Tom went below that evening. + +But Tom got in for all that. + +Raventree was lying on his cot, reading by the light of a jimble-lamp. + +"Tom," he said, "you mustn't stay a minute. I'll be cashiered as +sure as a gun. But you needn't be." + +"Keep up your heart," said Tom. "You're not tried yet, and there's +many a thing may happen before we join the fleet." + +Tom's prophecy came terribly true. + +* * * * * + +It was some nights after Raventree had been put under arrest, and +towards the end of the middle watch--kept to-night by Tom, for it was +watch and watch now that his friend was off duty--when Bill Williams, +who had been sent below on some message, returned hastily on deck. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," he said, "but there is a a terrible smell +of burning between decks. Will you run down?" + +Tom had not far to run. Not "smell" alone, but smoke was issuing +from underneath the door of the captain's cabin. The alarm was given +at once, and the fire bell had not clanged for a minute before every +man was on deck. No disorder, however, no confusion. They were +British seamen--Hearts of Oak. + +The door of the cabin was found locked inside, but was speedily burst +in, and as speedily flames rushed out. Even had he been alive, there +could have been no hopes of saving the unhappy captain; but ten to +one he himself or the wine of his native land had been the cause of +the terrible calamity. + +Tom Bure now assumed command, and he and Raventree, whom fate had +relieved from arrest, at once divided the crew into two parties. +Both worked like heroes, one party to get up the ammunition, of which +there was quite a large store on board, the other in drawing water, +to quell, if possible, the raging demon, Fire. The ship was put head +to the wind, but in less than half an hour she had fallen off, for +the whole afterpart was on fire, and steering was impossible. + +Very speedily now the flames took possession of the rigging, and the +scene that ensued baffles description. In less than five minutes +after the vessel broached to, she was on fire from stem to stern. + +Everything that could be lifted and launched overboard was thrown +out, but there was no time to lower a boat. The men simply leapt +into the sea by the dozen and score, for there had been nearly 200 +men all told when the brig swung out past the Needles. + +Tom Bure and Raventree, with many others, including Bill Williams, +had sought refuge on the jibboom and bowsprit. It was but a choice +of deaths apparently, when suddenly Bill shouted: + +"Oh! look, Mr. Bure, yonder is a light, and it is bearing this way." + +The night was intensely dark, and with the glare of the fire it +seemed impossible that anyone could have caught sight of a light. + +Williams was right, however. + +In a few minutes' time boats were alongside picking up the drowning +men, who clung to the floating wreckage. + +Our brave fellows on the jibboom cheered them, Frenchmen though they +could see they were. Their great black frigate lay out yonder +against the star-studded horizon, gently rising and falling on the +swell of the mighty Atlantic. + +"We'll be all prisoners," said Bill. + +"Never mind, Williams," said another sailor, "any port in a storm; +but I say, Jack, I----" + +Crash! The bowsprit was severed, and down went the jibboom into the +sea. In another minute the brig had filled aft, heeled backwards, +and gone down stern first, leaving but a few black, seething, smoking +spars among the bubbling waves. Half at least of the poor fellows +who had thought themselves safe on the jibboom were sucked down with +the sinking ship. + +* * * * * + +Of all the crew of the sturdy brig _Highflyer_, only fifty-three +mustered at daylight on board the French frigate. + +"My dear Tom," said Raventree, "I have never felt more thankful for +anything than to see your face among the saved." + +"And I to see you, Raventree." + +"And I to see you both, gentlemen," said bold Bill Williams, +advancing. + +Both Tom and Raventree reciprocated by shaking the honest fellow by +the hand. + +Nothing could exceed the kindness of the Frenchmen to the men they +had rescued in so strange a manner. + +Raventree and Tom were invited into the captain's cabin, and there +they breakfasted. + +"It is very kind of you to treat prisoners thus," said Tom. + +"It ees all well," said the captain; "and it ees de fortune of de +war. Perhaps it may be my turn next." + +A day or two after this, and early in the morning, the strange +spectacle was witnessed of a large French frigate coming straight in +from the north-west, under all sail, towards the fleet of Sir John +Jervis, who was still blockading Cadiz. + +Here was a mystery that made every man on every ship stare in +amazement. + +Was peace declared, or was that ship mad? + +Mad or not mad, she made directly for the admiral's ship, with a +white flag flying at her fore, and the French stripes at her peak. + +She wanted to speak, that was evident enough. So a boat was speedily +hastening towards her. When the officer stepped on board he was +quickly told the terrible story of the burning of the _Highflyer_, +and the saving of a portion of her crew, whom the French captain now +desired to give up to the admiral of the British fleet. + + "One touch of Nature makes the world kin." + + +St. Vincent was much affected by this display of genuine kindness and +chivalry. He insisted upon the French captain coming to dine with +him, and when the frigate at last got under weigh a signal was made +to man yards, and a cheer went over the water after the receding ship +that must have rung in the ears of the crew for many a long day after. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE SEARCH FOR THE FRENCH FLEET--AT LAST. + + "Now's the day, and now's the hour, + See the front of battle lower."--BURNS. + + +We must now return to our hero Nelson. + +In an early chapter of this story I mentioned that the great man had +once gone to Paris, and had there met an officer who was somewhat of +a dandy, and whose name was Ball. + +Nelson had found it impossible to associate bravery and pluck with +fine clothes. This dislike to fine clothing he had doubtless picked +up in the merchant ship in which he served for a time, and it had +clung to him. However, he lived to find out that though first +impressions are usually very strong, it does not follow that they are +always just and correct. + +After joining St. Vincent, about the end of April, the admiral of the +fleet got word that the French were getting ready a great expedition +at Toulon and Genoa.* It was not known for what this armament was +intended, and various conjectures were hazarded. Perhaps the enemy +meant to attack Naples or Sicily, or to invade Ireland. However, +this armament of theirs must be sought for and destroyed if possible. + + +* _Vide_ Map. + + +Now there were many officers senior to Nelson on the station, and on +one or other of these--so they thought--ought to have devolved the +command of the anti-French squadron. + +The Earl of St. Vincent, however, thought different. He _knew_ +Nelson; knew what he could dare and what he could do; knew how wise +and clever he was, how energetic, bold, and determined; knew that if +he undertook a mission of any kind he would, figuratively speaking, +"give neither sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids" until he +had fulfilled it. + +But when the admiral of the fleet appointed him to the +search-squadron there was a howl of rage from all quarters, at home +as well as abroad. Sir John Orde, a senior in the service to Nelson, +let his wrath get such mastery over him that he challenged St. +Vincent to fight a duel. St. Vincent was no fool, and I suppose +quietly lit a pipe with the challenge. Anyhow, it never came off. + +But even a lord of the admiralty condemned the conduct of the admiral +of the fleet, who, however, could stand red tape abuse quite as well +as he could the fire of the French in battle. + +Still so high did popular feeling run in some quarters, that one +trembles to think what the fate of our great hero would have been, +had he been beaten by the foe when he at last found his fleet. He +would certainly have been brought home, tried, and probably executed. + +Can you imagine anything more horrible than that would have been, +reader--executing Nelson? But the mere possibility of such a thing +only proves that the public, which heroes serve so faithfully and +well, is after all like a caged lion or tiger, tame to a fault with +its keeper, the hero, but a savage creature and a fool in its wrath +when crossed or put out of temper. The public will pamper and +idolize a man one day, and trample his bleeding body under foot the +next. + +So Nelson sailed with his ships. + +He had orders to requisition stores, food, water, &c., in any port of +the Mediterranean he chose. If such stores were not forthcoming, +that port was to be treated as an enemy's. One exception only was +made; viz., in the case of Sardinia. + +Well, this expedition of Nelson's had but a bad beginning; for while +crossing the Gulf of Lyons he encountered a terrible storm of wind, +which scattered his ships in all directions, and nearly wrecked the +_Vanguard_, on which his flag was flying. There is almost as much +humour as pathos in the letter he writes to his wife on this occasion. + +"Imagine if you can," he says, "a vain-glorious man--your +husband--walking his quarter-deck on Sunday evening, with his +squadron all around him, who* looked up to their chief to lead them +to glory, and in whom this chief placed the firmest reliance that the +proudest ships, in equal numbers, belonging to France would have +lowered their flags, and with a very rich prize lying by him. Figure +to yourself this proud, conceited man when the sun rose on Monday +morning, his ship dismasted, his fleet dispersed, and himself in such +distress that the meanest frigate out of France would have been a +very unwelcome guest." + + +* The young reader will note that Nelson's grammatical construction +of sentences was not always on an even keel. + + +But, lo! the very man whom Nelson had so despised in France, and +dubbed a dandy and a fop, came now to his assistance in the +_Alexander_, and at the imminent danger to both ships of foundering, +took him in tow to St. Pierre. No wonder that Nelson loved the man +from that day forth. + +* * * * * + +In a few days' time, however, Nelson had undergone repairs, and was +able once more to start on his voyage. But, alas! he had lost sight +of his frigates. + +Britain and France at this time, reader, you must remember were +playing at cross purposes to some extent, and great wars usually have +been carried on in this way. Britain and France, not content with +hitting each other in the face straight from the shoulder whenever +they had a chance, did all they could to kick the stools from under +each other. For instance, we bolstered up the kingdom of Naples, +which has well been stigmatised as one of the most abominable, +disreputable, and licentious of European governments. The king was +inferior to an English squire. He would have been good in a rat hunt +with fox terriers, or in a rabbit coursing match; but he was utterly +unfitted either to fight or rule a people. His wife, the queen, +was--well, the least said the better. And we, Britain, were to +protect the two of them against the revolutionary schemes of France, +not, mind you, because we loved them, but because we hated France. +This kingdom then was the stool we intended to kick from under +France. But kicking is a game both can play at, and France turned +her attention to India. They would attack us _there_, just as the +Russians will before fifty years are over. May they be as +unsuccessful as old Napoleon was. + +But before India could be used as a basis of operations against +Britain, Egypt must be conquered and occupied. + +It must be confessed too, that the French carried out their plans for +the invasion of Egypt with consummate skill and boldness, for as your +school history tells you, reader, Napoleon, with an army of 30,000 +old and well-disciplined troops, managed to hoodwink the British and +put to sea _en route_ for Alexandria. + +Malta fell in the first off-go. + +Napoleon landed in the end of June unopposed near to Alexandria. + +The conquest of Egypt followed in rapid course. With such troops, +under such a splendid commander, this conquest was all one glorious +picnic. So the battle of the Pyramids was fought, and crushed was +the pomp and panoply of the great Marmelukes. Cairo fell, and on +marched the victorious troops. + +So sure of getting his army to India was Napoleon, that as soon as he +landed he dispatched secret envoys to Tippoo Saib, son of Hyder Ali, +who had built up a great new state in the south of India. These +envoys were to inform Tippoo to hold himself in readiness for a _coup +de grace_, because the French were on their way to his assistance. + +BUT--and please note this is a very important _but_--Napoleon's +dreams of further glory in India depended entirely upon his being +able to keep up his communications with France, and, says Davenport +Adams, "while France held Italy and the Ionian Islands these could +not be interrupted, so long as the British armament in the +Mediterranean was kept occupied in watching the movements of the +French fleet." + +The _raison d'etre_ of Nelson's movements will now be easily seen. + +Owing to the shilly-shalling and inactivity of the king of Naples, +who would neither move hand nor foot to save himself or help to free +Italy, Nelson was very much delayed. Meanwhile St. Vincent was +reinforced by ships sent from England. His lordship had previously +received word that such reinforcement was about to be dispatched, and +therefore he had lost not a moment in getting ready another squadron +to send to Nelson's assistance, and this consisted of the most +powerful ships under his command, under the best of his captains. + +No sooner, therefore, were the outcoming fleet visible off Cadiz Bay, +than Troubridge's squadron sailed. It was upon the 9th of June that +the hero was joined by this squadron. + +Then commenced the great game of hide and seek. Nelson had to solve +a puzzle somewhat similar to the pictorial advertisement, in which +you are presented with an illustration called "The babes of the wood +and cock robin." There lie the babes under the trees quietly enough, +with a few leaves over them, but where is cock robin? That is what +you have to find out. And here was Nelson with his squadron in the +Mediterranean--the Mediterranean was all about him, blue and evident +enough, but where was the French fleet? That was what the hero had +to find out. + +The story of Nelson's search for the enemy would make a very pretty +and romantic story all by itself. + +Nelson, however, was not a man to be very easily disheartened, so he +started in pursuit, if such a blindman's buff could be termed +pursuit. He learned that the enemy had been seen off Trapani, in +Sicily, in the first week in June, and that they were then steering +eastwards away. + +Troubridge next found out that they had gone to Malta, and Nelson +bore up for that city of tumbledown forts and steps and stairs. + +Nelson arrived at Malta just too late. So on the 18th of June he +steered for Egypt. Had Nelson only had the frigates with him, which +he had lost sight of in that unlucky gale in the Gulf of Lyons, it +would not have been difficult now to find the French. On his way to +Alexandria, however, he overhauled several merchantmen, but could get +no tidings of the enemy. + +"Have you seen anything of the French fleet?" was the question that +seemed to be always put. "Or you? Or you?" + +And the answers were always-- + +"No, no, no." + +"Well, they may be at Alexandria," thought Nelson. He arrived off +this city on the 28th of June. + +"No," was again the answer to his enquiries; the French had not been +seen or heard of. + +But the governor had received intelligence that the armament prepared +by the French was really intended for Egypt. + +"It would have been," says Southey, "Nelson's delight to have tried +Bonaparte on a wind. It would have been the delight of Europe too, +and the blessing of the world, if that fleet had been overtaken with +its general on board. But of the myriads and millions of human +beings, who would have been preserved by that day's victory, there is +not one to whom such essential benefit would have resulted as to +Bonaparte himself. It would have spared him his defeat at Acre--his +only disgrace; for to have been defeated by Nelson upon the seas +would not have been disgraceful, and it would have spared him all his +after enormities. + +"Hitherto his--Bonaparte's--career had been glorious, the baneful +principles of his heart had never yet passed his lips. History would +have represented him as a soldier of fortune, who had faithfully +served the cause in which he had engaged, and whose career had been +distinguished by a series of successes, unexampled in modern times. +A romantic obscurity would have hung over the expedition to Egypt, +and he would have escaped the perpetration of those crimes that have +incarnadined his soul with a deeper dye than that of the purple for +which he committed them--those acts of perfidy, midnight murder, +usurpation, and remorseless tyranny, which have consigned his name to +universal execration now and for ever." + +Not finding the French at Alexandria, Nelson steered north for +Caramania, and thence along the shores of Candia, "carrying a press +of sail both night and day against a contrary wind." + +He next returned towards Sicily, only to find that the Government of +Naples were too much afraid of the French to give him any assistance +in the shape of water and provisions, without which he could not have +continued his pursuit of the enemy. + +But Nelson had a friend at Court, and after some little vexatious +delay he was permitted to re-victual at Syracuse. + +Nelson was glad at heart now, and wrote to Sir William Hamilton, the +British Ambassador at Naples, and to Lady Hamilton, as follows: +"Thanks to your exertions, we have victualled and watered, and +surely, watering at the fountain of Arethusa, we must have victory. +We shall sail with the first breeze, and be assured I will return +either crowned with laurel or covered with cypress." + +He wrote also to St. Vincent, telling him that if the enemy was still +above water he should find them; and to the First Lord of the +Admiralty, saying, among other things, "but should they be bound to +the Antipodes, your lordship may rely upon it that I will not lose a +moment in bringing them to action." + +* * * * * * + +On the 25th of July Nelson got away from Syracuse, and made the Gulf +of Coron on the 28th. + +One cannot help pitying poor Nelson at this time, lying awake in his +bed at night after a few hours of sleep, thinking and worrying till +almost ill, asking the officer of the watch again and again what time +it was, and peevishly crying, "Will morning never come?" + +There was hardly an hour of the day now that he did not lament and +bemoan the loss of his frigates, that were no doubt looking for him +somewhere, as eager to meet him as he was to catch sight of them. + +In this game of hide-and-seek, or blind man's buff, strange as it may +seem, the French and British fleets must positively have crossed each +other's tracks on the night of June 22nd. + +Troubridge now entered the port of Coron, and came back with the news +that a whole month before this the French fleet had been observed +steering to the south-east from Candia. + +Nelson determined, therefore, to once more bear up for Alexandria, +convinced in his own mind that the fleet of the enemy would be found +there. + +Nor was he mistaken. + +For on the morning of August the 1st Captain Hood, of the _Zealous_, +hoisted the signal to say he had discovered them. + +"Thank God!" said Nelson fervently. "At last!" + +He had hardly slept or eaten for a week before this, but to-day he +dined with his captains, while preparations for battle were being +made. As they rose from the table Nelson exclaimed, + +"Before this time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage or +Westminster Abbey!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + THE BATTLE OF THE NILE--HORRORS OF THE + COCKPIT--NELSON WOUNDED. + + "Commanding fires of death to light + The darkness of the scenery." + + +Tom Bure and Raventree, after the burning of their ship, and their +wonderful deliverance from what seemed the certainty of death, would, +upon their arrival on board the flagship of the Earl of St. Vincent, +have dearly liked to have been appointed together to the same ship, +but this was not to be. Tom Bure had to join Troubridge, of the +_Culloden_, and Raventree was sent on board the _Zealous_, under +Captain Samuel Hood. + +On the very morning that the French fleet was discovered, not +altogether satisfied with the outlook, Raventree had himself run +aloft, and had not been there three minutes before he was able to +raise the topgallant masts of the Frenchmen. He immediately hailed +the deck, and the glad signal was at once hoisted. + +It may be to the advantage of the reader to scan the following lists +of the ships, guns, and men of the two fleets that were engaged in + + THE BATTLE OF THE NILE. + + I. _British Line of Battle at the Nile_.* + + SHIPS. CAPTAINS. GUNS. MEN. + + 14 Culloden . . . Troubridge . 74 ... 590 + 4 Theseus . . . . Miller . . . 74 ... 590 + 7 Alexander . . . Ball . . . . 74 ... 590 + 8 Vanguard . . . _Nelson_ . . 74 ... 525 + 9 Minotaur . . . Luis . . . . 74 ... 640 + 6 Leander . . . . Thompson . . 50 ... 343 + 11 Swiftsure . . Hallowell . . 74 ... 590 + 1 Audacious . . . Gould . . . . 74 ... 590 + 10 Defence . . . Peyton . . . 74 ... 590 + 2 Zealous . . . . Hood . . . . 74 ... 590 + 5 Orion . . . . . Saumarez . . 74 ... 590 + 3 Goliath . . . . Foley . . . . 74 ... 590 + 13 Majestic . . . Westcott . . 74 ... 590 + 12 Bellerophon . Darby . . . . 74 ... 590 + 15 _La Mutine_ . Hardy + + + II. _French Line of Battle_.* + + A Le Guerrier . . ....... . 74 ... 600 Taken + B Le Conquérant . ....... . 74 ... 700 Taken + C Le Spartiate . ....... . 74 ... 700 Taken + +* The figures and letters prefixed to each vessel marks on the plan +its position in the battle. + +[Illustration: PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF THE NILE.] + + SHIPS. CAPTAINS. GUNS. MEN. + + D L'Aquilon ........ 74 ... 700 Taken + + E Le Peuple Souverain ........ 74 ... 700 Taken + + F Le Franklin } Blanquet, 1st { 80 ... 700 Taken + } Contra-Adm. { + + } Brueys, V.A., { + G L'Orient } and { 120 ... 1010 Burnt + } Com.-in-Chief { + + H Le Tonnant ....... 180 ... 800 Taken + + I L'Heureux ....... 74 ... 700 Taken + + K Le Timoléon ....... 75 ... 700 Burnt + + M Le Mercure ....... 74 ... 700 Taken + + L Le Guillaume } Villeneuve, { 80 ... 800 Escaped + Tell } 2nd Con-Ad. { + + N Le Genéreux ....... 74 ... 700 Escaped + + + French Frigates. + + Q La Diane . . . . 48 ... 300 Escaped + + E La Justice . . . . 44 ... 300 Escaped + + P L'Artemise . . . . 36 ... 250 Burnt + + O La Sérieuse . . . . 36 ... 250 Sunk + + +It is difficult at this date to determine with any degree of +exactness what were the orders given to the commander-in-chief of the +French fleet by Napoleon Bonaparte. It seems strange that a great +soldier and conqueror like him should not have sent away his ships +after he had effected his landing, and he accused Brueys, after that +unfortunate admiral was killed in the battle of the Nile, of having +lingered in Egypt without his orders. The French fleet was sorely +enough needed in other directions. It might even have succeeded in +raising the blockade of Cadiz. + +Be this as it may, here were Brueys and his fleet safely--as the +Frenchmen thought--moored in Aboukir Bay; in a line of battle of such +strength that one would have thought no three navies in the world +could have broken it up. + +Brueys would gladly have entered the port of Alexandria, but his +ships were too heavy, so he did the next best thing. + +A glance at the plan will show how the Frenchmen were positioned in +this great fight. But besides the advantage of location, it will be +noticed that the enemy had also more ships, more guns, and more men +than the British. Brueys might well have felt certain that victory +would be his. + +Perhaps it was the apparent impregnability of his situation that +caused him to wait here for Nelson. He must have known that our hero +was headstrong enough to attack him wherever he found him, and that +in Aboukir Bay he had a reasonable chance of victory, while in the +open sea he would have had none. + +I have not the slightest doubt in my own mind that Nelson took into +calculation, even before he fell in with the French here, the +possibility of their being moored in battle array, just as he found +them. Nor do I doubt that an attack, even by Nelson, from the front +or in the ordinary way would have been unsuccessful. But Nelson was +no ordinary man, and never did attack in any ordinary way. So when +he found out how the enemy was moored, it instantly flashed upon him +that if the water of the bay between their fleet and the shore was +deep enough for such great ships as _L'Orient_ and _Le Tonnant_ to +swing, there was room enough for one line of our ships to sail up +behind them, as a landsman would call it, and thus attack them on +their least prepared side, while another attacked on the outside. +These were tactics that Brueys was entirely unprepared for, and never +could have even dreamt of. But as it was getting towards evening +when our ships hove in sight, Brueys must have also flattered himself +that Nelson would not be headstrong enough to attack that night. No, +he would assuredly let go anchor, and commence the battle at the +earliest dawn of day. + +Our hero was never a man to wait, however. "Go at the enemy +pell-mell whenever you meet them," was one of his few mottoes, and +now he meant to act upon it. + +He ordered his ships to form in line-of-battle ahead and astern of +the flagship, then signalled to Hood, of the _Zealous_, to know if +there was depth enough of water between the French line of battle and +the sandbank. "I do not know," was the reply, "but I shall stand in +and see." + +The _Zealous_ started at once on her dangerous mission, taking +soundings as she went leisurely on. + +She cleared the shoal. + +With her went the _Goliath_. + +Nelson's signal was, "that the headmost ship should bear down, and +engage as she reached the enemy's van, the next ship to pass by and +engage the second, the third to pass by and engage the third, and so +on." + +And one by one our ships took up their positions. The battle began +in earnest at half-past six, and in half an hour's time it was pitchy +dark. + +As long as daylight lasted the streaming flags on our ships could be +seen above the white and curling smoke. As soon as night fell each +British ship hoisted four horizontal lights at her peak. "The third +ship," says Southey, "that doubled the enemy's van was the _Orion_, +Sir F. Saumarez. She passed to windward of the _Zealous_, and opened +her larboard guns as long as they bore on the _Guerrier_; then, +passing inside the _Goliath_ (_i.e._, 'twixt that ship and the land), +sank a frigate that annoyed her, hauled round towards the French +line, and anchoring inside, between the fifth and sixth ships from +the _Guerrier_, took her station on the larboard side of _Le +Franklin_ (Blanquet's 80-gun ship) and the quarter of the _Le Peuple +Souverain_, receiving and returning the fire of both." + +The sun had now nearly sunk. + +The _Audacious_, Captain Gould, pouring a heavy fire into the +_Guerrier_ and _Conquérant_, fixed herself on the larboard side of +the latter, and when she struck passed on to _Le Peuple Souverain_. +The _Theseus_ followed, brought down the _Guerrier's_ remaining +masts, the main and mizen, then anchored inside the _Spartiate_, the +third in the French line. + +So much for the inner or land side of the enemy's fleet. What about +the outer? + +"While," continues Southey, "these advanced ships doubled the French +line, the _Vanguard_ was the first that anchored on the outer side of +the enemy within half a pistol shot of the _Spartiate_. He veered +half a cable, and instantly opened a tremendous fire, under cover of +which the other four ships of his division, the _Minotaur_, +_Bellerophon_, _Defence_, and _Majestic_, sailed on ahead of the +admiral." + +Captain Louis, in the _Minotaur_, anchored next ahead, and took off +the fire of the _Aquilon_, the fourth in the enemy's line. So +terrible had the fire of this ship been that fifty of the +_Vanguard's_ men were killed or wounded in a few minutes. But bold +Louis quickly quieted her. + +The _Bellerophon_, Captain Darby, passed ahead and dropped her stern +anchor on the starboard bow of the _Orient_, seventh in the line. + +Captain Peyton, in the _Defence_, took his station ahead of the +_Minotaur_, and engaged the _Franklin_, the sixth in the line; by +which judicious arrangement the British line remained unbroken. + +The _Majestic_, Captain Westcott, got entangled in the main rigging +of one of the enemy's ships astern of the _Orient_, and suffered +dreadfully from that three-decker's fire; but she swung clear, and +closely engaging the _Heureux_, the ninth ship on the starboard bow, +received also the fire of the _Tonnant_, which was the eighth in the +line. + +The other four ships of the squadron, having been detached previous +to the discovery of the French, were at a considerable distance when +the action began. + +Troubridge, in the _Culloden_, was nearest, however, though some five +miles away. He was very unfortunate, and ran fast aground. The +_Leander_ and _Mutine_ came to his assistance, but were unable to get +him off. The _Alexander_ and _Swiftsure_, however, kept off the +reef, entered the bay, and commenced the battle in a most masterly +and seaman-like fashion. + +Of all our ships perhaps the _Bellerophon_ suffered the worst. The +_Swiftsure_ met her staggering out of the line, and at first took her +for a strange sail, for she carried not the four horizontal lights. +In fact these had been shot away, with all her masts and cables, +while nearly 200 of her brave crew were either killed or wounded. + +The _Swiftsure_ took her place against the _Orient_, which had done +the mischief. + +The last to come into action was the _Leander_, which she did as soon +as she found she could be of no service to poor Troubridge. She took +up a position boldly, so that she could rake both the _Orient_ and +the _Franklin_. + +So speedy, determined, and terrible upon the whole was the attack of +the British upon the French line of battle, and so completely were +Nelson's instructions carried out on both the inner and outside of +the lint that victory was a matter of certainty in a very short time. + +In less than fifteen minutes the two ships first in the French line +were dismasted, and at half-past eight the third, fourth, and fifth +were taken. + +When we remember that in a very few minutes after the _Vanguard_, +Nelson's ship, took up her position every man at the six guns in the +fore part of the vessel was either killed or wounded, and that these +guns were several times cleared we can easily believe that down in +the ghastly cockpit the surgeons were busy enough at their terrible +work. + +Do not forget, reader, that there was no chloroform in those days, no +way of producing insensibility or of conquering pain, and the brave +men who fell on deck were dragged or carried below bleeding and sick, +often to endure such agonies of pain as only medical men who have +seen gunshot wounds can realise. + +At best the cockpit of an old-fashioned man-of-war ship is but a +stuffy place, and during a battle it would be stifling as well as +stuffy. As soon as the orders were given to clear for action, or go +to quarters, all was bustle and stir with the surgeons as with +others. They had their attendants, and "the idlers"--so called--of +the ship were all requisitioned to assist them--spare clerks, &c. + +Although the space between decks was so low that an ordinary sized +man had to stoop as he walked along, to save his head from being +knocked against the beams or bolts, there was usually plenty of +length and breadth of beam also, in the cockpit or orlop deck. + +Lanterns too were hung here and there in abundance, and there were +carrying lanterns as well, sometimes even naked lights. + +The operating table was placed pretty near to the foot of the main +hatch ladder well aft, and close to it the tool table. On this last +was laid out in order every instrument that was likely to be of +service, with plenty of bandages, splints, lint, and tow, with +ointment for dressings, &c. On the deck near to this table were +placed buckets of water and bottles of wine, brandy, or rum, so +positioned that they would neither be in the way nor liable to fall +over with any sudden motion of the ship. + +When all was ready the doctors had only to wait as coolly as they +could. The waiting for the first shot was the worst of it. When the +battle was once begun it was not long before the shuffling of feet +overhead, and the unsteady steps of bearers at the top of the stairs +told of a coming case. As often as not blood came pattering down +first, but blood is nothing to a surgeon in working dress. So the +wound, ghastly though it might be, was soon seen to, and temporarily +dressed, and the moaning patient laid down near the bulkheads. Then +cases begin to come down thick and fast. Smoke too, and the +suffocating after-damp of the battle fill the cockpit, the lanterns +burn dimly, the heat is overpowering almost. The doctors are busy +enough now. They throw off their garments, they roll up their +sleeves, their hands and arms are encarnadined, their faces and hair +bespattered with blood, but quietly and firmly they work, and all as +gently as may be. Many a soothing word of kindness helps to rally a +fainting heart, and they give hope even in cases they know are +dangerous. + +But, oh, the heat and the smoke and the stifling odour! The decks +all around are slippery with blood, which the sprinkled sawdust is +not sufficient to absorb. There are moans and cries and pitying +appeals for help and water--water--water--coming from every +direction. The very water itself is oftentimes red with blood. + +Fainting patients need wine, or even brandy; and but for that wine +and brandy very often the surgeons themselves would faint with very +fatigue and want of air. + +A surgeon's operating tent in the rear of a field of battle may be a +sad and fearful sight; but in horrors it could not be compared to the +cockpit of an old seventy-four while a fight like that of the Nile +was raging overhead. + +It was into the midst of just such a scene as I have but too feebly +depicted that Nelson, wounded and bleeding, was carried during the +night of this glorious but fearful battle. + +The loss of blood has a paralysing effect upon the nerves and spirits +of a wounded man. It is doubly so if he can feel the blood all about +him--feel soaked in it, swamped in it, without being able to see. + +That was Nelson's plight. The piece of shot had struck him on the +forehead, and the flap of skin and flesh hung over his one remaining +eye, entirely blinding him. + +Nelson believed himself dying. + +But not even the darkness of what seemed approaching death could +daunt the heart of the hero. + +The chief surgeon would have left his other patients unattended for a +time to see to Nelson's wound, but he would not hear of it for a +moment. + +"No," he cried, "I will take my turn with my brave fellows." + +And at last that turn came; and even the wounded and the dying raised +a cheer when they heard the wound, despite the amount of blood lost, +was only superficial. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE BURNING OF THE "ORIENT"--A HEART OF OAK. + + "All is wail + As they strike the shattered sail, + Or in conflagration pale + Light the gloom." + + +From seven till eight o'clock the scene of conflict must have been +appalling in the extreme. No wonder that Arabs gathered on the +beach, and stood in groups looking on, awestruck and silent. What +sounds those spectators must have heard--the continued thunder of the +great guns, the roar and rattle of langridge and grape, the crashing +of broken timbers, the shouting of orders, and often the shrieks of +the wounded rising high above the din of battle! And what sights +must have been presented to their view--the quick, angry flash of +cannon, lighting up the darkness of the night; lighting up the bleak, +bristling sides of the huge ships; luridly lighting up the clouds of +white smoke that at times quite hid the upper decks; and lighting up +the sea with a crimson glare, so that even floating spars were +visible; aye, and drowning men, with all the debris of great ships in +action. + +To an onlooker upon the beach all would appear fearful confusion and +chaos. It would indeed seem almost impossible that anyone should +come unscathed from such an awful scene of battle. + +Yet every Heart of Oak in those British ships knew his duty, and was +bravely doing it, and continued to do it, unless shot down. + +And no one acted more bravely or coolly that night than young Lord +Raventree of the _Zealous_. Men and officers too fell bleeding at +his side. That such sights affected him there cannot be a doubt, but +they failed to daunt his extraordinary courage. He was here, there, +and everywhere in his battery, issuing his orders as unfalteringly as +if the battle were a mere parade, his very presence seeming to give +additional courage to the half-naked and smoke-begrimed men who so +bravely obeyed his orders. + +But more than once during the battle Raventree found time to think +for a moment of his friend Tom Bure. Little did he know--he was too +busy to know anything save what was going on around him--that poor +Tom's ship had gone on shore, and that he and all on board could be +but spectators in the battle that was raging so near them. + +Incidents of this memorable fight, and individual instances of +courage, could be related by the score, but space forbids. + +Just a word about Nelson, however. His restless spirit could ill +brook being below. Superficial though his wound was, important +arteries were cut through, and unless he could be induced to lie down +and keep still, there was great danger. Even before the surgeon's +verdict was given he sent for Mr. Capel, his first lieutenant, and +ordered him off in the jollyboat to fetch Captain Louis, of the +_Minotaur_, that he might thank him for his gallant and meritorious +service. At this time Nelson believed himself to be dying. "It is +the hundredth and twenty-fourth time," he said, "that I have been +engaged, but I believe it is now nearly over with me." + +The meeting with Louis was of a most affecting character, the brave +captain of the _Minotaur_ hanging over his blind and bleeding friend +in grief that precluded any attempt at words. "Farewell, dear +Louis," said Nelson, "I shall never, should I live, forget the +obligation I am under to you for your brave and generous conduct, and +now, whatever may become of me, my mind is at peace." + +Everything points to the conclusion that the great hero's mind at +this time must have been a perfect whirl of emotions. It is said +that even after his wound had been dressed, and he had sent for his +chaplain and his secretary, the one to attend to his orders, the +other to administer some spiritual comfort, he desired to be led on +deck once more, that he might behold that awful conflagration--the +burning of the _Orient_. + +This ship was in the midst of the fight till her destruction, and +bravely indeed had she been handled. It is said that a little before +nine o'clock the men of the _Swiftsure_ detected "signs of fire in +her mizenchains, and pointed their guns towards the spot with +terrible effect; and the flames glided swiftly along the deck and ran +up the masts, and wreathed the yards and flickered upon the shrouds, +throwing an awful glare on the dense clouds of battle, and distinctly +defining, as in the pageantry of a festal illumination, the spars and +rigging of the contending warships." + +Says Clark Russell, in the poetic imaginings of which he is a +past-master: "Fore and aft the flames were waving in forks and living +sheets, and leaping on high as though from the heart of some mighty +volcano. She had ceased to fire, her sprit-sail yard and bowsprit +were crowded with men, who continued to crawl out, blackening those +spars like flies, as the raging fire grew. By the wild mast-high +flames the whole scene of battle was as visible as by the light of +the noontide sun. The colours of the flags of the ships could be +easily distinguished. Every rope, every spar, the forms of the +half-naked crews, smoke-blackened and in active motion, the land +beyond, with all details of the island-fortress and of the distant, +rearmost ships, were startlingly visible by the glow of the burning +ship, the brilliancy of which was that of the conflagration of a city. + +[Illustration: "The blowing up of the _Orient_ at the battle of the +Nile."] + +"Shortly after ten the great ship blew up. The explosion was like +that of an earthquake. The concussion swept through every seam, +joint, and timber of the nearest ships with the sensation as though +the solid fabrics were crumbling into staves under the feet of the +seamen. The sight was blackened as if by a lightning stroke, and the +instant the prodigious glare of the explosion had passed, the +darkness of the night seemed to roll down in folds of ink upon the +vision of the seamen." + +Says another eloquent writer, and what writer is not eloquent on such +a subject as this?--"The whole sky was blotched with the corpses of +men, like the stones of a crater cast upward, and the sheet of fire +behind them showed their arms, their bodies, and streaming hair. +Then, with a hiss like electric hail, from a mile's height all came +down again, corpses first and timber next, and then the great spars +that had streaked the sky like rockets." + +The dread silence that followed lasted for nearly a quarter of an +hour. Meanwhile boats from various ships were generously lowered to +pick up the survivors, and thus nearly eighty were saved. + +But where was Admiral Brueys? Poor, brave fellow, he had been dead +before the fire broke out. Twice had he been wounded; but he stuck +to his place, till a shot almost cut him in two. + +When they would have carried him below, "No," he cried; "let me die +on my quarter-deck, as becomes the admiral of a French fleet." + +Among those who perished was Commodore Casabianca and his faithful +little son, a lad of barely eleven years of age, who died, if not on +the quarterdeck, at least by his father's side, who it is said by +some authorities was wounded and below at the time of the explosion. + +That rough iconoclast, the dissecting critic, endeavours to dispel +all romance from the beautiful story, immortalised by Mrs. Heman's +verses. + +I prefer to believe with the poetess, rather than to sneer with the +saucy critic. + + + "CASABIANCA. + + "The boy stood on the burning deck, + Whence all but him had fled; + The flames that lit the battle's wreck + Shone round him o'er the dead. + Yet beautiful and bright he stood, + As born to rule the storm; + A creature of heroic blood, + A proud though childlike form. + + "The flames rolled on--he would not go + Without his father's word; + That father faint on deck below, + His voice no longer heard. + He called aloud, 'Say, father, say, + If yet my task is done!' + He knew not that the chieftain lay + Unconscious of his son. + + "'Speak, father,' once again he cried, + 'If I may yet be gone'; + But now the booming shots replied, + And fast the flames rolled on. + Upon his brow he felt their breath, + And on his waving hair, + And looked from that lone post of death + In still but brave despair; + + "And shouted but once more aloud, + 'My father, must I stay?' + While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud, + The wreathing fires made way. + They wrapt the ship in splendour wild, + They caught the flag on high, + They streamed above the gallant child + Like meteors in the sky. + + "Then came a burst of thunder-sound. + The boy--oh, where was he? + Ask of the winds, that far around + With fragments strewed the sea, + With mast and helm and pennon fair + That well had borne their part; + But the noblest thing that perished there + Was that young and faithful heart." + +* * * * * * + +The firing was re-commenced, it is said, by the French ship +_Franklin_; and the battle raged until about five o'clock in the +morning, with brief spells of intermission, as when the men of the +_Alexander_, by leave of their captain, threw themselves down beside +their guns and slept for twenty minutes. The _Alexander_ was at that +time lying close to a French eighty-four that she had been engaging +in deadly conflict. The men of the latter were also exhausted, and +sunk to sleep; so that side by side, it may be said, rested French +and British. + +When dawn of day began to glimmer faintly in the east there were but +two ships of the French line that had their colours flying--the +_Guillaume Tell_ and _Généreux_. They were the two rear ships, and +had not been engaged. They soon cut their cables, however, and stood +out to sea. With them went two frigates. + +Raventree was the first to report their intentions to the captain of +the _Zealous_, and he at once hoisted sail, and stood after them in +pursuit. But there being no other of our ships in a condition for +fast sailing, the signal was hoisted for his recall. + +Thus ended the great battle of the Nile, "the most complete and +glorious in the annals of naval warfare." + +Our loss was indeed heavy, amounting, in killed and wounded, to 895. + +Of the French 3,105, including the wounded, were sent on shore by +cartel (an agreement with an enemy having reference to exchange of +prisoners), and 5,225 perished. + +As Nelson himself said, "Victory is not a name strong enough for such +a scene, it is a conquest." + +The only British captain who fell was gallant Westcott. He was indeed + +A HEART OF OAK. + + +Westcott was born among the green lanes of romantic Devon, and in +very humble life too. His father was a baker, and not burdened with +too much of this world's wealth, and his son assisted him in his +business while still a little lad. He used to be sent frequently on +messages to a mill in the neighbourhood. The miller, as millers +often are, was a good-natured jovial fellow, but one day when young +Ben went to execute some commission for his father he found not only +the miller, but the miller's-man, pulling very long faces indeed. + +"We can't send the flour to-day," the boy was told. "Perhaps not +to-morrow either. We've had a rope broken, and the working of the +mill is quite thrown out of gear." + +"But why not splice it?" said young Westcott. + +The miller laughed. + +"Who's to do a job like that?" he said. + +"Why, I will," was the boy's bold reply. + +The miller caught him by the shoulder, and pointed upwards to where +the broken ends of the rope were dangling. + +"You'd have to be hoisted up there, my boy," he said, "among the +pulleys and wheels and things, and ten to one you'd come down by the +run, and break your neck." + +"I can splice that rope," said Ben determinedly, "if you'll let me +try." + +"Let the lad try," pleaded the miller's man, and the master then +consented. + +The boy, with deft fingers and the aid of a marlin-spike, worked away +for an hour or two, and lo! the rope was as good as ever. + +"And a jolly sight better," said the merry miller. + +"I tell you what it is, Ben," he added, "a lad like you is too good +for the shore. You're a sailor born, and ought to be fighting the +French." + +"I'd fight them fast enough," said the boy, "but I don't see a +chance." + +"I'll get you a chance, lad," said the miller. + +And he soon did. + +Westcott entered his Majesty's service afloat as a humble cabin boy. +But so clever did he soon prove himself to be, and so unflagging in +his zeal and attachment to duty, that he soon found himself a +midshipman. For, mind you, boys, in those dashing days of war, +talent was never allowed to wear itself away before the mast, if it +could be found of service on the quarterdeck. + +Young Westcott's advancement went on with rapid strides after this, +and at the battle of the Nile he commanded the _Majestic_, and fell +fighting like a true hero. His ship alone had 50 killed and 143 +wounded. + +This baker boy with heart of oak has a monument erected to him, at +the public expense, in St. Paul's, which any other boy of the present +day who desires to emulate his deeds may see if he has a mind. + +* * * * * + +Thanksgiving to Almighty God, who had so blessed his Majesty's arms, +was returned by the whole fleet at the same time. And solemn and +impressive such a service must have been on decks still slippery with +the blood of the fallen, and sad evidence of the battle on every hand. + +* * * * * + +I have always considered that trophy of the great battle which was +afterwards presented to Nelson as a very ghastly one. The +_Swiftsure_ had picked up a portion of the _Orient's_ main-mast, and +from it Captain Hallowell ordered his carpenter to fashion a +beautiful coffin, and this was sent to Nelson. + +"Sir," ran the letter that accompanied the _memento mori_, "I have +taken the liberty of presenting you with a coffin, made from the +main-mast of _L'Orient_, that, when you have finished your military +career in this world, you may be buried in one of your trophies, but +that that period may be far distant is the earnest wish of your +sincere friend, BENJ. HALLOWELL." + +It shows how little fear of death Nelson had, and how far from being +superstitious he was, that he ordered the coffin to be placed behind +his chair upright in his cabin. + +He was afterwards buried in it. + +There are a few words in the above letter of Captain Hallowell's that +strike one as strange, if not indeed amusing; viz., these, "When you +have finished your military career _in this world_." Did honest, +bluff Ben. Hallowell think that--with all reverence be it +said--Nelson would recommence to fight the French in the next? + +* * * * * + +Immediately after the battle or conquest Nelson had once again to +lament the loss of his frigates. Had he been possessed of these I +doubt not he would have entered the port, and burned all the French +stores and storeships. + +"Were I to die at this moment," he is reported to have said, "the +loss of frigates would be found engraven on my heart." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +FACE TO FACE WITH THE DANISH SHIPS. + + "Your glorious standard launch again + To match another foe, + And sweep through the deep, + While the stormy winds do blow, + While the battle rages loud and long, + And the stormy winds do blow." + + +The British nation that possibly--very probably indeed--would have +shot our hero, Nelson, had he lost the Battle of the Nile, now +presented him with the title of Baron. + +He was once more the people's darling. + +Could the British nation have done less? + +"It was this battle," says Graviére, "which for two years delivered +up the Mediterranean to the power of Britain; summoned thither the +Russian squadrons, left the French army isolated amidst a hostile +population; decided Turkey in declaring against it; saved India from +French enterprise; and brought France within a hair's-breadth of her +ruin, by reviving the smouldering flames of war with Austria, and +bringing Suwarrow and the Austro-Russians to the French frontiers. + +* * * * * + +Honours from all directions fell thick and fast upon our naval hero; +yet amid all this glory, what Nelson longed for more than anything +else perhaps was rest. + +He was now on his way back to Naples, but his long exertions began to +tell upon his never very strong system. He was, while yet at sea, +seized with a fever, and for eighteen hours his noble life was +despaired of. Even after he got over the crisis, he writes thus +despondingly to St. Vincent: + +"I never expect, my dear lord, to see your face again. It may please +God that this will be the finish to that fever of anxiety which I +have endured from the middle of June. But be that as it pleases His +goodness." + +However, Nelson was destined to live to accomplish still further +triumphs, as we soon shall see. + +As to his doings in the Mediterranean after the Battle of the Nile; +of his return to Naples; of the rejoicing, pomp, and panoply with +which he was received there; of his private opinion of this +corruptest of Courts; of all his sieges and all his successes until +his return to England, history must inform you, reader; but the whole +story reads like one long delightful romance, all the more delightful +of course in that it is true. + +* * * * * + +The curtain falls for a time on this life-drama, and our heroes leave +the stage for refreshment. As far as fêtes and feasts were +concerned, Nelson was very much refreshed indeed; and so in those +times was every officer, ay, and every tar, who had been at the +Battle of the Nile. + +But soon the curtain rises again, and we behold a great fleet +departing from Yarmouth Roads, under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde +Parker in the _London_, 98 guns, with Nelson as his second in command +in the _St. George_, also of 98 guns. + +They are bound for the North this time, our gallant ships; but +whither and why? A question that a sentence can answer. In fact, it +can be answered in the refrain of the good old song: + +"Britons never shall be slaves." + +Three Northern nations had formed a league to make us slaves, at +least to wrench from the grasp of Britannia the sceptre of her rule +over the waves. + +Just think for a moment, reader, of the terrible combination that was +now formed against us. Russia, with 82 ships of the line and 40 +frigates; Denmark, French at heart, with 23 ships and 31 frigates; +and Sweden, with 18 ships and 14 frigates. + +Our Government had boldly determined to resist this combination, and +crush it. A braver man than Hyde Parker they could not have had, but +Nelson ought to have been chief, for he was a born commander. + +And so on the 12th of March, 1801, the fleet sailed away. + +Their country had forgotten neither Tom Bure nor Raventree. They +were both now commanders, although Tom was only in his twenty-first +year. + +They had spent some time at home, however, and a right happy time it +had been. + +There was no change in Dan, but poor old Meg, the faithful collie, +would never meet Tom again. She was buried with all honours in a +grave dug for her on the green grassy lawn where she used to lie in +the summer days near her dear old master, Uncle Bob. + +All was the same at the Hall, as well as at the cottage, except that +Bertha seemed to have grown quite up, and was a child no more. + +Not only she, but her mother and Dan drove to Yarmouth to see the +great fleet sail away towards the cold, inhospitable North, and there +were tears in Bertha's beautiful eyes as she bade her old friend Tom +farewell. Merryweather--the same old Merryweather--was there also, +and no less a personage than Captain Hughes, of the _Yarmouth Belle_, +who made the departure of our hero Tom a "most auspicious occasion" +for splicing the main-brace, not once, but three separate times. + +Sir Hyde Parker was just a little nervous at starting; he was candid +enough to tell Nelson so. Only he added: "It is no time for nervous +systems, and icebergs or no icebergs, we shall, I trust, give our +Northern enemies that hailstorm of bullets which gives our dear +country the dominion of the sea. We have it, and all the devils in +the North cannot take it from us if our ships have but fair play." + +You have heard, reader, of the "gallant good Riou." He was captain +of the _Amazon_, and when some Danes who were aboard went to him, +saying that they had no desire to quit the British service, but were +unwilling to fight against their country, Riou, instead of snubbing +them as some captains would have done, acceded to their request, and +transferred them. Indeed, so affected was he by their speech that +the tears stood in his eyes. For the brave are ever generous and +kind. + +* * * * * + +It seemed indeed as if Heaven fought on our side in this great +expedition, for the weather was milder than had been remembered for +many a year, so that fields of ice and bergs floated only in the +dreams of Sir Hyde Parker. + +The reader, however, must not jump to the conclusion that it was all +plain sailing with Sir Hyde and Nelson. Very far from it indeed. +Nor was it wind and weather only, but the dangers of straits, and +banks, and shoals that they had to contend against. Yet Nelson would +have made light of all these, and of the enemy's ships as well, had +it not been for the attempts at negotiation that had to go on with +the Danes the while precious time was being lost, and the armaments +of the foe were getting stronger and stronger every day. + +The first thing to annoy and fret poor brave Nelson was the +circumstance that the fleet was to anchor out of sight of the Danes, +till the negotiations were at an end. Red tape again! + +"I hate your pen-and-ink men," he cried impatiently. "A fleet of +British ships makes the best negotiators in the world. They always +speak to be understood, and their arguments carry conviction to the +very hearts of our foes." + +When our fleet was off Elsinore--Nelson had by this time changed his +flag to a handier and better ship, the _Elephant_--the admiral forced +the passage of the Sound. The forts fired on them, it is true, but +it is said that never a shot touched a ship. + +The fleet then anchored near Huën, an island about fifteen miles from +Copenhagen; and Nelson, with Colonel Stewart, Admiral Graves, and +others, went in a lugger called the _Lark_ to reconnoitre. + +They found that the defences were of all sorts, and fearful to +behold. To begin with, there was the exceeding difficulty of +approach, for the buoys on all the shoals had been taken up or +shifted by the Danes. Then there was the great Danish fleet to +encounter, drawn up in a line that extended for a mile and a half in +front of the entrance to the harbour. The ships were flanked by +strong batteries, while batteries bristled all along the shore. + +The Danish forces then consisted of the fleet, which was moored close +to the city, six line-of-battle ships, eleven strong floating +batteries, gun brigs, a bomb vessel, supported by batteries on the +Crown Islands, and four sail of the line drawn up across the harbour +mouth, which was also protected by a great chain. The whole of the +Danish protective armament, including hulks, batteries, and ships, +from end to end, was about four miles in length. + +But in order to get near this terrible array of defences, the +attacking force would have to be navigated through a most intricate +passage among the shoals. + +Nelson's greatest trouble was to get safely through this natural +deep-water canal. + +On the 31st a great council of war was held, to take into +consideration the best mode of attacking the place, as the +negotiations had fallen through. + +Nervous active men, in contradistinction to the slower and plethoric +class, have been termed the "salt of the earth." Nelson then might +well have been called the "salt of the sea." At this council, which +was not "fast" enough for him by a deal, he kept pacing up and down +the cabin deck, shaking his "flipper," as the sailors called it, +meaning the stump of his arm. It must have been a grand sight to +behold, and to note his glances of withering scorn at anyone who for +a moment doubted the success of his plans. + +And the refrain of Nelson's song at this council was, "Let me have +but ten line of battle ships, and the smaller craft, and the battle +is ours." + +Sir Hyde Parker took him at his word. + +Twelve ships he gave him, instead of ten, and also gave him _carte +blanche_ to carry out this detached service as he thought best. + +Nelson was as happy now as a nervous man can ever be. + +Denmark's fleet he looked upon as already in his power. The Russians +and Swedes would be smashed next. He hadn't forgotten them. + +But there was much to be done before this battle even began. +Misplaced buoys must be re-adjusted along the channel, and during all +that night of the 31st--and a bitterly cold one it was--he rowed +about with Captain Brisbane, of the _Cruiser_, in his open boat +surveying the channel. + +Personal experience of this work in sunny seas has proved to me how +tedious and wearisome it is; but how much more so must it have been +to our hero by night, in that almost Arctic climate. + +Despite this, however, the work was satisfactorily accomplished. + +Next day the whole fleet moved close up to the great shoal, with its +middle channel, to which the Danes trusted as really their first line +of defence. + +Narrow though the channel was, and light though the breeze, the +division under Nelson, headed by brave Riou, in the _Amazon_, went +safely in, and at dusk anchored near Point Draco. + +"Here," says Clark Russell, "the narrowness of the waters as an +anchoring ground brought the ships into a huddle, and infinite +mischief might have been done to the British had the Danes taken +advantage of the crowded state of the fleet, by sending shells +amongst the ships, from mortar boats and the batteries of Amak +Island." + +Captain Hardy, we are told, who was amongst those who up to a late +hour that night were taking soundings, rowed under the very shadow of +the Danes' leading ship, and felt the bottom of the water with a pole. + +To Nelson's great joy, Hardy and the rest returned with the tidings +that there was depth enough of water for our ships to range +themselves in battle array, between the great shoal they had passed +through and the defences of the enemy. + +* * * * + +As usual, Nelson's chief officers, including Hardy, Foley, Graves, +Fremantle, Riou, &c., dined with him on the eve of the battle, and +the hero was in the highest of spirits. + +Riou and Foley remained with Nelson to plan details after the others +had gone, and the great fight was commenced next morning, the ships +filing into line, and taking up their positions with steadiness and +precision, despite the extreme difficulty of navigating great vessels +in a place like this. + +Both the _Bellona_ and the _Russell_ went aground. + +"Yet never," says Clark Russell, "had British seamanship found finer +illustrations of its capacity of daring and skill than in the manner +in which the vessels of the division calculated their stations, in a +channel bewildering with its complicated and perilous navigation." + +Face to face with the foe at last. + +Beam to beam with the Danish ships, and the battle at once began. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +A "GLORIOUS DAY'S RENOWN." + +The fight began about ten o'clock, the thunder of war increasing till +twelve, at which time it probably roared its loudest. By one o'clock +four of the Danish vessels--block ships they were--had been silenced. +And now occurred one of those little inter-acts which serve so well +to show our national hero in his true colours. + +Sir Hyde Parker, the reader will remember, was outside the great sand +bank, through which Nelson's division was so successfully steered, so +at this distance no very clear notion of the battle that was raging +could be obtained; but noticing that four of the enemy's vessels had +ceased firing, probably he imagined that the battle was won, and that +further havoc was unnecessary. At all events he hoisted the signal +to cease firing. A man with one eye can see as much as a man with +two if he is looking. On this occasion Nelson did not see that +signal--when his head was turned the other way. This is strange, but +true! + +Tom Bure, who, though commander, was acting as lieutenant, was +standing near to Nelson, and called his attention to Sir Hyde +Parker's signal. + +"It is the signal to leave off action, my lord," said Tom. + +Nelson walked up and down his quarterdeck jerking his "flipper," +which showed he was terribly angry and excited. And that was the +reason why he verbally consigned the good Sir Hyde's signal to a +warmer place than the hottest part of this great battle. + +"Besides, Foley," he added, turning to his captain, "I have only one +eye, so have a right to be blind sometimes." + +Then he put his telescope to his eye, and turned it towards Parker's +ship. + +"Never a signal do I see," he said. + +Foley laughed, for the glass was at the admiral's blind eye. + +"Hang such signals," Nelson cried. "Make mine for closer action, and +nail the colours to the mast." + +Fainter and fainter rolled the thunder of the Danes, till, just +before two o'clock, it had ceased all along their line of battle. + +The Danes, however, had fought most bravely, even those prames on +which the flag had been struck had kept on firing till the last, +being constantly reinforced by fresh batches of men from the shore. + +From his previous great exertions, want of sleep and rest, Nelson was +irritable, and this irregular action on the part of the Danes angered +him beyond measure. He sat down therefore, with, however, no +appearance of hurry, and wrote that famous letter of his to the Crown +Prince of Denmark. It is worth repeating even in a story, and ran +thus: + +"Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has been commanded to spare Denmark when +she no longer resists. The line of defence which covers her shores +has struck to the British flag; but if the firing is continued on the +part of Denmark he must set on fire all the prizes he has taken, +without having the power of saving the brave men who have so nobly +defended them." + +A wafer was suggested to seal this letter withal, but Nelson must +have wax. Want of formality might have suggested impatience or +nervousness to the Crown Prince. + +The half-hour that intervened ere an answer came was probably felt to +be one of the longest ever Nelson experienced. For his ships, albeit +victorious, were in a terrible plight, and it would take all the +seamanship that even British sailors could boast of to get them out. + +The answer came at last, however, and was all that could be desired. + +Nelson went on shore next day, and was hailed with cheers by the +multitude who came to receive him by the waterside. The prisoners +and wounded were sent on shore, and the prizes nearly all burned. No +less than thirteen of the Danes' vessels altogether were +destroyed--our losses, though severe, amounting to no less than 300 +killed, and 850 wounded. But the Danes had at the lowest estimate +over 1,700 killed, and nearly 4,000 taken prisoners. + +Tom Campbell, our Scottish poet, author of so many well-known +spirited lays, such as "Ye Mariners of England," gives us the +following poem on this great naval action: + + BATTLE OF THE BALTIC. + + I. + + "Of Nelson and the North, + Sing the glorious day's renown, + When to battle fierce went forth + All the might of Denmark's Crown, + And her arms along the deep proudly shone; + By each gun a lighted brand, + In a bold, determined hand, + And the Prince of all the land + Led them on. + + II. + + "Like leviathans afloat + Lay their bulwarks on the brine, + While the sign of battle flew + On the lofty British line. + It was ten of April morn, by the chime; + As they drifted on their path, + There was silence deep as death, + And the boldest held his breath + For a time. + + III. + + "But the might of England flushed + To anticipate the scene; + And her van the fleeter rushed + O'er the deadly space between. + 'Hearts of oak!' our captain cried; when each gun + From its adamantine lips + Spread a death-shade round the ships, + Like the hurricane eclipse + Of the sun. + + IV. + + "Again! Again! Again! + And the havoc did not slack, + Till a feeble cheer the Dane + To our cheering sent us back. + Their shots along the deep slowly boom, + Then ceased, and all is wail + As they strike the shattered sail, + Or in conflagration pale + Light the gloom. + + V. + + "Out spoke the Victor then + As he hailed them o'er the wave, + 'Ye are brothers, ye are men, + And we conquer but to save: + So peace instead of death let us bring. + But yield, proud foe, thy fleet, + With the crews at England's feet, + And make submission meet + To our King.' + + VI. + + "Then Denmark blessed our Chief + That he gave her wounds repose, + And the sounds of joy and grief + From her people wildly rose + As death withdrew his shadow from the day. + While the sun looked smiling bright + O'er a wide and woful sight, + Where the fires of funeral light + Died away. + + VII. + + "Now joy Old England raise! + For the tidings of thy might, + By the festal cities' blaze, + While the wine-cup shines in light. + And yet amidst that joy and uproar, + Let us think of them that sleep, + Full many a fathom deep. + By thy wild and stormy steep + Elsinore! + + VIII. + + "Brave hearts! to Britain's pride + Once so faithful and so true, + On the deck of fame that died, + With the gallant good Riou. + Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o'er their grave, + While the billow mournful rolls, + And the mermaid's song condoles, + Singing glory to the souls + Of the brave!" + + +The death of the "gallant good Riou," whom Britain so deeply mourned, +was both affecting and romantic. He was captain of the _Amazon_, and +with the rest of the frigates, that were doing but little apparent +good, hauled off or retreated from the actual ground of battle on +seeing Sir Hyde Parker's "silly signal." These frigates, however, +were being terribly mauled, yet Riou thought only of the disgrace, as +he termed it, of having to retire. + +"What will Nelson think of us?" he said again and again. + +The fire under which the _Amazon_ then lay was very heavy. The +captain himself was wounded in the head, and leant bleeding against a +gun. + +Soon after a shot killed his clerk, who stood near; and another +smashed a batch of marines, who were hauling in the main-brace. + +"Boys!" cried Riou, "we can now but die together." + +These were the last words e'er he spoke. He fell dead next moment. +"That shot," says Colonel Stewart, "lost to Britain one of its +greatest honours, and to society a character of singular worth, +resembling in no small measure the heroes of old romance." + +Poor Riou! + +* * * * * + +That was a wonderful voyage made by our fleet through the intricate +passage between the islands of Amoy and Saltholm, and full of danger. +It astonished the Northern Powers, who no longer felt themselves safe +from Nelson anywhere. + +A mere show of force sufficed to bring the King of Sweden to his +knees. Before, however, this show was made before Carlscrona, Nelson +had an adventure which is well worthy of being related here, bringing +out, as it does, the hero's character for pluck and derring-do in the +most vivid of colouring. + +The ship in which he made the difficult passage between the two +islands just named was the _St. George_. For her greater lightness +and safety her guns had been removed into an American vessel, +requisitioned or chartered unceremoniously for the purpose. She got +safely through, but was detained by contrary winds from joining the +rest of the fleet, now far ahead. When, therefore, intelligence was +received that Sir Hyde Parker had sighted the Swedish fleet, Nelson's +anxiety knew neither bounds nor limits. + +Says Mr. Brierly, "The moment he received the account he ordered a +boat to be manned, and without even waiting for a boat cloak, cold +though it was, jumped into her and ordered me to go with him..... +All I had ever seen or heard of him could not half so clearly prove +to me the singular and unbounded zeal of this truly great man. His +anxiety in the boat for nearly six hours, lest the fleet should have +sailed before he got on board one of them, and lest we should not +catch the Swedish squadron, is beyond all conception. + +"It was extremely cold, and I wished him to put on a great coat of +mine that was in the boat. + +"'No,' he cried, 'I am not cold; my anxiety for my country will keep +me warm. Do you think the fleet has sailed?' + +"'I should suppose not, my lord.' + +"'If they have, we shall follow them on to Carlscrona in the boat.' + +"At midnight Nelson, much to his relief, reached his flagship, the +_Elephant_, and his sailors were overjoyed to see him; for Nelson was +worth a fleet in himself." + +* * * * + +The Swedes made peace therefore. + +The Russians did not see their way to fight. + +And so the great Northern Confederacy was smashed up, and never +formed again, and our brave tars could still sing + + "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves, + Britons never, never, NEVER shall be slaves." + + +The fleet, having now boldly accomplished its mission, and proved the +truth of Nelson's words, that "guns are the best negotiators, and +always speak to the point," &c., returned once more to England. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +NELSON'S LAST DAYS AND HOURS. + + "I saw before thy hearse pass on + The comrades of thy peril and renown. + The frequent tear upon their dauntless breasts + Fell. + + "I beheld the pomp thick gathered round + Through armed ranks--a nation gazing on. + Bright glowed the sun, and not a cloud distained + Heaven's arch of gold; but all was gloom beneath. + + "Awe and mute anguish fell + On all. Yet high the public bosom throbbed + With triumph." + + +There is one individual who, although mention has been made of him, +has never yet appeared on the stage of our story, namely, Max +Colmore, the son of Lady Colmore, and therefore Bertha's brother. +Tom Bure had seen him only once or twice. The first time was when +Tom--a very little boy then--was one day floating on the broad in his +boat. Max, who was far older than he, had come to the bank with his +gun on his shoulder, and ordered Tom to haul off on pain of being +shot. Tom had obeyed, and forgiven his foe too for the sake of +Bertha, but never had he forgotten the insult. + +The second meeting was at the Hall after Tom's return from the +Baltic. Our hero was by this time old enough to study the man and +sum up his character, which he might have done, not only in a few +words, but with three letters--F O P. + +Tom wondered to himself how such a surly, haughty fellow as this, +such a blood-proud fool, had been permitted to assume his Majesty's +uniform; for he was then a captain in the army, and had even seen +service in the wars. + +Well, Tom Bure had quite as much aversion to a fop as his great +chief, Nelson had, so he avoided Max as much as possible. Indeed, +they would soon have quarrelled; for over his wine, of which he took +a grown-up person's share, the captain talked almost disrespectfully +of Nelson and "sailor fellows" in general. + +Shockingly bad taste, you say? True, and the man was really no +gentleman at heart. + +Tom avoided him, therefore, for Bertha's sake, and although this was +to be his last visit to the Hall for many and many a long day, he +even cut this visit short. + +After he had bidden good-bye to Lady Colmore and other guests, he +simply bowed stiffly to Max, who was gaping at him through an +eye-glass, and took his departure. + +Slowly, through the shrubbery he was walking towards his boat when he +heard a light step behind him. + +He turned quickly. + +"Dearest Bertha," he said gently, "I knew you'd come." + +The girl was crying. + +"Oh, Tom!" she exclaimed, "it seems all so sad and terrible, your +going away like this. And something seems to say to me I shall +never, never see you more." + +"You mustn't talk so, my more than sister," said Tom. "True I am +going away, but I shall return, safe and sound. I'm not going to be +killed, Bertha, and I'm not going to lose a leg, like poor +Merryweather. So you see I shall be able to dance on your +wedding-day." + +"Mamma says I am too young to think of the future, but she means to +give me to some lord or another, and Max doesn't mind. I'm going to +be sold, Tom." + +"Bertha!" cried Tom, "sooner than you should be given away to a man +you didn't care for, were he the proudest noble in Britain, I'd----" + +There was the sound of voices heard coming towards them through the +shrubbery, and so Tom's sentence was never finished. + +* * * * * + +Nearly four years had passed away. Busy and eventful years indeed +they had been to both Tom Bure and to Raventree. + +Not once in all that time had either of them seen home or friends. +They had been kept constantly active, and pretty constantly in +action. Tom had been much with Nelson, not in the same ships, but on +the same service. He had been here and there in many lands too, for +many of his duties had been to form a convoy to trading ships. + +It was his fate, nevertheless, to be present at the great naval +engagement of Trafalgar--a name that is never heard even to this day +by a true Briton without a feeling of pride and patriotism. + +Nelson had been on half-pay for a time. Perhaps he never expected to +serve again. Nevertheless he came, like the hero he was, to his +country's aid at his country's call. + +I need not remind my reader of Napoleon's pet ambition, the invasion +of England--he never could have reached Scotland--nor of that grand +review he held on his birthday, August 15th, 1804, at Boulogne, +surrounded by his dignitaries of State, his marshals, his ministers, +his sailors and soldiers, or how liberally he distributed the ribbon +of the Legion of Honour. + +"Let us be masters of the Channel," he pompously exclaimed, "for six +hours, and we are masters of the world!" + +There was somewhat of honour to us in this sentence of the Emperor, +for in smashing Britain he should certainly smash the world. + +But the death of his chief admiral threw his scheme in abeyance for a +time. Yet having the disposal of the Spanish fleet, he believed in +1805 that he had only to crush our squadrons in order to open the +British door, and walk quietly in. + +There is sometimes a good deal in that little word only, however. If +you, reader, want to open a door and walk into a room, even if you +are six feet high, and strong in proportion, as doubtless you are, +you will find that you have attempted a task beyond your strength if +behind that door there is stationed even a very, tiny man with his +foot against it. + +Now Britain had just such a little man to stand behind her door. + +The little man was Nelson. + +And the little man made a vow that he would put his foot against the +door, and keep Napoleon Bonaparte on the other side of it. + +And the little man did. + +* * * * * + +My readers have all heard tell and read of the marvellous chase by +Nelson of the combined fleets of France and Spain. I may possibly be +hauled up on the quarter-deck for calling it a chase, but really it +was as much so as it was a search. He followed them all the way to +the West Indies; he heard they were bound for Trinidad. He would +have followed and drubbed them there, but the information was false, +and only meant to mislead him. He would have followed them round the +world, and drubbed them, just as he followed them back to Europe, and +drubbed them there at last. And such a drubbing he administered to +them! + +History has no other such great naval fight as that of Trafalgar on +record. No parallel to it. + +I have, however, no intention of describing the Battle of Trafalgar. +To do so would be to insult the British schoolmaster, and question +the knowledge of the most ordinary British school-board boy--whoever +that may be--who has mastered even an epitome of our nation's story. + + +NELSON'S LAST DAYS AND HOURS. + +I think that a man who is universally loved must be good and true at +heart. Nelson's was a heart of oak in one sense of the term, but it +was a tender and feeling heart nevertheless, and he wore it, +figuratively speaking, on his sleeve. His kind and gentle nature +could be read in his eyes, as well as in his every action, private as +well as public. His men loved him, his officers, more especially his +midshipmen, loved him, and the people loved him. Ah! there is no +deceiving or dissembling before the people. In the matter of +affection and good-heartedness, it is as impossible to deceive the +people as it is to deceive a dog, and that is saying a deal. + +As I sit here writing in my country home, I have but to place my hand +before my eyes, and scene after scene rises up before my mental +vision of Nelson's last days and hours. + + +SCENE I. It is the night of September 13th, 1805, and half-past ten +of that night, and the hero is leaving Merton--a home of his in the +country. But see, ere he leaves the house, he goes on tiptoe, +fearful lest he should wake her, to the bedroom where his little girl +Horatia lies sleeping. He gazes long and fondly at her, he softly +kisses her, then kneels beside her bed with tear-filled eyes upturned +to heaven to crave a blessing on her. I see him kneeling thus and +there at this moment. + + +SCENE II. It is very early on the morning of the 14th. Hardly has +the autumn day began to dawn, yet all around the George Inn, +Portsmouth, dense crowds have gathered to catch but a glimpse of the +naval hero before his embarkation. He had their huzzas many a time +before, but now he has their hearts. They follow him even to the +water's edge, they press forward to catch a sight of his face; many +are in tears, and many kneel down and bless him as he passes. They +love him as true and fervidly as he loves England. But, alas! they +will never, never see him more. + + +SCENE III. Nelson has joined his fleet off Cadiz. Though at his +express desire no guns are fired, no colours shown, that the enemy +may be kept in ignorance of the arrival of a reinforcement, the +loving-kindness and joy shown at his arrival cause him "the sweetest +sensation of his life." The officers who come on board to welcome +his return forget even his rank as commander-in-chief, in the +enthusiasm with which they greet him. He cannot for a time speak for +emotion. But he regains his voice at last, and then while they crowd +around the table he proceeds to explain to them his previously +arranged plans for attacking the enemy. That, he says, is the +"Nelson touch." They see it all in a moment. It is a touch of true +genius. So new, so singular, so simple. Some of them are even +affected to tears, so much are their minds relieved by the prospect, +nay, the very certainty of victory now before them. + + +SCENE IV. It is the very eve of battle, and among his warlike and +busy thoughts those of home come crowding uppermost, and down he must +sit all alone in his cabin to write to his little Horatia. Only a +little letter, but how full of love and affectionate thoughtfulness. + + +"MY DEAREST ANGEL,--I was made happy by the pleasure of receiving +your letter, and I rejoice to hear you are so very good a girl. The +combined fleets of the enemy are now reported to be coming out of +Cadiz; and therefore I answer your letter, my dearest Horatia, to +mark to you that you are ever uppermost in my thoughts. I shall be +sure of your prayers for my safety, conquest, and speedy return to +dear Merton. Be a good girl, mind what Miss Connor says to you. +Receive, my dearest Horatia, the affectionate parental blessing of +your father, + +"NELSON AND BRONTE." + + +SCENE V. Ah! this scene is one which is almost too gloriously +dreadful to contemplate. But I can see our noble fleet advancing in +two columns to crash through the enemy's battle line. And now the +flashing guns, and the white wreathing smoke--the tapering masts, +with flags unfurled, towering and swaying high above the battle +clouds. But this scene fades momentarily from my view, or rather it +resolves itself into another and a sadder. + + +SCENE VI. Nelson and Hardy on the battle-deck, in the very thick of +the dreadful engagement. And, see, Nelson sinks rather than falls, +and his faithful Hardy springs to his side. On that very spot his +secretary, Scott, was killed some time before, and the blood, still +fresh, stains our hero's clothes. I see him being borne tenderly +below to the cockpit. I see him--kindly-hearted even in the hour of +death--place his handkerchief over his face that his brave fellows +may not know 'tis he, their own loved admiral, who is being carried +below. + +[Illustration: "The death of Nelson."] + +SCENE VII. The cockpit. The dimly-burning lights, the smoke, the +heat, and against the bulkheads the wounded, the dying, and the dead. +The surgeons half naked, with blood-sprinked faces, arms, and +garments; the "idlers"--all too busy here. Moan and groan and +mournful cry. What a terrible scene! What a fearful place to die in! + +But as the hero is borne down here, even wounded men forget their own +pains and misery as they draw the chief surgeon's attention to the +bearers. + +"Doctor, doctor," they cry, "it is the admiral! It is Lord Nelson +himself!" + +The dying Hero is borne tenderly into the midshipmen's berth, and +laid upon a bed. Even the surgeon, who hastens to help him, sees how +unavailing all his efforts must be. The poor admiral can read his +doom written in the surgeon's pitying face. Yet it only confirms +what he himself had thought before. His days are numbered, his hour +is come. He is in pain, in agony, so much so that he wishes death +would come to relieve him--wishes it were all, all over; and yet not +for a little. Hardy he must see, and it seems such an interminable +time before he can come to him. "Will no one bring him?" he moans +piteously. "Perhaps he is slain. He is surely dead." + +But overhead the battle rages on and on, and he can hear the wild +"hurrahs!" of the men as ship after ship strikes her flag. + +Hardy comes at last and bends mournfully over him, utterly unable to +suppress his emotion. But Hardy must tell him how the battle goes. +Then this faithful officer, with a heart bursting with emotion, +shakes hands, and rushes once again to his post on deck. + +But see! Hardy has returned; and Nelson can talk now only of the +dear ones at home. + +"God bless you, Hardy," he says feebly, and shortly after, "Thank +God, _I have done my duty!_" + +And these are the last words the Hero speaks. His breast heaves, +there is one long-drawn, but half-stifled sigh, and--_Nelson is no +more_. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"JACK, I FEEL THERE IS SOMETHING WANTING IN MY LIFE." + + "Then all is well. In this full tide of love + Wave heralds wave: thy match shall follow mine. + . . . . . . . Meanwhile farewell + Old friends. Old patriarch oaks farewell."--TENNYSON. + + +The character of Captain Max Colmore is not one of those which +commands any very great amount of respect, and I should willingly +have left it out of my story. But then if we have no shading in a +picture we cannot so well appreciate the high lights. Besides, he +was Bertha's brother, and independently of that fact, his death had a +bearing on our "ower true" tale, even if his life had none. + +They say that a certain dark gentleman, whose nama it is best not to +mention in polite society, is not so black as he is painted. Happily +the task of acting as his biographer does not devolve upon me, but +the old saying reminds me that even in the character of a man like +Max there may be something of good to record. I am willing to let +him have the benefit of this. He was no coward then. There were +very few cowards in the army in those old days, though I fear it is +different now that men of muscle have in competitive examinations +often enough to lower their flags to those with long memories, puny +bodies, and hearts no bigger than a bantam chick's. + +Max Colmore---- + + "ne'er refused + When foeman bade him draw his blade." + + +In fact, he rather liked drawing his blade than otherwise, whether +the man who suggested his doing so were a foeman or a quondam friend, +for Max was a somewhat famous duellist, and quite as clever with the +pistol as the sword. Faith in his own ability, however, rendered him +somewhat of a blusterer, while abuse in the matter of potable table +luxuries made him hot-headed, and apt to take offence where no +offence had been meant. Even until this day, although duelling has +gone out of fashion, and is punishable as a crime, we could +understand, and even give some meed of praise to a man who drew his +weapon to defend the honour of his country, the name of majesty, or +injured innocence. But we view matters from a different light when +we read of a quarrel at mess from one hasty word or look, leading up +to a fight to the death. + +Such was the case one night at a dinner given in honour of Colonel +Stuart's birthday, and to which nearly a score of as happy young +fellows as ever used knife and fork sat down. The dinner passed by +pleasantly and cheerfully enough too, until even dessert was finished +and the colonel had retired. Some of the younger bloods reseated +themselves at table, among them Max, among them too a youthful +merchant, at whose house many of the officers had been most +hospitably received and treated. Mr. Drake, the name of this young +merchant, had a young sister who resided with him, and whom Max +Colmore, rosy now about the gills, and with a strange sparkle in his +eye, proposed as "a toast" in a not over-complimentary manner. + +It was surely only natural that Drake should lose his temper. + +"It is only a coward and a fool," he said, "who would dare to behave +so." + +"This to me, Mr. Snip, and from such a fellow as you, a miserable +purveyor of silks and sarcenet. Have that," cried Max. + +The word "that" was accompanied by the contents of a glass of claret, +thrown full in the face of poor young Mr. Drake. + +All rose to their feet, and the insulted gentleman made a motion as +if to throw a decanter at the blustering Max. + +But Lieutenant Moore restrained him. + +"Stay, Drake, stay your hand," he exclaimed. "This is my quarrel. +You are my guest. Captain Colmore, you account to me for this gross +insult to a friend of mine." + +"To the pair of you," said Colmore, "if you prefer it." + +"Mr. Snip," he added, "I'll have you first, if you please." + +"So be it," said Drake, very calmly and quietly. + +Early next morning, soon after the birds had begun to sing, and +before the dew had left the grass, or the cicada had given voice, the +combatants met with all due formality in a beautiful green grove, not +far from the chief fort. + +Did no thoughts of his far-off home, near the quiet and peaceful +Norfolk broad, or of his mother and gentle sister, steal across the +young man's mind as he stood, pistol in hand, waiting the word to +fire? Probably none, for he looked half dazed from the dissipation +of the previous evening, and his body was far from steady. + +"At the word 'three' you will fire. One--two--three." + +The pistols rang out almost simultaneously on the still air of +morning, and for a second or two it seemed as if neither belligerent +had been hit. Then Max Colmore's weapon dropped suddenly from his +hand, and he sank in a heap on the ground beside it. + +He neither opened his eyes again, nor spoke. + +Captain Colmore was dead. + +And to all intents and purposes he had died a death that was fraught +with dishonour, for he had owed an apology, and had refused to pay it. + +* * * * + +At the time that Captain Max Colmore met with his death the great +battle of Trafalgar was quite a thing of the past; indeed, two years +had passed away since that splendid victory, which had cost Britain +her cherished hero, but gained for her the supremacy of the seas. +These years had not been uneventful for either Tom Bure or Lord +Raventree. Both had gained additional glory and renown at sea, and +poor Tom had gained something else--which in the dashing days of old +frequently accompanied honour and glory--a severe wound in the left +forearm, which would prevent his serving again for a year at least, +if not for ever. + +He was brought home an invalid in the end of 1807, from that +marvellous expedition against the Danes, by which they lost the whole +of their large navy, and had their capital city, Copenhagen, laid in +red-hot ashes. + +Tom was not sorry to find himself once more an inmate of his +foster-father's little cottage, near the peaceful broad, with Ruth +and his foster-mother to wait upon him. + +He found but little change in either of the latter; but Dan was +getting old, yet hale and hearty in his declining years, and it was +the greatest delight of his life when the sweet springtime brought +bud and burgeon to the trees, and the wild flowers to the marshes, to +row the invalid Captain Tom, as he with some pardonable pride called +our hero, out and away over the broad. + +Nor were his friends at the great hall, as Colmore Manor was +invariably called, otherwise than delighted to see him on their +return from the south. + +But partly through his being an invalid, and partly, perhaps, through +being a sailor--sailors being, you know, always shy--Tom was half +afraid to address the tall and willowy girl who now stood before him +as Bertha. + +Bertha had grown up very beautiful, and was likewise very +accomplished, as far as accomplishments went in those days. She +could talk more than one language at all events, and play well on the +harp and spinet. But there were times when the graceful and +accomplished girl had moods of innocent playfulness, in which she +appeared to Tom precisely like the wilful wee tottie of six or eight +she was in the early days of his acquaintance with her. Strangely +enough, Tom Bure liked her best in these moods, and longed to catch +her in his arms, or rather in his one utility arm, and give her a +kiss; but then his invalid or sailor shyness, whichever it was, +overflowed his breast, and he didn't or couldn't. + +* * * * * + +Those days of war and bloodshed were eventful enough both by land and +sea, and it need surprise no one to be told that the ship which ought +to have brought the news of Max Colmore's sad death, as trim a brig +as ever sailed the seas when she left Jamaica, was never heard of any +more. Whether she had caught fire and been burned at sea, foundered +during some terrible gale, or been taken aback and gone down in a +white squall nobody ever knew. But her non-arrival prevented the +account of her son's end from reaching Lady Colmore for many months +after she ought to have known of it. + +When the news did arrive at last, then the crash came, and her +ladyship knew she was no longer mistress of Colmore Manor, and that +its real owner was some distant relative of her late husband, for the +estate was an entailed one. + +Very soon after Lady Colmore did a thing which proves that her +pride--and she had a good deal of it--was really genuine and +heartfelt, that it was indeed part and parcel of her nature. As soon +as the heir, or the gentleman who was described as such by his +solicitors, put in an appearance she left the county, and went no +soul knew whither. To all seeming she and Bertha had vanished from +off the face of the earth. + +Tom, before the crash came, had found himself so much better, that he +determined to travel for a month or two for the benefit of his +health, and wounded arm, which still remained a most unserviceable +limb to him. + +Previous to his going away, his old friend, Jack Merryweather, became +the husband of poor little innocent Ruth. Jack was indeed a happy +soul, and I believe I am justified in adding he was not the only +happy soul at the quiet wedding in Dan's cottage. + +One thing Jack had done before leading his bride to the altar, was to +polish up that wooden leg of his till it shone like Whitby jet. + +It so happened that Captain Lord Raventree was in the country at that +time. There was no word of his marrying. His sword was his bride, +and would be till the peace came. But he came to Jack Merryweather's +wedding all the same, and it is currently reported that he had even +kissed the bride. If he did it was quite in accordance with his +character. + +Then away went Tom and he together in Ashley's boat, which they +chartered for the occasion, for a coasting cruise up north. + +They enjoyed themselves as only sailors and old messmates can. Tom +going so far as to affirm it was the happiest time ever he had had in +all his life. + +Of course these two friends were like brothers, and had no secrets +the one from the other. So Tom had confessed that he was exceedingly +fond of Bertha, and that he wasn't at all sure Bertha wasn't just as +fond of him. + +"Then why don't you go in and win, man?" cried Raventree. "What +would our mutual friend, Nelson, have thought of any officer hanging +fire when there was something before him that was a duty?" + +"A duty, Raventree?" + +"Yes, your duty to posterity, Tom." + +"Not that posterity ever did anything for me as yet," said Tom Bure +thoughtfully; "but now that you've mentioned dear old Nelson, +I--I--will go in and win." + +But lo! when Tom returned to the cottage, and his friend went off to +Raventree Court, the first thing he heard was about the Colmore +crash, the second the disappearance of Lady Colmore and her daughter, +and the third and most wonderful of all, that he, Captain Tom Bure, +R.N., was the nearest heir to the estates of Colmore, and not the +other fellow. + +All this news coming of a heap, as old Dan phrased it, quite took our +hero's breath away, and it was some time before he fully realised his +position. + +"It was all owing to that black box," said Dan, "that your poor Uncle +Bob took so much pains to save, and that I took up to the banker at +Yarmouth. That proved it all, and there's none livin' that can +disprove it." + +Whether Tom's uppermost thoughts at this moment were those of joy or +sorrow, it is probably hard to tell. + +"Poor Bertha!" he muttered half aloud, "shall I never, never see her +more?" + +* * * * + +Long months after Tom Bure was settled in his new home, he continued +by every means he could think of, his endeavours to find out the +whereabouts of Lady Colmore and Bertha. But all in vain. It was +rumoured that her ladyship had died of a broken heart, or of a +combination of pride and poverty, leaving her daughter to stem a sea +of adversity as best she might. + +Tom, in something akin to hopeless sorrow, settled down to look after +his estates in good earnest now. + +He fain would have built a new house for his foster-father Dan on the +grounds, so that he might have the old couple close to him. But Dan +would not hear of leaving his bit o' property, where he and his old +wife had lived so long and happy, and where poor Uncle Bob had died. + +Tom soon found out that recreation was good for him, or diversion, as +Jack Merryweather phrased it, so he often went to town, and with his +friend was frequently at concerts, fêtes, and plays. + +One evening, after a quiet dinner together, Jack addressed his friend +as follows: + +"Tom, you appear in doleful dumps to-night. You have sat opposite me +for ten minutes, and never said a word." + +"I'm not over merry at heart, Jack," said Tom. "The fact is, amidst +all this fun and gaiety I feel there is something wanting in my life." + +"And isn't it a fool you are," cried Jack, "to go on mourning for the +partial loss of one hand? Look at me--one leg only and a timber toe. +Do I mourn and lament?" + +Jack held up that wooden extremity of his, which shone to-night like +an ebony ruler. + +"Bah! Tom, what's the use of it?" + +And Merryweather burst into the old song-- + + "Life let us cherish + While the wasting taper glows." + + +"Come along with me, Tom. There's something good going on to-night +at the old Drury." + +Tom Bure yawned through three acts of a somewhat dreary play. + +As shifting of scenery necessitated a longer interval than usual +between the third and fourth acts, a beautiful girl came on to sing a +charming Irish song. It was, the play-bill said, her first +appearance on any stage. + +At the first sound of her voice Tom pricked up his ears. + +At the first glance he started as if he had been shot again. + +Then he disappeared--went tearing out of the box, as Jack afterwards +described it. He tore down below, and almost fought his way behind +the scenes. + +He was just in time to meet the young lady walking off the stage with +a whole lap-full of bouquets. + +"Bertha!" + +It was Tom's voice. + +And as he went awkwardly rushing forwards, somehow or other she +dropped everyone of those bouquets on the deck of the stage--I think +they call it the deck. If they don't they ought to. + +Never mind, I have this to add: Bertha's first appearance on any +stage was likewise her last. + +And just as Bertha dropped those bouquets am I now going to drop +anchor, and almost quite as suddenly. I do not wish that a good +boy's story should degenerate into an ordinary love yarn, else I +should devote a dozen pages to telling you how it came about that two +months after this our hero, Tom Bure, was married to the orphan girl, +Bertha Colmore, in presence of Jack Merryweather, Lord Raventree, and +honest Dan himself. + +And just as the happy couple were standing on the deck of the saucy +_Yarmouth Belle_--same old skipper, same old mate--that was to bear +them from London to the North, "I say, Tom," said the same old +Merryweather, "I misunderstood you that evening after dinner." + +"Never mind," said Tom, "I have at last found the something that was +wanting in my life. Good-bye." + +"Mate!" roared the skipper. + +"Yes," cried the mate. + +"On this auspicious occasion, mate----" + +"Let us----" said the mate. + +"That's it. _Let us splice the main-brace_." + +"Hurrah!" + + + +FINIS. + + + + LONDON: + JOHN F. SHAW AND CO., 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. + + + + + + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75979 *** diff --git a/75979-h/75979-h.htm b/75979-h/75979-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..04b5bbe --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/75979-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17811 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + +<head> + +<link rel="icon" href="images/img-cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + +<meta charset="utf-8"> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Hearts of Oak, by Gordon Stables +</title> + +<style> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 1.5em } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.poem2 {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: 85%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 2em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +.smcap { font-variant: small-caps } + +p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +pre { font-family: "Courier", serif; + font-size: 10pt } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.capcenter { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + font-weight: normal; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-indent: 0%; + text-align: center } + +img.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75979 ***</div> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-cover"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-cover.jpg" alt="Cover art"> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-front"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt=""Nelson is struck by a grapeshot and falls bleeding into the boat." <i>p</i> 244."> +<br> +"Nelson is struck by a grapeshot and falls bleeding into the boat." <a href="#p244"><i>p</i> 244</a>. +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-title"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-title.jpg" alt="Title page"> +</p> + +<h1> +<br><br> + <i>Hearts of Oak.</i><br> +</h1> + +<p class="t3"> + A STORY OF<br> +</p> + +<p class="t3b"> + Nelson and the Navy.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + By<br> +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + GORDON STABLES, M.D., C.M.<br> + (<i>Surgeon Royal Navy</i>),<br> +</p> + +<p class="t4"> + AUTHOR OF "FROM SQUIRE TO SQUATTER;"<br> + "IN THE DASHING DAYS OF OLD;" "EXILES OF FORTUNE;"<br> + "ENGLAND, HOME, AND BEAUTY;"<br> + ETC. ETC.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="poem"> + "'Hearts of oak!' our captain cried; when each gun<br> + From its adamantine lips<br> + Spread a death-shade round the ships<br> + Like the hurricane eclipse<br> + Of the sun." CAMPBELL.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t4"> + NEW EDITION.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + <i>LONDON:</i><br> + JOHN F. SHAW AND CO.,<br> + 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME.<br> +</p> + +<pre> + HEARTS OF OAK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . By Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + FOR ENGLAND, HOME, AND BEAUTY . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + EXILES OF FORTUNE . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + IN SEARCH OF FORTUNE . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + TWO SAILOR LADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + IN THE DASHING DAYS OF OLD . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + FACING FEARFUL ODDS . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + GRAHAM'S VICTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + THE TWO CASTAWAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . LADY F. DIXIE. + HONOURS DIVIDED . . . . . . . . . . . . . W. C. METCALFE. + ON TO THE RESCUE . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + BEL-MARJORY. A Tale of Conquest . . . . L. T. MEADE. + EUSTACE MARCHMONT . . . . . . . . . . . . E. EVERETT-GREEN. + A TRUE GENTLEWOMAN . . . . . . . . . . . EMMA MARSHALL. + THE END CROWNS ALL. A Story of Life . . EMMA MARSHALL. + BISHOP'S CRANWORTH . . . . . . . . . . . EMMA MARSHALL. + FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW REED. + CITY SNOWDROPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. E. WINCHESTER. + COUNTESS MAUD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMILY S. HOLT. + HER HUSBAND'S HOME. A Tale . . . . . . . E. EVERETT-GREEN. + IDA VANE. A Tale of the Restoration . . ANDREW REED. + ONE SNOWY NIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMILY S. HOLT. + FOR HONOUR NOT HONOURS . . . . . . . . . Dr. GORDON-STABLES. + WINNING AN EMPIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + A REAL HERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + A TANGLED WEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EMILY S. HOLT. + DOROTHY'S STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . L. T. MEADE. + BEATING THE RECORD . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + BRITAIN'S QUEEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . T. PAUL. + THE FOSTER-SISTERS . . . . . . . . . . . L. E. GUERNSEY. + A KNIGHT OF TO-DAY . . . . . . . . . . . L. T. MEADE. + NEVER GIVE IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G. STEBBING. + EDGAR NELTHORPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . ANDREW REED. + MARION SCATTERTHWAITE . . . . . . . . . . M. SYMINGTON. +</pre> + +<p class="t3"> + LONDON: JOHN F. SHAW & CO., 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +PREFACE. +</p> + +<p> +I have no need, I trust, to apologise for +the introduction of the name and chief +exploits of so great a naval hero as +Horatio Nelson into this story of sea +life. It is due to my readers as well as +myself, however, to state that it <i>is</i> a tale of the +sea, and not intended as a life of Nelson. Nevertheless +I have endeavoured throughout to paint his character +to the life by a series of <i>tableaux vivants</i>, which I +humbly hope will not be found altogether ineffective. +</p> + +<p> +With the exception of the calm and peaceful days +that Nelson spent at the old parsonage of Burnham-Thorpe, +I have dealt <i>solely</i> with his doings and deeds +afloat, and from the time he joined the grand old +service until the day of his death on board the <i>Victory</i> +the sword is seldom out of his hand. My Nelson is +Nelson on the quarter-deck. With Nelson at Court, +whether at home or abroad, I have nothing whatever +to say. The young fellows for whom I write, I know +well, infinitely prefer the sailor's cutlass to a lady's +fan. +</p> + +<p> +And Nelson is notably a boy's hero; so good, so +gentle, and yet withal so brave! And never during +all his career was his mind so overwhelmed with his +own cares on shipboard, as to preclude him from +interesting himself in what pertained to his junior +officers, with a tenderness too that was almost fatherly. +Another trait in his character that must cause every +true boy to look upon Nelson as a hero, was his love +of duty and justice. +</p> + +<p> +Says Alison, "He was gifted too by nature with +undaunted courage, with indomitable resolution, and +undecaying energy. He possessed also the eagle +glance, the quick determination, and coolness in danger, +that constitute the rarest qualities in a consummate +commander." +</p> + +<p> +I pray heaven that in our next naval war—and it +cannot be very long ere this rages over the seas—our +country may be in possession of a few admirals who +shall emulate the dash and <i>elan</i> of our great and +mighty Nelson. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Descending to my lesser heroes, young Lord Raventree, +and Tom Bure, they are neither greater nor less +than any true-hearted British boy may be, who has +the honour to draw dirk or sword in the dashing days +of warfare which most assuredly are before us. +</p> + +<p> +Descending to still humbler heroes, it will do the +reader no harm to know that poor Uncle Bob, and his +honest and gentle old brother Dan, have had their +counterparts in real life. +</p> + +<p> +So, too, has the faithful collie dog Meg, with all her +gentle, winning ways, who so cheered the last sad days +of her helpless invalid master. +</p> + +<p> +May we not love even a dog for the possession of +virtues higher far than many mortals can lay claim to? +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +GORDON STABLES. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + TWYFORD, BERKS,<br> + <i>March, 1892.</i><br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +Dedication. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t4"> +TO +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +FRANK SMITH, ESQ., +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +JOURNALIST, ETC., +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +A FRIEND WHOM I HAVE NEVER YET SEEN, +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +BUT WHO SO VERY OFTEN +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +CHEERS ME WITH BRIGHT AND WITTY LETTERS, +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +Himself a Heart of Oak, +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +THIS BOOK +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +IS DEDICATED WITH EVERY KINDLY WISH +</p> + +<p class="t4"> +BY +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +THE AUTHOR. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3b"> + CONTENTS.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + Book I.<br> +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + <i>IN PEACE AND AT HOME.</i><br> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + CHAPTER<br> +</p> + +<p class="noindent" style="line-height: 1.5"> + I. <a href="#chap0101">Poor Uncle Bob</a><br> + II. <a href="#chap0102">The Wreck on the Gorton Sands</a><br> + III. <a href="#chap0103">"I see it all," He said; "I see it all"</a><br> + IV. <a href="#chap0104">Uncle Bob tells Tom's story</a><br> + V. <a href="#chap0105">A Mountain Wave comes swelling o'er the Sands</a><br> + VI. <a href="#chap0106">Summer Morning on a Norfolk Broad</a><br> + VII. <a href="#chap0107">The Launch of the "Queen of the Broads"</a><br> + VIII. <a href="#chap0108">"Stay at Home, my Lad, and plant Cabbages"</a><br> + IX. <a href="#chap0109">Horatio Nelson's Earlier Days</a><br> + X. <a href="#chap0110">"I will be a Hero, and trusting to Providence brave every Danger"</a><br> + XI. <a href="#chap0111">"There's a Storm brewing, and you'll be in it, Tom"</a><br> + XII. <a href="#chap0112">"Dan will ne'er be Dan again," they said</a><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + Book II<br> +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + <i>WILD WAR'S BLAST.</i><br> +</p> + +<p class="noindent" style="line-height: 1.5"> + I. <a href="#chap0201">Tom's Baptism of Blood</a><br> + II. <a href="#chap0202">How Tom Bure joined the Service</a><br> + III. <a href="#chap0203">In the Gunroom Mess—The Great War Game</a><br> + IV. <a href="#chap0204">Were there really Tears in Nelson's Eyes?</a><br> + V. <a href="#chap0205">The glorious old "Agamemnon"</a><br> + VI. <a href="#chap0206">A Duel to the Death</a><br> + VII. <a href="#chap0207">The Battle of St. Vincent</a><br> + VIII. <a href="#chap0208">Life in Nelson's Ship</a><br> + IX. <a href="#chap0209">Bombarding Cadiz—A madcap Expedition</a><br> + X. <a href="#chap0210">A Dark Night's Work</a><br> + XI. <a href="#chap0211">A Happy Home-coming</a><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> + Book III.<br> +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + <i>IN HONOUR'S CAUSE.</i><br> +</p> + +<p class="noindent" style="line-height: 1.5"> + I. <a href="#chap0301">A Gipsy's Warning</a><br> + II. <a href="#chap0302">The Fight on Blackmuir Marsh</a><br> + III. <a href="#chap0303">"Volunteers" for the Navy—The Burning of the "Highflyer"</a><br> + IV. <a href="#chap0304">The Search for the French Fleet—At Last</a><br> + V. <a href="#chap0305">The Battle of the Nile—Horrors of the Cockpit—Nelson Wounded</a><br> + VI. <a href="#chap0306">The Burning of the "Orient"—A Heart of Oak</a><br> + VII. <a href="#chap0307">Face to Face with the Danish Ships</a><br> + VIII. <a href="#chap0308">A "Glorious Day's Renown"</a><br> + IX. <a href="#chap0309">Nelson's Last Days and Hours</a><br> + X. <a href="#chap0310">"Jack, I Feel there is Something Wanting in my Life"</a><br> +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0101"></a></p> + +<p class="t2"> +HEARTS OF OAK +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<h2> +Book I. +</h2> + +<p><br></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER I. +<br><br> +POOR UNCLE BOB! +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Happy Britain! matchless isle,<br> + Whose natives, like the sturdy oak,<br> + Secure in inborn force, may smile<br> + And mock the tempest's heaviest stroke.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem2"> + "If roused in war, shall dreadful move<br> + Britannia's vengeance on her foes; to prove,<br> + Where'er again her banners are unfurled,<br> + The dread and envy of the wond'ring world."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"I wonder what makes Tom so late?" +said Uncle Bob to himself, as he opened +his eyes and looked around him. "Why," +he added, "it is precious nearly three +bells in the second dog-watch, as sure +as I'm a living sailor. Living! Well, +there isn't a deal of life about me, for the matter of +that; but I'm right about the time. The shadow of +yonder poplar tree just touches my toes at four bells, +and it doesn't want a yard of doing so now. I must +have been dozing a bit, too. It is a drowsy kind of +an evening anyhow. But it was that blackbird in the +cherry-tree that set me off, and maybe the hum o' the +bees round their hives yonder, and the whispering +of the wind in the old cedar must have helped a bit. +Heigho!" +</p> + +<p> +Poor Uncle Bob yawned a little, then listened. +</p> + +<p> +"Made sure I heard Tom singing just then," continued +the invalid half aloud, "but I dare say it was +the sea-gulls. They're coming inland to-night, and I'm +no seaman if it doesn't blow big guns before morning." +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Bob talked to himself for the best of reasons: +there was no one else to talk to. For little Ruth, his +niece, was helping her mother in the house, and Daniel, +his brother, had gone to the Hall with a boat. No +chance of Dan being home early to-night, for the boat +required the heaviest cart for its conveyance, and the +mare had gone a bit lame lately. +</p> + +<p> +To have looked at Uncle Bob's face as he lay there +in his cot, which had been wheeled out under the +shade of the trees on the daisied grass, no one would +have taken him for an invalid. His rather handsome +face, with its short brown beard and well-chiselled +features was placid and contented, nay, even happy +and hopeful-looking. +</p> + +<p> +O, yes, Uncle Bob had not ceased to hope. For +seven long years and over, day after day, whenever the +sun shone, or it was dry weather, that cot upon wheels +had been hauled out of doors, where it is now in this +sweet May evening, by the sturdy and kindly hands of +Brother Dan. Yet if the boat-shed close by had taken +fire, poor Uncle Bob could not have lifted hand or foot +to save himself from destruction. The paralysis from +which this seaman suffered had been accidental. It +was this, probably, that gave him hopefulness and made +his sad life in a measure bearable. And in certain +states of the weather, strange to say, Uncle Bob could +move his fingers. +</p> + +<p> +Dr. Downs used to call as he passed by to talk with +him for a few minutes, and never failed to tell Uncle +Bob that as he wasn't an old man by any means, time +might work wonders. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Curtiss, the curate, a kindly-hearted young fellow +from Yorkshire, often dropped round, and would sit and +talk to the invalid for a whole hour at a time. Nor +did he ever leave without some words of consolation +that, to say the least, were well-meant. Bob had very +much to be thankful for, the curate would say; he +wasn't in pain of any sort; he had his appetite and +the use of his eyes and ears, and everybody loved him +and was good to him. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Bob being a sailor, the curate thought it was +his duty to always introduce an allegorical ship of +some kind in his conversation with the stricken mariner. +Besides, wasn't Mr. Curtiss himself somewhat of an +authority on nautical matters? Hadn't he been down +to the sea in ships—well no, not quite that, but he had +made one long and dangerous voyage from Great +Yarmouth to London in a herring yawl, which enabled +him to talk with some degree of confidence about "green +seas," "contrary winds," "luff tackle, main sheets and +shrouds," and all the rest of it. Mr. Curtiss meant +well therefore, and he never left the invalid without +leaving him something nice to think about, without, in +fact, leaving him better in mind, if not in body, than +he had found him. But after all said and done it isn't +everyone who could have lain in a cot all these years +so peacefully as Uncle Bob had done. +</p> + +<p> +Brother Dan, you must know, reader, was a +boat-builder—not of pair-oared gigs or outriggers, or any +of the beautiful dashing boats you see on the Thames +and other rivers—Dan's speciality was cobbles, or good, +honest, strongly-built, broad-beamed boats, on which +you could float on the lovely waters of the Norfolk +lakes, and at times step a mast and hoist a bit of sail, +without much danger of turning turtle, so long as you +sat to windward. Ay, and you might venture a long +way out to sea too in one of Dan's boats, and if you +kept your weather eye lifting now and then, and your +hand on the main sheet, you could crack on very +prettily indeed through a lumpy sea-way. +</p> + +<p> +And Brother Dan's house was just over the way +yonder, across a little rustic private bridge that brought +you here to this half lawn, half paddock, but wholly +pleasant and tree-shaded spot, where Bob's cot was +safely moored under the shade of the cedar. After you +passed the bridge you had to turn sharp round to the +right, and on through the garden by a well-kept gravel +path, before you came to the porch of Dan's +old-fashioned, but comfortable, Norfolk cottage. +</p> + +<p> +Lying out here all by himself, one might have said +that Bob looked a little lonesome this evening. And +perhaps he was, for with the exception of the blackbird +that seemed to be singing to the invalid, and to +him alone, he had no companion. Now and then the +bleating of sheep in the distance, the low contented +moan of cows, or the barking of a dog fell on his ear, +and in a small lake almost close by his cot, and over +which the shadows of some giant poplars were thrown, +half-wild ducks played at hide and seek among the +tall reeds, while occasionally a fish leapt up and made +rippling rings on the surface of the water, but that +was about all of life that was at present indicated. +</p> + +<p> +In fine weather it was cheerful enough for Uncle Bob +here, because Dan worked close beside him in the +boat-shed, into which he could wheel the cot if a shower +threatened. And Brother Dan with his rosy face and +his square paper cap, hammering at a boat, or making +the white curly shavings fly from his plane was a +very cheerful figure indeed. +</p> + +<p> +Over and above all this, Dan's property—he always +called it his own property—was situated on high +ground, or what is called high ground in this part of +the world, for Norfolk is not Switzerland; so that from +between the trees Bob could catch glimpses of the far-off +country side, at which he never tired looking. For +it takes very little indeed to create interest in the +mind of the confirmed invalid. The trees in front +of him were mostly tall and weirdly Scottish pines, +whose brown pillar-like stems hardly obstructed the +view. So Bob could feast his eyes on green fields, +where sheep and cattle sheltered themselves from the +sun's rays under the spreading elms; on an ancient +gray-stone hall that rose boldly above a cloudland of +foliage; on an archery lawn near it; on the shimmer +of a silvery lake or broad, and on the flashing waters +of a winding reed-bordered stream. Among the woods +to the right and left of the centre of this picture was +here and there a touch of red among the greenery of +the trees, representing the tiled roofs of farm-houses +or cottages. All combined did not make much of a +picture perhaps, but it was nevertheless a very +peaceful and very pleasant one. +</p> + +<p> +Gazing dreamily at it, Uncle Bob had almost gone +to sleep again, when the voice of a young girl raised in +song, awoke him thoroughly, and looking up he saw +Ruth herself, right on the centre of the rustic bridge, +waving a handful of wild flowers towards him. In front +of her bounded a beautiful black and tan collie dog. +</p> + +<p> +"Dear old Meg!" said Uncle Bob, as the animal +put her fore paws almost on his pillow and licked his +ear. "Been away for hours I'll wager, haven't you +now, Meg, ranging over the hills and fields and chasing +the squire's rabbits?" +</p> + +<p> +The collie leant her cheek against her master's +breast, in that inexpressibly pretty way that such dogs +have of showing pity and affection combined. +</p> + +<p> +"Hullo! Ruth, my little sweetheart, you look as +fresh and lovely as the figure head of the old Queen +Bess in a new coat of paint. Come and kiss your old +uncle, you rogue. Now I've been picturing you to +myself with your sleeves rolled up, washing plates and +things in the kitchen; 'stead o' that you've been +gathering wild flowers." +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-022"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-022.jpg" alt=""Hullo! Ruth, you look as fresh and lovely as the figurehead of the old Queen Bess.""> +<br> +"Hullo! Ruth, you look as fresh and lovely as the figurehead of the old <i>Queen Bess</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"All for you, Uncle Bob. Look at the buttercups +and the ox-lips, and oh, uncle, just smell those red +ragged Robins. See I've tied the posie with grass, and +I'll lay them on your breast so you can scent them." +</p> + +<p> +She patted her uncle's brow, and added, "I've +wetted both my feet trying to get a yellow iris, so +I shall run and change my stockings, and get supper +ready 'gainst father and Tom comes home. Ta, ta, +uncle. Meg will stop here, so you won't feel lonely." +</p> + +<p> +Ruth was a fresh-complexion, pretty girl of sweet +thirteen, with shy dark eyes, blithesome face and a +lithesome figure. Mr. Curtiss, the curate, had said more +than once, than only to see Ruth going singing about +at her work of a morning made him feel good all day. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Bob was naturally very fond of his little +niece, but between our two selves, reader, he was fonder +far of Tom; for when the boy was not away at school, +or scouring the woods and hills with Meg, he was the +invalid's constant companion. +</p> + +<p> +"Tom won't be long now, Meg, will he?" said +Uncle Bob when Ruth had disappeared. "Ha! you're +cocking your ears, old lady. D'ye hear young +master?" Meg emitted just one half-hysterical bark +of joy and jumped down. +</p> + +<p> +Her sharp ears had caught the sound of the boy's +footsteps on the road not far off, so away she bounded. +</p> + +<p> +A few minutes after, young Tom himself, red and +dusty with running, his eyes sparkling with joyous +health and excitement, appeared upon the scene. +</p> + +<p> +Instead, however, of coming quietly up behind +Uncle Bob, and kissing his brow—for the lad was +almost girlish in the affection he displayed for the +helpless invalid—Tom stood at the foot of the cot, +a <i>Times</i> newspaper over his head, and shouting— +</p> + +<p> +"Hip, hip, hooray—ay! +</p> + +<p> +"Hip, hip, hooray—ay—ay!" +</p> + +<p> +"Whatever ails you, sonny? Where have you been +to, and what have you got?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why <i>The Times</i>, Uncle Bob. I walked all the way +to the Hall, round by the broad, to borrow it, after my +tutor told me the news. 'Cause why, uncle, 'cause I +knew you'd like to read the news with your own +old-fashioned eyes. Oh! glorious news, I can tell you. +That is what Mr. Curtiss called it. The French are +going to fight again, at least he thinks so. Won't it be +glorious? won't it be fun? After supper Uncle Bob, +after supper—oh, not now. It is too good to be +scamped and hurried over; besides, I'm so hungry. +And, poor uncle, so must you be. But there! I +haven't told you all the news. The most glorious part +of it is to come. I went to the Hall, you know. +Well, I saw Lady Colemore, and she sent the footman +into the garden with me to see I should eat as many +strawberries as I could hold, and to-morrow, little +Bertha Colemore and her maid are going to bring you +a great big, big basketful all to yourself, and I'm to +feed you with them, and not eat one." +</p> + +<p> +Then Tom laughed so merrily, that he was forced to +lie down on the grass and roll, and Meg was by no +means slow to follow his example. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Bob laughed too, though there wasn't anything +very special to laugh about, but the sight of +happiness in others always pleased Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"Look here, you young rascal," said Uncle Bob at last. +</p> + +<p> +"That's me," cried Tom, springing up. +</p> + +<p> +He stood at attention, after touching his cap. +</p> + +<p> +"Away aloft, young sir, and have a look round the +horizon. Take the glass, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay, sir," said Tom. "Away aloft it is!" +</p> + +<p> +And next moment he was swarming up the rigging +with all the agility of a practised sailor. +</p> + +<p> +Up and up and up, hand over hand, till his head +touches the bottom of the crow's-nest, then he enters +it from below and settles himself to have a good look +round through the glass. +</p> + +<p> +Now in case this last sentence should seem +enigmatical to the reader I must explain. The crow's +nest was a hugely large and strong barrel, that had +been hoisted up into one of the poplar trees, and +firmly secured at a distance of forty feet above board, +that is above the level of the lawn. The tree, which +was a very beautiful one, with one strong trunk which +reached a height of five-and-twenty-feet, then bifurcated +into two that tapered skywards for fully fifty +feet more, grew almost in the water of the little lake, +and strong ratlines or rigging, similar to that on a ship, +led upwards to the nest. Above this nest was a kind +of Jacob's ladder, up which Tom could swarm for +twenty feet higher and seat himself on what he and +Bob called the top-gallant cross-trees. +</p> + +<p> +From near the bottom of the nest hung a stout rope, +and up this Tom could climb when he chose, or come +down by the run. +</p> + +<p> +This out-look or crow's nest was one of the pleasures +of poor Uncle Bob's lonesome life. It was a pleasure +even to look at it when Tom wasn't there, but when +the lad did come home—and his arrival was one of the +chief events of the day with Bob—hardly had he +exchanged greetings with uncle ere the order was, +"Away aloft, lad!" Then standing in the cosy nest, or +seated high up on the cross-trees, Tom would keep the +invalid informed, for half-an-hour at a time, or even a +whole hour sometimes, of all that was going on at sea. +</p> + +<p> +"Now then, lad," shouted Bob, "is the brig still +there?" +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0102"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER II. +<br><br> +THE WRECK ON THE GORTON SANDS. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "How hard the lot for sailors cast,<br> + That they should roam<br> + For years, to perish thus at last<br> + In sight of home."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir; and she has dropped anchor at +the tail of the Gorton Sands." +</p> + +<p> +"Her skipper's mad," cried Bob; "as +mad as a March hare. Why it's coming +on to blow big guns from the south-east, +or soon will be, and if he doesn't trip +it and be off, there won't be a stick of him left together +by moon-set. Don't look at him, Tom, he's no sailor." +</p> + +<p> +"Five yawls, sir, tacking through Hewett's Channel. +Foremost has got into the blue, filled, and is running +north away." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, Tom. Fishermen, I suppose." +</p> + +<p> +"There's a three-masted ship, sir, coming straight in +from the east, under all sail. But there isn't above a +capful of wind." +</p> + +<p> +"Did you say a ship, Tom? Now, be careful." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir; I'll look again. Now she's gone about, +and I can see she's a barque." +</p> + +<p> +"Bravo, Tom! But mind you this, lad, I've seen a +man had down from aloft and receive four dozen at +the grating, for just such a trifling mistake as that." +</p> + +<p> +"Now," continued Tom, "I can just raise the topga'nt +sails of a ship far away north. It is a ship right +enough, sir. Appears to be on the la'board tack, and +standing over for the French coast." +</p> + +<p> +"Fiddlesticks, Tom! She'll be about in half-an-hour." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir," cried Tom presently, "four of the fishermen +are crowding all sail to the nor'ard, but the +fifth——" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Tom. What's the matter?" +</p> + +<p> +"She's luffed, and hugging the Gortons!" +</p> + +<p> +"See anything strange about her, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"Never saw a yawl so deep in the water before. She +can't be going fishing, uncle. I see something else, +sir, now." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"But what are you whistling for, Uncle Bob?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm whistling for the wind, lad." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, you needn't, sir! That—that—strange craft +is bringing it up with her. But I can't quite make her +out. She is long and low, not big; and carries a press +of fore-and-aft sail on two thin masts." +</p> + +<p> +"That isn't a very lucid nor very seaman-like +description, Tom," cried Bob, laughing. "Has she any +top-masts?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ye—es, but——" +</p> + +<p> +"But what?" +</p> + +<p> +"But I can hardly see them. She seems in a hurry, +but doesn't carry topsails. She puzzles me." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, lad, she's playing a game! She's the d——l +in disguise, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, uncle, if Ruth heard you!" +</p> + +<p> +"That's what shore folks call these craft, Tom. Now +the brig must see the strange sail. What are they +doing?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, they're signalling to the yawl, I think." +</p> + +<p> +At this moment the trees caught the wind. The +cedar rattled its great limbs as if in proud defiance of +any blast that could blow. The pine trees waved their +dark heads like the plumes on a Highlander's bonnet. +The elm trees rustled, then roared, and the tapering +poplars bent like fishing-rods before the force of the +breeze. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Bob laughed aloud. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold firm there, lad," he shouted. His long illness +had not weakened his voice. "Don't get emptied out. +I knew that I could bring the wind by whistling." +</p> + +<p> +"It is only a squall, I suppose, Uncle Bob?" +</p> + +<p> +"That's all; but there's another to follow, and one +or two more to follow that. Then it'll settle down for +a dirty night and blow a sneezer. Look at the blackhead +gulls going shrieking round your head, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"But now, lad, tell me what's doing at sea. How +does the sea itself look, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"Waves all flecked with froth, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"With foam, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, foam I mean." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Tom, say so, else I'll have you down, sir, and +introduce you to the gunner's daughter. Liken the +waves to white-maned horses if you please, but not to +quarts o' beer with good heads on them." +</p> + +<p> +Tom was very busy up in the nest for the next few +minutes. There was some little difficulty in holding +the telescope steady, owing to the breeze, and Bob +noticed that first he would direct it east and by south, +then south-east, then east by north. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Uncle Bob," cried Tom at last, talking excitedly, +"I do wish you could come up here for a few +minutes." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! lad, I wish I could. I'd give my left eye for +that pleasure." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I'm so sorry! I forgot you couldn't walk." +</p> + +<p> +"Never mind. What's doing, my boy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, sir, they've all gone mad." +</p> + +<p> +"The brig was mad before, else she wouldn't have got +so close to the Gorton bank. What is she doing now?" +</p> + +<p> +"Shaking loose her sails. And she's getting up +anchor to be off." +</p> + +<p> +"And the yawl, the deep one, uncle, has put right +about, and is driving north after the fishermen. Wind's +gone two points more to the south'ard now." +</p> + +<p> +"I notice that, lad. It's only the play o' the squall. +What about the d——l in disguise, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"She's mad too. Instead of taking in sail she has +hoisted her topsails, and she's heeling over till she +looks like a paper kite, or a kite's wake." +</p> + +<p> +"How's her head?" +</p> + +<p> +"She's close hauled, sir, and bearing down towards +the brig." +</p> + +<p> +"And the brig?" +</p> + +<p> +"Just ready, sir. Going off on the sta'board tack." +</p> + +<p> +"Close work, won't it be, Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"At least, I think she is——. Oh-h-h, uncle!" +</p> + +<p> +"What is it, Tom? Speak, boy; tell me, quick." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, she has——yes, Uncle Bob, she has missed +stays, and is driving on to the Corton sands. Oh, it's +awful, awful!" +</p> + +<p> +A pause of some minutes. +</p> + +<p> +"Now she has struck. Down go the masts, and the +seas are leaping over her like wild hyenas." +</p> + +<p> +"Heaven help the poor ship," said Uncle Bob. +"What a lubber of a skipper. I told him, Tom—I +told him—at least, I told you. I don't know +exactly what I'm saying, Tom. But what's the yawl +doing?" +</p> + +<p> +"Carrying on, sir, heading right away north. But +it's getting so dark, what with the rising clouds and +the dusk, that——." +</p> + +<p> +"You're sure, Tom, the yawl is cracking on?" +</p> + +<p> +"Sure, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"The dastard, not to help her consort." +</p> + +<p> +Tom looked down from aloft. +</p> + +<p> +"The wind caught the last word, Uncle Bob," he +shouted. "I didn't." +</p> + +<p> +"I said 'consort,' Tom," cried Bob. "You don't +understand the drama that's being enacted before your +eyes. Tom, it's a tragedy now. That brig is or was +a smuggler. They're not so likely to suspect lubberly +brigs of playing that game. The yawl was coming +down with a cargo to her. See, Tom. And the d——l +in disguise is a government sloop." +</p> + +<p> +"I understand now. But, sir, I can just see that a +boat has been lowered from her, and is making straight +for the wreck with a bit of sail set." +</p> + +<p> +"Bravo! bravo! I hope they'll save the men. The +skipper deserves to be choked in the Gorton sands. +Now, lad, come below. Here is Ruth, just heaving in +sight at the other side of the bridge. Ah! Ruth, lass, +there is terrible news. The brig we talked about in +the morning has gone on shore on the tail of the +Gorton bank. Heaven help them, little sweetheart; +but I fear by this time it is a sad case." +</p> + +<p> +Ruth put the end of her apron up to her eyes as if +to shut out the terrible vision of breaking spars and +timbers, rolling surf, and waves more than houses high. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, Ruth," said Tom, touching the girl on the +shoulder, "let us wheel Uncle Bob home over the +bridge. There is no time to lose." +</p> + +<p> +"Why what does the boy mean?" said Uncle Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"Wait, uncle, till you're in the house, and I'll tell +you. Come, Ruth, you pull and I'll shove. Heave-o-ee. +There she goes. A little more to sta'board, +Ruth. That's it. Now then, steady as you go; a +long pull and a strong pull. Ruth, you're a beauty. +What a capital sailor's wife you'll make!" +</p> + +<p> +Talking thus, with Bob smiling in spite of himself, +in spite of the tragedy he knew was at that moment +being enacted on the Gorton sands, Tom and Ruth +speedily wheeled the invalid's cot towards and right +into his own wing of the cottage. +</p> + +<p> +If ever a helpless man had a kind and thoughtful +brother that man was Uncle Bob. The whole aim and +object of Daniel Brundell's life, indeed, seemed to be +to make the lad—as he often called Bob—happy and +snug; and in this good work he had a most faithful +helpmeet in his wife. As regards inventing invalids' +comforts, I do believe that such a man as Dan would +in our days make his fortune. Let us follow the cot +on wheels for instance. Not into the house by the +main doorway was it taken, for it could not have been +turned, but into what was called 'Uncle's wing,' the +door of which, although surrounded by a rustic +jasmine-covered porch, opened straight into the room. +Once inside, the cot was wheeled broadside on to a +small bed of the same height, a block and tackle were +attached to the upper or hammock portion of Bob's +cot, both at the head and at the feet, Ruth hoisted +one end and Mrs. Brundell the other, and lo! in ten +seconds uncle was raised and swung easily and +carefully on to his bed. +</p> + +<p> +Then the cot was wheeled out to a dry shed till it +should again be required; the invalid's head and +shoulders were raised, and he was snug and happy +for the evening. As a rule Tom fed the poor fellow, +but to-night the lad had something else on his mind. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to drink a pint of milk," he said, "and +put some bread and cheese in my pocket to eat by the +way, then run all the road to Lunton Cave, and get +Ashley's yawl under way to go round Gorton. They'll +meet the navy boat, won't they, uncle?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, boy," said Bob, "as soon as the navy boat +saves whom she can off the brig she'll stand off for +the sloop, and be picked up." +</p> + +<p> +"That she won't, uncle. I saw what you didn't." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, boy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Just before I came down I had another look, and +could see that the Government craft had filled sail, +and was standing right away north in pursuit of the +yawl. So, of course, her boat will run in shore and +try to land at Gorton, or head away for the north pier +at Gorleston. Am I right, uncle?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, lad, I'm proud o' you! My own bringing +up too. Right? Yes; an admiral of the fleet +couldn't be righter. Well, God speed you, Tom. +Strikes me, though, that the disguised sloop has all +her work cut out if she means to overhaul that yawl. +They'll slip their cargo over the bows without being +seen, and the lighter she is the faster she'll fly. +Besides in the dark and storm——" +</p> + +<p> +"Not so dark, though, uncle. There's a big round +moon peeping up already. But, good-bye, uncle, +mother, and Ruth—I'm off." +</p> + +<p> +And away he went, and certainly very little grass +grew under his feet ere he reached the fisherman's +cave. +</p> + +<p> +Ashley was there himself, and his two sons also, +and Davies, a Welsh fisherman, who lived at the cave. +The yawl too was all ready in a little artificial harbour +the men had dug close to the cave in which they +lived. +</p> + +<p> +Tom soon told his story, and the men were in no +way loth to try their luck at piloting, as they +phrased it. +</p> + +<p> +"But," said Ashley, "it'll be a dirty night, and we'll +have to work every inch o' the way to windward. +Never mind, boys, it's to save precious life!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, yes," said Davies, "and doubtless we will have +the king's money too, into the bargain, Mr. Ashley." +</p> + +<p> +Old Ashley looked at the man and laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Take care," he said, "you don't have to take the +king's money in a way you'd little relish, now you've +married a nice young wife." +</p> + +<p> +Ashley's sons laughed, and the Welshman was silent. +The owner of the yawl went up the steps to the door +of the cave, which by-the-way had once been a +smuggler's den, but was now a comfortably-furnished +house, high above the sea-level, except during very +high tides. +</p> + +<p> +"You're surely not going fishing to-night!" cried +Mrs. Ashley, a tall, lanky woman, as brown as a gipsy. +</p> + +<p> +"What if I were, good wife?" answered the old +man gruffly. "Haven't I been out on many a dirtier? +See to it that you have plenty of hot water, and some +supper. We're expecting company." +</p> + +<p> +"Maggie," he added, addressing a young and pretty +woman, "you help mother. There's been a wreck on +the Gorton, and we're going to bear a hand in saving +life." +</p> + +<p> +"All right, daddy," said Mrs. Davies. +</p> + +<p> +He beckoned to her, and she followed him out. +</p> + +<p> +"Is the brick cave safe?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, daddy," she answered, surprise and alarm +depicted on her face. "But——are they <i>friends</i>?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, not quite. Revenue." +</p> + +<p> +Maggie nodded and smiled, and went indoors. +</p> + +<p> +In a few minutes more the sail—all that could be +carried—was hoisted, and the yawl rushing out into +the mist and darkness of a squall, the spray dashing +inward over the bows, while the cutwater, rising and +falling, struck angrily at each advancing wave. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Fairy</i> yawl was a handy little craft, and, <i>sub +rosâ</i>, had been found handy in many ways as well +as in fishing. The Ashleys used to boast openly in +Yarmouth harbour, that in the <i>Fairy</i> they could go +anywhere and do anything, high water or low, blow or +fine. And everybody admitted that the <i>Fairy's</i> crew +were just as daring as they looked. +</p> + +<p> +It really wasn't all for the sake of gain, however, +that the <i>Fairy</i> was now braving the dangers of this +ugly night, nor had Ashley anything at all to do with +the brig that had gone on shore. The old man really +had a good heart of his own, and he could not have +borne the thoughts of men drowning or clinging to the +hull of a wreck without his doing his best to save them. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't think you should have come, boy," he said +kindly to Tom. "Here, get inside this spare oilskin, or +bury yourself in the cuddy." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, Mr. Ashley," said Tom, putting on the +oilskin and an old sou'wester, "but I like to look about +me." +</p> + +<p> +The sky soon cleared, and the moon was now well +above the horizon, and as they bore away on the +sta'board tack everything around seemed as bright as +day. Indeed to Tom the cliffs on the shore they were +soon approaching looked most dangerously near. +</p> + +<p> +But to old Ashley at the helm all was plain sailing. +He could read the sea around here, and the wild sand +banks, and rock or cliff and cloud, as one reads a book. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0103"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER III. +<br><br> +"I SEE IT ALL," HE SAID. "I SEE IT ALL." +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Be good, be honest, serve a friend,<br> + Are maxims well enough;<br> + Who swabs his brows at other's woe<br> + That tar's for me your sort;<br> + His vessel right ahead shall go<br> + To find a joyful port."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +No yacht ever sailed more closely to the +wind than did the <i>Fairy</i>. She needed +all her powers to-night however to beat +to windward, and indeed there must +have been times, while the squalls were +at their worst, when she was hardly holding her own. +</p> + +<p> +Old Ashley, with his bronzed and wrinkled face, was +the very image of an ancient mariner. His wet oilskin +and sou'-wester glittered yellow in the moonlight, +his wet face glimmered red, his eyes positively shone +at times, despite the fact that they were almost hidden +by his bunchy eyebrows. Many and many a gale of +wind the old man had stared into, his eyes seemed +formed indeed to face the tempest and the spray from +dashing waves. +</p> + +<p> +As he lay there snugly curled up in his oilskins, the +boy, young though he was—but little over ten—could +not help admiring the old man's coolness and courage, +nor the way he steered. +</p> + +<p> +His sons, and Davies too, sat grimly staring ahead +and watching the sea, but ready to spring to sheet or +tackle at the first word of command. +</p> + +<p> +They had been out nearly an hour and a half, and +in that time had hardly made two miles of southing. +Hardly anyone had spoken all this time, certainly +there had been no attempt at conversation, but now +just as the moon escaped from behind a great grey +snowy-edged cloud, Davies half rose, and pointing +ahead and to windward shouted: +</p> + +<p> +"I was see her! I was see the boat! Look you +quick, Mr. Ashley!" +</p> + +<p> +Luckily the wind had gone down between the +squalls, when they drove near the boat, a voice from +which came loudly calling for assistance. It was +answered by Ashley himself. +</p> + +<p> +The sloop's boat had her mast carried away; she +was swamped, and, loaded as she was, would soon have +gone down. +</p> + +<p> +Ashley passed her with a cheering word or two, +put his yawl prettily round, lowered his mainsail, +and driving down under his jibs ashiver, and little +after sail, laid the boat aboard in the neatest way +imaginable. +</p> + +<p> +With some further skilful management everybody +was got on board, with the exception of two left to +bale, and the boat was taken in tow. +</p> + +<p> +It was a lieutenant of the Royal Navy who came +on board with his men and prisoners—five only had +been saved off the brig—about a third of her crew. +The officer was in undress uniform, but armed with +sword and pistols, and he was proceeding to thank old +Ashley, when that ancient mariner gruffly told him +to "flop down out o' the way, else how could he +steer." +</p> + +<p> +The lieutenant said no more. But presently the +yawl drew in near the shore, for she had been positively +flying before the wind. +</p> + +<p> +"Stand by," roared Ashley, "to lower away." +</p> + +<p> +So quickly did the <i>Fairy</i> come round, that the proud +lieutenant found himself down to leeward with his +sword between his feet, and his cap in the sea. Next +minute the yawl was in harbour. +</p> + +<p> +"'Scuse me," said Ashley, "if I talked a bit rough. +We aren't much used to king's officers here away. +What, lost your cap? Here, take mine." +</p> + +<p> +The ancient mariner pulled his own sou'-wester off +as he spoke and clapped it unceremoniously on the +lieutenant's head, almost extinguishing him. But the +officer laughed right merrily, again thanked Ashley, +and then gave orders to his men to form a guard +round the prisoners, who had already begun to cast +sheep's eyes towards the cliffs, as if they'd like to +be off. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, sir," said old Ashley, "follow me up the +steps, and all your merry men. What's your name, +captain?" +</p> + +<p> +"Merryweather, at your service, my good fellow." +</p> + +<p> +They had just entered the lower and outer cave, a +large room with a rough deal table and wooden benches, +but well lighted with whale-oil lamps. Old Ashley +turned to his guest, and laughingly edged the brim of +the sou'-wester off his brow, exposing the whole features +of a sun-bronzed but pleasant face, slightly disfigured, +or, let us say, rendered all the more interesting, by a +white scar there over brow and cheek. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you say Merryweather? Well, 'scuse me, but +durn me if ye look the least little bit like a +merry-weather sailor. Got that cut across your figure-head +by fallin' on a foot-stool in church, eh?" +</p> + +<p> +And Ashley laughed at his own joke till the cave +rang again. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile the sailors and their prisoners crowded +in <i>sans ceremonie</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit down there, lads," said Ashley; "you'll all have +bite and sup before long. Captain Merryweather, this +way, sir, please." +</p> + +<p> +Up another staircase, through a short passage and +into another cave, far better furnished and more +brilliantly lighted than the last. Here, May though +the month was, a fire of peats and wood burned on a +low hearth, and Ashley pointed to a chair near it and +bade his guest sit down. +</p> + +<p> +A table stood near, and presently Mrs. Davies +bustled in and laid the supper, the captain rising and +bowing to her most gallantly. A huge dish of +potatoes boiled in their skins, and a great joint of +beef, the steam from which went curling to the cave's +roof. +</p> + +<p> +Ashley went to the door, and shouted down to the +under cave. "Below there, sons! see that those poor +fellows have plenty o' bread and fish and beer. Tom +Brundell, what are you doin' down there? Come up +here, quick." +</p> + +<p> +Tom entered shyly, and threw down his hat. +</p> + +<p> +"There, captain," cried Ashley, "that's the chap you +have to thank for savin' your life." +</p> + +<p> +Tom turned as red as a beet at first, but in five +minutes he was perfectly at ease, and thought this +officer was by far and away the most pleasant +gentleman he had ever met in his life. +</p> + +<p> +But it really was love at first sight with both of +them, and Merryweather was soon laughing right +heartily at Tom's description of the poplar tree rigged +like a ship's mast, and the crow's-nest and cross-trees +and all the rest of it. +</p> + +<p> +"And whose idea was it, my boy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Poor Uncle Bob's, sir. At least, he isn't my uncle, +sir, but he brought me home with father from Jamaica, +where I was born. Father was drowned, you know, +sir—at least not quite drowned, because he lived some +time after—and Uncle Bob's brother Dan, my daddy, +you know, reared me. He and old mother, who isn't +mother exactly——" +</p> + +<p> +"Stop, stop, boy! Why I am getting mixed, or you +are getting mixed, or—— Oh, I know how it is! +Mr. Ashley, that rum of yours, that you say has never paid +duty, has gone to my noddle. Now, Tom, my brave +lad, will you begin again?" +</p> + +<p> +Ashley laughed right pleasantly now. +</p> + +<p> +"Why," he said, "that little birkie has a story to +tell, or there's a story to tell about him. It's too +long though; besides, here is Mrs. Davies and my old +woman waiting." +</p> + +<p> +"I beg a thousand pardons," said Merryweather, +jumping up and drawing a chair towards the table. +"What a pleasant home you have, Mrs. Ashley!" +</p> + +<p> +"Handy enough at times," said the old lady. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Davies trod on her toes under the table. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother means," said old Ashley, "that it is a good +habitation in fine weather; but when the sea takes +charge o' the downstairs, and sobs and sighs against +the door here, why it ain't quite so cheery. Now +heave round with the beef. The 'taties grew over your +head on the cliff-top, and, as I said afore, the rum +never paid duty. Fine thing to tell a king's officer. +Ha! ha!" +</p> + +<p> +"Now Tom, birkie, fill the captain's glass." +</p> + +<p> +But though this story dates back to the old drinking +days, Merryweather was a very abstemious officer. He +was very much pleased, however, with his strange +surroundings, and after supper sat long in the easy chair, +smoking and listening to stories of the time when this +had really been a smuggler's cave. +</p> + +<p> +"But now," said Merryweather at last, "I must +go to my boat and try to snatch a few hours' sleep. +The little <i>Porcupine</i> may be back to-morrow, and +then——" +</p> + +<p> +"Back to-morrow, eh?" said old Ashley, laughing. +"No, sir, not if she means crackin' on after the Dorothy +yawl." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and my mate'll have her too," said the lieutenant. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, sir!" said Tom, blushing at his own boldness, +"do come home with me. Father and mother have a +nice little spare room, and——" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Tom, you said your father was drowned? +But come, my lad, I'll go with you, if it isn't +too far." +</p> + +<p> +"Only about a mile, sir, and I'll be up and down to +the crow's nest all the morning, and will see the +<i>Porcupine</i> ten miles away." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll go, lad." +</p> + +<p> +In another minute the ancient mariner had conducted +his guest by a private staircase to the breezy +cliff-top. Merryweather shook hands, and off went +Tom and he together. +</p> + +<p> +When they reached home, Meg came joyfully barking +to meet them, and there was the wagon in the +yard, and Tom could hear the mare stumping her +lame foot in the stable; so he knew that daddy had +come. +</p> + +<p> +There was a light in Uncle Bob's window, and it +occurred to the boy that he might as well take +Lieutenant Merryweather in here first. So he began +to sing, which was the invariable signal to Uncle Bob +that announced his arrival. +</p> + +<p> +Tom opened the door a little way and peeped +in. "May I come in, Uncle Bob, and bring—a +friend?" +</p> + +<p> +"Come in, you young rascal. Wager two-pence +you've got one o' the crew o' the d——l in disguise +with you." +</p> + +<p> +So in walked Tom. +</p> + +<p> +And in marched the officer. +</p> + +<p> +But certainly the boy was not prepared for what +followed. Uncle Bob had turned his eyes towards the +door, but they positively seemed to grow as large and +round as saucers when they alighted on the sun-browned +features of Lieutenant Merryweather. Nor +did the latter appear one whit less surprised than Uncle +Bob. But he recovered himself sooner. +</p> + +<p> +"What!" he cried, "can it be possible? My old +shipmate, Bob Brundell, that sailed with me for years +in the old <i>Turtle</i>, and was in my own watch? Wonders +will never cease. Why I heard you were drowned ever +so long ago. Wonders never do cease; but tip us your +nipper, for auld lang syne." +</p> + +<p> +Then Uncle Bob's face fell, and tears sprung to his +eyes, aye, and trickled over his face. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! sir," he said mournfully, "poor Bob is on his +beam ends, and couldn't move a toe if the ship was on +fire." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, this is inexpressibly sad," said Merryweather. +patting his old shipmate's cheek. "But there is hope, +isn't there? Ah! here comes your elder brother. I +knew him at once from you, Bob. How d' ye do, sir? +Glad to make the acquaintance of my old friend's +brother. How glad I am to see you both!" +</p> + +<p> +"Tom," cried Uncle Bob, "bring my pipe and light +it for me. Sit you down, mate. Well, you were mate +you know in the dear old days, though now you're +lieutenant. Sit down, brother Dan. Thank you, Tom. +I do believe the young rascal'll soon learn to smoke +just with lighting my pipe. What's the time, +youngster?" +</p> + +<p> +"Just gone one bell in the middle watch," said +Tom seriously, after consulting an old silver turnip +that he pulled with an air of manliness out of his +fob. +</p> + +<p> +"Going to be a sailor, my boy?" said the lieutenant, +putting his hand on Tom's head. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Bob answered for him. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, old shipmate," he said, "he's almost a sailor +already. And he was born in the service." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, by the way," cried Merryweather, "I must hear +the lad's story. It's mixed up with yours I know, +Bob. One bell in the middle watch is no time at all, +so heave round with your yarn." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll heave round," said Bob; "but brother Dan's +mixed up in it too, so he'll have to put a hand to the +wheel as well. Light your pipe, Dan. Ah! if you +only knew what a dear old brother Dan is to me, +Mr. Merryweather——." +</p> + +<p> +"Hush, hush," cried Dan. +</p> + +<p> +But Merryweather stretched out his white, soft +hand, and squeezed the rough, red fist that Dan put in +it. "I can see it all," he said. "I can see it all. Now, +Bob, it is you to begin the story." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0104"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IV. +<br><br> +UNCLE BOB TELLS TOM'S STORY. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "If to engage they give the word,<br> + To quarters all repair;<br> + While splintered masts go by the board,<br> + And shots sing through the air."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"Mr. Merryweather," Uncle Bob +began, "it's many years since the old +<i>Turtle</i> was re-commissioned out at +Bermuda, and you and I parted." +</p> + +<p> +"That it is, Bob. Ten, if a dog-watch." +</p> + +<p> +"And you stopped in the tub, as we used to call her, +and I went out to join the <i>Billy Ruffian</i> at Jamaica. +Now, mate—for mate I will call you, though you're a +bold lieutenant now—take a hold o' young Tom there, +and turn him round to the light. Focus the little chap +right, and see if he doesn't put you in mind o' someone +you know." +</p> + +<p> +Lieutenant Merryweather did as he was told. +</p> + +<p> +"Why not Miss Raymond, surely? Yet indeed he +does. The dark eyes, the small mouth and nose, and +all complete. Come, Bob, I shall listen with more +marked attention to this yarn of yours, now." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, first and foremost, it must be pipe down +hammocks as far as young Tom is concerned," Bob +began. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll turn in at once, Uncle Bob," said Tom. +</p> + +<p> +So he bade good-night to all hands and trotted off. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you say ten years, mate, since you and I +parted? Why it's going on for a round dozen. Let +me see, I'm two-and-thirty, and you can't want a +deal of thirty." +</p> + +<p> +"Worse luck, Bob, and only lieutenant yet. Should +have been promoted long ago. Don't think me on +the swagger, Bob, if I say that my services have been +meritorious enough since I saw the last of you. But +I've seen youngster after youngster promoted over my +head. More interest, Bob; more interest!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Mr. Merryweather, you were a jolly young +waterman anyhow when I left you in Bermuda. And +it was about this very Miss Raymond you fought the +duel on the very morning after the ball—aye, and +winged your soldier too." +</p> + +<p> +"So it was, Bob, and I remember how sleepy I was. +But I resolved not to take life; so instead of firing at +the major, I took aim at a bunch of bananas that hung +on a tree some yards to his right." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Bob, laughing, "and that was why you +hit the major. If you'd aimed at the major you'd +have hit the bananas. Plucky little fellow, though, he +was, for even when the surgeon was probing his arm +with his pipe-cleaner he apologised to you most +handsomely. Think I see him yet, reclining in his second's +arms on the grass, and you standing forenenst him, +stem on, and taking all the honour and glory of that +shot. 'Sir! It was a pretty shot,' cried the major, +'and I owe you my life. A man who could rip +open his opponent's pistol arm so neatly as that could +have put his bullet through the bridge of his nose and +spoiled his beauty for life. Excuse my left hand, sir, +but I want to grasp the fist of a brave and generous +gentleman.' +</p> + +<p> +"'I don't believe in taking life, major,' you drawled +out, 'when it can be avoided, and so——' +</p> + +<p> +"'And so you wing your men. Bravo! I shall +remember that, and sir, you must dine with me as +soon's I'm out of the doctor's hands.'" +</p> + +<p> +"Did you dine with him, Mr. Merryweather?" +</p> + +<p> +"I did, Bob, and he proved a brick; but then the +bone of contention, pretty Miss Raymond, had +disappeared. I' faith, Bob, I did fall in love with that +girl, head over heels, and if she'd asked me to cut the +buttons off my coat, and pitch them at the admiral's +head, I'd have done it. But heave round, Bob." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, mate, Miss Raymond came to Jamaica with +her father the colonel. There were some disturbances +in the bush, and Commander Bure was sent on shore +with a party of bluejackets to support the soldiers. +Why these Joeys were behaving about as silly as silly +could be, marching through the country with drums +and pipes, to attack an enemy that killed them right +and left from behind the scrub and the bush, but never +showed a head. We altered all that, we took the enemy +in the rear, we never piped, and we never drummed, but +we killed 'em by the score, and the prisoners we hung +like herrings on the trees. It was wild work, but it +had to be done." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, mate, Bure, our good commander, was a very +active gentleman, he would push on, and he would show +himself at times when he didn't ought to; so he got +downed, ay, and would have been scuppered too, if I +and my mates hadn't rushed in and drove the butchers +off." +</p> + +<p> +"Where did you drive them to, Bob?" +</p> + +<p> +"Made flies' meat o' them, sir. But the commander +swore I'd saved his life, and he would make me his +servant, and have me always about him on shore or +afloat; and when he got engaged to Miss Raymond, +why, mate, it was me that carried all the billy-doos +back and fore, you know. Sometimes I'd be ashore +and off again twice in every watch. Well, +Mr. Merryweather, what with all the billing and cooing +and billy-doo-ing the commander and she got spliced +at last. Ah! that was a spree, I can tell you. And a +sweet bonnie bride the charming lady looked!" +</p> + +<p> +"Hush, hush, Bob; you're opening old sores." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, mate, the commander was nearly always on +shore after this, and our old captain—O'Hare was his +name—told Bure one day straight to his face that +marriage made muffs of men, and spoiled 'em for the +service." +</p> + +<p> +"It was pretty nearly ten months after my good +commander's marriage that we hove up anchor and +went off east to look out for some flighty Frenchees, +that were playin' fast and loose with our merchant +ships that scorned to go in convoys. I never saw +anything in my life, mate, so affecting-like as the +parting atween the commander and his young wife—she +in tears and clinging to him, and he——, well, it +doesn't do to say that a sailor pipes his eyes, but +la! sir, I was glad when it was all over and our boat was +speedin' away towards the ship. +</p> + +<p> +"For six mortal months we kept our weather eyes +open looking for the Frenchee's cruisers, and then we +came up with two. And—why they must between the +pair of them have carried twice our number of guns. +</p> + +<p> +"We crowded all sail, mate, put her dead afore the +wind, and the race began. We were running away +though, and however the Frenchees didn't see through +the caper is more than I can tell. In less than half +an hour there was three-quarters of a mile betwixt the +foremost Frenchee and her consort. So we got ready +for action without making any extra fuss about it. +Then we wore ship, and the captain of that foremost +frigate must have begun to scratch his head. Seems +to me, Mr. Merryweather, he knew just as much +about navy tactics as a cow does about chess. +Presently she put about though, with signals flying +to her consort—signals of distress we called them. +When near enough we sent a round shot or two +roaring through her rigging, but if the Frenchee +thought our game was to be a stand-off fight he was +miserably mistaken. Under one pretence or another, +and always firing another shot or two, we got far +enough to windward to bear down on her with a +beam wind. Why we were near enough to shave her +stern almost when we raked her. I think her wheel +and steersman must have been blown up to the moon. +Down went her mast, and before the confusion was +over we had tacked and filled, and come up on her +port quarter. Our master laid the <i>Ruffian</i> aboard +as prettily as you please, and next minute we were +on the Frenchman's decks. +</p> + +<p> +"It was hammer and tongs for a good five minutes, +then, on a blood-stained battle-deck, a smiling and +bowing French officer gave up his sword to our bold +Commander Bure. +</p> + +<p> +"O'Hare complimented him when he returned on +board. 'Marriage,' he said, 'may make muffs of some +men, but it hasn't taken the heart of oak out of you, +Bure.' +</p> + +<p> +"I must make a long story short, Mr. Merryweather, +for it's two bells if it's a tick. Almost the first man +to board us when we got back to Kingston harbour +was Colonel Raymond himself. I knew the moment +I saw him that poor Mary, as my commander called +her, was dead. But I'll never forget the state of utter +collapse—the doctor called it that—I found Bure in +when I entered his cabin. +</p> + +<p> +"'Oh, Bob, Bob,' he cried, 'My poor Mary! my poor +Mary!' +</p> + +<p> +"He was weeping like a school-girl, the self-same +hero that had received the French commander's +blood-stained sword. +</p> + +<p> +"For months Bure never laughed or smiled. His +chief pleasure and delight was to go on shore and play +with or talk to his baby boy. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, mate, we stuck together all the commission, +and did a bit o' fighting too whenever we had the +chance. To tell you the truth, after poor Mrs. Bure had +been dead about two years, there were only just two +situations in which you might have said the +commander was happy—one was when little Tom was +brought on board by his nurse, and the other when +Bure had a sword in his hand, and was boarding a +frog-eating Frenchee. +</p> + +<p> +"But it was in a boat action that my dear commander +received a shot that, for the time being, seemed to have +clean knocked the life out of him, and—I do think +even now—was the beginning of the end. He lay in +hospital on shore for a long time, three months I think, +and it wasn't till the end of that time that the +doctors found the bullet. The beggarly thing had +entered his shoulder in front, and instead o' lodging +there as a respectable bullet ought, it must go on a +cruise on its own hook, and was finally fished out of +the poor fellow's side. +</p> + +<p> +"'Bob,' he said to me one day, sometime after this, +'they are going to send me home with a batch of +invalids in convoy. I'm not sorry for my little lad's +sake, but, mind you, I don't think I'm going to +weather this illness.' +</p> + +<p> +"I tried to laugh away his fears, but he stopped me. +</p> + +<p> +"'Belay that, Bob!' he said, or words to that effect, +'and listen. I like you, Bob, because you're a good, +faithful fellow.' +</p> + +<p> +"I felt ashamed like when he told me that, and +maybe he noticed it, for he spoke up. +</p> + +<p> +"'Oh, yes, you have been faithful to me, Bob, and you +love my little chap Tom. Well, Bob, I'm not saying +that I can't weather this, the doctor says I may; but +just for the present, imagine that you're listening to +the words of a dying man. You're like myself, Bob, +a Norfolk man, and, singularly enough, you come from +the very coast where relations of mine have estates +that might—mind you, Bob, I only say might—eventually +belong to my little fellow. But—are you +listening, Bob?' +</p> + +<p> +"'That I am, heartily, sir,' I replied. +</p> + +<p> +"'Well, Bob, my cousin, who owned these estates, is +dead, only a month ago. He leaves behind him a son +some years older than Tom, and a baby daughter. +Now this baby daughter doesn't count, the son is the +owner, and the mother, who loves me, Bob, about as a +much as a Frenchman loves red-hot shot, holds the +estates in his behalf. I hear the lad is sickly, and if +anything happened to him I'd come in, if alive, and +if dead, my little Tom. If there was no little Tom, +Bob, the estates would pass to her ladyship's male +relations, second cousins of mine and hers, for there +has been marrying and inter-marrying, Bob.' +</p> + +<p> +"'Well, sir?' +</p> + +<p> +"'Well, Bob, you see that box?' +</p> + +<p> +"'Yes, sir.' +</p> + +<p> +"'Look to that, Bob, if I should die. Take it with +you to your brother's house when you go there. If +your brother is half as good as you, Bob——' +</p> + +<p> +"'He's twice as good, sir,' I cried. +</p> + +<p> +"'You and he will take it to my Yarmouth bankers, +and they will keep it safe for Tom.' +</p> + +<p> +"He held out his hand—a thin white one it was—and +I gave him mine with a heave O! and a hearty +O! and the compact was made. +</p> + +<p> +"'About little Tom, here,' he said after a pause. +'I don't want him to be a sailor you know, but if he +wants to be—why he must be.' +</p> + +<p> +"'And his friends and relations, sir?' I made bold +to ask. +</p> + +<p> +"The commander laughed bitterly. +</p> + +<p> +"'Friends, he has none,' he replied, 'except his +father, you Bob, and perhaps your brother.' +</p> + +<p> +"'Well, sir,' I said, 'I hope it won't come to that.' +</p> + +<p> +"'Hush! Bob, hush!' he said, 'It is our duty in +this world to be always prepared for the unseen.' +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Mr. Merryweather, I thought my poor +commander was much better after this. So indeed +he told me. 'I've relieved my mind, Bob,' he said, +'and the doctors have relieved my body.'" +</p> + +<p> +"After this he would chat with me for an hour at a +time, about the quiet and happy life he meant to lead +on shore with his little son. How they would shoot +and fish on the broads throughout all the long summer +days, and how they'd live in a pretty little cottage in +the land o' poppies, all surrounded by gardens and +shrubberies, and how he himself would attend to the +boy's education, and try to make a man of him, fit to +take his place in the battle of life, whether that battle +was to be fought on shore or on the deep blue sea. +</p> + +<p> +"Our voyage home in convoy was a long but not very +eventful one. It was long because the fleet o' +merchantmen guarded by the convoys was a very big one, and +some kept dropping behind, or getting lost, and as +there was always, or nearly always, a Frenchman or +two hovering like hawks about us, we had to be cautious +I can tell you. +</p> + +<p> +"But long before we reached the Downs little Tom +had received his baptism o' the briny, there wasn't a +doubt about it. He was the pet of the ship, he was +dressed like a little tar, and looked it all over. I only +wonder he never tumbled overboard, for I've seen the +young nipper half-way up to the maintop, and nobody +near him. +</p> + +<p> +"One day he told his father on the quarter-deck +that he was going to be 'a sailor man, and nuffin else, +and fight the Flenchman for his king and country O!' +</p> + +<p> +"I daresay some of the blue-jackets had piped this +into him, but his father looked about to where I was +standing laughing—I couldn't help it—and said, 'Ah, +Bob, I'm afraid it's born in him.' +</p> + +<p> +"'I'm afraid so too,' I said, and his father kind o' +sighed, but didn't say any more. +</p> + +<p> +"We got into the Downs at last safe and sound, and +lay there wind-bound for a fortnight. But at last we +got just the breeze we were waiting for, and slipped +away past the North Foreland, and in a day or so more +our ship was safe in dock. +</p> + +<p> +"I wrote to brother Dan here, and told him my +master and myself would start for Yarmouth within a +week in the saucy <i>Polly Ann</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"But there, now, Dan will tell you the rest, but just +stick my pipe in my mouth first, Dan.'" +</p> + +<p> +Dan cleared his throat, lit Bob's pipe, and sat down +near his bed to hold it for the poor helpless fellow, +while he himself continued the yarn. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0105"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER V. +<br><br> +A MOUNTAIN WAVE COMES SWELLING OVER THE SANDS. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "His form was of the manliest beauty,<br> + His heart was kind and soft;<br> + Faithful below he did his duty,<br> + But now he's gone aloft."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"When I heard," said Dan Brundell, "that +there was a brig ashore on the tail of +the Gorton Sands, I had no more notion +that it was Bob's <i>Polly Ann</i> than I +have o' what the weather will be this +day month. I'd been down with some +oars Gorton ways, and I met old Ashley while returning. +</p> + +<p> +"Would I volunteer, he said, to go in the <i>Fairy</i>; one +of his sons was from home, and we might, he said, +pick up a bit o' salvage, as well as flotsom. +</p> + +<p> +"'She's hard and fast now,' he says, 'but is bound +to break up.' +</p> + +<p> +"So I thought too, when I embarked, for it was blowing +56-pounders, and a heavy sea tearing in from the +east. It was the heavy, tearing sea that did it. 'Fore +we had got well abreast o' the Gorton Tail, we could +see in the bright moonlight the dark hull o' the brig, +both masts snapped short off, lifting and falling in the +jaws of the foaming seas like a creature in agony. +</p> + +<p> +"'She can't stand it for half-an-hour," said Ashley; +'and what's more, Dan, we can't get anyw'eres near +her. There'll be widows a-weeping to-morrow mornin', +mate, at old Yarmouth docks.' +</p> + +<p> +"But what we saw next astonished Ashley himself, +though, man and boy, he'd been on the water all his +life. It was a mountain sea coming swelling over the +sands and swallowing everything up before it, and lo! sir, +in a minute more, there was the dark hull of that +brig being borne bodily toward us.' +</p> + +<p> +"What happened after this I can't well describe, +bein' as how I'm slow o' speech like, but in half-an-hour +all the beach for a mile and more, was strewn wi' +wreck, and many a body was washed in on the surf and +left dead, or for dead, on the sands. But lawk! sir, you +could have knocked me down with a sledge-hammer +when, on turning over one of these bodies, I found it +was poor Bob yonder, and no one else." +</p> + +<p> +"He had a small deed-box alongside him, with +a piece o' manilla round it. He had come ashore with +this. I didn't doubt that, even then. +</p> + +<p> +"At first I thought him dead. But he soon opened +his eyes and spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"'Haul me high and dry,' he said, 'high and dry, +dear brother, for I can't move. It isn't drowned I am +at all. It's a stroke, Dan; a stroke." +</p> + +<p> +"This was a sad sort of a meeting 'twixt two +brothers that had always loved each other same as Bob +and me has, and for the life of me I couldn't have +spoken then, no, never a word. I tried to swallow +back my grief and tears, as it were, and lifted the lad +right up in my arms, and carried him away beyond the +reach o' the raging surf, and there I laid him down. I +knelt beside him there in the pale moonlight. I cared +for nothing nor nobody just then, but only Bob. I +noticed though, that his eyes and head were turned +wistful-like towards the boiling sea. +</p> + +<p> +"'Dan,' he said, 'bring the box and put it close by +me. Thanks, dear Dan; you were always good. Now +go at once, Dan, and look for Captain Bure and his +little boy.' It wasn't long either 'fore I found 'em. +The poor little tot of a chap with long, silken hair, +and bonnie black eyes, was weeping and wailing over +his father. +</p> + +<p> +"'Oh, sailor man,' he said to me, 'poor pa! poor +pa! He's deaded! he's deaded!' +</p> + +<p> +"'No, no, my little man,' I answered. 'Your father +isn't dead.' So I hurried away and got the gentlemen +into the cave. Gentle and simple, dead and maimed +and living, they all lay there, with the cold moonbeams +glinting in through the doorway, and struggling like +wi' the yellow rays of the whale oil lamp. +</p> + +<p> +"In two hours' time the doctor had come, and we—the +living ones—began to gain hope and courage. +</p> + +<p> +"The good man did all he could for everybody, +and next day Captain Bure, with his little boy +Tom—yes, Tom that has just gone to turn in—and poor +Bob, were fetched in the boat waggon to our cottage +here. The captain was soon able to get about, but +Bob lay quiet enough, and never yet has he lifted +hand or foot. +</p> + +<p> +"But it wasn't a stroke, the doctor said, not of the +'pplexy, anyhow. 'More likely,' he said, 'it's been a +stroke with a floating spar, and the neck is injured +right smart.' +</p> + +<p> +"Well, sir, it would have done your heart good to +have seen how kind and attentive the captain was to +Bob. 'He's been my nurse many's the time,' he said, +'and now, Mr. Dan, it's my turn.' +</p> + +<p> +"But all the time I could see as plain's I see the +moon shining on the curtains yonder, that the poor +captain himself would soon be under the daisies and +grass." +</p> + +<p> +"One morning, says the gentleman to me smiling-like, +'I'm going to charter your boat-waggon to-day, +Dan, if you'll come with me to Yarmouth, and young +Tom'll stop with Bob till we return.' +</p> + +<p> +"It was a lovely day, sir, with the birds all singing +as if their hearts were swelling with the joy that was +in them, and their feelings had to find vent somewhere +in song, or in lofty flight. So we drove round by the +big hill on the broad. +</p> + +<p> +"I could see the captain meant to make a day of it, +and so I drove slow. +</p> + +<p> +"When I came near the hall and the pretty grounds +and the swaying trees and rookeries and things, he told +me to drive slower still, that he might enjoy every +thing, and all the beauties of nature around him. +But la! sir, I was surprised to see him so white and +pale like. At last he said, 'Drive on now, Dan as fast +ye like.' He was still white and ghastly-like, though, +so I jumped down at a pub and got a tot of rum. I +took a sip myself, more for fashion sake like, and made +him swallow the rest. +</p> + +<p> +"He was better all day after that; but I remember +he laughed once or twice as he told me his feet were so +cold. 'Seems funny,' he said, 'on so fine a day.' +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't answer much. I knew well there wasn't +a deal of fun in it. +</p> + +<p> +"We had that deed-box with us, and we went into +the bank. We left the box there, and had a long talk +with the banker. Leastways, Captain Bure had. +</p> + +<p> +"Then he turned to me, and laughed again. +</p> + +<p> +"'My good Dan,' he said, 'if the cold of my feet gets +higher up and goes round the heart——' +</p> + +<p> +"The tears sprang to my silly eyes, sir. +</p> + +<p> +"'Oh, sir!' I cried, 'don't talk so, it grieves me to +hear it.' +</p> + +<p> +"'There are times,' he said, 'when men must talk +straight. Now, I've known your brother so long, Dan, +and heard so much about you, that I want you to be a +father to little Tom—if——' +</p> + +<p> +"'I know, sir!' I cried. 'Don't repeat it. My wife +and I have neither chick nor child savin' little Ruth. +We'll see to Tom.' +</p> + +<p> +"He clasped my hand. +</p> + +<p> +"'Mr. Mackay,' he said, 'has full instructions, and +enough money of mine to give Tom bite and sup, and a +good education. Come, Dan, and we'll buy some +comforts for poor Bob.' +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +"I am not sure," continued Dan, after a pause, "if +that isn't all the story." +</p> + +<p> +"Not quite," said Mr. Merryweather. "There is the +death of Captain Bure, you know." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, sir, we won't speak of that. It happened +soon; and he lies in a quiet corner of the great +churchyard at Yarmouth. Little Tom and I go there one +Sunday every month to put flowers upon the grave." +</p> + +<p> +The honest boat-builder ceased talking and lit his +pipe. +</p> + +<p> +"Dear droll little Tom," he added a moment after, +"he does say such queer things. Maybe other folks +wouldn't notice 'em, but I do. 'It's only pa's body +that lies here, you know, daddy,' he said to me two +Sundays ago, 'his soul has gone up to the clouds to +live, hasn't it?' +</p> + +<p> +"I didn't speak for a minute, I was thinkin' o' the +words of that song, sir— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + 'For though his body's under hatches,<br> + His soul has gone aloft.'<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"The little chap sat down beside the grave and +arranged the flowers, then smoothed all the long +grass out straight as if it had been hair. He took my +hand after that, and we walked quietly and silently +away. +</p> + +<p> +"'Pa,' he said afterwards, 'is only afraid I'll be +drowned if I go to sea. But I think he'll be pleased +when I am a sailor all the same.' +</p> + +<p> +"No, Tom never looks upon his father as really dead, +you know. +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Curtiss is our curate, and he is Tom's tutor, +though Bob there teaches him a lot, and has pretty +nearly made a sailor of him already. And I'm sure +I cannot blame poor Bob——for——" +</p> + +<p> +Dan paused now, and held up his forefinger warningly, +while his eyes rested on his brother's face. He +took the pipe away and shifted the light, for the +invalid was fast asleep. Then he went silently away +on tip-toe, and Mr. Merryweather followed him, with +just one good-night glance at the sleeping form of his +old shipmate, Bob. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0106"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VI. +<br><br> +SUMMER MORNING ON A NORFOLK BROAD. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "The coot was swimming in the reedy pond,<br> + Beside the water-hen so soon affrighted;<br> + And in the weedy moat the heron, fond<br> + Of solitude, alighted.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem2"> + "The moping heron, motionless and stiff,<br> + That on a stone as silently and stilly<br> + Stood, an apparent sentinel, as if<br> + To guard the water lily."—TOM HOOD.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Our little hero, Tom, was early astir next +morning. In fact he was up with the +lark. High up, too; for his first act, +after sluicing his sleepy face in a bucket +of water, and drying off with a rough +brown towel, was to swarm up into the +crow's nest and have a look around. +</p> + +<p> +The morning was bright and clear, and the beach +was swarming with country people; but there was no +sign of the government vessel or of the yawl she had +gone in pursuit of. Not content with scanning the +horizon from the crow's nest, Tom must needs climb up +as high as the cross-trees, and take observations from +that coign of vantage. +</p> + +<p> +The wind had gone down to the gentlest breeze, but +a heavy sea still rolled over the sands, and broke in +white surging waves upon the beach. From where he +stood, or rather hung, Tom could easily hear the boom +or roar of each mountain breaker, keeping up a kind of +deep bass to the screaming of the sea birds that floated +near him. +</p> + +<p> +The sun had only just risen, and was flooding the +ocean with a strange yellow light, while bars of silvery +and crimson clouds lay parallel with the horizon, even +far away to the west. +</p> + +<p> +It was indeed a lovely morning, one to make a +person feel as light and happy as the birds that sang +in every bush or thicket. But nevertheless a wave of +sadness passed over the boy's heart as he thought of +the drowned men who lay so quiet and still upon the +sands out yonder, and of their friends and relations +who were left to mourn. +</p> + +<p> +It somehow seemed to Tom unnatural that so much +of sorrow should mingle with the gladsomeness of this +sunny summer's day. He had yet to learn that all the +world and all our lives are made up of light and shade, +and that even in the midst of life we are in death. +</p> + +<p> +But as he walked homeward now over the rustic +bridge, he checked the song that rose to his lips. He +would not sing, with dead men lying unburied on the +sands of Yare. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to Tom that this morning would take a long, +long time to pass by. He got his books, and went with +Meg to the little summer-house by the lake, and tried +hard to settle down to the tasks Mr. Curtiss, his kindly +tutor, had set him to perform. But all in vain; so he +left the books on the garden seat, putting a stone over +them lest a spiteful puff of wind might blow the +leaves about. Then "Come on, Meg," he cried, "we'll +go for a row." +</p> + +<p> +"Wouff—ff," barked Meg, and away they went. +</p> + +<p> +For a boy of his years Tom was wonderfully well +developed, and when he stripped off his jacket and +rolled up his sleeves, the white forearm he showed +seemed as hard and round as the backstay of a gun-brig. +</p> + +<p> +Meg sat forward in the bows of the little boat, with +her forelegs leaning over the gunwale that she might +bark at the fish and the birds, and make brave +pretence that she meant to jump over and catch +them. +</p> + +<p> +By-and-by Tom came to a winding worm of a stream +or lead that he had some difficulty in navigating his +craft through, but he managed at last, and soon found +himself afloat in one of the most beautiful of all the +Norfolk broads. +</p> + +<p> +The lake was a deep one, and not only plentifully +encircled with tall, reedy bulrushes, but in many +places lined with "wild woods thickening green," and +banks whereon grew the most lovely of wild flowers. +Tom paused often that he might inhale the +early-morning perfume of these wildlings of nature, and +watch the movements of the numerous birds that had +their homes on this peaceful broad. +</p> + +<p> +And not a bird is there among them all that seems +very much afraid of the boy in his little boat or of Meg +either. Perhaps the birds know Tom, for wild creatures +are very observant, and know too that neither he nor +that gentle-faced collie will do them any harm. Indeed +Meg has dropped her bonnie head upon her paws, and +appears to have gone fast asleep. +</p> + +<p> +The sky above is very blue, albeit a fleece-white +cloud is floating here and there, and the waters of this +still lake are very dark, yet clear. How richly, softly +green is the foliage on yon cloudland of trees, how +tender the tints of verdure on the rustling, whispering +reeds. Look at the pink on that flowering +rush, to which a reed-warbler is clinging as it sings +its low, sweet lilt. Only for a few moments does it +cling there, however. It is far too busy to spend all +the morning in song, for the pretty thing has a grass +hammock of a nest swung between some reeds close to +the bank. No boy in the neighbourhood knows where +that nest is save Tom, and he won't touch it, but he +marvels while he admires the freak of nature that has +almost surrounded the birdie's hammock with the bells +of the pink convolvulus. +</p> + +<p> +Hark! there is a nightingale trilling its heaven-taught +song in a thicket not many yards away. How +sharp and clear is every note, and yet how pathetic and +mournful are the lower ones! But presently the bird +ceases to sing, for he too has a mate sitting close at the +foot of a bush in a nest so artfully disguised as hardly +to be discerned, and this little mate needs her breakfast +of succulent slugs and beetles. +</p> + +<p> +"Cheeky—cheeky—chee—chee—chee," sings the +sedge bird, who has far too much to say, and instead +of listening reverently to the song of the nightingale, +the thrush, or the blackbird, must needs put his oar +in and throw harmony quite out of joint. But there +are many other birds that do the same, for each and +all sing for their own mates only. +</p> + +<p> +Very quietly now glides Tom's little boat; very still +the boy sits too, fascinated as it would seem by the +beauty of his surroundings, and as if afraid to disturb +the privacy of the lovely feathered creatures whose +home he has invaded. +</p> + +<p> +He almost holds his breath as a pair of dark-plumaged +coots with white brows go quietly sailing past ahead +of him, gazing at him with their expressive beads of +eyes, but ready to start off at the slightest movement +on his part. A little way farther on are a family of +charming water-hens, that go paddling and nodding on +across the deep dark water, so intent on their own +business that hardly do they notice the slowly-gliding +boat. +</p> + +<p> +But Meg lifts her head to look about her and take +her bearings, and off scurry the coots; the water-hens +too take alarm, and in a moment more all have sought +the shelter of the whispering reeds. +</p> + +<p> +More birds take the alarm here and there among +the sedges; and in the water there is plashing and +whirring and diving, while, uttering a sound that is +partly a croak and partly a cry, a great heron, that +had previously been standing as still as a statue on +the edge of a bank, goes sailing away high in air. +</p> + +<p> +Tom lies on his oars now, and in a few minutes +peace and repose is once more restored to the +reed-bound brood. +</p> + +<p> +"Meg," says Tom quietly, "you just go to sleep there +please, or at least pretend to." +</p> + +<p> +Meg shuts one eye and gives one little wag of her +tail, and the boat forges slowly ahead. Tom pulls +more in towards the edge now, where the flat round +leaves of the water lilies are floating, with flowers +snow-white or brilliant yellow just appearing, where +the flowering ash blooms prettily, and the orange iris +shows against the fresh green of young reeds. +</p> + +<p> +Though it is very early in the morning, the sun is +gaining power, and busy among the gnats and midges +that dance over the water and over the whispering +reeds, filling the air with their dreamy humming, flit +and fly the swallows and martins. They even touch +the surface at times, long enough to drink or have a +little bath, then off and away again, like chips of +lightning with the sunlight on their wings. +</p> + +<p> +Tom lands at last among soft green moss, among +many a budding alder, many a silvery drooping, dwarf +birch-tree, and many a feathery fern. He warns Meg +that she is not to follow, but only lie and watch, while +he goes wading over the marsh. Oh, what beauty and +loveliness on every side! Oh, what a wealth of wild +flowers! Yonder is a bush of yellow furze, and a +rose-linnet's nest is there. The cosy wee mother sits still +on the eggs even when Tom peeps in under her scented +golden roof-tree, but the cock-bird that erst sang so +sweetly on that bush of sallow changes his notes to +a peevish cry of alarm. +</p> + +<p> +Not a nest of any kind of bird that Tom does not +know where to seek and find; the titlark's and skylark's +near tussocks; the yellow bunting's in the low, close +thorn or bank; the sedge-bird's, with its warm wee eggs +and even nests of snipe, and coot, and teal—all are +known to him, but all are sacred. +</p> + +<p> +The boy spends fully an hour roaming around here; +but, getting very hungry, he begins to retrace his steps +at last, yet not before he has culled a bouquet of the +choicest wild flowers, the flowers that uncle Bob loves +best. +</p> + +<p> +In his way back to the boat Tom goes round by a +patch of woodland, a closely-planted thicket of pines, +the tasselled larch, the dark-nodding fir, and the sombre +spruce, each branch of the latter bedecked with points +of tenderest green. He has to pass a reedy pond, +when, as he stoops to gather some pink silenes, he +startles a wild duck that with outstretched wings goes +whirring over the water; there is a wagtail nodding +to him on the opposite bank. High in the air the +skylark sings, from bushes near come the babbling +notes of sedgelings, and soaring over the marsh he can +just distinguish a mire-snipe, its intermittent cries +sounding like bleating of a goat. He crosses a green +bog that moves and heaves under his footsteps, as if +ocean waves were all beneath. And now he enters +the thicket, and a different kind of bird-song falls on +his listening ear—the mellow notes of the blackbird, +the sweet wild lilt of the chaffinch, the mocking voice +of the mavis, and the low mournful love-croodle of +the cushat. +</p> + +<p> +Tom walks through this woodland as solemnly as +if he were in church. He is almost awed by all the +beauty and loveliness he sees around him, and actually +sighs as he stands once more in the open, with the +waters of the reedy broad spread out before him like +a mirror, and only the blue unfathomable sky above. +He reaches the boat at last. +</p> + +<p> +The boat is there right enough, the painter tied to +the alder bush just as he left it, but Meg has gone. +While he is wondering what could have induced her +to leave her post, he hears her glad bark in the distance, +and next minute she comes bounding over the marsh +towards him. +</p> + +<p> +But not alone, for behind her, laden with a huge +and sadly-disorganised bunch or wisp of wild flowers, +comes a little blue-eyed lassie. So large are her eyes, +so small her rosebud of a mouth, that, with her hair +all afloat behind her as she runs, she might easily be +mistaken for the good fairy of this flowery marsh. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Tom," she cries, "I'm so glad you've come'd!" +</p> + +<p> +"But, dear me, Bertha, what <i>are</i> you doing here so +early?" +</p> + +<p> +One of Bertha's legs is clothed in a pure white +woollen stocking, the foot encased in a buckled shoe; +the other leg, which, laughing roguishly, she extends +for Tom's inspection, is clad in black, slimy mud up to +the knee, and the shoe is gone. +</p> + +<p> +"Such fun," she says, panting a little. "You know, +Tom, I'se been nearly dwownded. And I screamed, +and Meg come running; but I'se lost my shoe, and +perhaps ma will punish me—perhaps not, 'cause she +loves Bertha—sometimes." +</p> + +<p> +"But I'm lost," she added, "and where my home is +<i>I</i> don't know." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Bertha," said Tom, looking very old and +serious, "I love you always, you know. And when I +grow a big rich man, with a cocked-hat and a sword, +I'll perhaps marry you—if you are good, that is." +</p> + +<p> +Bertha shook her yellow hair rebelliously. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I can't be always good," she said. "It wouldn't +be fun at all, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, jump in, Bertha, and Meg and I will take +you right to your own grounds." +</p> + +<p> +Bertha was happy now, and soon began to sing a +little song to herself and Meg. +</p> + +<p> +With the thoughts of the shipwreck on her mind, +somehow the child's singing jarred on the boy's +feelings. +</p> + +<p> +"Bertha," he said, "there was an awful thing +happened last night! A brig was knocked to pieces +on the Gorton Sands, and the dead sailors are all lying +on the beach." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, silly Tom," cried Bertha, laughing, "it isn't +my fault." +</p> + +<p> +Tom didn't know what to reply to this, and Bertha +commenced to sing again. +</p> + +<p> +But the boy and this little light-minded maiden +were very old friends indeed. For Tom was a favourite +with Lady Colmore, and was frequently invited to the +Hall, when her ladyship was there, which she usually +was during the summer and autumn, spending most of +the winter and spring in the south of England, where +her son was at college. +</p> + +<p> +Tom was a gentlemanly boy, and Mr. Curtiss had +informed Lady Colmore that there was some strange +mystery about his birth, which, however, even he was +not altogether acquainted with, though it was in some +way connected with a Jamaica marriage. But this +was quite enough. A boy of manly bearing, and big +dark eyes, evidently of gentle birth, heir, when of +age—as she had heard—to a large fortune, and with a +mystery, was a very interesting character indeed, +despite the additional surmise that his mother might +have been a Creole or half-caste. +</p> + +<p> +Bertha sprang lightly on shore when the boat was +rowed alongside the bank. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, Tom," she cried. "After breakfast me +and Brown'll bring the strawberries to your Uncle +Bob, and then we can all go and see the rows upon +rows of dead men. Such fun! Good-bye." +</p> + +<p> +Next minute Bertha, with her yellow hair and +shoeless foot, had disappeared, and Tom, after a +moment or two of thoughtfulness, made all haste +back home. +</p> + +<p> +In half-an-hour, or a little over, he had once more +moored his boat. Then he hurried away aloft again +to scan the horizon. +</p> + +<p> +Yes, yonder was the sloop—the something naughty +in disguise—she was tacking slowly up to windward, +still about seven or eight miles off, and there was no +yawl near her, so she had not won the race. +</p> + +<p> +This was news to carry to Captain Merryweather, +anyhow. +</p> + +<p> +He found that bluff, good-natured sailor walking +about on the gravel path smoking, early though it +still was. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh," said Tom, saluting him military fashion, "I'm +so sorry to bring you bad news, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Bad news, youngster? What is it?" +</p> + +<p> +"Well, your sloop, sir—if she <i>be</i> a sloop, sir—is in +sight, and she hasn't caught the yawl!" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, never mind, Tom! Better luck next." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir," said Tom. "I hadn't thought of that, sir." +</p> + +<p> +Ruth now came blushing and smiling to call the +captain to breakfast, and he gallantly took her hand +and led her back to the cottage. +</p> + +<p> +They breakfasted in Uncle Bob's wing, so that he +might join in the conversation. +</p> + +<p> +And breakfast was not long over when Bertha and +her maid Brown came in with that basket of beautiful +strawberries for Uncle Bob. +</p> + +<p> +"What a charming little lady!" said Merryweather, +who had been looking at Bertha. Like most sailors, he +was fond of children. "Come hither, dear, and talk +to me." +</p> + +<p> +Bertha seemed used to obey, for she came at once, +and stood demurely by his side. This pensiveness of +hers, however, did not last long. She and the captain +were soon the best of friends, and he on his part hardly +knew which to admire most, her beauty or her +candour. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know," he said laughing, "you are very +pretty, Bertha?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, yes!" she answered, her head a little on one +side, "I know well enough, but mamma says people +are not to tell me so." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, dear?" +</p> + +<p> +"Cause it spoils me, of course." +</p> + +<p> +"Ma doesn't spoil me. No! Everybody else spoils +me, though." +</p> + +<p> +Then she noticed the scar on Merryweather's brow, +and touched it tenderly with her little forefinger. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you been fighting with the cat?" she asked +innocently. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, dear; a big disagreeable old cat." +</p> + +<p> +Seeing her gazing admiringly at the big bunch of +seals that dangled from his fob, he pulled out his gold +watch and placed the whole in her lap. +</p> + +<p> +"Is all this yours?" she asked wonderingly. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, <i>petite</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"Your own <i>own</i> yours?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, my own own." +</p> + +<p> +"And your mamma doesn't take them away, and say, +'By-and-by, dear, when you're grown up'?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, my mamma lets me do as I like." +</p> + +<p> +"How lovely!" She was examining the seals. +</p> + +<p> +"They shall be all yours," said the captain, "all your +own <i>own</i> yours, if you marry me." +</p> + +<p> +"All my own own mine?" Her eyes were bigger +now than ever. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, dear." +</p> + +<p> +"You see," she said thoughtfully, "I'se goin' to +marry Tom; and you is not so pretty as Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"No, he certainly has the advantage of me in good +looks; but then I have so many nice things that +Tom hasn't, you know." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, and you spoil me. Tom doesn't." +</p> + +<p> +"I daresay," she added after a pause, "I mustn't +marry both." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, no! that wouldn't be allowed in this country; +you must decide to have me or Tom." +</p> + +<p> +She looked at Tom, and she looked at the jewels. +</p> + +<p> +"I think," she said at last, "I must marry you, and +poor Tom can marry Brown." +</p> + +<p> +"Hurrah!" cried Merryweather. "What a perfect +little woman it is! Tom, you're jilted. Now, Bertha, +get on my back, and we'll go off out into the sunshine +and spend our honeymoon." +</p> + +<p> +And away they went galloping and rollicking round +the garden paths, and it was evident, from the shouts +of merry laughter, that Bertha thought very little of +her discarded lover. +</p> + +<p> +"Now," she cried at last, "let us all go and see the +lovely dead men, all in rows and rows. Hoor-ay!" +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0107"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VII. +<br><br> +THE LAUNCH OF THE "QUEEN OF THE BROADS." +</h3> + +<p> +The men saved from the wreck of the +brig on the Gorton sands were dealt +with in a very summary way indeed. +They were Englishmen all, and were +told by Merryweather that if they chose +to "volunteer" into the service of the +King and serve in the Royal Navy, they should receive +a free pardon; but if not, they must stand the consequences. +</p> + +<p> +Four of the smuggler-sailors volunteered at once +and cheerfully. The fifth was the redoubtable skipper +of the brig, a dark-haired, eagle-eyed little fellow, +little as to stature, but of powerful build, and a +Welshman by birth. +</p> + +<p> +"I refuse," he cried, "to serve your King of England. +He is not a man, but a baboon!" +</p> + +<p> +The words were scarcely out of his mouth before +Merryweather struck him straight from the shoulder, +and down he rolled on the sand. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-076"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-076.jpg" alt=""Merryweather struck him straight from the shoulder, and down he rolled on the sand.""> +<br> +"Merryweather struck him straight from the shoulder, and down he rolled on the sand." +</p> + +<p> +He got up, scowling at the lieutenant, and wiping +the blood and sand from his face. +</p> + +<p> +"Coward!" he hissed, "to treat a prisoner so. But +faugh! it was always the way with the lily-livered +Saxon. See!" he added, "you daren't do it, but for +the gold swab on your shoulder, the sword by your +side, and your hired assassins around you." +</p> + +<p> +Off went Merryweather's coat and his sword. He +flung them to Dan Brundell, who was standing +scratching his head and looking very puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +"These good fellows," he said, "will see fair play +between us. I am no longer lieutenant in the King's +service, but plain Jack Merryweather. Stand forth, +David Jones, and see how soundly a Saxon can thrash +a Welshman." +</p> + +<p> +Jones sprang upon the lieutenant almost before he +had finished the sentence. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Like mountain cat that guards its young,<br> + Full at the Saxon's throat he sprung."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +That Welshman had arms like a gorilla, and +Merryweather was all but strangled before he got +clear away. +</p> + +<p> +"Keep out of grips," shouted his own men. "Fight +fair, skipper, and good luck to you." +</p> + +<p> +He didn't mean to fight fair, however, if he could +help it; but Merryweather got in one with his left +and, figuratively speaking, knocked his man clean +over the ropes. The Welshman never had another +chance. He was no sooner up than down again. +Embracing the soft sands didn't hurt him, it is true; +but Merryweather's fists were rapidly making a +mummy of him. +</p> + +<p> +"I cave in," he cried at last. +</p> + +<p> +"That isn't enough. Do you volunteer?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do, sir," said Jones. "I've never met a harder-fisted +Saxon in my life. Shake hands, Englishman. +I volunteer on one condition." +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather began to spar again. +</p> + +<p> +"No more, thanks," said Jones, smiling grimly. "I +want to serve in your ship when you go to fight the +French. I want to be with a brave man. That is the +condition." +</p> + +<p> +"Granted," said Merryweather, coolly putting on his +coat, "and I won't forget it." +</p> + +<p> +"Neither will I," murmured David Jones; but no +one heard him except Tom. +</p> + +<p> +And just at that moment a bright idea occurred to +young Tom. Why shouldn't he also sail with +Merryweather? He determined to broach it to the kindly +officer as soon as he had an opportunity, and it was +not many weeks before this opportunity came. +</p> + +<p> +All haste was now made to ship the prisoners. +Prisoners now no longer, but brave "volunteers." The +sloop had quietly dropped anchor at the very time the +fight was going on between her commander and the +skipper of the wrecked brig. +</p> + +<p> +Before embarking Merryweather shook hands with +Dan and Ashley, thanking them most heartily for their +hospitality. Then he shook hands with Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, youngster," he said; "but just take my +advice. Don't be a sailor. Stay at home and plough +the fields; be an honest fisherman, be a gardener, a +hedger, or ditcher; but don't come to sea." +</p> + +<p> +Young Tom was astonished at his own boldness as +he made reply: "I shan't be a ditcher, nor a hedger, +nor a gardener, nor a fisherman, and I shan't plough +the fields; but I shall plough the sea." +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather laughed as he leapt into his boat. He +waved his hand again, then away he went, leaving the +people to bury the dead, and pick up the spoils of the +wreck as their reward. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Tom went off to school that day as usual, though he +was very late. But Mr. Curtiss forgave him. Yet +somehow he could not fix his attention upon either his +books or his sums; and probably, therefore, the curate +was just as glad when lessons were over as the boy was. +He went home more slowly than usual, and less joyfully. +He kept kicking the pebbles as he marched along the +road, a sure sign he was deep in thought, and the first +words he said to Uncle Bob on his return were these, +"I wonder if ever Captain Merryweather will come +again?" +</p> + +<p> +"He is sure to, my lad. He said he would call and +see us. Besides, he has an old shipmate not a great +way off." +</p> + +<p> +"What, another old shipmate as well as you, Uncle Bob?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, bless your dear heart, boy, I was only a man +before the mast when in the same craft with Mate +Merryweather, but since that time he's been in many a +ship; kicked about like a wet swab. No, Tom, his +friend is an officer and gentleman." +</p> + +<p> +"Where does he live, and what is his name?" +</p> + +<p> +"He lives, my lad, at Wells, or rather near it, at his +old father's parsonage at Burnham Thorpe." +</p> + +<p> +"And with his mother, Uncle Bob?" +</p> + +<p> +"His mother is dead, long, long ago, lad." +</p> + +<p> +"Is he as tall and pretty as Mr. Merryweather?" +</p> + +<p> +"What droll questions you ask, Tom. But I have +never seen Mr. Merryweather's friend. But I am told +that he is but a little man, and very delicate in health." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! then he isn't a hero like brave Captain +Merryweather. Oh, uncle, you should have seen how he +fought the skipper of the brig; and Mr. Jones didn't +know where to hit, and his nose and mouth were all +blood and sand. I'd like to be a hero like the captain. +What is the little man's name?" +</p> + +<p> +"Horatio Nelson, lad." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh!" said Tom. "It isn't much of a name, is it?" +</p> + +<p> +But from that moment this strange boy seemed to +regain his wonted spirits. He had something to live +for. His hero, Captain Merryweather, who thrashed +the Welshman, was coming back. Hooray! and he +should count the weeks and days till he returned. So +he went about his studies more energetically now, only +one day he told Mr. Curtiss that he must teach him all +he knew about navigation, because a sailor he meant to +be and nothing else. +</p> + +<p> +All that Mr. Curtiss <i>didn't</i> know about navigation +would have filled a big book, only he was a right good +fellow, and determined that he should at least teach +his little pupil the history of the British navy, and the +geography of the world. And I may as well say here, +that these subjects proved of great present interest to +Tom, and of future utility also. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +It was about this period of young Tom's career that +Daddy Dan completed a project he had long had in +view, to give his poor brother Bob a little more interest +and pleasure in life. Dan, it should be remembered, +was a very hard-working man, and seldom either idle +or laid up, so that the building of a private barge for +Bob was work that he could not keep steady at. +Rome, however, was not built in one day. Indeed, I +question if that ancient city was completed in two. +But "every little helps the mickle" you know, reader, +and it is surprising what a deal one can do by degrees, +and day by day. So in the merry month of June, +much to Bob's joy and Tom's delight, the barge, <i>Queen +of the Broads</i>, was all finished and ready for launching. +</p> + +<p> +Little saucy Bertha, who had made it all up again +with Tom, came with her maid Brown to the cottage +to christen the barge with a bottle of gooseberry wine +and she—the ship I mean—left the slips in grand style +and took the water like a duck, amidst the wild huzzas +and hoorays of the children and the neighbours, +who had gathered from all quarters to behold the +ceremony. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Queen of the Broads</i> was nothing much to look +at, she was square in bows and square in stern, with +no freeboard to speak of; in fact she was a kind of +punt, but so constructed that Uncle Bob's low-wheeled +cot could be run on board and on shore with the +greatest ease, and without the slightest danger. She +had a bit of a mast forward, and a little yawl mast aft, +where there was room enough for quite a party. +Moreover the barge was provided with oars and punting +poles, so it must be confessed she was pretty complete +upon the whole. +</p> + +<p> +Well, after the barge herself was launched, Bob's cot +was launched on board of her, and everything passed +off so beautifully and "lovelily," as Bertha put it, that +once more wild huzzas rose from the assembled +multitude, and Meg, barking and frantic with joy, +jumped on board, and took her place in the bows, +just like a Christian. +</p> + +<p> +Old Daddy Dan was so gratified that he couldn't +speak for some time after the cot was successfully run +on board. He just stood smiling and scratching his +head. +</p> + +<p> +Then everybody gathered round him and shook +hands, and wished him so many good wishes that the +tears rose to his eyes, and he had to swallow a big +lump in his throat before he could make any adequate +reply. +</p> + +<p> +But the day was fine, with a gentle breeze rippling +the broad, and whispering softly among the reeds, and +so with Dan at the helm sail was hoisted, and the +barge glided silently away into the open water. +</p> + +<p> +This was but a trial trip, but it was a very successful +one; everybody, including Bertha and Meg, returned +happy and hungry, and Mrs. Brundell and Ruth, met +them on the quay. +</p> + +<p> +Somebody else as well. You see it never rains but +it pours, and 'there, sure enough, with one arm round +Ruth's waist, as gallantly as you please, and waving +his cocked-hat in the air with the other, stood the +bold Captain Merryweather himself. +</p> + +<p> +You may be sure Tom was glad to see him, and +took no pains to hide his joy either, for his eyes +sparkled like farthing candles, and he turned as red +as a ripe tomato with perfect joy. +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather's "ship" was in the bay, and she had +a consort this time, no other than the smuggling yawl, +which it had taken him a whole fortnight to chase +and secure. So the gallant officer had secured not only +prize money, but several new "volunteers" for the +Royal Navy. No wonder therefore that he was +merry, or that the dinner which was partaken of on +the lawn was—as the lieutenant himself phrased +it—one of the pleasantest meals he had ever partaken of, +either on board ship or on shore. +</p> + +<p> +After dinner Tom volunteered to row Bertha and +her maid home across the broads. But the child +stipulated that Captain Merryweather should come +also, and although this was a heavy cargo for the little +boat, Tom was very glad indeed to have his hero on +board. +</p> + +<p> +Bertha had arranged her flirtations on a basis that +was eminently satisfactory from her own point of view. +When Mr. Merryweather was away at sea Tom was to +have her company, and as much of her affection as +could be spared from her pets and playthings; but +whenever the captain should arrive, then Tom was to +be, for the time being, thrown overboard. +</p> + +<p> +And with this arrangement Tom was obliged to be +content. +</p> + +<p> +Well, Mr. Merryweather, much to the boy's sorrow, +went off that very night, but promised that he would +return in about a fortnight, and then—if Mr. Curtiss +would spare him—would take Tom with him for a +trip to Wells to see +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +HORATIO NELSON. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0108"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII. +<br><br> +"STAY AT HOME, MY LAD, AND PLANT CABBAGES." +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "The Yarmouth Roads are right ahead,<br> + The crew with ardour burning;<br> + Jack sings out, as he heaves the lead,<br> + On tack and half-tack turning,<br> + 'By the d'p eleven!'"—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +It is just one hundred years to-day—June +25th, 1892—since Tom started off +with his friend Merryweather in the +saucy sloop he commanded, on a visit to +the home of the man who in future was +destined to be Britain's greatest naval hero. +The weather was fine, and the short voyage quite +uneventful. +</p> + +<p> +After they landed they had some distance to walk; +but it was early morning, and Tom Bure felt quite +equal to a journey of fifty miles—he told his friend—so +on they marched right cheerily, till they came to +the little village of Burnham Thorpe, and enquired for +the parsonage. It wasn't very far from the +old-fashioned, square-towered church, with its rather +dilapidated looking graveyard. Not a beautiful house by +any means, nor a large one either; little more, in fact, +than an old-fashioned, high-roofed Norfolk cottage, +with an additional wing to it, which latter, seeing the +large family that the clergyman, Horatio's father, +had, was very much needed indeed. +</p> + +<p> +There were plenty of trees of a sort about the place, +however, with flowers and bushes, and a rough attempt +at a lawn, and on the whole the house looked homely, +if not neat. The first to welcome Mr. Merryweather, in +the small and curiously-furnished parlour into which +he was shown, was the old parson himself. That they +had met before was evident even to Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"But, dear me, I'd hardly have known you," said +Mr. Nelson. "Time works such wonders, and, you see, +it has turned me pretty grey. Ah! well, we've got to +work in this world; we'll rest in the next. You'll +stay to dinner, of course. Horatio? Yes; and you'll +find him in the garden doing a bit of work. No, poor +lad, he is far from well, and he frets and fumes and +worries so, I wonder he is alive or so healthy as he is. +You'll find him if you go round. And this bold little +man?" +</p> + +<p> +"A boy whom Horatio will be glad to see for +the sake of old times. He is determined to go to +sea." +</p> + +<p> +"Go to sea, eh! Well, I pity him. Better a +millstone were placed about his neck, and he were cast +into it. But there, I shan't say a word to discourage +the youth." +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather laughed, and went away to look for +Horatio. They had not to walk far to find him. In +an old coat he was; old shoes, old everything, and +looking very serious over his work of digging and +raking some ground from which potatoes had been dug +in order to stick a few cabbages in. +</p> + +<p> +"Shall I run down and ask that old gardener +fellow," said Tom, "where the lad is?" +</p> + +<p> +"What lad?" said Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +"The sailor. The lad his father spoke about." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, that's our hero. That's the boy himself. +What ho, there, Horatio! What cheer, my hearty?" +</p> + +<p> +Nelson turned towards them, pitched away his spade, +and ran up to shake hands with Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +A bright smile lighted up his whole face as he did +so. Not a smile from the lips alone, for it went +curling up round his large and expressive eyes, and +seemed to change the contour of his whole countenance. +</p> + +<p> +"Come and sit down, Jack, and sniff the roses. I +heard you had been cruising round here, and doing all +sorts of nasty things to our bold boys of Norfolk, who +can neither get a drop of good rum nor a pinch of snuff +for you. There you are; bring yourself to anchor. +I'll sit on the tub." +</p> + +<p> +"So you expected me?" +</p> + +<p> +"Half-expected you. You always were such an +erratic customer, you know, Jack, that I couldn't be +sure of you. Seen my wife? No. Father's failing, +isn't he? Ah! it hurts me to see it. His companionship, +even more than that of my dear wife, is what +partially reconciles me to this life of inactivity. Mind, +I say more than my wife's society only for one reason—the +young you may meet again, you know; but the +old, ah! never." +</p> + +<p> +Nelson kept rattling on, as Merryweather afterwards +called it, without giving him much chance of putting +an oar in. He would ask questions, and then answer +them himself supposititiously, and go from one subject +to another as quickly as he sometimes put his ship +about in action. +</p> + +<p> +"Egad, Merryweather!" he continued. "After all, +you must consider yourself a very lucky fellow. +While you are bounding o'er the ocean blue, chasing +herring-boats, I'm doomed to—to plant kale. It is +hard—hard—hard, after all I've done." +</p> + +<p> +Here his brows were lowered, and his face became +set and stern. +</p> + +<p> +"But I have enemies at head-quarters, Jack." +</p> + +<p> +"I think, Nelson," said Merryweather, getting in a +sentence edgeways, "your greatest enemy is influence, +or the want of it." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, yes, that's it, I do believe. I'm but a humble +parson's son. I possess few if any great friends. +Merit alone isn't worth a cabbage-stump. Your +lordling, your duke or duckling, your moneyed scoundrel, +your toady, your pimp, can walk into good positions, +while honest men like myself are left to shiver in the +cold. Come, we must change the subject, or I'll get +angry and kick over the tub. I even wrote to the +Admiralty to appoint me to the command of a +cockle-boat, but—no. +</p> + +<p> +"Heaven save me from my friends," continued +Nelson bitterly. +</p> + +<p> +"Your friends, Horace?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, my friends. Not men like your honest self, +Jack, but those old-wife fellows, who, by a few careless +words, after dinner, for instance, can do more harm to +a man under the guise of friendship than volumes of +abuse could do. Ah, Jack Merryweather, I've known +a tiny spark light a bigger conflagration than a red-hot +shot. Why, it was only a day after my marriage that +a friend fired off the following remark: 'Poor Horatio +Nelson! Married and done for. And this marriage +loses to the navy one of the brightest and most +promising ornaments. It is a national loss, for +otherwise he might have become the greatest man in the +service.' +</p> + +<p> +"But, Jack, did my marriage prevent my activity? +Did it not rather increase it, just as it did my +happiness? Did I not save to my government and +my country over a million sterling by exposing in the +West Indies the devilments of contractors and +prize-agents who were robbing right and left? +</p> + +<p> +"Burn and sink 'em, Jack; but I'd——." +</p> + +<p> +"Horatio!" +</p> + +<p> +"What, you here, Fanny?" +</p> + +<p> +It was his wife who stood smiling behind him. He +laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, and his whole +demeanour altered in a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"There!" he cried, "I'm glad you've come. Entertain +my friend Jack Merryweather—Jack, my wife—till +I dig away my wrath. These cabbages ought to +go in." +</p> + +<p> +Not only was Jack himself, but even little Tom, +amused at the way Nelson now threw the earth about. +He seemed burying old sores and paying off old scores. +Finally he planted the cabbages, handling them +meanwhile as tenderly as if they had been living, sentient +human beings. Then he came back his smiling old +self to his tub, beside Jack Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +"What a peevish old hulk you must think me, +Jack!" he said; "but then, you see, I'm not over +well; for really my activity of mind preys upon this +poor, puny bit of a body of mine, because it is the +only fuel within its reach. But who is this modest +but wondering young lad?" +</p> + +<p> +"A sailor born, Nelson." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope not." +</p> + +<p> +"And I hope not too," said Mrs. Nelson. "He +is far too handsome a boy to be wasted on the +service." +</p> + +<p> +"Fanny! Fanny! look at me. Behold the Herculean +proportions of this husband of yours, thrown like +pearls before the pigs." +</p> + +<p> +"Horatio," said his wife, "I won't have you kick +over the tub again, so beware, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Come hither, youngster." +</p> + +<p> +Tom went over and stood beside Britain's future +hero, and Nelson kindly took his hand and held it as +he looked him in the face. Tom never winced. +</p> + +<p> +"I believe you're a brave boy, and I hope not a bold +one; but who is he, Jack?" +</p> + +<p> +"You've heard speak of Miss Raymond?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes. Old Tom Bure wrote me about her, and +said he was going to marry the most beautiful woman +in all creation." +</p> + +<p> +"And so he did," said Jack. "I was all aflame in +that quarter too; but Tom wed her. Poor Tom is +dead. Died on this very coast." +</p> + +<p> +"And this is young Tom?" +</p> + +<p> +"That is young Tom. Now, as an old sailor, give +him a word of good advice." +</p> + +<p> +"Stay at home, my lad, and plant cabbages." +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather laughed heartily, though Tom felt +ready to cry. But his friend came to his rescue. +</p> + +<p> +"He won't thank you for that advice, and +between you and me, Horace, there are signs in the +air that tell me your days of cabbage planting are +nearly numbered." +</p> + +<p> +"You think I'll be put under the ground myself then?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, not planted that way, but planted on the +quarter-deck of a jolly ship of war." +</p> + +<p> +"Wouldn't I make it hot for the enemy if I were. +But it's too good to come true." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, if I turn out a correct prophet, will you +remember this boy?" +</p> + +<p> +"If he comes to a ship that I command I'll be his +friend for your sake, Jack." +</p> + +<p> +"Aha! Horace, perhaps Jack will be there himself, +then you'll have two to look after." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Jack, I'll show you both some fun, if the +Frenchmen will but give us a chance." +</p> + +<p> +"Never fear about the chance, my friend. It is +coming; there is something in the air." +</p> + +<p> +"You smell powder, then?" +</p> + +<p> +"I do, and shot as well." +</p> + +<p> +"So glad you've come, Jack. Come along, Tom. +Merryweather, just give Fanny a convoy. Tom and +I want to have a talk. Go right away in and tell +father to commence carving. I'm going to show Tom +a flower." +</p> + +<p> +Ten minutes after the boy came in with a beaming +face, and behind him, looking contented and happy, +walked Horatio Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +Tom forgot to tell his friend Jack Merryweather +what Nelson had said to him, but all the way back to +the shore that evening he could speak of no one else +except the coming hero. +</p> + +<p> +"He is such a dear, nice, good man," he said more +than once, "and I don't care a bit for Bertha now. +That sailor gentleman is so brave and good! But, +Captain Merryweather, you must tell me his story. I +know he has a story, because he has been fighting, and +been at the North Pole too. He said he ran away from +a great bear; but I don't believe that. He was laughing +when he said it." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Tom, when next we go on the barge with +Uncle Robert, I promise you I'll tell you Nelson's +story; all, at least, that there is of it as yet." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0109"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IX. +<br><br> +HORATIO NELSON'S EARLIER DAYS. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> +"The child's the father of the man." +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The broad or lake on the banks of which +Dan Brundell's property stood in days +of old has diminished considerably in +size since then; but even at that time +it was not very big, while the worm of +a stream, that led therefrom into the +larger and more beautiful lake, presented here and +there difficulties that militated against the easy +navigation of the barge. But Dan was not a man to do +anything by halves, so he hired hands to widen the +stream wherever necessary, and they did so in less +than a week. Tom, with Ruth's assistance, was then +able to guide the barge right away into the large Decoy, +and a new life seemed to open out before Uncle Bob +from the day of his first visit thereto. He even began +to move his fingers more, and there were great hopes +that in time his cure would be complete. Mr. Curtiss's +duties were very light, and he used often to take +Ruth's place in the barge. Then the party would +embark, and on the broad itself and in the barge +Tom's lessons would be conducted; Bob listening +intently, and appearing to be quite as much edified as +the boy himself. +</p> + +<p> +And so the summer wore away, and autumn came +with its tints of yellows and browns, and its darker +and more sombre foliage for the trees. But the fine +weather continued, although there were, of course, dark, +rainy days now and then, which are to be expected +even in sunny Norfolk. +</p> + +<p> +And one fine morning, when Tom was away aloft +in the crow's nest, telling Bob, who lay below, everything +that was going on at sea, he suddenly gave vent +to a wild whoop, that would have made a Sioux Indian +bite his lips with envy. +</p> + +<p> +"The <i>Porcupine</i> is in sight, Uncle Bob. Hooray-ay!" +</p> + +<p> +Bob was quite as much pleased as Tom, for nothing +delighted him more than a talk about old times with +his quondam shipmate. +</p> + +<p> +"Are they bearing up in this direction?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Uncle Bob. On the larboard tack, with the +wind on the quarter, standing in shore-ways." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Tom, I don't think you can do better than +run and meet him. Take Meg with you; she wants +a run too." +</p> + +<p> +Within an hour Merryweather was standing by his +old shipmate's side, and the very sight of his happy +face seemed to make Uncle Bob the happiest invalid +that ever existed. +</p> + +<p> +Dan came out of the shed in his paper cap to +welcome Merryweather; Meg ran off to the house to +say that somebody had come; and Ruth herself was +very quickly on the spot; so everybody was as jolly +as jolly could be. +</p> + +<p> +After an early dinner, Bob's cot was wheeled on to +the barge, and the young folks, including Meg and +Ruth, went off to spend the afternoon on the beautiful +broad. +</p> + +<p> +The sun was shining very brightly to-day, and an +awning was stretched across the middle part of the +barge. She was anchored in a cosy corner, close to +the tall whispering reeds. Merryweather lit his pipe. +Tom sat down beside Uncle Bob and lit his for him, +while Meg and Ruth curled up in the bows. Then +there was silence for the interminably long space of +fifteen seconds. +</p> + +<p> +"What are you all waiting for?" asked Merryweather, +"and all looking at me for?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why," answered Tom, "you said you would tell us +all you know about Nelson, you know, who is going +to thrash the French, with—with my assistance." +</p> + +<p> +"Bravo, Tom!" cried Bob, "you're made of the +right stuff." +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +HORATIO NELSON'S EARLIER LIFE. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Merryweather, "no one in the service +has been more talked about than my friend Horatio. +Nobody who knows him can help liking him, and yet, +I believe, it is his friends who have caused him to be +overlooked so far. All I know about him has not +been gleaned from any one source, but from dozens, +but being interested in my friend, I have tried to +winnow the chaff of untruth from the solid grains +of fact, and it is these I'm going to serve out to +you." +</p> + +<p> +"Well done!" cried Uncle Bob. "You were always +a regular reefer at spinning a yarn, mate. So heave +round. Cheerily does it, Mr. Merryweather!" +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Merryweather, "be that as it may, I +first knew Horatio Nelson when my grandmother took +me to that same old-fashioned village of Wells, Tom, +where you and I went the other day, though there +weren't quite so many houses there then. We went +from Cromer in a fishing-boat, and a rough sail I mind +we had. But this was nothing to me. I was a regular +sailor even then, and I wasn't five years of age. I'm +not sure that the rector of Burnham Thorpe wasn't a +distant relation of grandma's; anyhow, I know the +family were very good to us, and I know something +else, namely, that Horatio's father turned out of his +own room that we might have it. There was but little +ceremony in the Rectory; but plenty to eat, without +a superfluity of dainties. That didn't trouble me in +those days; why, I could have eaten a seagull. +</p> + +<p> +"Horatio would be about ten at the time of my visit, +for he is a good five years older than I am. But he +wasn't much of a chap, and I couldn't help thinking, +young as I was, that his grandmother—for he had a +grandma as well as myself—spoiled him. My +grandmother didn't spoil me; but she often spanked me. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, poor lad, he had only recently lost his +mother—about a year before, or thereabout—and this loss, I +think, was the hardest blow to the rector ever he had. +His family was a big one; eleven, if I remember +rightly, and the majority sons. Rough and right +boys they were, and though Horatio was delicate, +there wasn't a bit of the girl about him. He was as +fond of a joke as any lad in creation; but always +tender towards the inferior animals. How he would +have adored a dog like Meg there, for instance! +</p> + +<p> +"I went to school at North Walsham two years after +this, and found young Nelson there. He hadn't +grown much; but he was tough—tough as regards +enduring pain. He had many a thrashing; but he +would purse up his mouth, lower his brow, and never +cry a bit. Our flogger was called Jones, and I need +hardly say he was a Welshman. The only revenge we +could take upon Jones—or rather the bigger boys, for +being but a nipper I shouldn't include myself—was +pretending he couldn't hurt us. That used to make +the Welshman wild. +</p> + +<p> +"Geography, maps, and stories from history, were +young Horace's chief delight in those days. In the +house I mean; out of doors or away on the marsh and +moor, hunting for birds' nests, it was quite another +thing. He seemed born to live in the fresh air, and +I'm sure that it was doing him an injustice and +stunting his growth to keep him poring over old musty +books so constantly. +</p> + +<p> +"I used to visit at the Rectory pretty often after +this, and Horatio's grandmother had always something +to tell about him, that redounded to his credit. But +she never told the same story twice the same. +</p> + +<p> +"'Horace is such a brave lad,' she would say, 'I +don't believe he knows what fear is!'" +</p> + +<p> +"And she would go on to exemplify this in a dozen +different ways. 'And he is a God-fearing boy too,' +she would add. +</p> + +<p> +"This last I could well believe. His father is one +of the most simple-minded Christians I ever met. +His faith is like that of a little child. +</p> + +<p> +"But about his not knowing what fear was I always +had my doubts. However, there was one boy whom +Horace had invited to the Rectory for a few days, and +who used to spin wonderful yarns to the old lady about +her grandson's pluck and courage. But he rather +overdid the thing, and he didn't always blend piety with the +bravery he imputed to Horace. For instance, he told +his grandma that at Downham Market, where he +and Horace were at school, there was a nasty snarly +old woman who used to paddle through the muddy +streets on high pattens, knitting stockings and mumbling +to herself. The boys used to imitate her, when off +would come one of the pattens, which she threw like +a boomerang, and always hit some of them. But one +day Horace, who happened to be in the crowd, coolly +picked up the patten, and marching home with it put +it in the fire. The old creature had to limp to her +house in one patten, and she never threw another. A +very limp yarn, I thought, and one that was so little +appreciated that Horace was told not to bring that +lying boy back again to the Rectory. +</p> + +<p> +"Of course, all brave, good boys rob an orchard, +because the others are afraid; and, of course, they never +eat any of the apples themselves. Oh, no! Whenever, +Tom, you hear a story of this kind, you are safe +enough to put it down as a grandmother's yarn. +</p> + +<p> +"Independent, however, of my friend Horatio's love +of freedom and stories of the sea, he was a thinking +lad, and he couldn't but notice that his father had +more than enough to do in supporting so large a family +in a semi-genteel way. He thought of this, and made +up his mind to go to sea. If he couldn't go as a +young officer he would go as a cabin boy, in the +old-fashioned style. But he had an uncle in the navy—a +rough and right true blue sailor, Captain Suckling—and +Horace induced his father to write to him in his +behalf. +</p> + +<p> +"The reply came pat enough, and I have seen it. +'What on earth has poor little Horatio done,' the letter +ran, 'so weak a boy that he, above all the rest, should +be sent to rough it out at sea? Well, let him come, +and the very first time we go into action a cannon-ball +may knock his head off, and so at once provide for +him.'" +</p> + +<p> +"There was a rough kind of jocularity in this; but +for all that Captain Suckling was a kindly-hearted +man. +</p> + +<p> +"And now, young Nelson was destined for the +sea. He had only to wait. He returned to the +Walsham school, and in the spring of 1771, one +miserable, drizzly morning—such a morning as gives +one the shivers to think of getting up—a man came +from the Rectory to take poor Horace away. +</p> + +<p> +"Were those tears, I wonder, in his eyes, as he said +'good-bye' to us all? I think they were, and I know +that as he got together his small belongings he did not +speak much, and was so nervous that some of us helped +him; but I'm sure we didn't envy him. +</p> + +<p> +"His ship was the <i>Raisonnable</i>, 64 guns, his captain +Maurice Suckling, and Horace was rated as middie. +To add to his small outfit, and see him on the way, his +father went with him as far as London, then the poor +boy had to bundle and go all by himself to Chatham, +off which his ship was lying. +</p> + +<p> +"Horace has told me that the misery of arriving in +that strange, busy port, all friendless and alone, was +about the most acute ever he suffered in his life. +There were scores, ay hundreds, of ships there, +hundreds, ay thousands, of bluejackets and marines +in the slushy streets, revelling, drinking, brawling, and +fighting. He was hustled by dockyard-men, he was +mocked and laughed at by women of the bare-headed +class; cold, damp, and hungry, yet no one knew or +cared where the <i>Raisonnable</i> lay. When he asked some +sailors if they knew Captain Suckling, they suggested +his standing a flowing can and they'd soon find out. +</p> + +<p> +"Young Horace was hesitating what to do, when a +stern voice shouted, 'Gangway, lads.' The men saluted +and made room at once, and here, with his sword under +his arm, stood a tall naval officer. +</p> + +<p> +"'Captain Suckling, my boy? I know him well. +Come along with me.' +</p> + +<p> +"He led poor hungry Horace, not to his ship, but to +his own quarters in the dockyard, and gave him a good +dinner, asking him many questions about his life in +the country, his father and brothers and sisters. He +finished off by saying— +</p> + +<p> +"'Well, whatever brings some boys to sea I can't +tell, though I was a boy myself once upon a time. +Never mind, lad, I'll see you off, else the rascally +boatmen will cheat you.' +</p> + +<p> +"The <i>Raisonnable</i> lay well off in the middle of the +tideway, and braced up by the good dinner he had +eaten, he began to think a sailor's life was just the +thing for him after all. Besides, with her frowning +red-muzzled guns, her tall and tapering spars, and +spider-web of rigging, the frigate was a noble sight. +Then there were the neatly-arranged hammocks over +the bulwarks, a flash of crimson here and there, and +here and there the glitter of a bayonet. +</p> + +<p> +"Horace got in over the port or larboard side, up a +rope ladder, and his box was hauled up after him. +</p> + +<p> +"Then he stood there, alone in a crowd, for many an +interminably long minute. No one took any more +notice of him than if he'd been a bag of biscuit. Nor +did Horace know what to do, or what to say, or whom +to address. +</p> + +<p> +"He spoke to a man in a dark blue jacket at last, +and called him 'sir.' It was only the doctor's servant, +but he answered him kindly, and in due time he found +his way to the cock-pit, and was afterwards bundled +into his own mess—the gunroom. +</p> + +<p> +"Captain Suckling did not join for days after this, +so Horace had to fight his first battles single-handed. +Bloodless battles no doubt they were, for Horace was +but a weakly lad at this time, and but ill able to play +that game of fisticuffs which, Tom, I think you will +admit I played with some skill that day when the +Welsh giant, David Jones, challenged me to mortal +combat on the sands of Yare. +</p> + +<p> +"No, poor Horace at this time, you must remember, +was only newly cut loose from his grandma's apron-strings. +But, Bob, your pipe is out. Tom, my hearty, +light Uncle Bob's pipe before I put another spoke in +the wheel." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0110"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER X. +<br><br> +"I WILL BE A HERO, AND TRUSTING TO PROVIDENCE<br> +BRAVE EVERY DANGER." +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Avast! nor don't think me a milksop so soft<br> + To be taken, for trifles, aback;<br> + For they say there's a providence sits up aloft,<br> + To look after the life of poor Jack."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"There is one trait in my friend Horatio's +character," continued Mr. Merryweather, +"that I think is prominent enough, and +that is decision. Mind you, Tom, lad, +I like it in a certain way, but it may +lead one wrong at times. But nevertheless, +it is better to leap than flounder in a bog, +and if you've got to do a thing there's no time +like the present. If ever Horace <i>did</i> rob an +orchard—and I rather think he did more than once—I feel +certain he didn't hang about long before commencing +operations, that he didn't wait to see whether the +farmer's wife was having a walk in the garden, or +whether Bouncer, the dog, was tied up or not. No, +Horace is a bad hand at waiting. He wasn't long +in the navy, however, before he found out it was +pretty nearly all waiting, that the youngsters or +griffins had to wait on their elders, and the elders to +wait on those older still. Even the captain himself +has to wait, and very often in vain, for promotion. +Horace, poor fellow, expected to find as much courtesy, +sympathy, and kindness in the behaviour towards +each other of the junior officers of ships in the navy +as was displayed among his brothers in his happy and +well-regulated home. Alas! he was sadly disappointed. +He found roughness and brutality displayed on deck, +between decks, fore and aft, and a good deal in the +wardroom as well as in the gunroom. If he expected +to meet with young gentlemen full of zeal for the +service, burning with a desire to serve their king and +country, or even to die, if need be, for their fatherland +on the blood-stained battle-deck, he was terribly +disappointed. If he expected even to find naval affairs +discussed at all in his mess, again he was disappointed. +If ambition dwelt in the hearts of the young fellows +he found around him, they kept it to themselves. It +was every man or lad for himself, and 'hang the +service'; 'hang superior officers'; 'hang etiquette'; +'hang fine language'; 'hang—hang everything'; only +let the beef and the biscuit have a fair wind, and if +anybody smaller wanted the beef first, let him wait or +have a dig in the eye. <i>Meum</i> and <i>tuum</i>? There were +no such words, except in the Latin dictionary. If you +had anything to eat, <i>I</i> must have a bit, if 't were +only an oyster, that is, if I were bigger than you, or +harder in the shell and in the fist. +</p> + +<p> +"So Horace, who was really a tender-hearted +boy, although ambitious, saw nothing but roughness +around him, and not a little sin. That he soon was +sick of all this goes without saying—that he was +not polluted by the filth among which he had fallen +is a marvel, but he never did forget his father's +teaching, nor the prayers he had learned at his +mother's knee. +</p> + +<p> +"When my friend, then, joined the <i>Raisonnable</i>, +there were reasonable expectations that he would soon +see a little fighting, from the fact that the Spaniards +were cutting up rough about a certain harbour in +the Falkland Islands. Britain wanted that harbour; +Britain was a bigger boy than Spain, and a bigger +bully—always has been, and ever will be—so Britain +threatened to punch Spain's head if Spain didn't hand +over the harbour, quietly as well as quickly. Spain +did so, and after five months of waiting in the 64-gun +frigate, she was put out of commission; the boy's +uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling, was appointed to the +<i>Triumph</i> for harbour service in the Medway, and as +this did not suit Horace, who was burning to be on +blue water, his captain sent him on a voyage to the +West Indies, in a small ship commanded by John +Rathbone, who had served in the <i>Dreadnought</i> as +master's mate, until he had either got sick of the +service, or the service had got sick of him. +</p> + +<p> +"Nevertheless, it seems that Horatio got better on +with 'old Rathbone,' as he somewhat irreverently +styled him, than with his uncle Maurice, or rather +with the idle dandies on board the guardship <i>Triumph</i>. +Rathbone succeeded in making a man of him, for, +mind you, Tom, even a boy can be a man—at heart. +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps Horace roughed it considerably in +Rathbone's ship. He doesn't say much, but I'll warrant +you it was 'away aloft to reef topsails' on many a +dark and stormy night. +</p> + +<p> +"When my friend Horace returned, he was a sailor +every inch, 'every hair a rope-yarn, every finger a +fish-hook.' +</p> + +<p> +"Indeed Horatio himself says, in speaking about this +cruise in the merchant service, 'If I didn't improve +much in my education during the voyage, I came back +a practical seaman, with a horror of the Royal Navy, +and with a saying then very common among sailors, +"Aft the most honour, for'ard the best man." It was +many weeks before I got in the least reconciled to a +man-o'-war, so deep was the prejudice rooted, and the +pains taken to instil this erroneous idea in my young +mind.' +</p> + +<p> +"Well, anyhow, when Horace returned from his +delightful cruise in the West Indiaman, he came once +more under the lee of his uncle Maurice, of H.M.S. <i>Triumph</i>. +This gentleman, with most disinterested +kindness, did all he could—though for a time with +only partial success, to reconcile young Horace to +man-o'-war routine. As a reward for services done, +and attention to his duties, he was allowed to go +piloting in the decked long-boat or cutter to the +commanding officer's quarters at Chatham, and from +Chatham, sometimes round to the North Foreland, or +up stream to the Tower of London itself. +</p> + +<p> +"But Horace stuck manfully to his duties, and +gradually came to love the Royal Navy. +</p> + +<p> +"It was in the year 1773, if my memory serves me +well, that an expedition was set on foot to visit the +North Pole, or, in other words, to find out how far +north the sea was navigable in a northern direction. +</p> + +<p> +"Two ships were commissioned for this purpose, +namely, the <i>Racehorse</i>, Captain C. J. Phipps, and the +<i>Carcass</i>, Captain Lutwidge. +</p> + +<p> +"It was the <i>Carcass</i> to which, much to his joy, +Horatio was appointed. In the old <i>Triumph</i> he had +first been rated as captain's servant, then promoted to +midshipman, and it was as captain's coxswain he +joined the <i>Carcass</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"His seamanship—learned, be it remembered, in the +West Indiaman—came well to the front now. He +was permitted to take his trick at the wheel, and +steered the ship safely through very heavy ice. The +ship, however, had the misfortune to get frozen in, and +the wonder is ever she got back to tell her tale. +</p> + +<p> +"Horatio is very reticent as to his adventures in +Polar seas, but he told me that he was severely +reprimanded for disobeying orders. He followed a bear +into a position of imminent danger, for Horace not for +the bear. He says his gun missed fire, and that he +thought he might as well try to brain the beast with +the butt end. The bear seemed not at all reluctant to +be brained, for he came boldly on to meet the boy who +was to perform the operation. No doubt, this +particular bear had the utmost confidence in the +thickness of his own skull, and if a well-directed +bullet had not caused him to change his mind and +sheer away on another tack, Horace would never again +have planted cabbages in his father's garden at +Burnham Thorpe. (That bear's skin, by the way, Horatio +had meant to give to his father as a Christmas present). +</p> + +<p> +"Well, on the paying-off of the <i>Carcass</i>, which, with +her consort, got safely back to England, Horace, who, +although only fifteen, was an out-and-out able seaman, +was recommended for service to Captain Farmer of +the <i>Seahorse</i>, a smart and saucy craft of twenty guns. +He was a watch-and-watch seaman of the foretop now, +but Farmer soon recognised his ability, and so he was +promoted to the quarter-deck and made one of the +midshipmen. +</p> + +<p> +"Not only that, but he was allowed to carry on the +duty, and crack on too when he pleased—in fact he +was, to all intents and purposes, a naval officer. His +cruising ground was now the Indian Ocean and all +round about there. But in eighteen months his health +began to break down, owing, not so much to the badness +of the climate, he told me, as to the beastliness of +the beef and evil disposition of the water. +</p> + +<p> +"So he was transferred to the <i>Dolphin</i>, and in this +ship returned for a spell to his native land." +</p> + +<p> +"Not interrupting you, Mr. Merryweather," said +Bob, "mightn't you tell Tom about the gallant end +poor Captain Farmer had?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! that was sad enough, though it was gallant, +Bob," said Mr. Merryweather. "I hadn't meant to +mention it, but here goes— +</p> + +<p> +"It was on the fatal sixth of October, 1779, that +bold Captain Farmer, in the fine old frigate <i>Quebec</i>, of +thirty-two guns, sighted <i>La Surveillant</i>, off Ushant. +</p> + +<p> +"This ship carried forty guns, and was more heavily +manned, as well as more heavily metalled, than the +<i>Quebec</i>. That didn't signify to Farmer. The drum beat +merrily to quarters, and at it the two ships went +pell-mell. +</p> + +<p> +"It was a long and terrible struggle, lasting for +over three hours and a half. Both vessels were utterly +dismantled. Unfortunately in the struggle the sails +of the <i>Quebec</i>, shot down by the enemy, caught fire by +falling over the guns, and very soon the whole ship was +wrapped in flames. +</p> + +<p> +"The brave Captain Farmer however, although grievously +wounded, refused to surrender, and was blown up +with his ship, the colours flying defiantly till the last. So +that was the glorious but terrible end of poor Farmer." +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather paused here for a minute or two, +busying himself in refilling his pipe. +</p> + +<p> +No one spoke, however; for even Meg seemed to +know that his story was not finished. +</p> + +<p> +The midges danced above the quivering reeds, the +twittering martins went skimming to and fro, there +was a hum of insect life in the air, and all nature +seemed rapt in blissful content. +</p> + +<p> +"On so lovely a day," said Merryweather at last, "I +am loth to sadden my yarn by any allusion to death or +to gloom, but the truth must be told, else you, Tom, +and you, Bob, will not understand my friend Horace's +inner character, and it is the mind, you must +remember, that prompts our every action. +</p> + +<p> +"It was on board the <i>Dolphin</i>, then, on her homeward +voyage, that Horatio Nelson first learned to think. +The passage was not a pleasant one, for the ship was +badly found. There were many men ill on board +as well as Nelson, and it was the thoughts of getting +back to merry England that kept those poor fellows +hopeful and alive. +</p> + +<p> +"When one is sick and ill, especially if tossed about +on the ocean wave, one cannot help feeling both +despondent and weary. Hear what Horatio himself +says about this: +</p> + +<p> +"'I felt impressed,' he writes, 'with the idea that I +should never rise in my profession. My mind was +staggered with a view of the difficulties I had to +encounter and the little interest I possessed. I could +discover no means of reaching the object of my +ambition. After a long and gloomy reverie, in which +I almost wished myself overboard, a sudden flow of +patriotism was kindled within me, and presented my +king and my country as my patrons. "Well then," I +exclaimed, "I will be a <i>hero</i>, and, trusting to Providence +will brave every danger."' +</p> + +<p> +"That then, Tom, was the resolve my good friend +made when still a boy. The thought of being a hero +was the star that guided him on, and that will, I trust, +guide him still to victory; for that he is the coming +man I have not a doubt. +</p> + +<p> +"But, lads, I can, I think, read Horatio's mind even +better than he can do himself. You see, it was in the +hour of sickness and gloom he made this firm resolution. +He could not help remembering that he was but +of puny frame, though with a mind fitted for a far +stronger body. He might be cut down by disease at any +time. What bolder or better resolve therefore could +he make than to give his life to his king or country, +be it long, be it short. If short it were doomed +to be, the more deeds of heroism he could crowd into +it the better. 'Let us work while it is called to-day, for +the night cometh when no man can work.' These were +the words on which his father once preached a sermon, +and lying in his weary hammock Horatio remembered +them. They gave him hope, they helped to raise his +spirits, and with this new-born hope came strength and +happiness. And so far as he has had it in his power +Horatio has kept his resolve, but now that he is +lying on his beam ends at Burnham Thorpe, is it any +wonder that he chafes and fumes? He told me he felt +as if standing high and dry on a rock beholding a ship +on the sea-ridden sands, and powerless to help; for, he +added, 'Am I not witnessing the shipwreck of all my +hopes and ambition?'" +</p> + +<p> +"Pardon me, mate," said Bob, "but you've kind o' +drifted away from your story. Your friend Nelson +didn't come straight away from the <i>Dolphin</i> to his +father's parsonage. He hasn't been planting cabbages +there since '76, I'll lay a wager." +</p> + +<p> +"No, Bob, no. Thank you for bringing me up with +a round turn and holding me with a clove hitch. Just +let me, however, make one digression, Bob, and I'll go +ahead again right cheerily with my yarn. You've just +spoken, Bob, about laying a wager. When you get +well, Bob, as I trust you will, let me tell you that +the less you have to do with wagering or betting +the better. Horatio tells me that when still in his +teens he one night sat up playing cards till very late. +He thinks now that the devil must have sat by his side, +tempting him and leading him on to good luck, for +during the whole evening his winnings, and the 'devil's +picture-books' that he held in his hand, were all he +thought about. Duty, resolution, ambition itself, were +in abeyance, were far away from his thoughts. And +he rose up from the table at last, flushed and excited, +the winner of £300! 'You'll play to-morrow night, +too,' the devil appeared to whisper to him, and he +appeared to promise. +</p> + +<p> +"But with the morrow came reflection. 'Oh!' he +thought, 'what, if instead of winning, I had lost. I, +without money to pay? Horrible! I should have +been broken, ruined, disgraced, and my father—I will +never touch a card again.' +</p> + +<p> +"Nor has he, Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"You see the devil doesn't always have his own way +in this world, no matter how alluring the bait may be +that he dangles before the eyes of his would-be victims. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, young Nelson's next vessel was the +46-gun ship the <i>Worcester</i>. And with kindly Mark +Robinson as his captain, he sailed for Gibraltar across +the stormy Bay of Biscay. +</p> + +<p> +"Stormy then at all events, for the wind rose and +the billows were houses high. It was indeed a fearful +night, what with guns broken loose from their +moorings, with racing shot and shifting ballast, with +boats and bulwarks broken, with rent and riven +canvas, there were few on board who hoped to see the +morning light. +</p> + +<p> +"It had been the old, old story—a ship hurried away +to sea before things were properly stowed and everything +made ship-shape, with a half-drunken crew, and +officers wild with rage because the duty could not be +carried on as they desired it. Ah! many and many a +good ship has the stormy bay swallowed up at darkest +midnight from causes such as these. +</p> + +<p> +"But the <i>Worcester</i> weathered the storm, and Captain +Robertson was not slow in telling his officers they had +done their duty in this trying time, like Hearts of Oak +or British sailors. +</p> + +<p> +"Above all he thanked young Horatio. +</p> + +<p> +"'I shall have quite as much confidence in you in +future,' he told him, 'as in any one of my older officers, +and, indeed, I shall feel quite easy in my mind when +you are on deck. You are a man in actions if not in +years.' +</p> + +<p> +"No wonder Nelson's face glowed with pleasure and +shyness combined to hear these words of praise. +</p> + +<p> +"For, Tom, your brave man is ever shy to some degree. +</p> + +<p> +"We next find Nelson passing his examination as +lieutenant, which he did with flying colours. His +uncle, Captain Suckling, was the chief officer on the +examining board, nor did he spare his nephew. +</p> + +<p> +"At the conclusion of the examination he put the +usual question to the other officers. +</p> + +<p> +"'Are you satisfied, gentlemen?' +</p> + +<p> +"'I am more than satisfied,' said a senior. +</p> + +<p> +"'Hear, hear,' from all the others. +</p> + +<p> +"Then Horatio was called in, and informed gravely +that he had sustained the examination. +</p> + +<p> +"'And now,' added the kindly-hearted Captain +Suckling, 'let me introduce you to my nephew. My +nephew, Horatio Nelson, gentlemen.' +</p> + +<p> +"They were taken aback. +</p> + +<p> +"'But why,' they asked, 'didn't you let us know this +before?' +</p> + +<p> +"'Well,' replied the bluff old uncle, 'I was afraid +that, had I done so, you might have favoured him. I +felt convinced he would pass a good examination, and +you see, gentlemen, I have not been disappointed.' +</p> + +<p> +"Right heartily then every officer on that board +shook young Nelson by the hand, and hoped he would +be an honour to the glorious old flag under which they +all served their king and country. +</p> + +<p> +"The very next day Nelson was made second-lieutenant +of the <i>Lowestoft</i>, which after a time sailed +for the West Indies. +</p> + +<p> +"Nelson during the voyage became a great favourite +with the captain, owing to the prompt way he obeyed +all his instructions and carried on the duty. +</p> + +<p> +"One day an American privateer hove in sight, and +the first-lieutenant was ordered to board and capture +her. However, the sea was so high and stormy that he +lost heart, and returned to the frigate. The captain was +wild with rage. 'Is there,' he cried, 'an officer in this +ship who can make a prize of that letter of marque?' +</p> + +<p> +"Both Nelson and the master stepped up at the +same time. But Nelson had the honour, and honour it +proved. He not only reached the privateer, but boarded +and carried her, although the waves really were so +high that the boat was washed over the Yankee. +</p> + +<p> +"Horatio was a greater favourite now than ever +with good Captain Locker." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0111"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XI. +<br><br> +"THERE'S A STORM BREWING, AND YOU'LL BE IN IT, TOM." +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "D'ye mind me, a sailor should be every inch<br> + All as one as a piece of the ship,<br> + And with her brave the world without offering to flinch,<br> + From the moment the anchor's atrip.<br> + Even when my time comes, ne'er believe me so soft<br> + As with grief to be taken aback,<br> + For the same little cherub that sits up aloft,<br> + Will look out a good berth for poor Jack."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"The <i>Lowestoft</i>," continued Merryweather, +"arrived at Jamaica, and a proof was +given now that Captain Locker was a +true friend to Nelson. For knowing +that he was running over with zeal for +the service, he had him appointed to a +separate command. Though, had the captain consulted +his own wishes, he would much have preferred having +the bold young lieutenant with himself. +</p> + +<p> +"In the saucy wee schooner, <i>Little Lucy</i>, Nelson could +lord it on his own quarter-deck, monarch of all he +surveyed, and, in his own words, he made himself a +complete pilot of all the passages through the islands +situated to the north of Hispaniola. +</p> + +<p> +"My friend's next preferment—through the interest +of Locker—was to the third lieutenancy of the flagship +<i>Bristol</i>, under Admiral Parker. But he was after a +time promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. During +his cruise in the <i>Bristol</i>, though Nelson himself says +but little about it, he was not idle, and undoubtedly +did his share of the duty of capturing no less than +seventeen sail belonging to the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +"Then Horace was appointed to the command of an +old-fashioned, sturdy brig called the <i>Badger</i>, and was sent +off to the coast of Mosquito and Bay of Honduras, to +make it hot for the swarms of Yankee privateers that +were cruising around there on the outlook for British +shipping. +</p> + +<p> +"I fear, Bob, that if I told you how excellently well +young Nelson performed the duties required of him, +you would imagine I was trying to make my friend +too much of a hero; but if he joins our service, +Tom will soon know that the Admiralty considers the +performance of duty no act of heroism, however well +it is done. But Nelson protected the settlers on this +coast so faithfully and well, that he was not only +admired, but in reality adored by them. +</p> + +<p> +"It was while still in the <i>Badger</i>, and lying in Montago +Bay, that the <i>Glasgow</i>, a 20-gun vessel, arrived. In +about two hours' time she was wrapped in vast sheets +of flame, and it was only through the extraordinary +exertions of Nelson, aided by Captain Lloyd himself, +that the crew were saved. Nelson, in speaking of the +disaster, gives Captain Lloyd his due meed of praise. +But he deserved it. There was one man on board the +poor <i>Glasgow</i> who richly deserved flogging first and +hanging afterwards; this was the steward." +</p> + +<p> +"Was he flogged and hanged?" said Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know, lad. I expect he was flogged at the +very least. The scoundrel had gone to steal rum for +himself and mates from the after hold. He succeeded +in capsizing a cask of rum, and setting fire to it with +the purser's dip he carried. +</p> + +<p> +"Now the <i>Glasgow</i> was laden with gunpowder, and +Captain Lloyd knew that if she blew up, not only +would every one on board perish, but the magazines +and warehouses on shore would also be destroyed. He +immediately called all hands therefore, declaring that +until every cask of powder was had up and thrown +into the sea, not a man should leave the ship. +</p> + +<p> +"The crew, who dearly loved their honest Welsh +commander, obeyed his instructions, and saved +themselves and him from a fearful death. +</p> + +<p> +"Then Nelson came to the rescue, and the crew were +got off before the charred timbers sank hissing in the +waves. +</p> + +<p> +"On the 28th of April, '79, my friend Horace, in his +bold brig <i>Badger</i>, carried and captured <i>La Prudente</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Tom, I haven't time to tell you all Nelson's +brave deeds in the West Indies, and indeed I do not +remember half of them, but about this time both +France and Spain, you know or ought to know, were +at war with Britain, and what with having now no +men from America, we were not only rather +short-handed, but somewhat short of ships, and by way of +encouraging good men and officers to join the service, +Prince William Henry became a midshipman, and +many more of the scions and offshoots of nobility +followed his example. +</p> + +<p> +"Nelson received his post-captaincy, and Collingwood* +became commander of the <i>Badger</i>. Horace was +appointed to the <i>Hinchinbrook</i>, and during the cruise +with the <i>Major</i> and <i>Penelope</i> took many prizes. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* Afterwards Lord Collingwood. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"But now, at the age of twenty-one, Horace had +still higher promotion, for, as it was expected that +the French admiral, Count d'Estainy, would attack +Jamaica in force, he was appointed to the command +of the batteries of Fort Charles, at Port Royal. +</p> + +<p> +"But this bold count did nothing, and did it well. +</p> + +<p> +"Nelson's next service was one of great importance. +General Sir John Balling had formed a plan for an +expedition against Fort St. Juan, in the Gulf of +Mexico, and the sea operations were entrusted to +Horace. +</p> + +<p> +"It was the object of this expedition, by taking the +fort and obtaining command of the Rio San Juan, +running between the lake Nicaragua and the Atlantic, +to obtain possession of the cities of Granada and Leon, +and thus cut the communication of the Spaniards +betwixt their northern and southern possessions in +America. +</p> + +<p> +"My friend's duty was the conveyance of the +transports and the landing of the troops. +</p> + +<p> +"But Nelson was not to be satisfied with so simple +a share of the honour and glory of this expedition, +and both Sir John and Captain Polson, of the 60th, +testified in words of burning admiration to the great +skill and indomitable energy of poor Horace. 'He +was the first,' says Polson, 'on every service, whether +undertaken by day or by night, and hardly a gun was +pointed that was not laid by himself or by Lieutenant +Despard.'* +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* Twenty years after this, Despard was tried and executed for +high treason with six of his fellow conspirators. He was, +nevertheless, a brave and daring, though misguided man. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"It was a sad expedition this from beginning to end. +The game, indeed, was hardly worth the candle; but +Nelson was its real head. He not only landed with +the men, and led them on to death or glory, but piloted +them up the river, and took port after port from the +astonished Spaniards, and all this in a climate so +unhealthy, so rotten and malodorous, that pestilence +was a greater foe to success than the resistance offered +by the enemy. For on the march men fell dead in the +ranks, others were poisoned by water, they were short +of provisions, being forced to kill and eat monkeys, +while several were killed by serpents. Not since +the days of old Spanish buccaneering had any troops +suffered as did those with bold Nelson. He says +himself he carried troops a hundred miles up the river, +he boarded the enemies' outposts situated on an island +in the river, and made batteries and afterwards fought +them, and was a principal cause of the success that +attended our operations. +</p> + +<p> +"Was it any wonder that in a place so pestilential +fever broke out? It was fearful, Tom. I should not +talk about such things to-day, but in Nelson's ship of +200 men, 87 were seized and confined to their beds in +one night, and 145 were buried there, only ten men +surviving the terrible expedition. +</p> + +<p> +"Nelson himself was nearly dead, and but for the +kindness of Sir Peter Parker, who appointed him to +the 44-gun frigate <i>Janus</i>, at Jamaica, he would doubtless +have succumbed. But even the tender nursing of +Lady Parker and her little girl on shore was unable to +restore my friend to health, and on the first of +September, '80, he sailed for England with Captain +Cornwallis. +</p> + +<p> +"He lay ill for a year at Bath, and was then sent on +a winter's cruise to Elsinore to protect the homeward +trade. This cruise was but little relished by Horace, +who rightly thought that his service in the West +Indies, where he fought so well and so nearly lost his +life in the service of king and country, deserved +higher recognition. +</p> + +<p> +"In '82 Horace sailed with a convoy of traders for +Newfoundland, in his ship <i>Albemarle</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"One clever action out there can be laid to Nelson's +credit. It should be remembered that he was a perfect +sailor and pilot. When chased, therefore, by three of +the French ships of the line and the <i>Iris</i> frigate whilst +cruising off Boston, and finding they were coming up +with him hand-over-hand, he boldly sought the shoals. +The frigate alone could follow, and Nelson made all +preparation to fight her, but the <i>Iris</i> refused to accept +the challenge, and sheered off. +</p> + +<p> +"Horace next took a convoy to New York, and there +he joined the fleet under Lord Hood. Here he was +introduced to the Duke of Clarence—Prince William—and +each found in the other a true-blue seaman and +British sailor. +</p> + +<p> +"On the return of the fleet, Lord Hood took Nelson +to St. James' Palace, where he had the high honour of +an introduction to the King. And, to use the words +of Scripture, Tom, he found 'favour in the King's +sight,' though there wasn't much to boast of in that. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +"Peace was concluded with France in '83, and in +July of that year Nelson was placed on half-pay. +</p> + +<p> +"He next went to France—not to learn to dance +Tom, but to improve his knowledge of the language. +He, however, managed to fall over head and ears in love +with a clergyman's daughter—a Miss Andrews. Many +a ship and many a fort had my friend captured, and +now, lo and behold, he himself had to haul down his +flag to a girl. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, he would have died for her I doubt not, but +she would not marry him. She showed bad taste in +my opinion, Bob, but <i>n'importe</i>, there was happiness +in store for Horace independently of this fair girl. +Having sailed the ocean so long, no doubt he had found +out the truth of the proverb, 'There's as good fish in +the sea as ever came out of it.' +</p> + +<p> +"In France, Nelson met two naval officers, to whom +he seemed to take a dislike from the very first, for the +simple reason that they tried to keep up the dignity +of the service to which they belonged, by dressing in +a somewhat dandified fashion, and wearing epaulettes. +One of these was Captain Ball. +</p> + +<p> +"Nelson, my friend and hero, is a man of deeds, and +his hatred of vain-glory and show has ever been very +marked. We did not find him digging in his garden, +Tom, and planting cabbages, with his cocked-hat on +his head and a sword by his side." +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir," said Tom, laughing. "He would have +looked funny like that; but he wore very old clothes +indeed. He was droll." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, my lad, and when the Duke of Clarence +first saw him, he seems to have been droller-looking +still. +</p> + +<p> +"'I was,' said his Royal Highness, 'then a midshipman +on board the <i>Barfleur</i>, lying in the narrows off +State Island, and had the watch on deck, when Captain +Nelson came alongside in his barge. He appeared to +be the merest boy of a captain I had ever beheld, and his +dress made me smile. He had on a full-laced uniform, +his lank, unpowdered hair was tied in a stiff Hessian +tail of an extraordinary length, and the old-fashioned +flaps of his waistcoat, added to the general quaintness +of his figure, produced an appearance which quite +riveted my attention. I had never seen anything +like this before, and could not imagine who he was or +what he had come about. My doubts were however +removed, when Lord Hood introduced him to me. +There was something irresistibly pleasing in his +address and conversation, and an enthusiasm when +talking on naval matters, that showed he was no +ordinary being. +</p> + +<p> +"'I found him,' continued the Duke, 'warmly +attached to my father and singularly humane; indeed +he had the honour of the King's service, and independence +of the British Navy, particularly at heart. As +for prize money, such a thing never entered his +thoughts.' +</p> + +<p> +"Now, Bob, I want you to note this, my friend +Nelson, God bless his honest heart, hated dress and +foppery, and he hated Captain Ball because he was a +fop; but, as I said once to Horace, Miss Andrews +would have thought a deal more of him, had he too +donned the epaulettes and been a little less +old-fashioned, for, Bob, the ladies are attracted by gay +colours. It is nature you know. Look even at the +birds of the air, they don't care a slug how they knock +about all winter; but as soon as spring time comes, +and they go a-wooing, behold how gay and brave they +are. They know precisely when to put on their fancy +waistcoats, and when to leave them off. But <i>Nelson +didn't</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"Well by-and-by Horace was appointed to the +<i>Boreas</i>, twenty-eight guns, and sailed for Barbadoes. +</p> + +<p> +"Sir Richard Hughes was then commander-in-chief +of these colonies, but he was an easy-going commander +and did not trouble his head very much about British +interests. +</p> + +<p> +"But Nelson meant to do his duty <i>maugre</i> fear +<i>maugre</i> favour, although the big soldier men out there +did not thank him for his interference. So he seized +many vessels that he knew had no business at all to +trade in British colonies, and got persecuted in +consequence, as Horace himself says, 'from one island +to another.' +</p> + +<p> +"Out on this station Nelson met the charming +widow Nisbet, and married her. +</p> + +<p> +"Tom, the story stops here. You know pretty well +all the rest, how the <i>Boreas</i> came back in 1787 and +was paid off on the 4th of July, and how my dear +friend went on half-pay, and has been left high and +dry to fret and fume and 'rot,' as he calls it, ever +since, waiting in vain for the appointment that, it +seems to him, will never, never come. +</p> + +<p> +"Tom, look eastward, lad, there is a storm brewing, +and we better take the advantage of the cat's paws +before it breaks and get homewards." +</p> + +<p> +Tom did as he was desired, poled round the barge, +set sail and got home before the rain and high wind +ruffled the lake. +</p> + +<p> +Just as they had landed, however, and Bob's cot +was being wheeled towards his own wing of the +cottage, Mr. Merryweather touched young Tom on the +shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"Tom," he said, "look eastward, there is a storm +brewing." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Tom, "but didn't you——" +</p> + +<p> +"Didn't I tell you that before? +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, lad, but I mean it now in a figurative sense. +There is a storm brewing in the east, and you'll be in +it, I'll be in it, and brave Horatio Nelson too." +</p> + +<p> +"You mean war, sir?'" +</p> + +<p> +"I mean war, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Hurrah!" +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0112"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XII. +<br><br> +"DAN WILL NE'ER BE DAN AGAIN," THEY SAID. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "A boding voice is in my ear,<br> + "We're parting now to meet no more."—OLD SONG.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem2"> + "See yon bark, sae proudly bounding,<br> + Soon shall bear me o'er the sea.<br> + Hark! the trumpet loudly sounding,<br> + Calls me far frae love and thee."—A. HUME.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +It was a sad day for my hero, young +Tom Bure, when Mr. Merryweather +resigned command of the sloop, and +went on half-pay. When he came +to bid good-bye to Dan and his old +shipmate, Uncle Bob, to say nothing of +little Ruth and her mother, everyone was as sad as +sad can be. It was one of those dull, depressing days +in December; great waves tumbling in from the east +and breaking in thunder upon the sands of Yare; hosts +of seagulls flying in-land; snow in the air; general +gloom everywhere. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, Bob, my good fellow, I hope to see you +again, and see you well. I'm coming back from the +wars with my post-captaincy, Bob; then you and your +good brother Dan here will be the first to bid be +welcome, I know." +</p> + +<p> +There was a huskiness in poor Bob's voice when he +made answer that was not difficult to account for, and +there was moisture in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, mate," he said, "you must forgive an invalid +for showing the white feather at the last. I +didn't think, you know, I'd be so sorry to part with +you, but your presence, coming back and fore to the +cottage here, brought back old memories, and I've had +a right happy time. Good-bye, mate. Heaven preserve +you. I'll pray for you, an honest tar's prayer. But +something whispers to me—we'll meet again no more." +</p> + +<p> +Ruth went as far as the rustic bridge with +Mr. Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +He kissed her as he bade her farewell. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll meet many a maiden ere I return again, Ruth," +he said, "but none more modest and fair than you, my +winsome lassie." +</p> + +<p> +Ruth went away sobbing, with her apron to her face. +</p> + +<p> +Tom walked as far as the beach with Merryweather, +for he was Tom's hero. +</p> + +<p> +Besides, he had promised to use his influence at the +Admiralty to get Tom appointed as a middie in the +same ship as he himself joined. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, Mr. Merryweather." +</p> + +<p> +They were now on the cliff. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, sir, I wouldn't cry for the world, +I—wouldn't—good-bye." +</p> + +<p> +"There! there! lad. Never be ashamed of honest +tears. Just let them fall. The bravest men that ever +drew sword or wielded cutlass on the blood-slippery +battle-deck have wept when saying that little word +'good-bye.'" +</p> + +<p> +He patted the boy most kindly on the shoulder. +"Tom," he said, smiling, "do you know what I'm going +to do?" +</p> + +<p> +"No," said Tom, smiling himself, though his eyes +were wet. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, as soon as I get up anchor and wear round +I'll fire a gun for you. And do you know what that +gun will say?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"It'll say 'Good-bye, Tom,' as plainly as ever a gun +can speak. Now sit there and look and listen." +</p> + +<p> +And off ran this honest sailor, while Tom sat down +on the cliff-top to wait for developments. +</p> + +<p> +He saw the boat hauled up. He heard the rattle of +the windlass as the men got up the anchor. He saw +the loosened sails fill as the little craft wore round, +then there was a quick wicked-looking puff of white +smoke, with a tongue of fire in the centre of it, and +next moment the cliffs reverberated with the sound of +the farewell gun. +</p> + +<p> +Tom took off his jacket and waved it in the air; his +cap would not have been sufficient for the requirements +of so auspicious an occasion. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-bye, Tom," said the gun. +</p> + +<p> +And Tom went sadly home all by himself. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +There is one method of getting over sorrow that +every boy has in his power, namely, sticking to his +books and his studies. +</p> + +<p> +Many a time and oft, dear reader, has sorrow in this +world been the parent of fame, and Tom Bure found +that after a somewhat gloomy fortnight the time did +not hang so wearily on his hands. +</p> + +<p> +Hadn't Mr. Merryweather assured him that war was +coming, and that he would exercise all the influence he +possessed to obtain him an appointment as midshipman. +</p> + +<p> +How glorious that would be! How he wished for the +storm to break, for the war to begin. He did not think +of the fine uniform he might wear, or of the dirk that +should hang by his side. He resolved to emulate +Horatio Nelson, and despise dandyism; but whenever a +chance offered to do all kinds of daring, plucky things, +he was sure he should rise rapidly in the service, and +have his name written on the scroll of fame. +</p> + +<p> +Tom had heard of the scroll of fame, but possessed +very hazy notions indeed as to what it was or wasn't. +But in an old copy-book Mr. Curtiss, his tutor, one day +discovered the following ready-made scroll of fame— +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + "Tom Bure, midshipman.<br> + Lieutenant Tom Bure, R.N.<br> + Commander Thomas Bure, R.N.<br> + Captain the Hon. Thom. Bure, R.N.<br> + Admiral of the Red the Hon. Thom. Bure.<br> + Admiral of the Fleet Lord——."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The scroll of fame was left unfinished just there; it +was evident that young Tom was uncertain what title +as a lord he should confer on himself. +</p> + +<p> +But he happened to enter the room just as Mr. Curtiss +was examining this scroll of fame and laughing +heartily over it. Forgetting for the moment all the +respect that was due to his tutor, Tom rushed forward, +seized the paper and tore it in pieces, his eyes flashing +with anger, his face burning like a coal. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! forgive me, Mr. Curtiss," he said immediately +after, "I didn't mean to be rude, but I really felt so +ashamed." +</p> + +<p> +"Say no more, my boy, no more," said Mr. Curtiss, +"we all of us manufacture for ourselves a scroll of +fame, though we don't all transcribe it in an old +copy-book. Never be ashamed of ambition, my boy, so long +as it is honest ambition." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +Christmas of 1792 came round at last, and Tom Bure +had the distinguished honour of being included among +the invited guests to a ball given by his little inamorata, +Miss Colmore, at the Hall. This party was not held +on Christmas-day, however, else Tom, much as he +loved the fascinating fair one, would have declined the +invitation. Christmas-day was Uncle Bob's day <i>par +excellence</i>, for he happened to have been born on this +day of all days; so it was the one festival of the year +at Dan's cottage. The dinner was spread in Bob's own +wing, the room was specially decorated for the purpose +with evergreens and holly-berries and mistletoe nearly +a week beforehand, Bob himself superintending, Ruth +and Tom doing the work. +</p> + +<p> +The table, with its snow-white cloth and sparkling +glasses, and Mrs. Dan's very best delf, was placed so +that, as Bob lay in his cot and Dan sat at the foot of +the table, the two brothers were close together, and +Dan could attend to Bob's every want. +</p> + +<p> +There were always a few neighbours invited, and +mirth and jollity and songs and yarns were the rule of +the evening. +</p> + +<p> +And this Christmas formed no exception. Poor Bob +was never merrier, and declared that he had been able +to move his fingers in the morning better than ever he +had done, so that a new hope was awakened within +him. No wonder he was happy. +</p> + +<p> +And Bob being happy, his brother Dan's face was all +the evening brimming over with joy. Even Meg, the +collie, knew that something extra was on the tapis, and +when everybody drank to Bob, wishing him many +happy returns of the day, and Dan his brother patted +his cheek, the dog jumped up and licked his ear, then +seemed to go to sleep with her head sideways on his +chest in her old loving fashion. +</p> + +<p> +This was indeed a never-to-be-forgotten evening. +</p> + +<p> +Two days after the party at the Hall took place, and +though perhaps Tom was not the greatest dandy there, +he nevertheless looked as well as anyone. And, singular +to say, Bertha was kinder to Tom than ever she had +been. She gave him more dances than she gave to the +Honourable Fred Langridge, although the latter wore +silver buckles in his shoes besides silk stockings and a +satin waistcoat, and sported a bunch of seals at his +fob as large even as Mr. Merryweather's. +</p> + +<p> +Tom was accordingly very happy indeed, and the +evening wore away with magical quickness. Bertha +had never looked so like a fairy before, but nevertheless +this fairy maiden even condescended to let Tom——; +but stay, I shall not tell tales out of school, and the +least said about the mistletoe the better. +</p> + +<p> +But that, too, was a never-to-be-forgotten evening. +</p> + +<p> +Our young hero was now in his twelfth year, and +began to think he really and truly was a man. +</p> + +<p> +It being winter Uncle Bob spent nearly all his time +indoors, but Tom went often to the crow's-nest, and +came back and reported to Bob all about the weather +and how the wind was, how the sea looked and what +was in sight, and this used to make Bob so happy. +</p> + +<p> +Tom often went out in the <i>Fairy</i> yawl with the +Ashleys. They were a rather rough lot, but really +capital seamen, and taught the boy quite a deal that +was useful to him in after life. +</p> + +<p> +And with all due respect for classical education, the +knowledge of how to reef and steer and splice and +knot, and of how to look a gale of wind and dashing +seas in the teeth, is not thrown away even on a +midshipman of the present day. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +The cold dreary winter wore away at last, and spring +began to clothe the marshes in tender green, and +scatter wild flowers everywhere. The catkins were +showered groundwards from the tall poplar trees, and +yellow-green leaves covered them like the shimmer of +evening sunshine, the tassels hung on the larches, the +gold covered the furze, gentler winds went whispering +through the young shoots of the bulrushes, and the +song of birds was heard in all the land. +</p> + +<p> +Happiness, joy, and hope were universal. +</p> + +<p> +Uncle Bob began to look forward now to his first +glad day on the broad in his barge. Dan his brother +was to come with him, Ruth and Meg and all were to +go, and Tom intended to invite little Bertha herself. +</p> + +<p> +It was indeed to be a day of rejoicing. +</p> + +<p> +One evening the stars shone with unusual brilliancy, +and yet Dan told Bob there wasn't an air of frost in it +either. Dan sat longer up with his brother that night +than usual. They were talking of dear old times +when father and mother were alive, and they were +boys together. Such joyous days those used to be, and +how free from care and thought. +</p> + +<p> +When at last the old clock in the corner groaned out +the hour of twelve, Dan bade his brother a kindly +good-night, and prepared to go. +</p> + +<p> +The last thing Bob asked him to do was to draw +back the curtains, that he might see the beautiful stars. +</p> + +<p> +"Take the candle, brother, take the candle," Bob +said. "Good-night, dear Dan. Now I shall see the +stars. Oh, what glory!" +</p> + +<p> +These were the last words ever Dan heard his brother +utter. Mayhap they were the last he ever spoke on +earth. +</p> + +<p> +When Tom went in next morning he found Uncle +Bob apparently asleep. But his face was white. +</p> + +<p> +Tom touched his brow; it was hard and cold. +</p> + +<p> +He stood in the chamber of death. +</p> + +<p> +It was Bob's wing no longer. +</p> + +<p> +Tom felt for a moment as if turned to stone, then, +uttering one long and bitter cry, he sank down on his +knees beside the bed and burst into tears. +</p> + +<p> +When brother Dan went in he found two mourners +there; one was little Tom, the other Bob's collie, Meg. +Her paws were on the bed, her cheek leant lovingly +against the hard, dead chest of her master. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-134"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-134.jpg" alt=""Dan found two mourners there, little Tom, and Bob's collie, Meg.""> +<br> +"Dan found two mourners there, little Tom, and Bob's collie, Meg." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +A very humble funeral. Only a plain deal coffin, +and only a few friendly neighbours to follow it to its +last resting-place. +</p> + +<p> +But when these neighbours looked in the face of +poor Dan, who erst was ever so cheerful, they shook +their heads. +</p> + +<p> +"Dan has aged sadly," they said. +</p> + +<p> +"Dan will ne'er be Dan again." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0201"></a></p> + +<h2> +Book II. +</h2> + +<p><br></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER I. +<br><br> +TOM'S BAPTISM OF BLOOD. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Set every inch of canvas<br> + To woo the favouring breeze.<br> + Oh, gaily goes the ship<br> + When the wind blows free!"—OLD SONG.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"Luff, lad, luff," said the skipper to +Tom Bure, who was at the wheel. +"We'll give them a race for it anyhow. +They'll think none the less of us for +that." +</p> + +<p> +"See," he added, a minute after, but +talking now to his mate. Tom was too busy to look +about. "Yonder was a shot, it fell plump into our +wake a quarter knot astern. Blaze away, Frenchie, +but we're not overhauled yet, and not a herring o' +mine crosses your throat for the next two hours anyhow. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! mate, they don't know the life that's in the +<i>Yarmouth Belle</i> when she gets a wind on the quarter. +And the more it blows the faster she goes. Another +shot! Ah! Frenchie, you haven't run us aboard yet +even. Keep her as she goes, Tom, lad, keep her as she +goes." +</p> + +<p> +The skipper and his mate might have been taken for +brothers, so much alike were they in face and build. +Short, squat almost; men about forty years of age, +with faces as rough as a crab shell, and not unlike to +a crab in colour when that dainty has been boiled; +noses that seemed to have sunk considerably by the +pressure of gales of wind innumerable; eyes that were +mere slits from the same cause; dressed in sea-boots +and blue sweaters, with black sou'-westers. They +carried their hands deep in their trousers' pockets +when not handling anything; kept them stowed away, +as it were, till wanted; and they chewed tobacco, as +a rule, walking down to leeward when they wanted to +expectorate, which they did apparently for the benefit +of the sharks. +</p> + +<p> +The men belonging to this schooner were five in +number, and hardy-looking fellows every one of them, +though not so tough as mate and master. They wore +blue night-caps, and were naked as to feet, in other +respects they were dressed like their superiors. +</p> + +<p> +There was little or no lording it over the men +displayed by the senior officers of the <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>, +Equality and fraternity was displayed fore and aft. +Even the skipper himself would be seen forward at +times, talking and laughing and yarning with the +forecastle hands, and any one of these would take a pull +at sheet or brace without an order from the officer on +duty, if he thought the sails needed trimming. +</p> + +<p> +But both master and mate looked pleasant enough, +and good-natured too, for men like these, who have +been, literally speaking, reared upon the waves, are not +easily put out. At the present moment, for instance, +they were running away from a French cruiser, and it +did seem too that they were likely to win the race. +</p> + +<p> +The stage of action was the Mediterranean sea, or +blue Levant, as novelists often call it. It was blue +as blue could be to-day, as blue as the sky above it, +albeit there was a white horse visible here and there +on its surface, for a stiff but steady breeze was +blowing, and if it only held, Mr. Hughes, the skipper, +felt sure he could show that Frenchman a clean pair +of heels. +</p> + +<p> +"Wo! wo!" he cried presently, as a shot fell closer +astern than was agreeable. +</p> + +<p> +"I'd let her pay off a trifle, George," said the mate. +</p> + +<p> +"Have it your own way, Tim, only don't let us get +hulled." +</p> + +<p> +"For'ard there!" he shouted. "Have the jollyboat +all ready. Now, Tim, let her rip. Sandie, run +aft here and haul up the British Jack. The red rag +that makes the Frenchman as mad's a bull. See, I +knew it would, and yonder comes another shot. Short +this time though. Short, you dirty old frog-eating +Moosoors. Mate, I'll have a tot o' rum. Don't see +why we shouldn't splice the main brace, eh?" +</p> + +<p> +"Steward!" cried Tim, "fill black-jack, and bring +him up here." +</p> + +<p> +The steward, in shirt and trousers, and a pair of +slippers down at the heels, soon appeared, with a cup +in one hand and a black iron measure with rum in it +in the other. These were days of can-tossing. +</p> + +<p> +"Here's confusion to the French!" cried the skipper. +</p> + +<p> +Then he tossed his can. +</p> + +<p> +The mate followed suit. +</p> + +<p> +"No good offerin' you, younker, any, I daresay," he +said, looking at Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"Not to-day, thanks." +</p> + +<p> +"Keep her full then, Tom. Keep your eyes aloft, +lad. Steward, take a pull yourself, then trot for'ard +with black-jack." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +In order to understand how Tom Bure happens to be +down here in the blue Levant, taking his trick at the +wheel on board the saucy <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>, it will be +necessary to hark back a month or two in our story, but +I promise you that we shall soon make up our leeway. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +After poor Uncle Bob was laid in his quiet grave, +then, Tom received several letters from +Mr. Merryweather, the last of which was very brief. He +(Mr. Merryweather) was appointed to a ship at Chatham +which was fitting out for sea, the letter explained, and +as soon as possible he meant to have an interview with +no less a personage than Lord Hood himself, with +whom he had served out in America. Tom might rest +assured that it was on his account wholly he was going +to see the admiral, and he, Tom, might really hold +himself in readiness to join a ship at any time. +</p> + +<p> +Now, at this date, '93, history was moving on at a +very rapid pace indeed. +</p> + +<p> +Things had not gone over well with Horatio Nelson +in '92. Hope itself seemed dead within him. His +applications for service were utterly ignored by the +Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. +</p> + +<p> +It was not very long, however, before Nelson had +proof that the darkest hour of night is next the dawn, +and that "<i>post nubila Phœbus</i>," after clouds come +sunshine. He had still two good friends in high quarters, +namely, Lord Hood and the Duke of Clarence. Both +knew how good and enthusiastic an officer he was. Both +knew that the cloud in the east would soon break. The +French were, to use a slang but expressive adjective, +"cockie." The French were insolent. They were +already proved to be—so they themselves thought—the +best soldiers in the world, and they thought also +there would not be the slightest difficulty in proving +their superiority to the British at sea. +</p> + +<p> +They had already fired on British ships, and, with +every desire to maintain the peace of the world, our +Government saw there was nothing for it but fight. +</p> + +<p> +Very much to his surprise, therefore, as well as +intense delight, Nelson found himself appointed to the +<i>Agamemnon</i>, a 64-gun ship of great excellence. +</p> + +<p> +And so he sailed from England on the 27th of June, +making one of the squadron of Lord Hood, whose ships +were bound south, with a large convoy of merchantmen +under their lee. +</p> + +<p> +It was upon the 25th day of this very June that our +bold young Tom Bure set out on a cruise of his own +seeking. The <i>Fairy</i>, Ashley's yawl, was running round +Hunstanton way, and Tom begged for a passage, or +rather he asked for one. There was very little begging +needed in it, for gruff old Ashley was as proud and fond +of Tom as he was of any of his sons. So in a day or +two—the <i>Fairy</i> being delayed by wicked wee winds—Tom +found himself on shore at Wells. His object +was to see Captain Nelson, and beg him to take him +with him even as a cabin-boy. +</p> + +<p> +Alas! Nelson was gone. His father was there, +however, and as Tom sat in a high-backed chair opposite +the kind old parson, he was for fifteen minutes under a +fire of good advice, the text of which was, "Stay at +home, boy, and become a useful member of society. +Don't go to the sea to become a target for French +gunners, and to feed the fishes eventually." Of course +the worthy parson fixed his sermon up in a more +appropriate guise than this. And there sat Tom as quiet +as a mute; but, in the interests of truth, I am bound +to say that, like round shot which go clean through +a wooden ship at close quarters without doing much +harm, the rector's advice went in at one of Tom's ears +and out at the other, making no impression whatever. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, my dear boy," said old Mr. Nelson at last, +"you have listened most attentively to what I have +said, and I pray heaven you may benefit by it." +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure had hardly heard a word of it. +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you," he said, "and now, sir, might I write +to your son?" +</p> + +<p> +"Down you sit, lad, right here at this desk, and scribble +away. I'll forward your epistle in one of mine." +</p> + +<p> +Here is Tom Bure's letter to Horatio Nelson: +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"DEAR CAPTAIN NELSON,—This comes hoping you +are well and fighting the french, O, sir, I want to fite +the french too. My father was a galant offiser and +fought the french and the americans and Spanish and +all. So did you, sir. You, sir, wanted the admiralty +to give you a cockle-boat if you could not go as captain, +if I cannot go as a midshipman sir, I want to go as a +cabin boy. +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> + "Yours Respectably,<br> + "TOM BURE."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +It must be confessed that this letter was not free +from some errors, but then action and common-sense +were more admired in these brave old times than +grammar and orthography. +</p> + +<p> +Old Mr. Nelson promised faithfully to send the +letter, and having given the lad a good dinner and a +little more good advice, Tom marched boldly and +hopefully away to Hunstanton and met the Ashleys. +</p> + +<p> +On the passage back the <i>Fairy</i> ran into Yarmouth +harbour, and Tom went with old Ashley on board a +schooner to see a friend of his. +</p> + +<p> +"As plucky a fellow as ever hauled a net," he +explained to Tom before they crossed the plank. +"Netted a bit o' money too. For five years now he's +been running down the Levant wi' dried herrings, +and comin' back wi' fruit. But what I tells him is +this, 'You may do a thing in peace times ye can't in +war.' Only George is as headstrong as a mule. And +there he is. Ha, George, me and this younker was +just talkin' about you. Here is a young sailor for you, +if you like!" +</p> + +<p> +"Can he do aught? A gent, ain't he?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, a gent; but I brought him up, and, look see, +he's going to be something yet. Tom Bure'll be a +credit to me. He won't miss stays, you wager. But, +George, I was just telling him what an old idget ye +was." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, thank you!" said George, laughing. "I'm sure +I'm obliged. Come below and have a tot of rum and +bit o' baccy. Don't the <i>Yarmouth Belle</i> look nice?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! yes, slick and trim. I'd have no fear o' her +and you, George, if 't weren't war time." +</p> + +<p> +While these two men were talking, Tom Bure had a +happy thought. Why shouldn't he sail with George—as +Ashley called the skipper. Nelson went in a +merchant ship. "Sir," he said, "will you take me for +a cruise? I'll obey orders, and do all I can to help +you sail the schooner." +</p> + +<p> +George laughed in a rough but kindly way, and the +three went below together, and it all ended by young +Tom Bure becoming one of the crew, or say rather an +apprentice, on board the saucy <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Honest old Dan was much distressed when he heard +that Tom had engaged himself, and poor Ruth, whom +Tom always called sister, was inconsolable. +</p> + +<p> +"However, it may be all for the best," said Dan. +"He's been well brought up, though I say it, wife, and +Providence can protect him." +</p> + +<p> +"Besides," said Mr. Curtiss, "he must begin to see life +some time, and the sooner the better, Dan, now-a-days." +</p> + +<p> +Tom's things were gotten ready with all speed. Rough +wearing every-day articles they were, warm and useful. +Mrs. Brundell saw to their abundance and utility. +</p> + +<p> +His outfit for the navy had already been bought and +packed, and as Tom's chest was a good-sized one, Ruth +proposed that he should take his uniform clothes in +the bottom. "It may bring Tom luck, mother," she +said. So this was agreed to. +</p> + +<p> +On the evening before his departure, the Colmores +being then at the hall, Tom launched his boat, and with +Meg at the prow started off up the Broad to bid +farewell to his Bertha. +</p> + +<p> +Poor Bertha cried bitterly for a little while; but she +brightened up considerably when Tom told her it was +all to win honour and glory for her he was going to +brave the dangers of the treacherous ocean. She put +it to him very straight though. +</p> + +<p> +"What will you bring me, Tom?" she said. +</p> + +<p> +And there wasn't a thing in the world that Tom +did not promise to bring home and lay at his love's +feet, so it is no wonder she dried her eyes and laughed +at last. Bertha indeed seemed at this early stage of +her existence quite cut out for a sailor's bride. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "That girl, who fain would choose a mate<br> + Should ne'er in fondness fail her,<br> + May thank her lucky stars if fate<br> + Decree her to a sailor.<br> + He braves the storm, the battle's heat,<br> + The yellow boys to nail her,<br> + Diamonds—if diamonds she could eat,<br> + Would seek her honest sailor."<br> +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +So away went Tom. +</p> + +<p> +And the voyage had all along been a most pleasant +one. In a few days' time the skipper of the <i>Yarmouth +Belle</i> had reckoned upon reaching the port of destination, +selling off his cargo, and investing in another. +But it seemed at present that it was not going to be +all plain sailing with him. +</p> + +<p> +Whizz! Another shot. Much nearer this time too. +"That privateersman," said the skipper, "is a wonderful +craft to fly. Well, it'll be a feather in her cap if +she runs the <i>Yarmouth Belle</i> aboard." +</p> + +<p> +Whizz! +</p> + +<p> +"I say, George, ain't it getting a trifle too hot?" +said the mate. +</p> + +<p> +When the next shot went ripping through the fore +topsail, George turned his quid in his mouth, and +nodded to his mate. +</p> + +<p> +"I must admit, matie," he said, "it's getting a bit +warmish. We've done all we could as Englishmen to +maintain the honour and glory of the flag, now we'll +haul her down." +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Yarmouth Belle</i> was now brought to, and ere +long was boarded by an officer from the cruiser. +</p> + +<p> +When he came on the quarter-deck he was in a +terrible passion, and swore roundly in French. +</p> + +<p> +But as no one except Tom Bure understood a word +he said, it did not matter a deal. +</p> + +<p> +Tom did all he could to pacify the French officer, by +explaining that being Englishmen, they were obliged +either to fight or retire. Being unable to fight they +naturally ran away to save their cargo, just as they +hoisted the British flag to save their honour. +</p> + +<p> +"Where is that flag?" hissed the officer, striking +his sword-scabbard on the deck. "Give me the rag." +</p> + +<p> +Now Tom had the old Bure blood in him, and his +face glowed with anger to hear his country's flag called +a rag. He determined it should not be surrendered. +</p> + +<p> +"Here is the flag, sir," he said. "Let me roll it up +for you." +</p> + +<p> +As he did so he deftly managed to tie within it two +marline spikes, old-fashioned, heavy articles. +</p> + +<p> +Then he coolly pitched the crimson bundle overboard. +</p> + +<p> +"There, sir; a gentleman knows how to respect even +the flag of an enemy. You are not one, and shall +never finger flag of ours." +</p> + +<p> +This, it must be confessed, was a bold as well as +pretty speech for a lad of Tom's age. Those, however, +were the days of bold speeches, and doughty deeds as +well. +</p> + +<p> +But dire were the results that followed. +</p> + +<p> +The Frenchman drew his sword, and struck poor +Tom Bure a terrible blow with the hilt. +</p> + +<p> +Tom fell senseless to the deck. +</p> + +<p> +Next moment the Frenchman lay beside him. +</p> + +<p> +"Fair play, you cowardly frog-eater," the skipper +had shouted, bringing his fist to bear full between the +officer's eyes. +</p> + +<p> +It was too late now to draw back. +</p> + +<p> +"Overboard with the lot," shouted skipper Hughes. +</p> + +<p> +As he spoke he tore the sword from the grasp of the +fallen man, and the pistol from his belt. +</p> + +<p> +The mate seized a capstan bar. The crew followed +his example. A few pistol shots were fired, and +cutlasses were drawn by the Frenchmen; but the +attack had been all too quick and unexpected to be +met. In less than a minute the crew of the boat +were overpowered and disarmed, then pitched pell-mell +overboard. +</p> + +<p> +Those Norfolk sailors had fought like demons. +</p> + +<p> +The foreyard was hauled forward, and away once +more went the <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>, skimming over the +water like a living thing. +</p> + +<p> +By the time the cruiser had picked up her boat the +schooner had secured such an offing that, as night was +coming on, the baffled privateer was fain to give up +pursuit and go off on another tack. +</p> + +<p> +And this was Tom Bure's baptism of blood. +</p> + +<p> +He certainly lost some, and there was an ugly gash +on his brow; but he was soon sufficiently recovered to +sit up and look about him. +</p> + +<p> +The skipper had bound up his brow, and the steward +was kneeling beside him, trying hard to get him to +swallow a little three-water-grog. +</p> + +<p> +Tom couldn't believe his eyes when he looked about +him. +</p> + +<p> +There was the <i>Yarmouth Belle</i> once more under full +sail, and there was the French officer sitting +disconsolately under the lee rails, side by side with one of +his own men, both with their legs in irons. +</p> + +<p> +And now Tom showed his generosity by begging +that both men should be placed <i>en parole</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The skipper consented, and with his own hands Tom +unlocked the irons and set them free. +</p> + +<p> +"The English are von brave nationg," said the +officer, and, much to Tom's astonishment, he was caught +and kissed on both cheeks. +</p> + +<p> +The Frenchmen, however, settled down very happily +in their new quarters, and were as merry as merry +could be. +</p> + +<p> +After all, it was only the fortune of war. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0202"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER II. +<br><br> +HOW TOM BURE JOINED THE SERVICE. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Let cannons roar loud, burst their sides let the bombs,<br> + Let the winds a dread hurricane rattle;<br> + The rough and the pleasant, Jack takes as it comes,<br> + And laughs at the storm and the battle."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The <i>Yarmouth Belle</i> had baffling winds +for a few days after this, which +considerably delayed her progress to Naples, +the port of her destination. But the +weather was beautiful on the whole, and +the skipper and the mate were both +philosophers of the happy-go-lucky school. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not going to fret my little self," said +Mr. Hughes one morning at breakfast, when Tom reported +that the <i>Belle's</i> head was not directed to that point of +the compass he should wish. +</p> + +<p> +"We're not going to fret our little selves," said the +mate. "Pass the ham, skipper. We've plenty to eat, +we've plenty to drink, and we have 'baccy, and there's +no hurry home." +</p> + +<p> +"You are rich men den?" said the French officer. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, no, sir. Rich in content, that is all." +</p> + +<p> +"You veel make one profitabeal voyage?" +</p> + +<p> +"I hope to make fifty," said the skipper. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, dat is not vot I mean. <i>Dis</i> voyage, saar. +Here, I veel pay you <i>tres bien</i> if you take me to Tunis." +</p> + +<p> +The Briton shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +"That cock won't fight, sir," he said. "I'm a poor +man, but I trust I'm an honourable one; least I +hope so." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, good! I make my respects to you. I honour +you, I love you. Good-bye." +</p> + +<p> +He stretched his hand over the table, seized Hughes' +rough fist, and shook it heartily. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you off then?" said the mate, laughing +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, saar! I not mean that, my good-bye is not all +de same as yours." +</p> + +<p> +At this moment Tom entered once more. +</p> + +<p> +He looked excited. +</p> + +<p> +"Three frigates in sight, Mr. Hughes, sir," he said. +"I've been to the mast-head with the glass, and they +look like Frenchmen." +</p> + +<p> +It was the officer's turn to laugh now. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah!" he cried, "now it may be 'Good-bye' after all +in de Eenglish way. Ha! ha!" +</p> + +<p> +"Don't you whistle till you're out of the wood, +Moosoo," said Hughes, nodding to him good-humouredly. +"You don't know yet what the <i>Belle</i> can do on a +wind." +</p> + +<p> +Stout though he was, the skipper found his way into +the top, while the mate stood below looking up. +</p> + +<p> +"Right the boy is!" he shouted down presently. +"They are French as sure's I'm Yarmouth. Ready +about, mate! We may as well keep out o' the way. +But, bless you, mate," he added, when he got down +again, "they seem far too busy to bother us." +</p> + +<p> +"May I take the glass and go into the cross-trees, +sir?" asked Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"Go on to the truck if ye like, lad. Why, you've +got eyes like a lynx." +</p> + +<p> +Away aloft went Tom. No cat could have gone +aloft half so neatly. Honest pride was swelling his +young heart as he brought the telescope to bear on the +Frenchmen. +</p> + +<p> +"On deck!" he shouted presently. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay, lad!" cried Hughes. +</p> + +<p> +"There are three big frigates, a smaller" (? corvette), +"and a brig." +</p> + +<p> +Hughes laughed and turned to Moosoo, as he called +his prisoner. Hughes was fond of a joke. +</p> + +<p> +"We can't do it, Moosoo," he said. "Had there been +only three frigates now, we might have boarded and +carried them one after another. But four and a brig +to boot—that's just two more 'n we can eat. +Ha! ha! ha! See the point?" +</p> + +<p> +If Moosoo didn't see the point he felt it; for in +order to emphasise his joke Hughes dug him in the +ribs with his red fat forefinger. +</p> + +<p> +"One of the frigates has dropped astern, sir," was +the next hail from the cross-trees. "A bigger one than +any is coming up on her, hand over hand." +</p> + +<p> +"Is <i>she</i> French?" +</p> + +<p> +"Can't make out. Shall soon, I think." +</p> + +<p> +In twenty minutes' time came another hail. +</p> + +<p> +"British, Mr. Hughes, British! and now she's fired +a shot." +</p> + +<p> +"Hoorah!" cried Hughes. "Mr. Moosoo," he added, +"here's news. My second mate aloft there tells me +there's seventeen French sail o' the line running away +from a Britisher. Hoorah!" +</p> + +<p> +"Below there!" shouted Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, ay!" +</p> + +<p> +"The fight's begun; but they've all borne away on +the other tack." +</p> + +<p> +"Ready about!" cried the skipper. "Mate, we'll see +the last of this. Nothing to pay, you know." +</p> + +<p> +In less than an hour the saucy Belle was so near +to the belligerents—no pun meant, reader, the occasion +is too serious for punning—to witness from the deck +the running fight between the frigates. +</p> + +<p> +It was hotly contested on both sides for more than +two hours, after which the foe was silenced. +</p> + +<p> +"They are going to board," cried Tom. +</p> + +<p> +The boy was dancing with excitement on the cross-trees. +</p> + +<p> +"Hurrah!" cried Hughes again. +</p> + +<p> +But they were all disappointed. +</p> + +<p> +The British ship veered round with her head to the +west, and men could be seen in the rigging immediately +after making good repairs. +</p> + +<p> +"She means to fight again, I'll wager a barrel of +herrings. They're only putting things right a bit +to go ahead." +</p> + +<p> +"Now, mate," continued this valiant skipper, "I +move we keep her up and join the Britisher. Let us +see if we can't be of any assistance to her. Eh?" +</p> + +<p> +"Bravo, sir!" said the mate, "I'm on. The idea's +first rate, and we may share the prize money and the +glory, you know." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, bother the glory! We may sell our herrings." +</p> + +<p> +There was another and final hail from the cross-trees. +</p> + +<p> +"The beaten frigate, sir, has hoisted signals, and the +others are bearing down towards her." +</p> + +<p> +"Now the fun'll begin," cried the warlike skipper. +"That British ship is good enough for the five of them, +I know." +</p> + +<p> +But it was soon evident that the French frigates had +no desire to renew the combat. Perhaps they had +important engagements in some other part of the +Levant. At all events, after a time they sheered +off. +</p> + +<p> +Then the <i>Yarmouth Belle</i> stood towards the British +man-o'-war, and was duly hailed, and finally ran +alongside. The man-o'-war, which proved to be the +<i>Agamemnon</i>—Nelson's own ship—had her mainsail +hauled aback, a boat was lowered to board the <i>Belle</i>, +and in a few minutes returned, bringing the Norfolk +skipper and Tom himself. +</p> + +<p> +Both were sent on the poop. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure certainly did not look a very picturesque +figure just then, for his brow was still bound up with +the blood-stained handkerchief, and he wore a +sou'-wester and blue jumper. +</p> + +<p> +The glad blood mounted to his face, however, when +he saw it was Horatio Nelson himself who advanced +towards him. +</p> + +<p> +There were several officers besides on the quarterdeck, +but Tom had eyes only for the hero. +</p> + +<p> +Tom saluted, and waited to be questioned. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, my lad," said Nelson kindly, "you are Tom +Bure, aren't you? But why this masquerade?" +</p> + +<p> +Tom looked puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +"I received your letter, boy"—Nelson smiled—"and +I have it still," he said, "and wrote soon after to the +Admiralty requesting your appointment to this very +ship. But you must have left England before that +appointment came." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope I haven't done wrong, sir; but I had no +hopes you would think of me." +</p> + +<p> +"Not think of you, boy? Nonsense." +</p> + +<p> +"So, sir, I sailed with Mr. Hughes here, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Captain of the saucy <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>," put in that +worthy. "Finest herrings, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"One minute, Mr.——a——<i>Captain</i> Hughes. Well, +Tom Bure, give an account of yourself and that cut +on your head." +</p> + +<p> +Tom briefly related all that had occurred, Hughes +helping him now and then—putting a spoke in his +wheel, as he phrased it. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson laughed heartily, and shook hands now with +the skipper. +</p> + +<p> +"You're an honour to England, Mr. Hughes," he +said, "and I shall not fail to mention your gallantry +in the right quarter. Now I'll relieve you of +your prisoners, and if you can spare me this +young gentleman I'll have his services here in my +ship." +</p> + +<p> +"Delighted, I'm sure," said the skipper. "Any +herrings, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +Nelson smiled again. +</p> + +<p> +"See my steward about that," he said, "and you can +stay here for twenty minutes and do business forward. +Whither are you bound?" +</p> + +<p> +"To Naples, my lord." +</p> + +<p> +"No lord as yet, Captain Hughes; but I'll show my +trust in a Norfolk man by giving you a letter to +deliver at Naples." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll give it, sir, if it should be to the king +himself." +</p> + +<p> +Seeing Captain Nelson engaged talking to the worthy +skipper, one of the officers now advanced and laid +his hand on Tom's shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, my hero!" he said. +</p> + +<p> +It was Merryweather himself, and Tom's cup of +bliss was full to overflowing. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Merryweather marched him off to the lee side +of the poop after telling a middy to see "this young +gentleman's" chest on board the <i>Agamemnon</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The middy, who was some years older than Tom, +saluted as he said "Ay, ay, sir"; but he surveyed Tom +with haughty superciliousness as he descended from +the poop. +</p> + +<p> +So Mr. Merryweather had all the last and freshest +news from Norfolk. +</p> + +<p> +"Pity," he said at last, "you have not your uniform." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I had forgotten!" said Tom in a low voice. +"Ruth put that in the bottom of my sea chest." +</p> + +<p> +"Bravo! poor dear, winsome, wee Ruth. Shouldn't +wonder if I married her, Tom; but now, lad, bid your +skipper good-bye, and come below to my cabin. There +you can dress you know. Wait one moment though." He +advanced to Captain Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +"May Mr. Bure go below now, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly, Mr. Merryweather; and he better see +the surgeon and have his face washed." +</p> + +<p> +One of the junior surgeons, who looked more like a +butcher's assistant than anything else, was coming up +from the cockpit. He took Tom in tow, and speedily +dressed his wound for him. +</p> + +<p> +In ten minutes he was washed and arrayed in his +midshipman's uniform. And now he reported himself +formally to Captain Nelson, who seemed much pleased. +"I hope you will make a good and efficient officer," +he said. "There are three things you are to bear +specially in mind, Mr. Bure. Firstly, you must always +obey orders most implicitly, without attempting to +form any opinion of your own as to their propriety; +secondly, you must consider every man your enemy who +speaks ill of your king or your country; and thirdly, +you must hate a Frenchman as you do the——." +</p> + +<p> +A spar fell on deck, and Tom didn't hear the last +word. +</p> + +<p> +The Agamemnon and <i>Yarmouth Belle</i> now parted +company, the crew of the latter with a cheer that was +heartily responded to. +</p> + +<p> +Then the skipper turned to his mate. +</p> + +<p> +"Mate," he said, "I've done first-rate. Captain +Nelson's a brick. A brick, mate, and a Briton." +</p> + +<p> +"And being a brick and a Briton, let us say a +Heart of Oak ——," said the mate. +</p> + +<p> +"That's it, mate, a Heart of Oak. You have it." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0203"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER III. +<br><br> +IN THE GUNROOM MESS—THE GREAT WAR GAME. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Though careless and headstrong if danger should press,<br> + And rank'd 'mongst the free list of rovers,<br> + Jack melts into tears at a tale of distress,<br> + And proves the most constant of lovers,<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem2"> + "To rancour unknown, to no passion a slave,<br> + Nor unmanly, nor mean, nor a railer;<br> + He's gentle as mercy, as fortitude brave,<br> + And this is a true British sailor."—DIBDIN.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The gunroom of the <i>Agamemnon</i> was +right aft and beneath the wardroom, +and a big empty barn of a room it was, +with a large table athwartships, which +was made to be removed at a moment's +notice. There were ports in the place, +and guns too; very little light, very little air, and +about twenty junior officers of all sorts and sizes, +from the youngest middy—quite a child—to the tall +ungainly form of the surgeon's mate. There were +seats and lockers and coils of rope and a shockingly +bad odour, which seemed to be a compound of tar, +bilge water, stinking fish, and Stilton cheese. +</p> + +<p> +Tom was horrified at seeing huge cockroaches inches +long running about the lockers and bulkheads, and +even over the biscuits in the trencher that stood on +the table. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Merryweather had shown Tom in here without +much ceremony. +</p> + +<p> +"Gentlemen," he said, "here is Mr. Bure, a new +messmate, son of the late Commander Bure, R.N. Some +of you will perhaps put him up to the ropes"; and +away went Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +Put him up to the ropes indeed! Why, the first +thing Tom did was to tumble over a coil of that +commodity. +</p> + +<p> +"Look out, awkward!" cried one middy. +</p> + +<p> +"Keep your head up and you'll never die," said +another. +</p> + +<p> +Tom stood still for about a minute till he became +accustomed to the dim light. Then he was about to +step forward and seat himself, when the midshipman +whom Mr. Merryweather had ordered to see his chest +on board stepped forward to meet him. +</p> + +<p> +He lifted his cap. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm Lord Raventree, Mr. Bure," he began. +</p> + +<p> +"Belay your jawing tackle," shouted a mate, "I +want to read. What, d' ye think Bure cares if you +were twenty lords rolled into one?" +</p> + +<p> +"You hold your peace, Selby. I'm talking to a +gentleman, and not to you." +</p> + +<p> +"Now, sir," he continued, turning once more to +Tom, "I believe I owe you an apology, and I make +it." +</p> + +<p> +"But for what, Lord Raventree?" said Tom, much +puzzled. +</p> + +<p> +"I insulted you with my eyes, on the poop." +</p> + +<p> +"Sit down, Cockie. Hit him with a bit o' biscuit, +somebody." +</p> + +<p> +"Now I apologise; but if you'd rather fight I'll +meet you at Tunis with pistols." +</p> + +<p> +"I've always fought with fists," said Tom boldly, +"and as I'm the challenged I've got the choice. I have +heard it said this was the rule." +</p> + +<p> +"Sir, fists are not weapons. I've always fought with +pistols." +</p> + +<p> +"Fiddlesticks!" cried someone derisively. +</p> + +<p> +Tom turned quickly to the speaker, and won all +hearts by saying right merrily: +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I don't mind fiddlesticks. Will you be my +second, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"With pleasure," cried young Fraser. "Fiddlesticks +are good enough for Raventree anyhow. The last time +he fought a duel it was with his feet against the usher, +when he was being birched at school." +</p> + +<p> +The laugh was against his lordship now. +</p> + +<p> +"I won't fight with fiddlesticks. This is an +innovation. A <i>reductio ad absurdum</i>. I am sorry to say +that there is an absence of moral tone about the mess +that——" +</p> + +<p> +What else he would have said may never be learnt, +for the surgeon's mate entered at that moment. +</p> + +<p> +He looked from one to the other of the would-be +belligerents, and seemed at once to note how the land +lay. +</p> + +<p> +"Cookie at it again?" +</p> + +<p> +"Cockie should be cobbed," suggested someone. +</p> + +<p> +"No," said the medico, "we won't cob Cockie. +Desperate diseases need desperate cures. If, my Lord +Raventree, you won't round in the slack of your +cockiness, we'll make you fast to a rope and tow you +astern for a minute and a half." +</p> + +<p> +"Cockie on the end of a cable! Ha! ha!" +</p> + +<p> +"Cockie on the end of a lanyard!" +</p> + +<p> +"Or a bit o' spunyarn! That would be strong +enough to hold Cockie." +</p> + +<p> +The entrance of some of the servants with the +evening meal of salt meat and biscuits put an end to +the squabble. But Tom Bure had learned a lesson +even this early. He had found out that the gun-room +mess was in reality a little republic. That +self-assertiveness or cockieness would not be tolerated at +any price, but that merit and modesty would be fully +appreciated if they went hand-in-hand, and, moreover, +that good-nature and a merry temper would go far to +make any member of the mess a favourite. +</p> + +<p> +Lord Raventree, or Cockie, as he was often called for +short, sometimes put "side" on. Consequently he was +knocked down and jumped upon. Figuratively speaking, +I mean. Knocking a man down and then jumping on +him is a good (?) old English custom which still prevails +in England. In Lancashire, and some portions of the +Midland counties, the trick is performed literally and +physically by the rougher and probably more honest +classes. In polite society it is done just as often, only +figuratively and not physically, and hurts quite as bad. +</p> + +<p> +There were several men in this mess, and they +ruled their juniors in various ways. Sometimes by +rule of thumb, sometimes by rule of thump. Two +or three masters' mates, well grown specimens; two +doctors' mates, one Scotch, one Irish, who were +constantly engaged in verbal battle, banter, or learned +discussion, but who stuck together like amalgamated +bricks in the cockpit, and liked each other very +well on the whole; several hairy midshipmen, whom +the Lords Commissioners had forgotten to promote +because they lacked landed interest to push them +into prominence, and one middy—two-and-thirty +years of age—with silver hairs among the gold of his +temples, O'Grady to name. He had crept in through +the hawse-hole, but would no doubt be a lieutenant +before the war was over. A mixty-maxty kind of a +mess you will observe, not burdened with any very +embarrassing amount of etiquette, but right as well as +rough. Hearts of Oak in fact, for these were the days +when true courage, manliness, muscle, dash, and go +were appreciated to their fullest extent. There was +honesty in the mess also—and it is a rare thing to find +much of this in our day—honesty and fair play, so +that even a lord or a prince had as good a chance of +becoming first favourite in the gun-room, if he behaved +like a man, as the humblest laird's or parson's son. +</p> + +<p> +When Tom Bure joined the service it would have +been difficult to say who was favourite, or a favourite. +Perhaps honest O'Grady was as much respected as anyone. +</p> + +<p> +Hoste, afterwards Sir William, was a member of +the mess, a thoughtful and undoubtedly clever young +officer. Josiah Nisbet also, a midshipman and stepson +to Nelson. This young fellow was really brave, or +"plucky," which is more of a midshipman's adjective +than "brave" is; but at this time, at all events, he was +quiet and unobtrusive. He was a modest lad, and +Bure quite took to him. Perhaps Josiah felt that, +being so nearly related to his captain, he was right in +keeping himself in the background to some extent. +</p> + +<p> +Tom did not quite like Hoste. The young gentleman +did not say much, it is true, but, like Paddy's +parrot, it was evident that he was thinking all the +more on this account. +</p> + +<p> +Well, this first night had not passed away before +Tom found that he had made several friends. O'Grady +took him very much in tow, for example; the butcher's +assistant—I beg his pardon, the Scotch surgeon's +mate—drew Tom out, called him greenhorn in a friendly +way, laughed at his innocence and at nearly all he said, +and finished by ordering him off to his hammock. +This he did also in a roughly, friendly way. +</p> + +<p> +"Here, Master Griff," he said, "we've had enough of +you. Bear up for your hammock. Daddy O'Grady'll +put you up to the ropes." +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Mister</i> O'Grady, if ye plaze," said the quondam +bo's'n, laughing. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's call you Daddy," said the surgeon's mate. +"You're no so vera mickle older than mysel', but it +sounds so friendly like." +</p> + +<p> +"Troth, then, it's little I care, my valiant Scot, what +I'm called so long's I'm not called down to the +cockpit when you've got your big apron on." +</p> + +<p> +Josiah went with Daddy O'Grady, and the surgeon's +mate bade Tom good night in a very friendly way—for <i>him</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"Good-night, laddie. Say your prayers, and there's +no fears o' ye. Have ye a Bible in your kist? Weel, +read a bittock ilka nicht o' your life. Then kneel +down aside your kistie (sea chest) and commend +yoursel' to Him that hauds (holds) us a' in His ban's. +Man, you'll sleep like a tap aifter that. I like't +your bearing the nicht in the mess. Keep it up, lad. +Be friendly wi' all, be ower free wi' nane. And +never be cockie. A cockie younker soon gets the +starch ta'en oot of his frills in oor gunroom. Aff +wi' you." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Nelson's ship, in which we now find our little hero, +was bound for Tunis to join Commodore Linzee, and a +very pleasant trip or outing it proved to be. Neither +the word trip nor outing is a very warlike one, I grant +you, reader; but it suits this voyage to Tunis admirably. +They had fine weather all the way, and never a single +adventure worthy of the name, so had there been +ladies on board it would have been a very pretty +picnic. Nelson had been sent to the court of the +barbarous Dey of Tunis, to endeavour, by means of his +sweet persuasive tongue to get his Highness, or +Celestiality, or whatever he called himself, to kick the +French out of Tunis. +</p> + +<p> +"A most cruel and blood-thirsty nation," said Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know," said the Dey, "I like them all the +better for that?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why," continued Nelson, "they have killed their +lawful king!" +</p> + +<p> +"Ahem!" said the Dey. "Pray tell me, Captain +Nelson, if it be true that the English never killed +their king." +</p> + +<p> +This settled it, and Nelson rejoined his fleet, and was +shortly sent to the coast of Corsica with a small +squadron, to co-operate with General Paoli, who was +the leader of the insurgents in that island. +</p> + +<p> +Now, dear reader, I know that cut-and-dry history +is quite as unpalatable to the young taste as physiology +or any other ology—<i>i.e.</i> to the average taste. Still, a +little of either is at times necessary to make sense of a +story, and now-a-days especially, everybody wants to +know the reason why of everything. Verily our +private soldiers and common sailors, as they are +irreverently called—just as if any sailor could be +common—fight all the better when they know what +they are fighting for. +</p> + +<p> +Why, then, it may be asked, did the British want +to banish the poor nincompoops of Frenchies from +Corsica? For this reason: <i>We</i>—the British nation—found +it necessary to have the command of the +Mediterranean. It gave us the command of Egypt, +and Egypt is the key to other countries that our +enemies even then were throwing sheep's-eyes upon. +Toulon would have suited us nicely. +</p> + +<p> +Pray cast your eagle eye, reader, on a map of the +Levant and see where Toulon lies; also Corsica, +Sardinia, Sicily, Alexandria, and that nasty little—but +handy—hole of a Tunis. +</p> + +<p> +A great war game was just commencing; the French +had mighty armies and a great navy, as well as mighty +commanders and admirals on their side of the board, +and we had——well, +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Our ships were British oak,<br> + And hearts of oak our men."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Our first move, however, did not turn out trumps. +Our first move had been to send Lord Hood out to +blockade Toulon with his squadron, which, by the way, +was none too big for anything. And just before Tom +Bure was taken on board the <i>Agamemnon</i> from the saucy +<i>Yarmouth Belle</i>, a very wonderful thing had taken +place. Briefly it was this, France being divided +against itself, the southern half wished to become a +separate republic under English protection, and so +Hood had not been long in front of Toulon with his +lads in blue before, in the name of the French king, +Louis XVIII., Toulon was delivered up to him, ships +and all. +</p> + +<p> +"What an event," writes Nelson to his wife, "this +has been for Lord Hood! Such an one as history +cannot produce its equal, that the strongest place +in Europe, with twenty-two sail-of-the-line, should +be given up without firing a shot! It is scarcely +to be credited." +</p> + +<p> +Hood, who was at this time along with the Spanish +fleet, landed fifteen hundred men to man the forts; and +Naples and Britain being then for political reasons +hand and glove, the king offered to send six thousand +men to Toulon to assist in holding it. Hood, however, +had demanded ten thousand. And these would have +been few enough to defend the royalists in Toulon +against the number and fury of the republicans who +marched against it. +</p> + +<p> +The British, however, were before very long obliged +to evacuate Toulon, and I think there is no more awful +page in history than that which describes this +evacuation—the blowing up of the arsenals, the burning of +the ships of war. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Sidney Smith acted on that awful night with a +bravery that amidst the fearful surroundings was like +that of a demon. +</p> + +<p> +"It was a rehearsal," I make one of my heroes in +another book* say, "of all the glories and all the horrors +of war combined in one long act. +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +* <i>For England, Home, and Beauty</i>. Same publishers. +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +"I must be brief," he adds, "the recollection is not +one of unmitigated pleasure. +</p> + +<p> +"The thousands of galley slaves, then, got free at last. +Sidney had not the heart to think of them perishing in +the flames. +</p> + +<p> +"They got free, soon after the night became almost as +bright as day with the glare of fires that rose up +simultaneously in all directions, such fires as I never +witnessed before, and have little desire ever to see +again. Many of the stores were of a most combustible +nature, and every now and then the explosion of a +magazine seemed to rend the heavens and the earth, +increasing the fierceness of the fires tenfold, by +scattering blazing brands and rafters in all directions, +and blowing down the walls of the buildings already +in flames, thus admitting the air. +</p> + +<p> +"In the midst of all this there were the constant +cannonade of the fire-ships, the guns of which being +heated went off, the wild screams of the murdering +galley-slaves, and the songs and shouts of the soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +"But more of fearful and awful took place before the +work was finished, and even bold Sir Sidney was +staggered at the terrific forces he had let loose, when +first one powder-ship and then another blew up. +</p> + +<p> +"The fire storm was everywhere—on earth, in air, and +sea. Beams of fiery wood and showers of sparkling, +crackling timbers dropped hissing into the water on +every side. +</p> + +<p> +"The sight displayed the magnificence of warfare on a +scale perhaps never before witnessed. But, alas! its +horrors were there also; for the slave-fiends had +possession of the town, and were committing the most +frightful atrocities. I must not describe what I saw +and heard, but the shrieks of men and women will +ring in my ears till my dying day." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +The next card then played by the British in this +war game was Corsica, and this proved a good one. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0204"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IV. +<br><br> +"WERE THERE REALLY TEARS IN NELSON'S EYES?" +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Hame, dearie, hame,<br> + And it's hame that I would be;<br> + Hame, dearie, hame,<br> + To ma ain countrie."—OLD SONG.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +We now find Nelson and Tom Bure, our big +hero and our little one, on the coast of +Corsica. +</p> + +<p> +Paoli, the insurgent leader, a very +brave soldier by the way, desired the +assistance of the British, and it suited +the British to grant his request, for now that Toulon +was taken from us, it was a matter of great +importance to have Corsica. +</p> + +<p> +So Paoli ceded the island to us. +</p> + +<p> +In 1824 Nelson was cruising around here, and having +"great fun." That was what O'Grady of the gun-room +mess called it. His object—Nelson's I mean, ably +assisted no doubt by both O'Grady and Tom—was to +make it as hot as possible for the French. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Agamemnon</i> was very busy indeed in that month +of February, ever on the alert, always in chase. +</p> + +<p> +Tom soon settled down to the routine of the service, +and being lithe and active, was plentifully employed +indeed, and often on the outlook. Nothing delighted +the lad more than to discover a sail in sight, and be +perhaps the first to report it. +</p> + +<p> +Tom was one of a party who landed near San +Fiorenzo, and helped to set fire to a mill. It was the +only one in the district. So the French would have +no more flour there. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson destroyed a dozen sail of ships, laden with +wine for the enemy—thousands of tons of it. +</p> + +<p> +"Sorra another dhrop o' dhrink will they have +either," said O'Grady. "Sure, that is worse than +all." +</p> + +<p> +Nelson captured a courier boat. +</p> + +<p> +"Stopped the news," quoth O'Grady. +</p> + +<p> +But Nelson did worse; he bombarded Bastia, +"bringing the houses and the staiples and things +down about the poor craytures' ears." Thus the old +Irish middy. +</p> + +<p> +Yes; and Nelson was taking notes all the while, and +afterwards furnished Lord Hood with an excellent +report upon Bastia and its defences. +</p> + +<p> +He was detailed therefore to cruise with his little +squadron off Bastia, and in fact to blockade it. On +February 20th he drove the French from a work they +were erecting to the south of the place. +</p> + +<p> +Dundas was commander of the forces at St. Fiorenzo, +between him and Nelson a difference of opinion +occurred with regard to Bastia. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, be it remembered, was a most courageous +man, and his enemies therefore said he was too +rash. +</p> + +<p> +One of his mottoes was reported to be, "Hang +manœuvres, go at 'em." +</p> + +<p> +He did "go at 'em" to some purpose, as Nile and +Trafalgar afterwards proved. +</p> + +<p> +But he could not induce Dundas to go at Bastia in +the way he (Nelson) would have done. +</p> + +<p> +As Sir David Dundas was a Scotsman, and Scotsmen +in those days were born with swords instead of +silver spoons in their mouths—using the swords +afterwards to "mak' the siller speens," he could not have +been otherwise than a brave man, but he was also a +cautious one. +</p> + +<p> +"If," says Nelson in a letter to his wife, just after +a brush with the enemy, "I had carried with me five +hundred troops, I should to a certainty have stormed +the town, and I believe it might have been carried. +Armies go so slow, that seamen think they never mean +to go forward, but I dare say they act upon a surer +principle, though <i>we</i> seldom fail." +</p> + +<p> +"Our fine fellows," he adds, "don't mind shot any +more than if they were peas." +</p> + +<p> +But the day of battle came at last, Hood having +arrived with reinforcements. And on the 4th of +April our men were landed, and the siege was +commenced. Not a large army, but little over 1,200 men, +consisting of seamen, marines, and soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +The island of Corsica, reader, is a very beautiful +one, and it never looked more lovely perhaps than +some days before the batteries of the British opened +fire. Yonder were the ships at anchor in the blue and +tranquil sea, the white houses of the town seeming to +sleep and dream under the low but fortified hills; and +the wild and lovely mountains in the rear, greenwooded +half way up, with many a glade and glen between. +</p> + +<p> +Now this siege of Bastia, be it remembered, spoke +volumes for the invincibility of the seamen and marines +under Hood, and indeed it redounds to the honour and +glory of all who fought there, for the new general, +D'Aubunt, who had succeeded Dundas, was of the +same opinion as his predecessor, namely, that the siege +of Bastia was "a visionary and rash attempt"; he +therefore washed his hands so completely of the affair, +that he sent neither men nor guns to aid Hood's brave +fellows, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel +Villettes and our hero Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +Guns were dragged up almost inaccessible heights, +and everything being ready by the 11th of April, an +officer was sent with a flag of truce to demand the +surrender of the place. The answer was as insolent as +it was bombastic. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell your admiral I have hot shot for your ships +and bayonets for your troops. Probably when about +two-thirds of our brave men are killed, we shall then +trust to the generosity of the British." +</p> + +<p> +The firing commenced at once therefore, and on the +22nd the place capitulated, the tricolours of France +were hauled down, and British flags hoisted in their +place. This is what bold Nelson called "the most +glorious sight a Briton could experience, four thousand +five hundred men laying down their arms to one +thousand British soldiers who were serving as +marines!" +</p> + +<p> +At this siege Nelson was wounded in the back. Not +severely, however. +</p> + +<p> +The Scotch surgeon's-mate characterised the wound +as "a scratch," and the hero himself made but light of +it. For, frail and ill though his body might have +appeared, he was well inured to fatigue, to mental +suffering, and to pain also. +</p> + +<p> +Probably no captain was ever more loved by his +officers and men than Horatio Nelson was on board the +<i>Agamemnon</i>, of which ship he was so justly proud. +The man had indeed a most bewitching manner about +him, despite the fact that he was a most strict service +officer. +</p> + +<p> +To the junior midshipmen he ever behaved as a +father, drawing them out when shy, encouraging them +in every way in the performance of their duties, and +inculcating in them reverence for God on high, +obedience to command, and love for their king and +country. +</p> + +<p> +He used to have the gunroom officers to dine with +him by turns, not in large batches, but in well-chosen +groups at all events. One or two wardroom officers +would also be at these dinner parties, and this truly +great man never failed to put every one on the very +best of terms, not only with himself, but with +everybody else. On such nights there was no preaching +either to or at the youngsters, and this was probably +the reason why dining with the captain was considered +such a treat. There was, of course, the more carnal +reason also—"a good blow out." Well, young fellows +are, young fellows, and "a good blow out" is a treat to +growing youth. +</p> + +<p> +I am pleased to say that Lord Raventree and Tom +Bure soon became very good friends. Both had been +at the siege, and neither had shown the white feather, +even when shot tore up the ground near them, scattering +stones and splinters all around, and wounding +seamen or soldiers. They did not show the white +feather, but more than once during those eleven days +they felt its touch. It was one evening, when the +firing was at its very hottest, that Tom, being stationed +not far from young Raventree, looked about and smiled +in a friendly, companionable kind of way. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you afraid, Raventree?" said Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Entre nous</i>, Yes," said his lordship. "How do you +feel?" +</p> + +<p> +"Much as you do," answered Tom. "It is a funny +sort of fear though. I'm afraid I'm a coward at heart, +and that everybody will soon find me out; then I'll be +shot, I suppose, and serve me right too." +</p> + +<p> +Both Merryweather and O'Grady were at the siege, +and perhaps, though they certainly felt no fear, they +were not altogether easy in mind. +</p> + +<p> +"Och! bother, Mr. Merryweather," Tom heard +O'Grady say, "this is no fighting at all. I'm itching +all over to have my cutlass in my two hands, and a +Frenchman or two forenenst me." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not itching," said Merryweather, laughing, +"only Irishmen and Scotchmen itch, but I'm +burning to get to close quarters." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! Mr. Merryweather, you will have your joke; +but, you see, this battery business is a foine thing for +sodjers—look out, there's a shot coming—for sodjers +or sailors?" +</p> + +<p> +Another shot filled O'Grady's mouth with grit. He +spat gravel and blood for half an hour, and didn't say +much more. But none knew better than this old +midshipman how to train a gun, and he did his best to +repay the French for nearly knocking his front teeth +out. +</p> + +<p> +Both Raventree and Tom had a chance of fighting +side by side some months afterwards, at the siege of +Calvi; and perhaps, during the whole course of this +sad and eventful war, no operations were more trying +to the health and strength of our brave sailors, and the +troops who fought shoulder to shoulder with them in +the batteries, than those at Calvi. +</p> + +<p> +During this long and trying siege, Nelson had as his +colleague the gallant Sir Charles Stuart, a man quite +after his own heart; a man who was never more happy +than when in action, and the hotter the better; a man +too who, like Horatio, never spared himself, and who +slept in the advanced battery every night. +</p> + +<p> +The guns too—five-and-twenty pieces of heavy +ordnance—had to be dragged to the different batteries, +mounted and all, but fought by seaman, with the +exception of an artilleryman to point the guns. +</p> + +<p> +Was it any wonder that the men fell ill under such +hardships, exposed to the burning sun, and in a climate +which, during the autumn months, was far from +healthy? Of two thousand men, more than half were +sick, we are told, and the rest looked like so many +phantoms or scarecrows. +</p> + +<p> +Yet Nelson describes himself as like a reed among +oak trees bending before the storm, while his men—his +Hearts of Oak—were laid low by it. "All the +prevailing disorders have attacked me," he wrote, "but +I have not strength enough for them to fasten upon." +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, it seems, had lived to find out a fact well +known to medical men, that thin, nervous people will +often recover from illnesses that prostrate and kill +strong, full-blooded men in a few days. +</p> + +<p> +This puts me in mind of a remark once made to +Horatio Nelson by his Scotch surgeon's mate. The +captain was attacked by acute pain in the side during +the night, and the honest medico thought it as well to +administer a good dose of a medicine which in another +form is used in the Highlands as a panacea for every +ill—namely, spirits. +</p> + +<p> +"I'd drink the rum," said Nelson, "but I fear I am +attacked by inflammation, and the rum may increase +it." +</p> + +<p> +"Tak' up your dram," said the Scot. "Inflammation? +Man, <i>there's no enough blood in a' your body +to mak' a decent inflammation!</i>" +</p> + +<p> +Nelson drank his rum, sighed, and slept. +</p> + +<p> +At this siege, although so many died of illness, the +loss caused by shot and shell was comparatively slight. +</p> + +<p> +But a very sad loss indeed befel Nelson. A shell +bursting near the battery bespattered him with sand +and gravel. An officer and several men with Nelson +had thrown themselves on their faces when the shell +was approaching; the latter arose bleeding freely from +the mouth and nostrils. He only complained, however, +of pain in his right eye. And so determined was he +to continue his duty, that he could not be prevailed +upon to lie in bed more than one day. +</p> + +<p> +The sight, however, was destroyed, though not at +once. +</p> + +<p> +Now, it will hardly be easily credited, that +notwithstanding Nelson's valour and energy at both the sieges +of which I have given a brief description, his services +were scarcely mentioned in the reports sent to the +Admiralty at home. +</p> + +<p> +No wonder that a man of his proud and sensitive +nature felt himself sadly aggrieved to be thus neglected. +"For one hundred and ten days," he wrote, "have I +been actually engaged at sea and on shore against the +enemy; three actions have I fought against ships; two +against Bastia in my ship; four boat actions; two +villages taken; and twelve sail of vessels burnt. I do +not know that anyone has done more. I have had the +comfort to be always applauded by my commander-in-chief, +but never to be rewarded. And what is still +more mortifying, for services in which I have been +wounded others have been praised, who at the time of +these actions were far away, and snug in bed. They +have not done me justice." +</p> + +<p> +"But never mind," he adds, "one of these times I +shall have a whole Gazette to myself." +</p> + +<p> +It must have been thoughts like these, combined +with weakness of body, not to say positive illness, that +caused the hero at this time of his career to dream of +home. Ay, not to dream of it only, but to long for +the refreshing solace of a humble cottage in the +country. In Norfolk, no doubt. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, I have already said, was not in the habit of +preaching to his junior middies, or at them either, +when he invited them to dinner (although in my own +time I have known captains do this, and quite take +the wind out of the poor lads' sails). But, nevertheless, +many a time and oft, by night especially, he would get +hold of some one or other of his boys on the quarterdeck, +and walking along by his side, perhaps holding +him by the arm just above the elbow, would give him +many a bit of sound advice, and many a kindly word +of encouragement. +</p> + +<p> +One night, shortly after the siege of Calvi, although +still suffering with his eye, he put his hand kindly on +Tom's shoulder, and began to talk to him and to draw +him out. +</p> + +<p> +It was a bright, beautiful moonlight night, the great +clouds of canvas bellying out before the breeze, and +the waves to the south'ard all a-sparkle, as if the +fairies were raining showers of flashing diamonds on +them. +</p> + +<p> +He had often given Tom good advice, but all he said +to-night was that he was pleased with his conduct, and +would do all he could to advance him. +</p> + +<p> +"You're a Norfolk lad, aren't you?" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir; that is—yes. My father was, you know, +sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Your father was a brave sailor, Tom Bure; but I am +glad you too have come to our service. Soldiers are +not fit to hold the candle to sailors." +</p> + +<p> +"No, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"They're too slow. Too much manœuvring. Not +enough dash and go. Well, lad, I still have your +letter. That was what got you into the service. Our +Merryweather mentioned you to Admiral Hood though, +but he—excellent fellow—is troubled with a bad +memory at times." +</p> + +<p> +Then he laughed as he added, "You're a capital +diplomatist though. What an excellent idea, to go to +my dear father's house to write your letter." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, sir!" cried Tom, looking up in the captain's +face, "I assure you I did not go there for the purpose +of writing that letter. I wanted so much to see you, +and I didn't know you had gone." +</p> + +<p> +"I believe you, boy; I believe you. The letter +was a forlorn hope then?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir; all the world seemed so forgetful and +cold to me then——" +</p> + +<p> +"Just as I feel it now, Tom; so cold! so forgetful!" +</p> + +<p> +"And," continued Tom, "you had spoken to me so +kindly once in the garden, that day when you were +planting cabbages, you know." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, lad, the day I was planting cabbages. Egad, +Tom, I wish I were planting cabbages now." +</p> + +<p> +"They wouldn't grow on board ship very well, sir, +and you can't go on shore." +</p> + +<p> +"Why?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because your country has such need of you, sir." +</p> + +<p> +Nelson looked at him for a moment in silence, then +sighed. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, sir, I wrote the letter because I felt I would +rather be a cabin boy in your ship than an officer +in any other." +</p> + +<p> +"Silly lad! But tell me, Tom, all about Dan, Daddy +Dan you called him, Merryweather says. Daddy +Dan's cottage and your adopted sister Ruth. Pretty +cottage, isn't it?" +</p> + +<p> +Then Tom felt in his element, and launched at once +into an ocean of praise of his cottage home, and Dan and +Ruth and poor dead-and-gone Bob. Nelson seemed to +listen hungrily to the lad's story of home, of the house +itself, of the garden, with its wealth of old-fashioned +flowers; of the porch around the cottage door, with +its sweet and fragrant jessamine; of the rustic bridge +across the stream; of loving, gentle, Meg, the collie, who +used to rest her cheek so fondly against poor Bob's +chest; of the tall, tall poplar trees, so tall that when +not a breath of wind would be stirring the grass on +the earth, their tops were always gently moving, and +seemed always whispering something to the passing +clouds; and about the calm dark waters of the placid +broads, with green reeds softly rustling round them; +of the wild birds that made their home among the +reeds; and about wild flowers, rich and rare, that were +scattered over marsh and morass. +</p> + +<p> +Tom stopped at last, half afraid he had said too +much. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, boy," said Nelson, "how you have pleased and +delighted me! How I should like to have just such a +happy home. 'Tis now the dream of my life." +</p> + +<p> +Tom looked timidly up into his face. +</p> + +<p> +Could he be mistaken? he wondered. Was it some +trick the moonbeams were playing? or were there +really tears in Nelson's eyes? +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0205"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER V. +<br><br> +THE GLORIOUS OLD "AGAMEMNON." +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Our barque is on the waters deep, our bright blades in our hand,<br> + Our birthright is the ocean vast, we scorn the girdled land;<br> + And the hollow wind is our music brave, and none can bolder be<br> + Then the hoarse-tongued tempest, roaring o'er a proud and swelling sea.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem2"> + "The warrior of the land may mount the wild horse in his pride,<br> + But a fiercer steed we dauntless breast—the untamed ocean tide;<br> + And a nobler tilt our bark careers, as it stems the saucy wave,<br> + While the herald storm peals o'er the deep the glories of the brave."<br> + —MOTHERWELL.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +It must not be thought that Tom Bure's +life was a very easy one, even when on +board ship, and far away from battle and +siege. A sailor's life in those good old +days was not confined to roasting +peanuts, or eating winkles with a pin. +It was "hard tack and salt horse" with Tom in the +gunroom, and hard work on deck. Nelson believed in +bringing up his midshipmen as men, thorough men, +who could do duty before the mast below or aloft. +</p> + +<p> +There wasn't a midshipman in the <i>Agamemnon</i> that +would be ashamed to dip his hand in a bucket of tar +or slush, if there was any occasion to, or do any other +duty whatsoever either on poop or fo'c's'le. Work kept +the youngsters healthy, and when healthy they were as +happy as the day was long. Nor was their education +neglected. In a year at the most from the siege +of Calvi, Tom Bure, Josiah Nisbet, and even Lord +Raventree were going to pass their examination for +lieutenancies, or at all events they were going to make +a brave attempt to do so. +</p> + +<p> +The examinations in those times were far more +practicable and less theoretical, and of course less +scientific, than they are in our day. The <i>Agamemnon</i> +was not lighted by electricity; the power of steam +was unknown; there was no such thing as moving +guns by machinery, nor any patent reefing tackle. +But a lieutenant at his examination was placed with +his ship in all sorts of hypothetical positions of danger +and difficulty, and expected to be able to extricate her +therefrom. +</p> + +<p> +On that green cloth in front of the President of +the Board and the examining officers, all kinds of +storms and hurricanes raged, and all sorts of battles +were fought. The ship was taken aback, she was +thrown on her beam ends, boats were washed away, +bulwarks were rent and torn, and sails riven into roaring, +rattling ribbons, and the officer who aspired to be +captain must know, and be able to tell quickly and +decidedly, how best to encounter every difficulty. +Enemies' ships appeared too on the horizon of the green +cloth, and the candidate's frigate had to meet them, +two to one sometimes. He had to fight them or chase +them, batter them, burn them, or scupper them; his +own ship too might take fire, or his own rudder be +blown away with shot or shell, or he might have to +lay alongside the foe to board her with cutlass and pike. +Oh, I can assure you, reader, the examination was +a right tough and right practicable one, and it needed +a Heart of Oak to face it; but having passed with +flying colours, you felt indeed you were a man, and +could face the traditional number of Frenchmen in +the field of battle, according to your nationality—three +if you were English, five if Scotch. +</p> + +<p> +Besides, to one who really loved his profession there +was probably less difficulty in a practical examination +of this sort than in the technical ordeal one has to +pass now-a-days. And now-a-days you can cram, and +having passed, forget one half the useless and senseless +subjects you have been crammed with. +</p> + +<p> +There was no cramming in Nelson's time. The +examinations were terribly real, just as the Spanish +and French fleets were real; every question the Board +put went straight to the mark, like a British cannon +ball. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Ever hear of Hotham? Admiral Hotham? Well, +he certainly does not live in our hearts as do Hood +and Howe and Hardy, Collingwood and Nelson. But, +nevertheless, Hotham was a bit of a power in those +days. He had command of the fleet about this time, +but he was rather easy going, though brave enough +after a fashion. He lacked "go" and enthusiasm. +Sir W. Hamilton, who was the British plenipotentiary +at the Court of Naples—his wife, the famous Lady +Hamilton, Nelson's guiding star—summed up the +character of Hotham prettily, and in a very brief +sentence. "<i>Entre nous</i>," he writes to Nelson, "our +old friend Hotham is not quite awake enough for +such a command as that of the British fleet in the +Mediterranean, although he is the best creature +imaginable." +</p> + +<p> +Best creature indeed! Who wanted best creatures +in stirring times like these? Men who were +good-natured and fat perhaps, who loved a pipe and old +port, who could tell a good story after dinner, and go +to sleep in an arm chair. Verily, there were men in +the service in those days—pitchforked into power +because they happened to be titled or had interest—who +could not have made their mark behind a draper's +counter. +</p> + +<p> +Comparisons are odious perhaps, but we cannot help +making them sometimes. Just think of these two +men then for a moment, Nelson and Hotham, the +latter all but minus ambition, certainly minus that +burning ambition which is part and portion of the soul +of every true hero—taking things as they came. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Contented wi' little, canty wi' mair,"<br> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +but hardly going out of his way to fight for fame and +glory; the former full of ardour and zeal, and a noble +desire to do the best for his king and country. When +Hotham got word, on March 10th, '95, that the French +were actually on the sea in force, near the Isle of +Marguerite, Nelson felt sure that a grand general +action was close at hand, and writes to his wife +thus: +</p> + +<p> +"My character and good name are in my own keeping. +Life with disgrace is dreadful. A glorious death +is to be envied; and if anything happens to me, +recollect that death is a debt we have all to pay, +and whether now or a few years hence can signify but +very little." +</p> + +<p> +True philosophy that; but if poor Nelson expected +that our old friend Hotham, "the best creature imaginable," +was about to lead him on either to death or very +much victory, he was disagreeably disappointed. The +French fleet, however, were sighted at last, and the +British were in battle array, but the light winds that +had been cavorting all round the compass died away +into a dead calm, or nearly. +</p> + +<p> +I must give the French the honour that is here due +to them by saying that during the calm they made a +very gallant show indeed, but as soon as it came on to +blow they—ran away. +</p> + +<p> +Hotham chased them. +</p> + +<p> +Bravo! Hotham. +</p> + +<p> +The French cracked on most furiously and famously! +</p> + +<p> +Determined to win the race, if not the battle! +</p> + +<p> +So hot was the race that the great line of battleship, +<i>Ca Ira</i>, 84 guns, carried away her fore and main +topmasts, and fell behind a bit. The French had had +a fair start of about six miles. +</p> + +<p> +A frigate of ours, the <i>Inconstant</i>, closed in, but the +awful iron hail from the <i>Ca Ira</i> was too much for her, +and she had to withdraw. +</p> + +<p> +Though two other great Frenchmen are close at +hand—the <i>Sans Culotte</i>, 120 guns, and the <i>Jean +Barras</i>—Nelson, in his <i>Agamemnon</i>, boldly heads for the +<i>Ca Ira</i>, that had been taken in tow by <i>Le Censeur</i>. +</p> + +<p> +This fight between Nelson's ship on the one hand, +and the two Frenchmen on the other, was one of the +prettiest and pluckiest bits of fighting it is possible to +imagine. Again and again Nelson raked, the <i>Ca Ira</i> +and he so maneuvered his frigate that, though the +French fought like fiends and did their best, they were +unable to broadside our hero. +</p> + +<p> +Books tell us that the reason why the Frenchmen +fought so pluckily was that they believed they should +receive no quarter if taken, so they used red-hot shot, +and threw Greek fire. +</p> + +<p> +Now, with all due respect for the historians, I +refuse to believe that the French had so bad an +opinion of us. No, let us rather give them the +credit of being honourable and courageous. Why +not be charitable, even to our enemies? for, like +mercy, charity +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "——is twice blessed,<br> + It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.<br> + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes<br> + The throned monarch better than his crown."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Night fell at last, and our fight-worn men on board +the <i>Agamemnon</i> sank wearily down to obtain sleep and +rest, even like the soldiers Campbell speaks about in +his beautiful poem, "The Soldier's Dream"— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Our bugles sang truce—for the night-cloud had lowered,<br> + And the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky;<br> + And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered,<br> + The weary to sleep, and the wounded to die."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +There were, alas! many casualties on board the +<i>Agamemnon</i>, and many wounded men in the cockpit +fell asleep ere morning light, never to wake more in +this world. +</p> + +<p> +Both the surgeon and his mates were as kind and +gentle to those under their charge as kind could be. +</p> + +<p> +Poor little Raventree was struck down by a splinter +of wood close by Tom Bure's side, and was carried +below from the blood-slippery deck in the arms of a +sturdy sailor. +</p> + +<p> +It was not until after dark that Tom found time to +go to see his friend. He was very weak from loss of +blood, and looked ghastly white in the lantern's dim +light, as he lay there in his hammock, but he smiled +feebly when Tom pressed his hand. +</p> + +<p> +"I've done my duty," he said; "and what do you +think, Tom? The admiral has been down to see me, +and he talked so kindly, Tom, I could have cried." +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Tom Bure, "keep up your heart, you +lost such a lot of blood. I tried to carry you below, +but you were far too heavy." +</p> + +<p> +"But you bound up my arm with your own neckerchief, +Paddy"—Paddy was the Irish surgeon—"it was +so good of you." +</p> + +<p> +"Never a bit of it, Raventree. It may be my turn +next, who knows?" +</p> + +<p> +"The captain says he is going to renew the fight +to-morrow morning; so sorry I won't be in it," sighed +Raventree. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, good-night. Sleep if the pain will let you." +</p> + +<p> +At earliest dawn the battle was renewed as far as +Nelson's portion of it was concerned, and very soon the +<i>Ca Ira</i> and <i>Le Censeur</i> struck to the <i>Agamemnon</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson had now a proposal to make to Admiral +Hotham, and he made all haste to lay it before him. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure was Nelson's coxswain, so he had an +opportunity of getting on board the admiral's ship, and +even heard the conversation between his chief and +Hotham. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Illustrious</i> and <i>Courageux</i> were both disabled—British +ships—and Nelson's suggestion was to leave +these two and the two prizes with four frigates, and to +chase and destroy the French fleet with the others. +</p> + +<p> +Hotham laughed blandly, kindly even. +</p> + +<p> +"You're too impulsive, Nelson," he said. "I don't +think we had better give chase. We must be +contented. We have done very well." +</p> + +<p> +Nelson returned to the ship silent and crestfallen. +He made but one remark to Tom: +</p> + +<p> +"You heard what our bold admiral said, Mr. Bure?" +</p> + +<p> +"I was close beside you, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"'Done very well,' he said. Bah! Had we taken +ten sail-of-the-line, and allowed the eleventh to escape, +when it was possible to take her, I should not have +called it enough. Had we got at them we should have +taken or destroyed the whole fleet." +</p> + +<p> +It was not until the 14th of July that Hotham +again caught sight of the French. +</p> + +<p> +Raventree was by this time well and on duty again, +and Nelson had promoted him to mate, or acting +lieutenant. And undoubtedly the young fellow deserved +his promotion, which was afterwards confirmed by the +Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. +</p> + +<p> +There was no great battle this time either, between +the French and British, although one ship, the <i>L'Alcide</i>, +74 guns, struck to the <i>Cumberland</i>. +</p> + +<p> +A terrible thing now occurred, however. This +unfortunate <i>L'Alcide</i>, on board which were no less than +six hundred men, caught fire in the fore-top, and in a +very short time was sheeted in flames fore and aft. +</p> + +<p> +Boats were despatched from every British ship that +was anywhere near, and they did all in their power to +save the crew. But, alas! in the dreadful scene that +followed no less than three hundred were burned alive, +or perished in the waves. +</p> + +<p> +Such is war at sea, dear reader. It was very awful +in those days, it will be ten times more terrible when +Britain's naval might next rides over the waves— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "——to match another foe;<br> + And sweep through the deep,<br> + While the stormy winds do blow;<br> + While the battle rages loud and long,<br> + And the stormy winds do blow."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +But what need Britain fear, boys, so long as she is +true to her own glorious story? +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "The meteor flag of Britain<br> + Shall yet terrific burn,<br> + Till danger's troubled night depart,<br> + And the star of peace return."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +But— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "The spirits of our fathers<br> + Shall start from every wave,<br> + For the deck it was their field of fame,<br> + And ocean was their grave.<br> + Where Blake and mighty Nelson fell,<br> + Our manly hearts shall glow,<br> + As we sweep through the deep,<br> + While the stormy winds do blow;<br> + While the battle rages loud and long,<br> + And the stormy winds do blow."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +To tell of all the gallant deeds that Nelson +performed in the invincible <i>Agamemnon</i>, with the bold +Hearts of Oak that so thoroughly trusted him and +loved him, would take all the rest of this book. +</p> + +<p> +In this year, and towards its close, Hotham was +relieved—after all his arduous conflicts perhaps he +needed a rest—and a mightier than he, namely, Sir +John Jervis,* became admiral of the Mediterranean +fleet, and Nelson took his ship to Leghorn to undergo +repairs. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* Afterwards made Earl of St. Vincent. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +She certainly required refitting. She was an honour +to her captain in one sense, for her terribly battered +condition showed how bravely and well he had fought. +We are told that every yard, mast, and sail was riddled, +torn, or splintered with shot, and that even her hull +was only kept together by cables! +</p> + +<p> +In that glorious old <i>Agamemnon</i> Nelson had captured, +burned, or destroyed, in one way and another, no less +than fifty sail of vessels in about two years' time. +</p> + +<p> +But he had to leave his battered old ship in June—with +sorrow, no doubt, for he loved the <i>Agamemnon</i> as +if she had been a living thing. He hoisted his flag now +on board the 74-gun ship <i>Captain</i>, with the rank of +commodore. +</p> + +<p> +And the <i>Agamemnon</i> went home to England with a convoy. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0206"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VI. +<br><br> +A DUEL TO THE DEATH. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "The stern joy that warriors feel<br> + In foemen worthy of their steel."—SCOTT.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +This story of mine, lads, is not altogether +fiction. Indeed there is very little fiction +about it, and none at all in those +portions that speak of the brave deeds of +our Hearts of Oak in those dashing days +of old. +</p> + +<p> +But I should not be true historian were I to lead +any of my readers to infer that we invariably had it +all our own way on the wave. War would be the +merest picnic, destitute of the slightest honour or +glory, if there were no terrible obstacles to encounter +and to crush. The navy certainly was never beaten +on the whole or in fleets; but in single ship actions we +sometimes had the worst of it. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson knew how to fight, and he knew also that it +was discreet to sheer off rather than be captured by +vastly superior numbers. In the <i>Agamemnon</i>, for +instance, he had once been chased for twenty-four +hours by a fleet of three-and-twenty French ships. +The odds here were a trifle too great for even Nelson's +powers, and had I been in command of the <i>Agamemnon</i> +I'm not sure I wouldn't have ran away just as she did. +Fact! +</p> + +<p> +The French greatly respected Nelson. They wanted +to catch him all the same. His opinion, however, of +the French was not a very exalted one. During that +chase he told Merryweather on the poop that the +enemy were neither seamen nor officers, else they +could have caught him easy. He appeared grieved +about it. +</p> + +<p> +"Really, sir," said Mr. Merryweather, smiling, "you +seem to be vexed that they haven't caught us." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, not quite that," said the commodore; "but +I can't bear to see even Frenchmen making fools of +themselves." +</p> + +<p> +"It's an inshore wind you see, Merryweather," he +added, "else we 'ed soon have our own fleet out to +assist us, and, small in comparison though it is, you'd +soon see those Frenchmen working to windward +then." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +I have already told the reader about the capture of +Corsica. It did not prove of much service to us in +the long run, however; for now a new page of history +is turned over, and we find France in league with Spain +against us, so it is deemed expedient to evacuate +Corsica. +</p> + +<p> +The Spanish were probably our friends at heart, +but that signified very little. They were now going to +assist in destroying our ships. +</p> + +<p> +Spain had at this time a splendid navy, as far as +ships were concerned; but their officers were certainly +not much to boast about. Indeed, they needed no one +to boast about them, they could do this themselves; +but their courage after all was of the Bombastes +Furioso type. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Whoever dares these boots displace<br> + Must meet Bombastes face to face."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The Corsicans somehow were not ill-pleased to be +rid of the British, and the French were overjoyed at +the coming evacuation. Nelson superintended it with +all his skill as a sailor, and all his adroitness as an +undoubtedly clever man. +</p> + +<p> +Of course the French tried to throw as many +obstacles in his way as they could think of. The +property of the British was confiscated, and there was +even a conspiracy on foot to seize the viceroy. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson showed his usual energy on this occasion. +He despatched Commander Merryweather with a +message into Bastia, to the effect that if there was +the slightest opposition made to the embarkation of +persons and property, he (Nelson) would batter down +the town about the committee's ears. +</p> + +<p> +The committee were Frenchmen who had formed a +government, and thought they could do just what they +pleased, and do it in their own way. They had not +only sequestrated British property, but stationed +armed Corsicans everywhere to guard it, while a +privateer was moored near the mole to prevent the +exit of our merchant craft. When Merryweather drew +near, he found not only the guns of the privateer +pointed at his boats, but muskets levelled at him from +the mole head. +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather, however, had looked down the +muzzles of French guns once or twice too often to be +easily frightened, so he delivered his message, instead +of sheering off as the committee had fully expected +he would. +</p> + +<p> +"And now," said Merryweather, pulling out his +watch, "I have delivered my message, and I give you +precisely a quarter of an hour to deliberate. If I do +not have your answer by that time, Nelson's guns shall +open fire." +</p> + +<p> +The answer came in five minutes, and a very +practical one it was. The very sentinels had fled at +the threat of Nelson's fire, and the vessels were +permitted at once to leave the mole. +</p> + +<p> +The embarkation occupied the greater part of a +week, and, independent of private property, the public +stores thus snatched from the harpy claws of the +French were worth to our country about a quarter of +a million of money. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +"Well, boys," said Nelson one evening to Raventree +and Tom Bure, who were standing by the bulwarks in +the ship's waist, "you have a better chance of +prize-money now than ever." +</p> + +<p> +"Indeed, sir," said Lord Raventree. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes; we have Spain to fight, as well as France." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, sir," said Raventree, "I suppose there is also +a better chance of honour and glory; for I don't care +so much for the gold." +</p> + +<p> +"And you, Mr. Bure?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh," said Tom, laughing, "I should like a share of +both." +</p> + +<p> +"Candidly spoken, lads, and I can assure you that +it won't be my fault if you don't have both. I'm +going to make the sea uncommonly hot for somebody." +</p> + +<p> +It was on the frigate <i>Minerve</i> that this conversation +took place, and on which Nelson's broad pennant +was now hoisted. +</p> + +<p> +He was proceeding, in company with the <i>Blanche</i>, +to Porto Ferrajo, his object being to assume the +command of the fleet there, after which "the fun +was to begin." +</p> + +<p> +But adventures commenced before this, one at least; +for on the 29th of December our hero Tom, who +happened to be on the outlook, hailed the quarterdeck, +or rather poop. +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather, who had joined Nelson's ship, and +was then on deck, knew that Tom had good news to +impart from the very tone of his voice. +</p> + +<p> +"A sail in sight, Mr. Bure?" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, sir; a large Spanish frigate. I can easily +make out her colours." +</p> + +<p> +This was just off Carthagena, and at once the ship +was cleared for action. In less than three minutes +every man was at his quarters. +</p> + +<p> +A more bravely contested fight than this we have +no account of in all the war. +</p> + +<p> +I have said already, that though the Spanish ships +were good, they were badly officered. In the case of +the <i>Santa Sabina</i>, however, it was quite the reverse. +</p> + +<p> +You must remember, reader, that after the union of +Scotland and England, in which our king, James VI., +fell heir to the English throne, there was no such +outlet as before for the untameable courage of our +great Highland families. The scions of these houses +despised trade—they were warlike to a degree—therefore +they took service freely with their ancient +allies the French, and indeed drew sword for any +good nation, when in a good cause they could win +honour and glory. +</p> + +<p> +And this <i>Santa Sabina</i>, that scorned to fly, but +boldly faced and haughtily addressed the hero Nelson +himself, was commanded by Don Jacobo Stuart, or, in +plain English, Captain Jamie Stuart. He was a direct +descendant of the Duke of Berwick, son of James II. +Probably there were several other Scottish officers in +that ship as well, for our clans keep well together. +History, however, does not say. +</p> + +<p> +Now let Nelson himself, in his terse seaman language, +speak of what followed. +</p> + +<p> +"When I hailed the Don," he says, "I told him, this +is an English frigate, and demanded his surrender. +His answer was noble, and such as became the illustrious +family from which he descended—'And this is a +<i>Spanish</i> frigate, and you may begin as soon as you +please.'" +</p> + +<p> +"I have no idea," continues Nelson, "of a closer or +sharper battle. The force to a gun the same, and +nearly the same number of men, we having 250. +During the action I asked him several times to +surrender; but his answer was, 'No, sir, not while I +have the means of fighting left.' +</p> + +<p> +"When only himself, of all the officers, was left alive +he hailed, and said he would fight no more, and begged +I would stop firing." +</p> + +<p> +The brave Stuart was then taken prisoner on board +the <i>Minerve</i>, and a prize crew, under the command of +two lieutenants, one of whom was Lieutenant Hardy +an officer of whom Nelson was very fond, and who +comes into our story again later on. The Irish doctor +was also sent to the assistance of the Spanish. Great +indeed was the havoc he found there, the vessel was +badly hurt, and dead and wounded lay around in +dozens, the decks resembling a shambles. +</p> + +<p> +Nor had the <i>Minerve</i> escaped severe damage; so +badly crippled was she, and so many dead and wounded +lay on her decks, or hampered the cockpit, that when +next day four other Spanish ships of war hove in sight, +Nelson was unable to give the veriest show of fight, +and it was only through his energy and skill as a +seaman that he escaped. +</p> + +<p> +These vessels were two frigates and two line of +battle ships, so that, even had he been in the best of +form, discretion would have dictated to the hero that +flight was advisable. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson speaks of Stuart in the highest terms of +praise that one good and brave sailor can use towards +another. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Sabina</i>, however, had to be abandoned. In other +words, she was re-taken. +</p> + +<p> +And Nelson returned Don Jacobo Stuart his sword, +and sent him under a flag of truce to Spain. +</p> + +<p> +"I felt it," he says, "consonant to the dignity of my +country to do so, and I always act as I feel right +without regard to custom. Stuart," he adds, "was reputed +to be the best officer in Spain, and his men were well +worthy to possess such a commander. He was the +only surviving officer of the ship he fought so nobly." +</p> + +<p> +So ended this awful duel to the death. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0207"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VII. +<br><br> +THE BATTLE OF ST. VINCENT. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "The thunder of the battle-deck,<br> + The lightning flash of war."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +In my last chapter I stated that Nelson, +with his broad pennant flying on board +the <i>Minerve</i>, met with and fought the +<i>Santa Sabina</i>. I also mentioned that +the <i>Blanche</i> was companion ship to the +<i>Minerve</i>. Where was she then during +the fight? it may be asked. Did Nelson have her +assistance in fighting the gallant Stuart? Was it two +to one after all? +</p> + +<p> +No, certainly not, for during the engagement the +<i>Blanche</i> was far away to windward in chase of the +<i>Ceres</i>, whom she sadly wanted to fight, but who +escaped. +</p> + +<p> +Porto Ferrajo was a strong fortress on the Isle of +Elba, to which, you remember, Napoleon Bonaparte +was banished, but from which he subsequently escaped. +</p> + +<p> +After the evacuation of Corsica, the viceroy of that +island, whom the French would have captured had it +not been for Nelson's guns, was escorted by the hero +to Ferrajo; but Sir Gilbert Elliot—for that was his +name—went afterwards in the <i>Minerve</i> with Nelson to +hold a consultation with the British Admiral of the +fleet (then Sir John Jervis, afterwards Earl St. Vincent), +who was at that time cruising off Cape St. Vincent. +</p> + +<p> +On the 9th of February, '97, Nelson arrived at +Gibraltar, and here he received on board by exchange +the two lieutenants, Culverhouse and the immortal +Hardy, who had been taken prisoners with the +recapture of the <i>Sabina</i>. +</p> + +<p> +And now comes an adventure worth relating. Hardly +had the <i>Minerve</i> got fairly under weigh again than two +Spanish ships of the line got up sail and gave chase. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed indeed that the <i>Minerve</i> would assuredly +be captured now, for no sooner had she entered the +Straits, than the foremost line of battleship outsailed +her consort, and was coming up hand over hand after +Nelson's frigate. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Gilbert Elliot made so sure that the <i>Minerve</i> +would be taken, that he had his state papers all ready +to throw overboard, so that they might not fall into +the hands of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, however, cleared for action. +</p> + +<p> +It would have been madness for him to have +attempted to try conclusions with two lordly liners, +but as the fight was now being forced upon him, he +determined to sell his ship dearly. +</p> + +<p> +Indeed, he never meant to let the Dons get her at all. +</p> + +<p> +Pointing to his flag, he said to an officer near him, +"Before the Spaniards have that bit of bunting I'll +have a tussle with them, and sooner than the ship +should fall into their hands I'll run her on shore." +</p> + +<p> +They were just going below to dinner, when suddenly +there was a cry, "Man overboard." +</p> + +<p> +In a moment all was bustle and stir. Lieutenant +Hardy and a few sailors sprang into the jolly-boat, +which was at once lowered away to pick up the man. +</p> + +<p> +It was soon evident, however, that the boat could +make no headway on her return against the strong +current. She was rapidly drifting onwards to the +advancing Spanish ship. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson grew excited. +</p> + +<p> +"I will not lose poor Hardy for all the Dons on +earth," he shouted. "Back the mizentop-sail!" +</p> + +<p> +Now it is here where the smile comes in. +</p> + +<p> +That "cockie" Don was full of warlike ardour as +long as the <i>Minerve</i> kept cracking on, but as soon as +Nelson stopped ship, the rapidity with which the Don +began to shorten sail was amusing. +</p> + +<p> +He positively refused what he considered Nelson's +challenge. +</p> + +<p> +So our boat was picked up, stun'sails were clapped +on the <i>Minerve</i>, and with the wind on her quarter, +away she went like a thing of life, and the Dons +were left behind. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +The following night a still more strange adventure +took place, for in the thickness and darkness Nelson +found himself sailing through what appeared to be a +great fleet of tall spectre ships. +</p> + +<p> +He had actually sailed in, amongst, and through the +Spanish fleet. +</p> + +<p> +This made him very anxious indeed to join Sir John +Jervis, which, to his great joy, he did two days after. +</p> + +<p> +He now left the <i>Minerve</i>, and rejoined his own good +ship the <i>Captain</i>. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +THE BATTLE OF ST. VINCENT. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the respect and even affection that Nelson +never failed to inspire in the breasts not only of his +officers, but even the men under his command, that +those who had once served under him thought +themselves lucky indeed if they could again fight beneath +his flag. Nor was Nelson himself averse to being +surrounded by "ken't" faces; he was like a father to +his people, and they to him felt as children. +</p> + +<p> +It is confidence like this that begets bravery and +deeds of derring-do, whether in the field or on the +battle-deck, and I have no hesitation in saying, that +a 40-gun frigate with bold Nelson in command, was as +good as, if not better than, most ships of the line. +</p> + +<p> +I think, however, that Nelson to some extent +abhorred a cut-and-dry style of fighting. Like all brave +men, he was nervously excitable; he became in a +measure intoxicated with the sound of battle, like the +war horse who scents the combat from afar, but he +never lost his head. He was quick to see any offered +advantage or mistake of the enemy, and to profit by +it at once. His object too was often, at the commencement +of a fight, to confuse, bewilder, and paralyse the +enemy, and sometimes they never regained self-control +until the battle was over. +</p> + +<p> +You have heard, reader, of that style of argument, or +rather counter argument, which is called the <i>reductio ad +absurdum</i>, and also of the "descent from the sublime +to the ridiculous." Pardon me if I use one of these, +the better to illustrate my great hero Nelson's character. +</p> + +<p> +When, then, I was a boy of thirteen or fourteen, a +wiry, big, strong Scotch "nickum," I was at what is +called a fighting school. I do not believe that a day +ever passed without a fight between two boys. They +were pitched battles; generally arranged during school +hours and fought to the bitter end the same evening. +I myself, although a poor hand at first, eventually fought +my way from the lowest to the highest factions. I +somehow, however, usually preferred fighting a boy who was +bigger and stronger than myself; art came in to my aid, +and if I did happen to be beaten I had no dishonour. +Hut there was one lad who, though of my own age, +was considerably smaller. He was a red-faced, +towsy-headed, nervous tyke of a boy, and—he was more than +a match for me. I had several battles with him, in +which he invariably came on like a wild cat. With +hard-clenched fists he seemed positively to claw at my +face, and for one swinging blow from the shoulder I +got in, he landed half a dozen at least. It was +puzzling, confusing, and paralysing, and I had to lower +my flag each time, with perhaps two pretty black eyes, +a swollen nose, and a few loose teeth. +</p> + +<p> +Now, that boy—his name was John Aberdeen, and +he may possibly read these lines—was a perfect little +Nelson in character. You will see, therefore, why I +have made my descent from the sublime to the +ridiculous. +</p> + +<p> +The morning of the 14th of February was dull and +hazy, the British ships steering southwards with a bit +of westering in it. +</p> + +<p> +Although by no means rough, there was a swell on, +and it must have been a grand sight to see those two +lines of British men-of-war, as straight in column +almost as soldiers on parade, rising and falling on the +ocean billows. +</p> + +<p> +But when, at about one bell in the forenoon watch, +the drum beat to quarters, a still more lordly sight was +visible some distance up to windward, for the mist had +lifted before the morning sun, and there floated one of +the largest and most terrible fleets ever formed in +battle array. Truly they were leviathans afloat. Their +tall dark sides bristling with guns, their lofty riggings +and commanding sails imparting to them a dignity +that was awe-inspiring, a dignity from which the huge +flags of orange and red certainly did not detract. +</p> + +<p> +Not all at once, however, was the picture presented +to the astonished gaze of our British tars, for the huge +fog-curtain was lifted but gradually. +</p> + +<p> +Sir John Jervis was walking the quarter-deck of the +<i>Victory</i> as coolly as if the men had only been piped to +scrub decks, and as the Spanish fleet was gradually +evolved its numbers were reported to him. Did the +officer who made the report, I wonder, imagine for a +single moment that the admiral was going to be deterred +by numbers? +</p> + +<p> +"There are eight sail of the line, Sir John." +</p> + +<p> +"Thank you, Mr. T——." +</p> + +<p> +"There are twenty sail of the line, Sir John." +</p> + +<p> +"Very good, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"There are seven-and-twenty sail of the line, Sir +John. Considering the disparity of numbers, do you +think we are justified in engaging the Dons?" +</p> + +<p> +"Hold, sir!" cried the bold admiral. "Enough of this. +The die is cast, and if there are fifty sail of the line, I +should go through them just the same." +</p> + +<p> +"Hurrah!" cried Hallowell, who was standing near +him; so delighted was he that he clapped the admiral +on the shoulder. "You're right, Sir John, you're +right. We'll fight them, and we'll give the Dons a +hiding too." +</p> + +<p> +It is said that confusion seemed to spread among +the Spaniards from the very first. Parsons says: "They +made the most awkward attempts to form their +line-of-battle, and looked a complete forest massed and +huddled together." +</p> + +<p> +Now, before going further, I wish the reader to cast +his eye down the following columns, which I give by +way of showing the disparity in numbers and guns +between our fleet and that of Spain.* +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* I have placed Nelson's ship in Italics, also those that were taken. +</p> + +<pre> + BRITISH FLEET. SPANISH FLEET. + + SHIPS. GUNS. SHIPS. GUNS. + + 1 Victory 100 1 Santissima Trinidada 130 + 2 Britannia 100 2 Mexicana 112 + 3 Barfleur 98 3 Principe de Asturias 112 + 4 Prince George 98 4 Conception 112 + 5 Blenheim 90 5 Conde de Regla 112 + 6 Namur 90 6 <i>Salvador del Mundo</i> 112 + 7 <i>Captain</i> 74 7 <i>San Josef</i> 112 + 8 Goliath 74 8 <i>San Nicolas</i> 84 + 9 Excellent 74 9 Oriente 74 + 10 Orion 74 10 Glorioso 74 + 11 Colossus 74 11 Atlante 74 + 12 Egmont 74 12 Conquestador 74 + 13 Culloden 74 13 Soberano 74 + 14 Irresistible 74 14 Firme 74 + 15 Diadem 64 15 Pelago 74 + 16 San Genaro 74 + 17 San Francisco 74 + 18 <i>San Ysidro</i> 74 + 19 San Juan 74 + 20 San Antonio 74 + 21 San Pablo 74 + 22 San Firmin 74 + 23 Neptuna 74 + 24 Bahama 74 + 25 St. Domingo 74 + 26 Terrible 74 + 27 Il Defenso 74 +</pre> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Seven-and-twenty huge Spanish ships of war opposed +to fifteen British! +</p> + +<p> +Two thousand and two hundred and ninety-two +Spanish guns, against one thousand two hundred and +thirty-two British—nearly two to one. +</p> + +<p> +This glorious fight, on this most memorable +Valentine's-day, began about seven bells in the forenoon +watch, when Admiral Sir John Jervis, with all sail set, +came dashing at the Dons, and passed right through +their lines. Now the Spanish admiral had nine of his +ships down to leeward, and he at once determined to +pass astern of the British fleet, and thus effect a +junction with his divided ships. +</p> + +<p> +And it is at this point where the genius of Nelson +becomes so conspicuous. Remember that the signal +had been made for the whole fleet to engage, and had +he strictly obeyed orders he would have gone on with +the rest of the Britishers, and tacked with them. But +his quick eye—poor fellow, he had now but one—noticed +the Don's intention, and he resolved to frustrate +it at all hazards. He put his helm up, therefore, and +steered straight for the Spaniards. +</p> + +<p> +No more daring, dashing deed was ever done! +</p> + +<p> +Nothing more confusing could have occurred for the +Spanish admiral. +</p> + +<p> +Not a soul on the upper deck of the Captain who did +not marvel. Merryweather confessed afterwards to +Tom Bure that he thought Commodore Nelson had +suddenly gone mad. +</p> + +<p> +Even Tom and Raventree, little though they knew of +naval tactics, could not refrain from talking momentarily +over the affair. But the roar of the guns that had been +stilled for a minute or two recommenced now with +triple force, and Tom had his duty to perform. Yonder +was the mighty <i>Santissima Trinidada</i> towering high +above them, and Nelson in his Captain was close +alongside her. +</p> + +<p> +The position of Nelson's ship at that moment was +not one to be envied, with the monarch of the Spanish +fleet beside him beam to beam, and three-deckers +pouring in their fire fore and aft. +</p> + +<p> +But down to his assistance came the <i>Culloden</i> of +74 guns, bold Troubridge her commander, and the +<i>Blenheim</i> of 90 guns. +</p> + +<p> +The fire of the British ships at this time was terrible +in the extreme. Our brave fellows fought half naked +at their guns, and though messmates fell killed or +wounded on all sides, they were speedily carried or +hauled on one side and the fight went on. There was +no more thought of leaving their batteries among those +Hearts of Oak, than if the battle had been but a mere +parade. +</p> + +<p> +The dangerous position of the <i>Captain</i> may be +imagined when we remember that at one time she was +actually exposed to the fire of no less than nine ships! +</p> + +<p> +Nelson was the hero of this glorious fight. Am I +not right in calling him so, seeing that around his +sadly-mutilated ship the battle raged the fiercest? +</p> + +<p> +But the <i>Captain</i>, with her rigging in tatters, her +fore-top mast gone, and her wheel shot away, was now +almost unmanageable. She was at this time engaged +with two of the enemy's liners—the <i>San Nicholas</i> and +<i>San Josef</i>—and Nelson purposely fouled the former. +</p> + +<p> +The credit of this is due to Miller, his second +captain, who, disabled as the ship was, managed to +lay her aboard the starboard quarter of the Spanish +lee, so that her sprit-sail yard passed over the enemy's +poop, and hooked in her mizen shrouds. +</p> + +<p> +"Away—ay—ay, boarders." +</p> + +<p> +It was a scream, it was a yell from a British throat, +and it thrilled every Heart of Oak on board, and was +answered by a cheer. +</p> + +<p> +With the butt of his musket a soldier of the 69th +(a number of this regiment being on board) dashed in +the window of the Spaniard's upper quarter-gallery and +leapt in. Nelson and many more were with him, Tom +Bure and Raventree among the rest. But they found +the cabin doors secured against them. These were +speedily dashed to pieces. One man in a fight like +this has the strength of three. A volley was fired by +our brave fellows, the Spanish commodore fell, and +hurrying onwards, sword in hand, Nelson found that +the poop had already been taken by Lieut. Berry, and +our friend Merryweather, and that the enemy's ensign +was coming down by the run. Nelson ran forward +and received the submission and the swords of several +officers. +</p> + +<p> +But although the <i>San Nicholas</i> was thus taken, a +pattering musketry fire was kept up from the <i>San +Josef</i>, which was close alongside. +</p> + +<p> +She too must be captured. Nelson felt in form now +to capture a dozen. The order was therefore speedily +given to place sentinels on the ladders to guard the +prisoners of the <i>Nicholas</i>, and more men were ordered +into her from the <i>Captain</i>——to make sure, for +Nelson forgot nothing. Then once more the shout, +"Away—ay—ay, boarders!" +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-212"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-212.jpg" alt=""'Away--ay--ay, boarders,' cried Nelson.""> +<br> +"'Away—ay—ay, boarders,' cried Nelson." +</p> + +<p> +Our brave and great hero was at the head of his +men this time, and the <i>San Josef</i> fell as her consort +had fallen. +</p> + +<p> +The captain of the ship on his knees sued for mercy, +saying the admiral was dying of his wounds below. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson says, "I thereupon gave him my hand, and +ordered him to call to his officers and ship's company +that the ship had surrendered, which he did." +</p> + +<p> +Glorious day for Nelson! There on the quarter-deck +of this huge Don, 112 guns, he received the swords of +the vanquished Spaniards. +</p> + +<p> +There comes in here an element of the comic, for by +the hero's side stood the bold bargeman, Bill Fearney, +to whom the swords were given as they were received. +Bill hitched up his trousers, turned his quid in his +mouth, and stuck the swords under his left arm with +less ceremony than if they had been as many fiddlesticks. +</p> + +<p> +The very essence of this gallant fight lies in the fact +that Nelson, having fought almost to the death, his +ship of 74 guns being all but a wreck, puts this +disabled craft of his to such marvellous account, that +he captures two of the enemy's largest ships by the +glorious old British system of boarding. +</p> + +<p> +There they lay, the victor and the vanquished—the +three of them all in a huddle. And was it any wonder +that the <i>Victory</i> and every other British ship cheered +our Nelson as they passed? +</p> + +<p> +I do not feel inclined to say any more about this +glorious battle. To mention the bare unvarnished +facts is enough, and the boy along whose spine there +does not pass a cold thrill of pride and excitement +while reading these is no true Briton. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0208"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII. +<br><br> +LIFE IN NELSON'S SHIP. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "The flag of Britannia, the flag of the brave,<br> + Triumphant it floateth o'er land and o'er wave,<br> + All proudly it braveth the battle and blast,<br> + And when tattered with shot it is nailed to the mast."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +It goes without saying that Nelson +returned thanks, humble but fervent, to +heaven, for his merciful preservation on +the day of battle. +</p> + +<p> +For his services on this Valentine's-day +he was knighted, and also received +the Order of the Bath. He was moreover made +rear-admiral of the blue. +</p> + +<p> +Probably after all it was the private congratulations +that flowed in upon him which affected him the most, +and chief of these, perhaps, were the love and respect +of his ship's crew. Well they knew that Nelson was +not only a true sailor, but in heart and soul almost a +man before the mast. No one ever heard the hero +abuse a man verbally in bullying language with +oaths and fulsome gesture, as many and many a captain +did in those days. Moreover they knew he hated the +lash, and that he even saw the justice of the complaints +of the mutineers of the Nore. +</p> + +<p> +It was when on board the <i>Theseus</i>—the <i>Captain</i> was +almost a wreck—that the men's regard for their +commodore—now admiral—was shown in a manner +essentially sailor-like, and therefore in a measure +innocently childish, for a round-robin was picked up +on the quarter-deck which read as follows: +</p> + +<p> +"Success attend Admiral Nelson! God bless Captain +Miller. We thank them for the officers they have +placed over us. We are happy and comfortable, and +willing to shed every drop of blood in our veins to +support them, and the name of the <i>Theseus</i> shall be +immortalised as high as that of the <i>Captain</i>.—Signed, +THE SHIP'S COMPANY." +</p> + +<p> +This poor little but heart-felt speech upon paper +must have cost much care and thought to concoct. +Meetings on the sly would have been held down below, +as secret and confidential as those of conspirators or +mutineers, and I can almost see the shy and somewhat +ungainly actions of the seaman, who was finally told off +to drop the precious document on the quarter-deck +after it had been read a dozen times and finally +approved. +</p> + +<p> +"See you does it properly now, Jack." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't let the officers see you, you know, Jack." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't make a bullocks of it, Jack." +</p> + +<p> +"Keep your weather eye lifting, Jack." +</p> + +<p> +These and a score of other warnings were doubtless +given to Jack before he departed on his mission, and +I'll warrant that, when he performed it successfully, he +was welcome to all the grog in the mess that day if he +chose to have it. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson and Miller too appreciated that simple note +for all it was worth, you may be perfectly sure. +</p> + +<p> +But possibly the letters from home affected him +quite as much as anything. His wife's was quite a +woman's letter. Nelson must have smiled to be told +that she was very much against the dangerous practice +of boarding, and that he must really promise not to +venture on any such thing again. +</p> + +<p> +But his father's, the dear, kindly, and now proud old +man—proud of his son—affected him most. "I thank +my God," he says, "with all the power of a grateful +soul, for the mercies he has most graciously bestowed +on me in preserving you. +</p> + +<p> +"Not only my few acquaintances here, but the people +in general met me at every corner with such handsome +words, that I was obliged to retire from the public eye. +The height of glory to which your professional +judgement, united with a proper degree of bravery, and +guarded by Providence, has raised you, few sons, my +dear child, attain to and fewer fathers live to see. +Tears of joy have involuntarily trickled down my +furrowed cheeks. Who could stand the force of such +general congratulations? The name and services of +Nelson have sounded throughout this city of Bath—from +the common ballad singer to the public theatre." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +So much for honour and glory, reader. Do you like +it? Honour and glory are but empty baubles, and +yet somehow they commend themselves most heartily +to the empty soul. +</p> + +<p> +Honour and glory, however, are, in my opinion, not +such empty baubles as those who never receive them +would have you believe. On the contrary, they are the +most satisfactory proofs a hero could receive, that he +has nobly done his duty. They are the payments made +to him by a grateful public and people for services +done for which no amount of money or jewels could +ever form adequate reward. Whenever, therefore, you +hear a person railing against honour and glory, you +may be perfectly sure he has never had any such +"baubles" offered him, and never done anything to +deserve them. Think of the fable of the fox and the +grapes. +</p> + +<p> +Well, no star can shine by itself without imparting +its lustre to other and lesser stars around it. This is +another way of saying that even Nelson's junior officers +shared in his honour and glory. Ah! well, they +deserved to, for right nobly that day had every man +done his duty fore and aft. +</p> + +<p> +But in a great many cases that honour and glory +look the form of a sailor's grave. And alas! poor +Jack, many a man before the mast was buried in the +deep sea who had fought as well as ever man fought +a veritable lion with heart of oak, but whose name +would not even be mentioned in his country's story. +</p> + +<p> +As for the doctors? Well, the day had not yet +come when doctors were to have even the least little +morsel of honour and glory, and, to tell the truth, in +our own day very little glory falls to a surgeon's share. +Down in the gloomiest depths of a ship he must work—nay, +slave, even on the day of battle. If engines +burst he is among the first scalded; if the vessel is +blown up or is sunk, he has not even the shadow of a +chance of saving his life, as have the honour and glory +men on deck whose bravery may after all be but the +outcome of excitement or terror itself. The surgeon, +on the other hand, has to do his duty with a cool head, +and even long after the rage and roar of battle have +ceased his duties keep him to his post. +</p> + +<p> +But Nelson was a man who really loved his doctors, +both senior and junior, quite as much as he loved +the parson, and had every respect for their +feelings. Even when coming quietly round to see the +sick or wounded, he invariably took a surgeon with +him, to ask him questions about the poor fellows who +lay uncomplainingly in their hammocks. +</p> + +<p> +Young Raventree's letters from home rejoiced him +very much indeed, and he showed several of them to +his friend Tom Bure. +</p> + +<p> +Poor Tom had letters also; three—yes, only three, +but how he valued them only those who have been +long away on the ocean wave could say. +</p> + +<p> +One was from Dan—Daddy Dan. This he showed +to Raventree. "It is from my dear old foster-father," +he explained. +</p> + +<p> +Raventree read it by the light of the moon, as the +two lads stood together under the lee bulwarks. +</p> + +<p> +"It is so good of you, Bure," he said, "to show +me this. Bad spelling, worse writing, stilted and +somewhat hackneyed expressions, but, Tom, a spirit +of such kindliness and love, and so noble a nature +breathing through every page of it! Tom Bure, you +are lucky in having a foster-father like this man. Dan +Brundell is a hero in humble life!" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm so glad you like him," said Tom, and the tears +came rushing to his eyes as he spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"Some day I should like to go and see Dan's cottage," +continued Raventree. "My home is away in the +midlands. It is one of the ancestral halls of England, +and my people are proud and wealthy; but, Tom, they +would make you right welcome. I think," he added, +"I have some reason to be proud of my family, because, +like the Stuarts, of whom we saw so noble a specimen +in that brave Don Jacobo, we gained all our honours +by the sword." +</p> + +<p> +Tom had a letter from Ruth—such a dear, sisterly, +old-fashioned epistle. This he gave to Merryweather +to read, knowing it would not interest Raventree +much. +</p> + +<p> +Jack Merryweather, who was in excellent spirits +after the recent battle, because he, for a wonder, had +not been wounded, read Ruth's letter with delight—not +once, but twice. +</p> + +<p> +"What a sweet, good girl," he said, as he handed it +back to Tom. +</p> + +<p> +But there was one other letter that Tom, singularly +enough, showed to nobody. +</p> + +<p> +It came from Bertha. It was enclosed in Daddy +Dan's. Quite a charming specimen of love letter it +was, but so innocent and childish. She sent it through +Dan, she said, because she did not wish it supervised +by her mother and her maid. +</p> + +<p> +I hope the reader will not jump to the conclusion all +at once that this conduct on the part of Bertha was +naughty or clandestine. Her mother, she said, wanted +her to write to Tom Bure "all in fine english and all +well speld," and also to address him as "der Mr. Bure," +instead of "der old Tom" all through the letter. So +she had ran off to Daddy Dan's, where sweet freedom +awaited her, a huge sheet of age-stained paper, and an +enormous sputtering old quill pen. +</p> + +<p> +However, Bertha's letter, although not "well speld," +was very delightful, and for some reason or another, best +known to himself only, Tom Bure put it under his +pillow on the night of the day he received it. +</p> + +<p> +History is mute as to what his dreams were. +O'Grady's letters were so pleasing to him that he +handed them all round the gunroom mess—at least +he handed round the one he had received from his +mother, who lived "in a swate little cottage in the +kingdom of Connemara, and owned the foinest pigs in +the county, faith." +</p> + +<p> +O'Grady's mother was "a lady in a small way and +in her own roight," he explained to his messmates, +though what on earth he meant by that nobody could +tell, and as it was getting on for three bells, with a +drop of rosy rum on the table, no one thought of +asking him for an explanation. But Mrs. O'Grady could +write a good old-fashioned letter, there was no mistake +about that. No long sentences; all short and crisp. +No tall English; but every line containing an item of +news. There wasn't a person in the parish from the +priest downwards who missed mention in the lady's +letter, together with everyone who had been put in the +mould and every baby born, and it finished up with +what honest O'Grady called a red-hot shot, thus: +"And may the Lord's arms be ever around you, son, +and sure your old sweetheart Peggy O'Houghleehan +was married yesterday to Rory McKoy, and may +heaven have mercy on his sowl, for the jade was never +good enough for my dear boy, at all, at all. No more +from your affectionate old mother Molly O'Grady. +Postage paid, free." +</p> + +<p> +The red-hot shot, however, didn't affect this good old +middy much; for, it being Saturday night, the dead +all buried more than a fortnight ago, and the wounded +getting rapidly well, the boys were enjoying themselves +in an innocent, good-tempered way. So presently +O'Grady volunteered a song. +</p> + +<p> +Then somebody else sang, so that really, as Burns +puts it— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "The nicht drave on wi' songs and clatter,*<br> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* Clatter=talk. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Away forward in the men's messes, Dibdin's verses +very well depict the scene, bar the lashing of the +helm a-lee. Nelson was hardly the man to have his +helm lashed a-lee. With all due respect for the +clever Dibdin, he did occasionally give his imagination +a very free run. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "'Twas Saturday night: the twinkling stars<br> + Shone on the rippling sea,<br> + No duty called the jovial tars,<br> + The helm was lashed a-lee."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +But even Saturday night at sea has an end at last, +and the bo's'n's pipe has a disagreeable knack of +bringing it to a close at times, far more suddenly than +honest sailors like. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0209"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IX. +<br><br> +BOMBARDING CADIZ—A MADCAP EXPEDITION. +</h3> + +<p> +Nelson was off Lagos Bay in the middle +of March of this year, '97. +</p> + +<p> +"I am here," he wrote to a friend, +"looking for the Viceroy of Mexico, with +three sail of the line, and hope to meet +him. Two first-rates and a 74 are with +him; but the bigger the ships the better the mark." +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, however, thought the Spanish ships were the +finest in the world; but he added: +</p> + +<p> +"Though they can build ships, thank Heaven the +Spaniards cannot build men." +</p> + +<p> +The Spanish ships were undoubtedly splendid and +vast, but they were badly fitted, badly found, badly +handled, and badly manned. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was it always an easy matter to manœuvre such +vast machines of war in a sea way. If battles upon +the ocean wave had been fought simply by the +antagonists drawing themselves up in two lines and +peppering away at each other till one gave in, was +blown up, or sunk, the Dons would have had it all their +own way—perhaps. But during an engagement of any +size the British fleet kept pretty much on the move, +delivering terrible broadsides on the foe when least +expected. +</p> + +<p> +The Dons didn't like it. +</p> + +<p> +On the 11th of April we find our hero blockading +Cadiz, but next day he started for Porto Ferrajo to +bring the troops from there. The blockade of Cadiz +was therefore entrusted to Sir James Saumarez. This +officer had already proved himself to be +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +A HEART OF OAK. +</p> + +<p> +His story previous to the blockading of Cadiz is +briefly as follows: He was born in '57, and joined the +service when thirteen years old, and was first employed +in the Mediterranean. He soon became a lieutenant, +and sailed in the <i>Bristol</i>, off America, under Commodore +Sir Peter Parker. He took and destroyed many +privateersmen here. Under Lord Howe, he commanded +at Rhode Island a galley, which he burned to prevent +it falling into the hands of the enemy. Returning home +in the <i>Leviathan</i>, he, after some service in the Channel +fleet, sailed in the <i>Fortitude</i>, and went with Sir Hyde +Parker to the North Sea. Next we find him sailing +with a detachment of the Channel fleet, and being the +first to sight the squadron of Count de Guicheni, and +so well did he behave on this occasion that he was +soon after appointed captain of the <i>Russel</i>, 74 guns, +though then only twenty-four years of age. +</p> + +<p> +In 1793 we find Saumarez boldly fighting the French +frigate <i>Reunion</i>, off Cherbourg, for which he received +the honour of knighthood. +</p> + +<p> +He was next made captain of the <i>Orion</i>, and cruised +with the Channel fleet. +</p> + +<p> +And in the battle off St. Vincent it was this brave +fellow, who with his 74, the <i>Orion</i>, captured the +112-gun ship <i>Salvador del Mundo</i>, without the loss of a +man, having only nine wounded. +</p> + +<p> +I ought here to mention the losses on the British +side at the battle off St. Vincent. They were not +large for so spirited a fight, being but 73 killed and +297 wounded; but in proof that this engagement was +more Nelson's victory than anyone else's, it should be +remembered that his ship alone suffered a loss of 24 +killed and 56 wounded: the next in point of numbers +being the <i>Blenheim</i>, 12 killed and 49 wounded; +Collingwood's <i>Excellent</i>, 11 killed and 12 wounded; +and Troubridge's <i>Culloden</i>, 10 killed and 47 wounded. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Nelson returned from his cruise sooner than he +expected to do, and was appointed in the Cadiz blockade +to in-shore duties. +</p> + +<p> +"The fatigue, anxiety, and personal danger incurred +in this service," says Pettigrew, "were very great. To +confine the enemy as closely as possible to their port, +it was the custom every night to send from each of the +ships forming the blockade one or more boats, well +manned, armed, and supplied with a good store of +ammunition, into the very mouth of the harbour. +</p> + +<p> +"These boats were supported by gunboats, which had +been expressly fitted out for this occasion, and these +could only be protected by the inner line of ships which +Admiral Nelson had posted to render the blockade +complete, and the escape of any of the Spanish ships +nearly impossible." +</p> + +<p> +After the battle off St. Vincent the whole navy of +the Dons, it will be remembered, had taken refuge in +Cadiz to refit. +</p> + +<p> +"When the boats were all arranged Nelson was in +the habit of rowing through them for inspection. The +duty was therefore most active, and as far as possible +all danger of surprise from the enemy effectually +guarded against. +</p> + +<p> +"But the Dons were also well up in this mode of +precaution and warfare. They equipped numerous +gunboats and launches to check the too near approach +of our boats, and many a skirmish thus took place +between the Spaniards and our brave fellows." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +On the night of July 3rd began the awful bombardment +of Cadiz. +</p> + +<p> +"I wish to make it a warm night at Cadiz," wrote +Nelson. "The town and their fleet are prepared, and +their gunboats are well advanced. So much the better. +If they venture out beyond their walls I shall give +Johnnie his full scope for fighting." +</p> + +<p> +Well, Nelson, in an attack by the Spanish gunboats, +had probably the narrowest escape of his life he ever +had. While in his barge with Captain Freemantle, his +coxswain, Sykes, and an ordinary crew of ten men, he +was laid aboard by a huge barge from a gunboat rowed +by six-and-twenty oars beside officers, all under the +command of a brave fellow—Captain Miguel Tyrason. +A tougher boat action was never fought by Britons +against such fearful odds. +</p> + +<p> +Our men, in fact, fought like lions. It was a +hand-to-hand battle with sword, cutlass, and knife. +Never before was the personal skill and prowess of +this little man Nelson seen to such advantage. Again +and again his sword drank blood, and foe after foe +fell before him. +</p> + +<p> +Twice too, during the engagement, his life was saved +by bold Sykes, who even interposed his own person +'twixt his admiral and the descending sword. The +fury of the combat may be best understood from a +statement of the results, for not only was the Don's +barge beaten, but eighteen were killed, and all the +others were wounded and taken prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +If there was a <i>Heart of Oak</i> in humble life on +board a ship it was John Sykes, the admiral's coxswain. +He was rewarded—after a fashion—by being made +a gunner, and consequently a warrant officer, and +appointed to the <i>Andromache</i>; but the poor fellow +was killed on his own deck by the bursting of a gun. +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + <i>Sic transit gloria mundi.</i><br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The bombardment of Cadiz was a grim and awful +affair. +</p> + +<p> +Not only were houses and public buildings laid low, +and even churches demolished, but the beautiful city +was set on fire in three different places, and, to add +to the horror of the situation, the roughs of the +populace had it all their own way, and murdered, +robbed, or plundered wherever they pleased. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +I have told you, reader, very little about Josiah +Nisbet, the step-son of Nelson, for several reasons. +Though a very good fellow, he is not my <i>beau ideal</i> +of a hero; secondly, he was separated from Tom +Bure and Raventree, being made lieutenant of the +<i>Theseus</i>. But now he comes forward once more—or +presently will—in a new light, which shows that he +not only had a heart of oak, but had it stowed in +the right place. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, then—though never fond of prize money +himself—had for some time been keeping himself +awake at night concocting a scheme for the financial +ruin of Spain and the aggrandisement of his own +beloved country. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +HEARTS OF OAK AT SANTA CRUZ. +</p> + +<p> +I am not at all sure, boys—now I come to think +of it—that Nelson was not in some way or other +distantly related to the Camerons of Lochiel. One +of these days I shall "speel" his genealogical tree +and have a look round, and if I can see a kilt hung +out to dry thereon, or a Highland bonnet and plumes, +I shall forthwith claim him as Scotch; then the +English bodies may look for a naval hero somewhere +else, or whistle their dogs to dance. But if he wasn't +a Cameron, he at all events acted on the motto of the +Camerons—"Whate'er a man dares he can do." +</p> + +<p> +Mind you, reader, that this is a very excellent +motto, for "nothing venture nothing win," and the +higher one's aim the higher the mark he hits—if +he hits anything. +</p> + +<p> +However, the Cameronian Highlanders' motto does +sometimes lead one into difficulty. +</p> + +<p> +It was very shortly, then, after the bombardment +of Cadiz that Nelson wrote to Sir John Jervis—or +let us now call him the Earl of St. Vincent—proposing +his little scheme for the capture of Santa Cruz. +</p> + +<p> +Santa Cruz was a place of not the slightest importance, +but it was rumoured that a Spanish ship—<i>El +Principe de Asturias</i>—more richly stored with gold +and precious stones than a fairy mine, had arrived at +that port from Manilla, and Nelson's idea was to cut +her out—in other words, to capture her. This would +not only put millions of money into British coffers +to carry on the war withal, but tend considerably to +the downfall of Spain by helping to impoverish her. +</p> + +<p> +In fact, and in plain English, Nelson intended for +a time to masquerade and swagger as a pirate bold +or a buccanier. So on the 12th of April we find +him writing as follows to his admiral of the fleet: +</p> + +<p> +"My Dear Sir,—Troubridge and I were talking last +night about the Viceroy (of Mexico) at Teneriffe. +Since I first believed he might have gone there I have +endeavoured to make myself master of the situation, +and the means of approach by sea and land. I shall +speak first of the sea. +</p> + +<p> +"The Spanish ships then generally moor with two +cables to the sea, and four cables from their stern to +the shore; therefore, though we might not get to be +masters of them, should the wind not come off the shore, +it does not appear certain we should succeed so +completely as we might wish. As to any opposition, except +from natural impediments, I should not think it would +avail. +</p> + +<p> +"The approach by sea to the anchoring-place is under +very high land, therefore the wind is either in from the +sea, or squally with calms from the mountains. +Sometimes at night a ship may get in with the land wind +and moderate weather. So much for the sea attack, +which, if you approve, I am ready and willing to risk, +or to carry into execution. +</p> + +<p> +"But now comes my plan, which would not fail of +success, would immortalize the undertakers,* ruin +Spain, and has every prospect of raising our country to +a higher pitch of wealth than she has ever yet attained; +but here soldiers must be consulted, and I know from +experience that, excepting General O'Hara, they have +not the same boldness in undertaking a political +measure that we (sailors) have. We look to the +benefit of our country, and risk our fame every day to +serve her. A soldier obeys orders and nothing more. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* By "undertakers" Nelson doesn't refer to the manufacturers of +cheap coffins, but those who undertake to carry out his plan of +operations. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"By saying soldiers should be consulted, you will +guess I mean the army of 3,200 men from Elba, with +cannon, mortars, and every implement now embarked. +They could do the business in three days, probably +much less. I will undertake with a very small +squadron to do the naval part. +</p> + +<p> +"The shore, though not very easy of access, is yet so +steep that the transports may run in and land the +army in one day. The water is conveyed to the town +in wooden troughs. This supply cut off would induce +a very speedy surrender. Good terms for the town, +private property secured to the islanders, and only the +delivery of public stores and foreign merchandise +demanded, with threats of utter destruction if one +gun is fired. +</p> + +<p> +"In fact, sir, the business could not miscarry. +</p> + +<p> +"If," the letter goes on to say, "the six or seven +millions sterling thus secured were thrown into +circulation in England, what might not be done? It +would ensure an honourable peace, with many other +blessings." +</p> + +<p> +Such was Admiral Nelson's letter to St. Vincent, or +the gist of it at least. +</p> + +<p> +Now had the hero been better supported by soldiers +than he was the result might have been a triumph. +</p> + +<p> +The attack, however, was to be a purely naval one. +Nelson sailed for Teneriffe on the fifteenth of July, +and the passage not being a very long one, got over in +under a week. At all events, the fleet which he +commanded was discovered on the 21st of July. +</p> + +<p> +This was a bad beginning, and augured nothing but +evil fortune to follow. +</p> + +<p> +Probably Nelson had but little idea of the kind of +place he had made up his mind to take by storm, for +it is fortified by nature. Writing about this unhappy +expedition Brenton makes the following remarks: +</p> + +<p> +"Of all the places that ever came under our inspection, +none we conceive is more invulnerable to attack +or more easily defended than Teneriffe. The island, +like most of its neighbours, is a volcanic production, +consisting of mountains, ravines, rocks, and precipices. +The bay of Santa Cruz affords no shelter for shipping; +the shore is nearly a straight line, and the bank so +steep that no anchorage can be found beyond the +distance of half a mile, and that in forty-five +fathoms of water; the beach from north to south is +one continued series of broken masses of loose rock +and round, smooth stones, smooth either from friction +or from the seaweed. On this a perpetual surf breaks, +rendering the landing at all times difficult, except at +the mole or pier of Santa Cruz. To these obstacles +there is another which Nelson experienced in its +fullest force. Teneriffe, like all other mountainous +countries, is liable to calms, sudden squalls, and violent +gusts of wind, which, rushing down the ravines, +frequently take a ship's topmasts over the side without +a moment's warning. +</p> + +<p> +The fleet, or rather squadron, appointed for the +expedition was as follows: +</p> + +<pre> + SHIPS. GUNS. + + 1 Theseus . . . . . 74 + 2 Culloden . . . . . 74 + 3 Zealous . . . . . 74 + 4 Leander . . . . . 50 + 5 Seahorse . . . . . 38 + 6 Emerald . . . . . 36 + 7 Terpsichore . . . 32 + 8 Fox (cutter) . . . 12 +</pre> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +There were many Hearts of Oak among the +commanders of these ships as well as daring Nelson, +notably Troubridge, Hood, Freemantle, &c. Indeed, +to one and all the honour of their country was as +dear as life itself. +</p> + +<p> +In the next chapter I have to tell of +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +A DARK NIGHT'S WORK. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0210"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER X. +<br><br> +A DARK NIGHT'S WORK. +</h3> + +<p> +It was not until the 24th of July that +the <i>finale</i> to this madcap expedition was +attempted; viz., the landing and the +facing of those fearful odds. +</p> + +<p> +If Nelson had had but men to contend +against, it would have been very +different, but in their undertaking it was the forces +of Nature he had to struggle against. There is no +doubt about his daring, however. Nor did he +underrate the difficulties he had to encounter. +</p> + +<p> +It was with a feeling of sadness even that he sat +down to write his letter to St. Vincent—the last he +was ever to pen with his right hand. +</p> + +<p> +"This night," he says, "humble as I am, I command +the whole. I am destined to land under the batteries +of the town, and to-morrow my head will probably be +crowned with either laurel or cypress." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +The first plan of attack on Santa Cruz, which, as I +have already stated, was spoiled by the discovery of +the squadron, was this: The boats were to land at +night, between the town and the fort on its north-east +side, capture that fort, and afterwards demand from +the governor that the town be given up. +</p> + +<p> +But about midnight the three frigates, with the +landing party on board, had got within three miles of +the shore, when it came on to blow so hard that the +forces were still a mile from the shore when day +dawned, and they were seen. A consultation or +council of war had then been held, and it was +determined to land at all hazards, with the object +of securing the heights. While the landing forces +were so engaged, Nelson was to batter the fort for the +purpose of distracting the attention of the garrison. +</p> + +<p> +However, as bad luck would have it, a calm had +followed the storm, and owing to this and the contrary +current the admiral was unable to get near enough +to rain his iron shower upon the fort. Meanwhile +the heights were occupied and held by a force so +great that it was deemed impossible to take them, +and now we come to +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +THE DARK NIGHT'S WORK. +</p> + +<p> +Well knowing how desperate the attack on Santa +Cruz would in all probability prove, and how valuable +were the services of our hero to his country, the +admiral of the fleet, St. Vincent, had given orders +that Nelson was not to land unless "his presence was +absolutely necessary." +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, with his usual headstrong tendencies, interpreted +this to mean that he should do just as he chose. +</p> + +<p> +So to-night he determined in his own person to lead +the storming party. +</p> + +<p> +The last thing that Nelson did was to send for his +stepson, Josiah, into his cabin. +</p> + +<p> +Josiah—Lieutenant Nisbet—was soon there. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, lad, you are armed," said Nelson. "I sent +for you to help me to burn your dear mother's letters." +</p> + +<p> +"Is the affair then likely to be of so dangerous a +nature, father?" said Josiah. +</p> + +<p> +"It is, my boy. I have written to St. Vincent, and +in that letter I recommended you to him and to our +country. The Duke of Clarence, should I fall, will, I +am convinced, take a lively interest in my stepson on +his name being mentioned." +</p> + +<p> +"But <i>I</i> am going too, father," said Nisbet, smiling +but calm. +</p> + +<p> +"Let me entreat of you, Josiah, to stay behind." +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, dear sir." +</p> + +<p> +"But, Josiah, I comm——" +</p> + +<p> +"Hold, father, hold! Pray do not command me." +</p> + +<p> +"I <i>beg</i> then. Think, Josiah, if we both fall, what +would become of your poor mother? Besides, the care +of the <i>Theseus</i> falls to you; stay, therefore, and take +charge of the ship." +</p> + +<p> +"Sir," said the young man respectfully, but with +determination, "the ship may look after herself. I +will go with you to-night if I never go again." +</p> + +<p> +On board the <i>Seahorse</i> frigate the captains all met +that night to dine with the admiral. Captain Fremantle, +the commander of the vessel, had been lately married +in the Mediterranean, and, his wife being on board, +presided at the table. There was no lack of conversation +at this little dinner party, no lack of liveliness +even, though an acute observer might have noticed +that now and then, on Nelson's part, it was almost +forced. Hardly anyone touched the wine in the way +it was usually touched, tasted, and handled in those +old bacchanalian days, and at eleven o'clock the boats +were called away, and all ready. +</p> + +<p> +The night was very dark indeed, hardly a star +shining, and closer in shore, where the rugged mountains +frowned over the ocean, it was darker still. +</p> + +<p> +There were, however, the glimmering lights of the +town to guide them, and the black shapes of the great +hills themselves. +</p> + +<p> +All the boats that could be spared from the ships of +war took part in this invasion, carrying altogether +nearly one thousand bluejackets and marines. +</p> + +<p> +It is almost half-past one now, and the invaders are +rapidly nearing the shore. They can hear the thunder +of the breakers that dash and foam on the stones and +boulders, each receding wave adding to the dreary +sound by sucking back with it the smaller stones. +They are not far from the mole. +</p> + +<p> +"I can see it, sir, I can see it!" exclaims Tom Bure, +who is in Nelson's own boat, but forward in the +bows. +</p> + +<p> +The lad was right. Keen eyes can now descry the +mole or pier, and a true British cheer rises from a +thousand throats, and onwards dash the boats. But +scarcely is the cheer echoed back from rock and hill +ere bells are rung on shore, and a wild huzza tells the +invaders that the Spaniards are prepared to give them +a warm welcome. +</p> + +<p> +And now the misfortunes begin; for most of the +boats have missed the mole, and are stove among +the boulders. However, Nelson, Fremantle, Bower, +with five other boats, have found it; but how can +they storm it against twice two hundred armed men? +</p> + +<p> +<i>Whate'er a man dares he can do!</i> +</p> + +<p> +Another shout, another huzza; the fight has +commenced, and the Spaniards, beaten off the mole, take +refuge in flight. But such a fire of guns as now +lights up the darkness of this terrible night few +have ever faced and lived. Musketry and grape from +the citadel and from every window near. +</p> + +<p> +Against this iron hail advance is impossible. +</p> + +<p> +Our brave fellows attempt it over and over again, +but fall dead or wounded on the pier. +</p> + +<p> +<a id="p244"></a> +And Nelson himself, just as he is about to step +on shore, sword in hand, is struck by a grape shot +in the right elbow, and falls bleeding into the boat. +</p> + +<p> +Nisbet, his step-son—surely it was Providence who +sent him hither to-night—is by his side in a moment. +His first thought is that Nelson is killed. +</p> + +<p> +The hero, however, gathers himself up, and shows +that he has not lost presence of mind, for he clutches +his sword with his left hand. That precious sword +had been given him by Captain Suckling, and he +will not part with it while life doth last. +</p> + +<p> +Assisted by Tom Bure, whom even in his agony +Nelson recognises, Nisbet lays the wounded hero in +the bottom of the boat, and a hurried examination +is made of the wound. With Tom's and Josiah's +silk handkerchiefs a bandage is formed, the knot +placed over the artery higher up the arm, and by +means of this ready-made tourniquet the bleeding +is stopped. A sailor of the name of Lovel tears his +own shirt from his back, and forms a sling to support +the wounded arm of his beloved admiral. Josiah +seizes an oar. +</p> + +<p> +"Shove off, lads," he cries; "let us get closer under +the battery, and thus out of its fire." +</p> + +<p> +With the help of Tom, and at his own request, +Nelson is raised up in the boat. But nothing can +he perceive except the surf lit up every moment +by the awful flash of the guns, the heaving sea, and +the distant cutter <i>Fox</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly, high above the din of the contending +foes, rises a wild shriek of dying agony from the +crew of that very cutter, and before his eyes, by +the fitful light of the blazing cannon, Nelson can +perceive that she is struck—that she staggers, fills, +and goes bodily down. +</p> + +<p> +"Give way, my lads; now for the cutter," cries +Nelson, the moment the shriek is heard. "Give way +with a will!" +</p> + +<p> +And on towards the drowning seamen rushes the +boat. There is no thought of self with the hero at +this moment. All his kindliness of heart, all his +indomitable British courage, rise to the surface—pain +and danger are forgotten quite. Who is there +in all the wide world, friend or foe, who cannot admire +and love a man like this? +</p> + +<p> +Of all the 180 men the cutter had been bearing +toward the shore only 83 are saved, and many of these +were hauled into Nelson's own boat. Some are even +caught by Nelson's unwounded arm. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure does all he can, and helps many aboard; +and seeing how energetically the lad worked—for he is +now astern, and had been helping to support the +admiral—Nelson finds opportunity to whisper these +encouraging words: "Well done, my Norfolk lad; +I will not forget you!" +</p> + +<p> +All being done that can be done, no more heads +above the water to clutch at or save, the boat is +speedily rowed seawards beyond the reach of danger. +</p> + +<p> +A ship now looms above them. +</p> + +<p> +"What is she? What is she?" cries Nelson feebly, +and even impatiently, for the loss of blood is telling on +his nervous system. +</p> + +<p> +"The <i>Seahorse</i>, sir," cried Tom Bure. +</p> + +<p> +"Go on. Go on, Josiah, to the <i>Theseus</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"She is farther away!" entreats his step-son. +"Think, sir; your very life may be lost by our going +on." +</p> + +<p> +"Shove off, men, for the <i>Theseus</i>!" cries the hero +himself. "Think you," he adds, as the men obey, +"that I would present myself before Mrs. Fremantle +in this pickle, and bringing her no news of her +husband? I'd sooner suffer death." +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Theseus</i> is made at last. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson will not allow himself to be carried on board. +"I have still my left arm remaining," he exclaims, +"and my legs as well." +</p> + +<p> +"And now," he cries, when he reaches the deck, +"tell the surgeon to get his instruments out. I know +I must lose my right arm, and the sooner it is off the +better." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +We must get back on shore now to see how it +fared with the other poor fellows. +</p> + +<p> +Like Admiral Nelson himself, Captain Fremantle +was badly wounded in the right arm, but escaped to +his ship, very much to the relief of his agonised wife, +who was not long in finding out that all was lost. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Bowen was among the slain, and this +was a very great grief to Nelson, who loved him well. +Another officer killed was Lieutenant Weatherhead, +a man whom the hero also had much respect for +and who, like our Merryweather, preferred being with +Nelson even to taking a higher grade in another ship. +</p> + +<p> +But Troubridge, the captain of the <i>Culloden</i>, and +Weller, who commanded the <i>Emerald</i>, were among +those who managed to secure a footing on shore with +the crews of several other boats. +</p> + +<p> +The boats themselves were instantly swamped, and +dashed to pieces among the heavy boulders. +</p> + +<p> +Their scaling-ladders were lost, but, although few in +number, the cry was "Forward!" +</p> + +<p> +The gallant little party dashed onwards to the great +square of the town, expecting here to join Nelson, +and those who had stormed the mole. Alas! they +were, as we know, all scattered, dead, or lying wounded +and exposed, on the blood-slippery pier. +</p> + +<p> +Had Troubridge succeeded in saving the ladders, +he would undoubtedly have scaled the citadel walls +and silenced the guns. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, Captains Hood and Miller had secured a +landing on the other side of the pier, and the two +forlorn parties met, or, in other words, effected a +junction. Previously to this a sergeant, with two +of the towns' people, were sent to the citadel to +summon it to surrender. He never came back. +</p> + +<p> +These brave captains at daybreak reviewed their +forces, and a bold little array they made, consisting +of about 160 marines and pikemen, with 180 +well-armed bluejackets. +</p> + +<p> +They increased the amount of ammunition they were +possessed of, by requisitioning that of a number of +prisoners they had taken. +</p> + +<p> +Wet and miserable, but with hope still aflame in +those hearts of oak of theirs, they commenced to march +on now towards the citadel. There was just a +possibility, they thought, that it might be taken without +scaling-ladders. +</p> + +<p> +But lo! thousands of armed Spaniards were already +seen advancing towards them, with hundreds of their +allies the French, while every street was defended +by one or more guns. +</p> + +<p> +Troubridge, however, proved himself the hero of the +hour. He instantly formed his plans, and bold they +were in the extreme. One cannot help even smiling +at the audacity—call it "cheek" if you please, +reader—of this handful of British tars. +</p> + +<p> +Troubridge then despatched Captain Samuel Hood +with a flag of truce, towards the advancing enemy. +His message was to the governor of the town, and was +to the following effect: +</p> + +<p> +"If," said Hood, "the Spaniards come but an inch +nearer to the British, their commander, Troubridge, +will immediately set fire to the town, which he is fully +prepared to do. If he has to do so, it will be with the +deepest regret, because he has not the slightest wish to +injure any of the inhabitants. +</p> + +<p> +"He is therefore prepared to treat on the following +terms: Provided the British forces be allowed to +re-embark, taking with them all their arms of every +kind, and in their own boats, if saved; if not, in boats +lent us by the town—Troubridge, in the name of +Admiral Nelson, agrees not to molest the town, nor +shall the squadron bombard it. The prisoners to be +delivered up on both sides." +</p> + +<p> +The commander smiled as he made reply. +</p> + +<p> +"We think that instead of laying down the law to +as, you should lay down your arms and consider +yourselves prisoners of war." +</p> + +<p> +"That," said Hood, "we never shall do." +</p> + +<p> +"And suppose I refuse to treat, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Then the destruction of the town and the utter +annihilation of all your troops lies on your head. I +give you five minutes to consider. If in that time +your answer is not favourable, Troubridge will instantly +proceed to fire the town and attack your soldiers at +the point of the bayonet, and Nelson will bombard +you from the sea." +</p> + +<p> +"I do not think," said the governor, smiling once +again, "that you would find yourselves very successful; +but your Commander Troubridge is a gallant sailor, +I shall therefore accede to your request." +</p> + +<p> +This officer's name will be handed down to posterity +as that of a brave and generous gentleman—a gentle +maa—Don Juan Antonio Gutiarraz. +</p> + +<p> +Ah! boys, those were the days of chivalry and +romance, for the treaty being ratified, nothing could +exceed the kindness of the governor and his men to +our wet, shivering, and hungry troops. One hundred +men were removed to hospital and carefully tended by +the Spanish surgeons, a young man, Don Bernardo +Collagen, even tearing his own shirt in pieces to make +temporary bandages for wounded men who lay on the +mole. The governor, in sending back our fellows to +their ships, sent word at the same time, that while our +squadron lay outside any of our people might land and +purchase whatever they cared to eat or to drink. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, ill as he was, dictated a letter of thanks to +this brave and kindly fellow, and sent them with +presents. He also offered to carry the governor's +letters and despatches to the Spanish government. +This offer was accepted. +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt about one thing, however. +Troubridge was in earnest when he threatened to fire +the town and charge with the bayonet. +</p> + +<p> +So the madcap expedition was at an end. +</p> + +<p> +But how sadly it had ended; for in killed and +wounded our loss was somewhat over 250 men. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson's letters to the admiral of the fleet after +his defeat were sorrowful in the extreme. But their +tenour was no doubt influenced by the miserableness +of his bodily condition and his sufferings, for +owing to the bungling way the operation had been +performed both the chief artery and the chief nerve +were included together in the ligature, and the pain +was in consequence of a most agonising character. +</p> + +<p> +Here are one or two extracts from his letters to +St. Vincent: +</p> + +<p> +"I am now become a burden to my friends, and +useless to my country; but by my last letter to you, +you will perceive my anxiety for the promotion of my +step-son Josiah Nisbet. When I leave your command +I myself become dead to the world. I go hence and am +no more seen. If from poor Bowen's loss you think it +proper to oblige me I rest confident you will do it. +The boy is under obligations to me, but he has repaid +me by bringing me from the mole at Santa Cruz. I +hope you will be able to give me a frigate to convey +the remains of my carcass to England." +</p> + +<p> +"The sooner," he says in another despatch, "I get +away to a humble cottage the better. I shall thus +make room for a sounder man to serve the state, +for a left-handed admiral can scarcely be considered +useful." +</p> + +<p> +His step-son was promoted immediately, as he +deserved to be. +</p> + +<p> +Great though the admiral's sufferings were, he did +not even forget our Tom Bure, who since the attack on +Santa Cruz had been prostrated with illness. Probably +his being promoted to a lieutenancy by Nelson himself +went a far way towards restoring his health. Tom +returned home in the same ship with Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather was wounded in a boat action soon +after, and by his side fell Raventree, who was taken on +board his ship and stretched for dead. +</p> + +<p> +O'Grady, however, hadn't a deal of faith in a doctor's +opinion, so he went soon after to the lee side of the +gun, where the poor young officer lay covered up by +the flag under which he had served so gallantly. +</p> + +<p> +His wounds were bleeding afresh. His eyes were +open, and he could talk. +</p> + +<p> +O'Grady rushed pell-mell to the Irish surgeon's +mate. +</p> + +<p> +"Come here, you omadhaun," he shouted, "follow me, +ye spalpeen av the world, to go and stretch a poor +bhoy for dead that was never dead at all. Yes, sare, +it's Raventree I mane." +</p> + +<p> +"Not dead?" +</p> + +<p> +"Och, no! The bhoy tells me so himself. He is a +gentleman that wouldn't tell a lie for the loife av him. +Come to him at onct, or I'll carry you." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +All the way home to England poor Nelson suffered +agonies with his arm. He was afterwards most carefully +nursed, however, by his wife, and the pain departed in +a single night with the coming away of the ligature, +which the bungling hands of that wretched surgeon +had placed around the nerve. +</p> + +<p> +Honours were heaped upon him. +</p> + +<p> +Britain seldom forgets a true hero. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson was happy now. He seems at this time to +have had little wish to serve again. +</p> + +<p> +There was true religious feeling ever dwelling around +the heart of Nelson, and he did not forget to return +thanks publicly, through the officiating clergyman, at +St. George's Church, Hanover Square. There was the +usual modesty about this, however, that marked all +Nelson's actions, for from the pulpit his name was not +even mentioned. +</p> + +<p> +The following are the words of this thanksgiving, +precisely as they were dictated by the hero, and +precisely as they were delivered by the clergyman: +</p> + +<p> +"An officer desires to return thanks to Almighty +God for his perfect recovery from a severe wound, and +also for the many mercies bestowed upon him." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0211"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER XI. +<br><br> +A HAPPY HOME-COMING. +</h3> + +<p> +Four long years! yes, they did seem very +long to Tom Bure, as he shipped on board +a trading schooner that was to bear him +over the sunlight sea, in bright September +weather, to his home in Norfolk. +</p> + +<p> +Four years! Why to look back +appeared an eternity, so filled were they with wild +adventures, with battles and sieges, and storms by sea +and on land. We can only judge of distance on the +ocean when ships, rocks, or islands are visible, and so +can only judge of distance on the ocean of time by +the events that stand out here and there, and seem to +stud its surface. +</p> + +<p> +"Four years!" he said to himself as he gazed over +the taffrail at the rippling water, that went gurgling +past the vessel's side as she headed north and away +from the mouth of the Thames. "Four years! Why +I was but a boy when I went to sea. Now I am a +man, seventeen in a few months, and no mite at that. +And a lieutenant! I wonder what Bertha will say. I +do believe I used to make love to the child. Well, she +is but a child yet, not more than twelve. But—— I +wonder what she looks like. She'll hardly remember +me. I do believe I've got her letter still." +</p> + +<p> +"Beautiful day, isn't it?" said the skipper, who had +now got his ship into a safe position. "Lovely weather +I calls it for the season of the year. Just returned +from the wars, haven't you?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Tom, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +"And haven't lost ne'er an arm nor a leg. Sad thing +about poor Nelson, sir; but, lor' bless ye, he's a hero +every inch! There isn't a man in Yarmouth that +wouldn't die for him. Mind you, sir, Yarmouth's +precious proud of him." +</p> + +<p> +"As Yarmouth well may be, Mr. Auld." +</p> + +<p> +"You've been to Norfolk afore, sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, I may say I belong there. My father died a +poor man. His sword and his honour were about +all he could call his own, but he belonged to a good +family, I believe—the Bures." +</p> + +<p> +"Bless my soul and old hull of a body!" cried +the skipper. "You don't mean to say you're Tom +Brundell, or Bure, that lived as a nipper wi' old +Dan, and that we now hears so much talk about?" +</p> + +<p> +"I'm all that stands for that youth," said Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"Who would have thought it? Such a strapping, +handsome fellow too. Why, tip us your nipper, my +boy. Taking home Tom Bure am I? Why this is +the happiest day in my life." +</p> + +<p> +Tom shook hands right merrily, and the conversation +continued. +</p> + +<p> +There wasn't a man or woman apparently all over +the north and east of Norfolk that Mr. Auld did not +know the history of; and every question Tom asked +was answered in a moment, and right heartily too. +</p> + +<p> +He was unfeignedly glad to hear that Daddy Dan +was well, and Ruth and his foster-mother. That the +Ashleys were still afloat in the <i>Fairy</i>, and that "there +wasn't a bit of difference in Yarmouth or in anybody +or any place anywhere." These were Skipper Auld's +own words. +</p> + +<p> +"It seems to me," said Tom, "that all the change +is in me alone." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! you're growing, young sir; but I daresay if +one could see into your heart it isn't a deal of difference +he'd see in that after all." +</p> + +<p> +"Not a bit!" cried Tom. "That is in the right +place, and I'll never forget dear Norfolk as long as my +head is left above water." +</p> + +<p> +"Bravo! Spoken like one o' Nelson's own!" +</p> + +<p> +And at this point of the conversation Mr. Auld was +constrained to spit in his palm and shake hands +with Tom Bure once again. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Yarmouth at last! Not a bit of difference in the +long, muddy river, nor in the quay alongside, nor +in the shipping alongside. +</p> + +<p> +Tom felt once more that the change was all in +himself, but he was glad enough to get on shore +nevertheless, for he meant to hire a trap, it being early +morning, and drive straight away down to Daddy +Dan's property, and give all hands a pleasant +surprise. +</p> + +<p> +He bade Mr. Auld good-bye, hoping they should +meet again. +</p> + +<p> +About half way up towards the spot where the +town hall now stands he came abreast of a clean, taut, +and trim-looking schooner. He started and stopped. +</p> + +<p> +"I should know her," he thought. "Why, yes, I +declare it's my first ship—the saucy <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"Ship ahoy!" he shouted, in a voice so stentorian +that a score of sailors and fishermen on the quay +turned quickly round to look. +</p> + +<p> +"Hullo!" cried a voice from on board; and up from +the companion hatch popped the rough and warty old +figure-head of Skipper Hughes himself. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure went rushing over the gangway, stuck out +his fist, seized the skipper's, and literally gaffed him on +deck as if he'd been a forty-pound salmon. +</p> + +<p> +Hughes didn't know Tom at first, but when he did +he could hardly utter a word with excitement. +</p> + +<p> +"Mate! mate!" he cried at last, "come up at +once." +</p> + +<p> +The mate—same old phizog—came up as quickly +as if the ship had caught fire, and when about a +hundred questions had been asked and answered to the +satisfaction of all, "Mate," said Skipper Hughes, "on +this auspicious occasion let us——" +</p> + +<p> +"Hurrah!" cried the mate. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us," continued the skipper most impressively—"let +us——splice the main-brace." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +There was a rat at the foot of that poplar tree +without the slightest doubt. +</p> + +<p> +Meg, Uncle Bob's collie, knew that. She had +known it for a very long time. Indeed, the rat made +little or no secret of the matter himself, for there was +the door to his sub-arboreal residence close beneath the +exposed portion of a root that Meg had often clawed +and clawed at in vain. This was only the rascal's front +door, however; he had several back doors, and he had +an underground tunnel also, that led all the way to the +old mare's stable. +</p> + +<p> +That rat was a married rat too, and to Meg's certain +knowledge had brought up a large family in there this +last summer. +</p> + +<p> +Meg was standing with her head turned a little on +one side on this bright autumnal forenoon, and fancying +she could almost see the rat grinning at her from +the depths of his long, dark passage. She couldn't be +sure though, for her eyes had grown more dim of late +for some reason or another, which she didn't understand. +</p> + +<p> +Her hearing was not so good as it used to be either. +That was very curious! +</p> + +<p> +"Meg, Meg, old girl!" +</p> + +<p> +Her ears were in the habit of playing her strange +tricks at times too. +</p> + +<p> +"Meg!" For example, if she didn't know that +Tom Bure had disappeared from off the earth ages +and ages ago, just as her poor dear master had, she +would fancy she heard his voice even now calling to +her. +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Meg</i>, you silly old girl!" +</p> + +<p> +She turned her head at last. +</p> + +<p> +Fancy? No, no, it was not fancy. Here was Tom +himself, grown up from his puppyhood, as she had +known all along he would, but Tom all the same—the +eyes of Tom, the scent of Tom, the voice of Tom. +She went for him straight with a rush and a run, and +jumped upon his breast with a cry of joy that was +half hysterical, and for all the world as if tears +were choking her. +</p> + +<p> +Then she must have a caper round and round the +grassy lawn, where poor Bob used to lie so patiently +in his cot. +</p> + +<p> +Round and round. +</p> + +<p> +Round and round. +</p> + +<p> +Oh, if she had not capered and danced just then +the excitement of her feelings might have given her +a fit! +</p> + +<p> +One more daft caper. +</p> + +<p> +One more hysterical joy-bark. Then off over the +bridge she flies, and in two minutes more comes back +with Ruth. +</p> + +<p> +Ruth had been making a cake, but those bare, +plump, mealy arms of hers are thrown round her +foster-brother's neck all the same, and she hugs him +to her heart. +</p> + +<p> +And——why the poor lassie is crying! +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Altogether, this was indeed a happy home coming. +</p> + +<p> +Neither Daddy Dan nor his wife were a bit changed. +The garden was the same, the porch around the door +and the roses and flowers, and even the jasmine that +clung about Uncle Bob's wing. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing altered. +</p> + +<p> +Bob's bed yonder too, in Bob's own end of the +house. +</p> + +<p> +Aye, and the hooded crow's nest up in the poplar +tree. +</p> + +<p> +"And on fine days in summer," said Mrs. Brundell +that evening as they all sat round the blazing hearth, +with Meg, the collie, leaning her chin on Tom's knee, +"on fine days in summer your Daddy will wheel out +poor Bob's cot to its old place near to the shed where +he works, though I tell him it is foolish." +</p> + +<p> +Daddy Dan took his pipe from his lips and gazed +upwards at the curling smoke with a strange moisture +in his eye. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor Bob," he said, "I like even yet to think the +dear lad's near me." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0301"></a></p> + +<h2> +Book III +</h2> + +<p><br></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER I. +<br><br> +A GIPSY'S WARNING. +</h3> + +<p> +Wonders will never cease. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure had found something at +last that had changed during the time +he had been at the wars. +</p> + +<p> +That something was the dainty little +person of Bertha Colmore. +</p> + +<p> +She was not at the Hall when Tom first came to +Daddy Dan's cottage, but in two week's time both she and +her mother arrived. Tom had permitted one long day +and night to elapse before he paid a visit. He did not +like to appear too precipitate. Then, with Meg in the +bows of the boat, just as in the dear days of yore, he +went paddling away along the beautiful broads, and finally +stood on the green mossy bank not far from the Hall. +</p> + +<p> +Lady Colmore was delighted to see him. +</p> + +<p> +So was lovely Bertha. Yes; she was a very lovely, +though very young, girl; pretty enough to be a queen, +Tom thought. +</p> + +<p> +Bertha said she was delighted to see Tom. That is +how Tom knew she was. +</p> + +<p> +He wouldn't have known else. +</p> + +<p> +She approached him, not with a glad rush, as of old; +she gave him no kiss, but only a little gloved hand. +She had just come in from a walk, and she said: +</p> + +<p> +"How are you, Lieutenant Bure? Mamma and I +have been so pleased to hear about you always, and +from you also, and we are delighted to see you." +</p> + +<p> +Tom was asked to stay for dinner. He needed little +persuasion. +</p> + +<p> +After that meal, as they were passing along through +the hall, Lady Colmore stopped Tom near to a picture. +It was the portrait of a soldier of a bygone time. +</p> + +<p> +"Strange," she said, "but, my dear Mr. Bure, you +get more like that picture every day; and, now I come +to think of it, he was a Bure, or some such name. He +is my son's great-grandfather by the father's side." She +laughed as she added, "It is just possible, you +know, that you are some distant relation of ours." +</p> + +<p> +Tom found himself in the conservatory with Bertha +some time after this. +</p> + +<p> +"It is cooler here, Lieutenant Bure," she said. +</p> + +<p> +Then Tom found his tongue, and to some purpose too. +</p> + +<p> +"Look here, Bertha," he said. "I'm not going to +stand any more lieutenanting. So there! If I can't +be Tom to you, as I used to be, I'll join the first ship +I can get, and go off to the wars and get shot." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Tom!" +</p> + +<p> +"There! It's out at last. I'm always going to be +Tom to you and nothing else." +</p> + +<p> +And thereupon, in good old sailor fashion, he took +his little sweetheart in his arms, and gave her a kiss. +</p> + +<p> +The ice was broken, and the "lieutenanting" all +done with from that day and date. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +One morning, about three months after this, the old +postman brought a letter or two for Tom. He had been +walking in the garden with his foster sister, but he sat +down in the arbour to open them. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Ruth," he cried all at once, "who do you +think is coming here? You would never guess." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! but I do guess," she replied, blushing like the +autumn roses that were clustering overhead. "It is +Mr. Merryweather. I dreamt about him last night." +</p> + +<p> +"Poor Jack Merryweather!" continued Tom, reading +to himself. "Poor Jack!" +</p> + +<p> +"Tom," said Ruth, laying a hand on his arm, "he +isn't ill, is he?" +</p> + +<p> +She was very pale now. +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, Ruth, he isn't ill; but he'll never serve his +country more. He has lost a leg. Just fancy honest +Jack Merryweather making a dot and carrying one. +Ah, well, I may lose my own next. It is all the +fortune of war, Ruth." +</p> + +<p> +In a week's time Jack arrived. The same old Jack +as ever in mind and manners; the want of both legs +couldn't have changed Merryweather a single little bit. +</p> + +<p> +With him came Raventree, looking somewhat sickly, +but very happy to meet his old friend again. +</p> + +<p> +What a vast cargo of news each one of these three +sailors had got stowed away under hatches. Dan and +his wife were exceedingly pleased to see Merryweather +again, though with the real live lord, Raventree, they +didn't know well what to do, nor at dinner did Ruth or +her mother know how to address him. "My lord," +and "your lordship" were words that they thought it +was but the proper etiquette with which to lard every +sentence. It amused Merryweather and Tom Bure also. +</p> + +<p> +"Lord Raventree, may I help your lordship to +another tatie?" +</p> + +<p> +"My lord, your lordship hasn't got a drop o' gravy." +</p> + +<p> +"Does your lordship like the bishop's nose?" +</p> + +<p> +But Raventree settled the difficulty in fine sailor-like +fashion before the dinner was half finished. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, mother," he said, laughing, "and you, my +pretty sister Ruth, there isn't going to be any more +'lording' at this table; just call me Raventree, as Tom +and Jack do, or Mr. Raventree if you like. If you +don't I shall call you the Lady Brundell, and my sissy +here the Princess Ruth, which title, seeing how modest +and beautiful she is, would suit her to perfection. Now +let us be all equal, all fair, square, and above board. The +charm of spending a night or two in a delightful +old-fashioned cottage like this lies in imagining I live +here always, that there are no wild wars, no battles, no +bo's'n's pipe to call me at the dark hour of a stormy +midnight, and only cock robin's song to greet me of a +morning. Don't dispel my dream, mother. I was +young and foolish once, now I'm older and wiser. +Once I thought it was a fine thing to be a lord. I'd +as lief be a miller now, I think, if I could always live +in a place like this. Do you quite understand, mother?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, dear." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! that's better. Now I have a mamma and a +mother both. Mamma lives at Raventree Court, +mother lives in a sweet little cottage on the edge of a +broad." +</p> + +<p> +"Raventree," said Merryweather, "you're what old +O'Grady would call 'a broth of a boy.'" +</p> + +<p> +"His heart's in the right place," said Dan. "It +would be better for this country if we had more lords +like this one." +</p> + +<p> +"Why don't you enter Parliament?" said Jack. +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma wants me to," said Raventree. "But it +isn't good enough. No, I shall fight my way to the +poop cabin of a 90-gun ship, hoist my pennant, chase +the French from the seas, and then——." +</p> + +<p> +"Then what?" said Jack Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, come back and marry Ruth, of course, and +live happy ever after." +</p> + +<p> +"That I'm sure you won't." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Jack, why?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why? Because a man can't marry his sister." +</p> + +<p> +"To be sure," cried Dan, laughing. "It's agin' +scripture." +</p> + +<p> +But the ice was broken now, and a right merry +evening was spent. Although, it must be confessed, the +younger folks did most of the talking, Dan was content +to sit and listen and smoke. +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather rose to go at last. +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, no," cried Dan emphatically, "you don't +leave here to-night. The missus will stow you both in +one room. I shan't even apologise for it. You've +been in a smaller before." +</p> + +<p> +So the matter was ended in that way, and Raventree +and Jack stayed at Dan's cottage, not one day, but +several days. It was getting near Christmas time, +however, and Raventree determined to take his two +friends with him to Raventree Court, and to hire a +carriage with postillions for the purpose. +</p> + +<p> +First, though, they all paid a visit to the Ashleys. +The old man was delighted to see his pupil again, +and Merryweather too. +</p> + +<p> +"My eyes! though," he said, "you do stump along +lovely with that timber toe o' yours. Nobody 'ud +know you hadn't been born with it." +</p> + +<p> +Raventree was greatly delighted with the curious +home of the Ashleys, with room above room, or rather +cave above cave. +</p> + +<p> +And with the <i>Fairy</i> too. +</p> + +<p> +"Goin' round, I am," said Ashley, "day after +to-morrow, to Yarmouth. Can't you young 'uns man the +<i>Fairy</i>, and we'll leave the sons at home to fish?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! we'll be delighted." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, that's agreed. Help yourselves to more rum." +</p> + +<p> +"I say, Ashley," said Merryweather, "pay any duty +on this?" +</p> + +<p> +"Never a penny," cried Ashley, laughing; "and +what's more, I don't intend." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +The next visit of the trio was to the Hall. Lady +Colmore was her own proud self now, and, much to +Raventree's annoyance, paid all her court to him—to +the lord—leaving his friends, figuratively speaking, +out in the dark and the cold. +</p> + +<p> +But Raventree hoisted his topsails after a time, and +stood right away on the other tack. He overhauled the +saucy craft Bertha, and made violent love to her, +greatly to her mother's delight. +</p> + +<p> +"One never knows what may happen, dear," she +told Bertha that evening. "Why, his lordship might +come back some future day and marry you!" +</p> + +<p> +"Please, mother," said Bertha, "I'd rather marry +Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Tom was dragged up in a cottage, Bertha. You +should study dignity, my love. There, go to bed, child; +you are too young yet. Just let your mother think for +you." +</p> + +<p> +Our three friends had a delightful trip Yarmouth +and back. Of course, they boarded the <i>Belle</i>, and +it goes without saying that the skipper made his usual +speech, beginning: "On this auspicious occasion," and +ending with a strong recommendation to his mate +to "splice the main-brace." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +There were no railway trams in those days, be it +remembered, but there were good coaches and horses; +and just a week before Christmas, Raventree, with +Tom and Jack, left Dan's cottage in an open carriage +with four horses and a pair of postillions. +</p> + +<p> +There was just one matter in which young Raventree +delighted to assert his dignity, and that was the matter +of equipage. It was certainly not for pride, however, +albeit, he used to say, "What's the use of being a +lord at all if you can't keep it up on shore?" +</p> + +<p> +Raventree, being a sailor, loved horses, that was all, +and he would have them too. Expense? That didn't +signify, for once in a way. His mamma would pay. +She loved her sailor boy. So right merrily they drove +off from the cottage, Dan and Ruth standing on the +rustic wee bridge, and waving their handkerchiefs to +them as long as they were in sight, and Meg barking +her hardest. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-270"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-270.jpg" alt=""Dan and Ruth stood on the rustic bridge, and waved to them as long as they were in sight.""> +<br> +"Dan and Ruth stood on the rustic bridge, and waved to them as long as they were in sight." +</p> + +<p> +Those three sailors were all as happy as sailors could +be. Two were young, and if Merryweather was not +precisely a spring duck, his heart was as fresh as a +boy's. +</p> + +<p> +The last thing Dan and Ruth saw, before the bend of +the road and the trees hid the carriage from view, was +Jack waving aloft his wooden leg, with a handkerchief +bent on to the top of it. He had unshipped it for the +purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Ninety miles they had to go, but the weather was +fine and the roads were hard. The horses too were +as good as gold, and the postillions smart, and small +enough to be coxswains for an Oxford or Cambridge +boat race. +</p> + +<p> +They made the first five-and-twenty miles of their +journey that day in fine style, and slept that night at a +cosy little old-fashioned inn, in front of a market +square, where they astonished the landlord by the +sumptuousness of the dinner they ordered. +</p> + +<p> +The landlord was a bit put about too, for he was quite +unused to such an order at this season of the year. +</p> + +<p> +But his wife came to his assistance. G——, Esq., +of M—— Hall, was from home, but his cook wasn't. +So a polite request brought her down to the inn, with +the result that the dinner was a repast fit to place +before a Russian Emperor. +</p> + +<p> +Just about sunset, and before they sat down to table, +Raventree and Tom were crossing the village green—a +huge great park of a place, with a pump in the +centre—when a couple of swarthy-looking, but by no means +ill-favoured, gipsy men came up to them. One was +carrying a dark-eyed little child. +</p> + +<p> +"Good gentlemen," this man said, "it is near Christmas +time, and we haven't much in the caravan yonder +except five small children. We can't eat those." +</p> + +<p> +He smiled pleasantly as he held out his hand. +</p> + +<p> +Something yellow crossed his palm, and with +blessings sounding in their ears our sailors marched +on, and soon forgot all about it, for the time being. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +"By-the-by," said Tom that evening to Merryweather, +"did you ever hear anything more of that +fellow Jones whom you thrashed so prettily on the +sands?" +</p> + +<p> +"Well," was the reply, "he volunteered, as we call +it, and I took him in the ship with me as I had +promised." +</p> + +<p> +"And he showed his gratitude?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes; he nearly brained me with a capstan bar at +Gibraltar, then jumped into the sea, and the men said +he was sucked down in an eddy. I don't want any +more gratitude like that." +</p> + +<p> +In due time the carriage arrived safely at Raventree +Court, which of course was all <i>en gala</i>. Tom thought +that Lady Raventree was the most perfect lady he had +ever seen, and his friend's sisters after the first few +hours seemed positively his own. Never in all his life +had he felt more completely at ease than at Raventree +Court, and time appeared to fly on golden wings, so +that three whole weeks went by like one long delightful +dream. +</p> + +<p> +No wonder that when good-byes were said at last, +both Tom and Jack Merryweather had willingly +promised that they would on no account make +strangers of themselves. +</p> + +<p> +The postillions were sorry to go. They had had a +real good time of it, as the Yankees express it, and +departed with tears in their eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Crack went the whips, and away rolled the carriage, +heading east once more—east with a little bit of south +in it. +</p> + +<p> +Thirty miles made their first day's journey, for the +horses were as fresh as salmon, and although snow had +fallen to some extent the roads were clear and hard, so +the whole expedition, as Raventree called it, was as +merry and happy as the traditional sand-boy. +</p> + +<p> +Next day's run, however, would only be twenty +miles, so an early start was not thought necessary. +The sky looked thick and hazy, with the horizon closer +aboard than Merryweather liked it. +</p> + +<p> +"There is snow in the air," the landlord said; "but +you can do it easily, gentlemen, if you push on. Good +luck to you, and the safest of journeys." +</p> + +<p> +A little way past the hostelry where they had stayed +all night was a steep hill, that led upwards through a +clump of trees. Raventree permitted the horses to +slacken speed here, for the ground was somewhat +slippery, and an accident would have been awkward. +</p> + +<p> +As it was the animals had almost to claw their way +uphill, stumbling often, but keeping on their feet. +</p> + +<p> +By the time they reached the top they were well +pumped, and Raventree called a halt. The steam rose +from the animals' hides in the frosty air in clouds, +while their sides heaved like billows. +</p> + +<p> +"I think we can go on now, my lord," said the +leading postillion at last. "'T won't do, your lordship, +to let 'em get too cold." +</p> + +<p> +"Right then," said Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment a man sprang from behind the +trees, and placing a piece of rather dirty-looking paper +in Raventree's hand, disappeared again as suddenly as +he had come. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, what is the meaning of this?" said Raventree, +laughing, as he handed the note to Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said the latter, "it's a warning from a +friend, there is no doubt about that." +</p> + +<p> +"<i>Look well to your priming as you pass through +Blackmuir woods.</i>" +</p> + +<p> +"That's plain enough," said Raventree. "Why, +how jolly! We're going to have a real adventure +with footpads." +</p> + +<p> +When they pulled up at the top of the next hill to +breathe the horses once again—for the snow was now +whirling round their heads in gusts that were almost +suffocating— +</p> + +<p> +"Boys," said Merryweather to the postillions, "where +is Blackmuir wood?" +</p> + +<p> +"Twelve mile far'er on, sir." +</p> + +<p> +"Are your pistols loaded?" +</p> + +<p> +"That they be, sir. We knows Blackmuir well." +</p> + +<p> +Crack went the whips again, and it was evident the +boys were not afraid of anything. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0302"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER II. +<br><br> +THE FIGHT ON BLACKMUIR MARSH. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> +"It is the very captain of the thieves."—TENNYSON. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The sun was setting by the time the +carriage reached Blackmuir; going down +in a sky of great rolling snow-laden +clouds, with here and there a rift of +blue between; going down with a yellow, +angry glare, that boded no good for the +travellers. A more dreary waste than this +wind-swept moor, on such a wintry afternoon, it would +be difficult to conceive. Lonesome and lovely it would +be in summer time, when the linnets sang among the +patches of golden furze, when the partridges called to +each other among the grass, and water birds made +love in the reedy ponds, while the blackbird's mellow +music, and the wild lilts of the mavis, made the echoes +ring in copse and woodland. But the pools were now +frozen, the bushes were but ghostly shapes, the spruce +trees and pines pointed their snow-laden branches +groundwards and looked like sheeted spectres; and +when the carriage pulled up for a short time, before +plunging down into a wooded ravine, there was no sound +to be heard save the moan of the wintry wind. +</p> + +<p> +The forest they soon entered was fully two miles in +extent—tall beech trees, oaks, elms, and pines, but +with here and there an ocean of undergrowth that +would afford excellent ambush for a footpad. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly the carriage descended the hill. There was +a bridge at the bottom that crossed a rushing stream, +then the hill began to ascend again. But here the +trees almost overhung the road. +</p> + +<p> +No one spoke. The postillions kept their heads +constantly on the move. Tom was kneeling on the +front seat of the carriage, which was an open one, +and peeping into the semi-darkness of the wood. +Raventree and Merryweather sat behind, each grasping +a pistol, while several more lay handy. +</p> + +<p> +"If we are attacked," said Merryweather quietly, +"take good aim, lads, each at the man nearest to him. +Keep steady, and we'll beat the rascals off if there +be fifty——." +</p> + +<p> +Crack, crack, crack. Smoke and flame came from a +thicket near. The leading off horse stumbled and fell, +and the postillion came tumbling to the ground with +him. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold your fire," cried Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +There was a shout from the wood, and six armed and +masked men suddenly sprang into view. +</p> + +<p> +"Give them fits now," roared Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +Bang, bang, bang, bang, went a volley, and two men +fell. The others rushed in. +</p> + +<p> +"Hold and deliver!" cried one. "If you fire again +you are dead men." +</p> + +<p> +At that moment the other postillion fell, and horses +and men were now so mixed up that to fire at the +ruffians was impossible, with any degree of safety to +the postillions or horses. +</p> + +<p> +Four huge pistols were levelled at the carriage, and +its occupants seemed marked. +</p> + +<p> +"You haven't a show for it, Merryweather," cried +one of the footpads. +</p> + +<p> +But the fellow's voice, instead of cowing the sailors, +appeared to act like the match that fires a mine. +</p> + +<p> +"By Jove! I know you, Jones," cried Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +He kicked the door of the carriage open as he spoke, +and sprang like a deer into the road. The wooden-leg +seemed an advantage rather than a drawback. +</p> + +<p> +Pistols cracked again, swords clashed, and horses +plunged. There were shouts, oaths, and screams. +Then high above the din of battle a wild huzza from +the woods, and two new combatants, armed with +cudgels, rushed upon the stage of battle. +</p> + +<p> +Were they footpads? No; but gipsies, and right +sturdily they laid around them. In two minutes +more the battle was decided, every robber <i>hors de +combat</i> or pleading for mercy, and Tom and Raventree +shaking hands with the two swarthy Romany Ryes +they had been kind to three weeks before. +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather had torn the mask from the face of +one of the robbers with no very gentle hand, and there +stood revealed the villainous face of David Jones, the +Welsh smuggler. +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather was angry, virtuously, but <i>very</i> angry. +He clenched his fist, and for a moment it seemed he +was about to dash it at the scoundrel's head; but he +restrained himself. +</p> + +<p> +"This is the second time you've attempted my life, +Jones," he said, "you cowardly rascal." +</p> + +<p> +"The third'll come," was the cool reply, "if I have +the chance." +</p> + +<p> +"That you never shall. You'll hang as high as +Haman." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll see," said the fellow. "If I'm hanged my +ghost shall haunt you." +</p> + +<p> +The prisoners were now secured—death indeed had +secured two—and the postillions once more mounted, +much afraid still, but all intact. One horse had been +killed, and this was the only fatality on the side of the +sailors, although the carriage was riddled with bullets. +</p> + +<p> +The gipsy caravan was not far away, and this was +requisitioned next day, and a start made from the nearest +inn, for Yarmouth; the prisoners being shut up in the +van, and safely guarded by the sturdy gipsies. +</p> + +<p> +At Yarmouth three prisoners were handed over to +the authorities. No, not four. Jones was found dying +in the caravan the evening before they reached town. +He had loosened one hand, found a small knife, and +therewith done the deed that soon hurried him into the +presence of Him who made him. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +Every man Jack in those dashing days, who could +wave sword or cutlass or trail a pike, was needed by +the service, so it was unlikely that Raventree or Tom +would be allowed to rest at home. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson himself, minus an arm, minus an eye, had +once more joined the service, and was on duty at this +time in the Mediterranean. +</p> + +<p> +So Raventree and Tom Bure, who had both passed +their examinations with flying colours, and were +therefore full-blown lieutenants, were appointed to a ship +then fitting out for sea at Portsmouth. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was Merryweather entirely overlooked. He was +overhauled, however, by a body of bold ship's doctors. +They agreed that, although a wooden leg would be +awkward on board a ship, it would not incapacitate its +wearer from certain kinds of duty on shore. So +Merryweather found himself in command of as brave +and reckless a lot of blue-jackets as ever reefed a +topsail. They were nominally called coast-guardsmen, +but no one knew better than the townspeople of +Portsmouth, that their principal mission was connected +with the pressgang. +</p> + +<p> +By no means a very elevating employment was this, +nor was it one that Merryweather cared for, only it +had to be done by some one. The king needed men for +his navy, and Merryweather would have carried a +musket for his majesty had he been asked to do so. +</p> + +<p> +In this service—coast-guard—O'Grady, formerly of +the ships in which our heroes had fought, was +Merryweather's best man, and between the two of them +they managed to obtain quite a large number of +"volunteers." +</p> + +<p> +They did not confine their operations to any one +town or place, however. They would be in Portsmouth +one week, probably, and in London or Dover the next, +Mr. Merryweather thinking it best not to be too well +known in any particular port. +</p> + +<p> +Now the <i>Highflyer</i>, in which Tom and Raventree +were to take passage to the Levant, in order to join the +fleet under the Earl of St. Vincent—Sir John Jervis—was +short of men, and what more natural than that +Merryweather and O'Grady should undertake to supply +them? Both officers knew every corner and alley of +old Portsmouth, and what was better still, they knew +every crimp therein. +</p> + +<p> +A crimp was a mean kind of a reptile that lived in +clover upon the earnings of poor Jack in those days, +and that still exists in various forms about the London +docks. But the genus is nowadays threatened with +extinction, for sailors have grown wiser, and instead of +going to low lodging-houses they very frequently are to +be found at those very excellent institutions called +Sailors' Homes. +</p> + +<p> +When Raventree and Tom, delighted to be together. +joined the <i>Highflyer</i>, they found everything in the +direst confusion. The ship had only just been got +out of dock, and the "woodpeckers," as the carpenters +were called, were still on board fitting up, the tapping +of their hammers resounding fore and aft all day +long. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Highflyer</i> was an old-fashioned gun brig, with +strong masts and lofty; capable of good speed under a +heavy press of canvas, but at the same time a craft +that needed a sailor's eye and a sailor's head to watch +and manœuvre, in dirty weather at all events. Just +the sort of vessel that, if taken aback suddenly in a +squall, was as likely as not to go down stern foremost +in five minutes time or far less. +</p> + +<p> +The captain of the <i>Highflyer</i> was a much older man +than either of our young heroes. His rank, however, +was not post, although he gave himself all the airs of +an admiral of the fleet. +</p> + +<p> +Tom and his friend came off in the gig which had +been sent for them, and McTough, the captain, +condescended to meet them as they came over the side. He +smiled as he returned their salute, or rather he made a +grimace that was meant for a smile. +</p> + +<p> +A little short dark man he was, with a Highland +accent, and a manner that was intended to denote that +on his own quarter-deck there was no one in all the +wide world to compare with McTough, and that it +would only be waste of time to attempt to get to +windward of him. +</p> + +<p> +"We're all in blessed confusion at present," he said, +"and sure we'll be so too for days and days. Not half +my men either; but Merryweather will soon find +them. Ah! he's the right sort. I was a middy with +him. Come below, gentlemen, to my cabin. It's +the only place in the ship that isn't thoroughly +thro'-other." +</p> + +<p> +"Steward!" he cried, when they had seated +themselves, "bring the wine." +</p> + +<p> +It was Scotch wine that the steward brought—in +other words, Highland whisky. +</p> + +<p> +The captain half-filled a tumbler and tossed it off, +and seemed a little astonished that Tom and Raventree +did not tackle the stuff in the same off-hand way. +The captain's first glass was drunk "neat," that is, +without water; the second was diluted, and this one +was evidently meant only to trifle with as he kept +talking, for before they rose to go on deck he +helped himself to another, saying, "Pooh! no, it spoils +the flavour," as Raventree passed the water across to +him. +</p> + +<p> +That evening Merryweather and O'Grady came off, +and all four dined in the captain's cabin. There was +plenty here to eat and drink, and the wines were of +the best vintage; but nothing would Captain McTough +touch except the wine of his native land. +</p> + +<p> +"I'll have fifteen as handsome volunteers for you," +said Merryweather in the course of the evening, "as +ever kept a watch." +</p> + +<p> +"It's me myself that is pleased to hear it," said +McTough, ignoring the rules of grammar in his +excitement. "And they'll come of their own free will, of +course?" +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"Better have your surgeon on board," he said, "for +I expect there'll be a broken head or two to see to +among the lot." +</p> + +<p> +"And let me just tell you this, Merryweather, I +like the men best that come on board with broken +heads. It shows they're no hinkumsneevies."* +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +* Hinkumsneevie—a mean, worthless fellow, with no "go" in +him. +</p> + +<p> +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! well, McTough, I like to lay them aboard as +easily as possible." +</p> + +<p> +"You always were soft-hearted, Merryweather." +</p> + +<p> +"And, Tom, you'll come with us and see the fun. +I know Raventree will." +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Tom, "I'd just like to know how +it is done. But it seems rather hard on the poor +sailors." +</p> + +<p> +"For king and country," said Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +"If that's a toast," said McTough, "we'll drink it." +</p> + +<p> +And he did. McTough never missed an opportunity +of drinking a toast. +</p> + +<p> +And soon after he went to sleep in his arm-chair, +which was always McTough's way of intimating to his +guests that they might leave when they liked. +</p> + +<p> +"Dine with me to-morrow evening at the 'Fountain,' +then," said Merryweather, as he shook hands with his +friends and went over the side. +</p> + +<p> +"A different kind of craft this from the old +<i>Agamemnon</i>," said Tom when the boat had shoved off. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't like her, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"And I don't like McTough." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, suppose we get clear of her as soon as we can." +</p> + +<p> +"Agreed." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0303"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER III. +<br><br> +"VOLUNTEERS" FOR THE NAVY.—THE BURNING OF THE<br> +"HIGHFLYER." +</h3> + +<p class="poem"> + "I'm a freeman—a nabob—a king on his throne,<br> + For I've chattels and goods and strong beer of my own."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The "gentleman" who wished to see +Commander Merryweather, just as he +and his two friends had finished dinner +at the "Fountain" next evening, was not +a person one would have taken to very +readily. +</p> + +<p> +A tall, fair-haired, bland, inscrutable kind of man, +with a shifty eye. He bowed most obsequiously to +Merryweather, then looked doubtingly at Tom and +Raventree, who were both in mufti. +</p> + +<p> +"Friends," said Merryweather curtly. +</p> + +<p> +"Officers, I presume," said Bloggs, for that was +his sweetly-savoured name, and he smiled and bowed +again. +</p> + +<p> +"Enough of that, Bloggs," said Merryweather. +"Help yourself to some wine, and let's get to +business. Are your men all ready to volunteer?" +</p> + +<p> +"To a man, Capting Merryweather." +</p> + +<p> +"There now; no names, please. Where are they +now, and what doing?" +</p> + +<p> +"They're all on the carouse. Tossing cans, and +singing, at No. 9 back-room." +</p> + +<p> +"How many in all?" +</p> + +<p> +"Over twenty; nearer thirty. I've refused them +more liquor." +</p> + +<p> +"Fool!" +</p> + +<p> +"See here, Capting—I means mister. I knows my +biz, you knows yours. Supposing I'd been too liberal +wi' the grog, they'd have suspected. There's some +among 'em suspects now. I knows what I'm about." +</p> + +<p> +"All right. And they're in the back hall?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, and a fiddler's just gone in." +</p> + +<p> +"Keep them dancing and gay, Bloggs, till after +midnight. We'll be there. Yes, empty the bottle if +you like." +</p> + +<p> +Bloggs had a double allowance of wine, bowed, +smiled, and retired. +</p> + +<p> +"Awful villain!" said Merryweather. "Those +poor fellows we're going to have, if we can, have most +of them been there a week, and hardly ever seen +daylight." +</p> + +<p> +"Does he keep them in the dark?" asked Tom +innocently. +</p> + +<p> +"You don't understand," said Merryweather, laughing. +"He keeps them drunk that he may cheat them, +and they hardly know whether it is night or day. +If we didn't have them, Bloggs would bundle them, +still drunk, on board some merchantman, five, six, or +even ten at a time, receive their advance, and go +smiling on shore again, to allure more to his dismal +den. The ships that take them lie in the harbour for a +day or two, and as soon as the poor seamen are sober it +is up jib and off." +</p> + +<p> +The back hall of No. 9 was considered the safest +crimp's crib in all Portsmouth. It lay fifty yards +off the street. You entered by a narrow alley, then +found yourself in a kind of garden, at the bottom of +which stood the hall, or dancing howff. Here poor +Jack drank, danced, ate, and slept, awaking only to +eat, dance, and drink again. +</p> + +<p> +Let us look in here to-night. It will be some time +before our eyes are quite used to the clouds of tobacco +smoke; then we can dimly see Jack and Sally, or Poll, +seated at tables round the room, smoking, singing, and +yarning. There is a screechy old fiddle at quite the +other end of the big room, and half-a-dozen couples +on the floor footing it lightly on the fantastic toe, or the +heavy heel. +</p> + +<p> +The hubbub and din is fearful, for more than one +song is going on at the same time, though if you listen +you can just make out the words of the singer at the +nearest table. His eyes sparkle with mirth as he trolls +out the following ditty: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Wounds! here's such a coil! I'm none of your poor<br> + Petty varlets, who flatter and cringe, and all that;<br> + I'm a freeman, a nabob, a king on his throne,<br> + For I've chattels and goods, and strong beer of my own.<br> + Besides, 't is a rule, that good fellows ne'er fail,<br> + To let everything wait but the generous ale.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + <i>Chorus</i>—Besides——"<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +That chorus was never sung. +</p> + +<p> +"Long live the King," shouted Merryweather, entering +by the only door, and apparently all alone. +</p> + +<p> +"Now, good fellows, it's all up; so who's going to +fight the French for St. George and merrie England?" +</p> + +<p> +There was just one moment of stillness after this +bold, brief speech, then pandemonium seemed suddenly +let loose. A shower of bottles, jugs, and cans came +floating towards Merryweather, but he ducked and +retired; women screamed, tables were overthrown, and +amidst oaths and maledictions a rush was made for the +door. +</p> + +<p> +A few were knocked down and handcuffed as they +came, but the rush was too great, even for the force of +bluejackets. +</p> + +<p> +The fight in the garden was a fearful one. The +moon shone as brightly as day, and in less than a +minute showed at least a dozen couples struggling on +the ground. +</p> + +<p> +It was not the object of the seamen to stop to fight, +however, but to escape. +</p> + +<p> +The second rush was through the alley, but here +they encountered Merryweather's rear-guard. So well, +indeed, had he disposed of his men, that out of the +thirty odd merchant seafarers only about seven escaped. +</p> + +<p> +There was no happier man next morning than +Captain McTough, as he reviewed his +volunteers—twenty-two in all, and scarcely one among them who +had not a cut face or blood-matted hair. +</p> + +<p> +And now a strange thing occurred. The very man +who last evening had been singing about being +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "A freeman, a nabob, a king on his throne,"<br> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +stepped out of the ranks and saluted the captain. +</p> + +<p> +"Men," he said, "I'm a volunteer." +</p> + +<p> +"And we're all volunteers, Bill," they shouted. +</p> + +<p> +Then he turned to Merryweather. +</p> + +<p> +"It doesn't matter a deal," he said, "now we're here, +whether we volunteer or not. But, sir, I wish you +were going with us, timber toe and all; for, faith! you +fought finely, and I love a brave man." +</p> + +<p> +Merryweather shook the man by the hand, and the +volunteers cheered him as he went over the side. But +I may as well state here as anywhere else that Bill +Williams—and a bold Welshman he was—turned out +one of the best men in the ship. And if a man could +be good under such a tyrant as Commander McTough +he could be good anywhere. +</p> + +<p> +The brig had not got half-way over the Bay of +Biscay before this officer showed the cloven hoof. He +had no less than two men down from aloft in the same +forenoon, stripped and flogged—four round dozen each, +<i>sans ceremonie</i>. +</p> + +<p> +His language was also, to say the very least, far from +polite. +</p> + +<p> +McTough was a sample of the naval officers who +are despots on their own quarterdecks, and who, even +in those days, I am happy to say were comparatively +rare. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure was sick of the fellow in four or five days' +time, and could hardly be civil to him. +</p> + +<p> +Raventree ventured to take a man's part, and +received such a torrent of invective that he told +McTough, there where he stood, that he was a scoundrel +and a villain. +</p> + +<p> +"Mutiny! Rank mutiny!" roared McTough, growing +almost black in the face. "Down—below—under +arrest, sir. I have half a mind to hang you to-morrow +morning at the yard-arm. I have." +</p> + +<p> +Raventree smiled, gave up his sword—it was at +divisions—and went quietly below to his cabin. +</p> + +<p> +"I have orders to let no one in to see the gentleman," +said the sentry, when Tom went below that +evening. +</p> + +<p> +But Tom got in for all that. +</p> + +<p> +Raventree was lying on his cot, reading by the +light of a jimble-lamp. +</p> + +<p> +"Tom," he said, "you mustn't stay a minute. I'll +be cashiered as sure as a gun. But you needn't be." +</p> + +<p> +"Keep up your heart," said Tom. "You're not tried +yet, and there's many a thing may happen before we +join the fleet." +</p> + +<p> +Tom's prophecy came terribly true. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +It was some nights after Raventree had been put +under arrest, and towards the end of the middle +watch—kept to-night by Tom, for it was watch and watch +now that his friend was off duty—when Bill Williams, +who had been sent below on some message, returned +hastily on deck. +</p> + +<p> +"I beg your pardon, sir," he said, "but there is a +a terrible smell of burning between decks. Will you +run down?" +</p> + +<p> +Tom had not far to run. Not "smell" alone, but +smoke was issuing from underneath the door of the +captain's cabin. The alarm was given at once, and the +fire bell had not clanged for a minute before every man +was on deck. No disorder, however, no confusion. +They were British seamen—Hearts of Oak. +</p> + +<p> +The door of the cabin was found locked inside, but +was speedily burst in, and as speedily flames rushed +out. Even had he been alive, there could have been +no hopes of saving the unhappy captain; but ten to +one he himself or the wine of his native land had +been the cause of the terrible calamity. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure now assumed command, and he and +Raventree, whom fate had relieved from arrest, at +once divided the crew into two parties. Both worked +like heroes, one party to get up the ammunition, of +which there was quite a large store on board, the +other in drawing water, to quell, if possible, the +raging demon, Fire. The ship was put head to the +wind, but in less than half an hour she had fallen +off, for the whole afterpart was on fire, and steering +was impossible. +</p> + +<p> +Very speedily now the flames took possession of +the rigging, and the scene that ensued baffles +description. In less than five minutes after the vessel +broached to, she was on fire from stem to stern. +</p> + +<p> +Everything that could be lifted and launched +overboard was thrown out, but there was no time to +lower a boat. The men simply leapt into the sea by +the dozen and score, for there had been nearly 200 +men all told when the brig swung out past the Needles. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure and Raventree, with many others, including +Bill Williams, had sought refuge on the jibboom and +bowsprit. It was but a choice of deaths apparently, +when suddenly Bill shouted: +</p> + +<p> +"Oh! look, Mr. Bure, yonder is a light, and it is +bearing this way." +</p> + +<p> +The night was intensely dark, and with the glare +of the fire it seemed impossible that anyone could have +caught sight of a light. +</p> + +<p> +Williams was right, however. +</p> + +<p> +In a few minutes' time boats were alongside picking +up the drowning men, who clung to the floating +wreckage. +</p> + +<p> +Our brave fellows on the jibboom cheered them, +Frenchmen though they could see they were. Their +great black frigate lay out yonder against the star-studded +horizon, gently rising and falling on the swell +of the mighty Atlantic. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll be all prisoners," said Bill. +</p> + +<p> +"Never mind, Williams," said another sailor, "any +port in a storm; but I say, Jack, I——" +</p> + +<p> +Crash! The bowsprit was severed, and down went +the jibboom into the sea. In another minute the brig +had filled aft, heeled backwards, and gone down stern +first, leaving but a few black, seething, smoking spars +among the bubbling waves. Half at least of the poor +fellows who had thought themselves safe on the +jibboom were sucked down with the sinking ship. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Of all the crew of the sturdy brig <i>Highflyer</i>, only +fifty-three mustered at daylight on board the French +frigate. +</p> + +<p> +"My dear Tom," said Raventree, "I have never felt +more thankful for anything than to see your face +among the saved." +</p> + +<p> +"And I to see you, Raventree." +</p> + +<p> +"And I to see you both, gentlemen," said bold Bill +Williams, advancing. +</p> + +<p> +Both Tom and Raventree reciprocated by shaking +the honest fellow by the hand. +</p> + +<p> +Nothing could exceed the kindness of the Frenchmen +to the men they had rescued in so strange a manner. +</p> + +<p> +Raventree and Tom were invited into the captain's +cabin, and there they breakfasted. +</p> + +<p> +"It is very kind of you to treat prisoners thus," said +Tom. +</p> + +<p> +"It ees all well," said the captain; "and it ees de +fortune of de war. Perhaps it may be my turn next." +</p> + +<p> +A day or two after this, and early in the morning, +the strange spectacle was witnessed of a large French +frigate coming straight in from the north-west, under +all sail, towards the fleet of Sir John Jervis, who was +still blockading Cadiz. +</p> + +<p> +Here was a mystery that made every man on every +ship stare in amazement. +</p> + +<p> +Was peace declared, or was that ship mad? +</p> + +<p> +Mad or not mad, she made directly for the admiral's +ship, with a white flag flying at her fore, and the +French stripes at her peak. +</p> + +<p> +She wanted to speak, that was evident enough. So +a boat was speedily hastening towards her. When the +officer stepped on board he was quickly told the +terrible story of the burning of the <i>Highflyer</i>, and the +saving of a portion of her crew, whom the French +captain now desired to give up to the admiral of the +British fleet. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "One touch of Nature makes the world kin."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +St. Vincent was much affected by this display of +genuine kindness and chivalry. He insisted upon the +French captain coming to dine with him, and when +the frigate at last got under weigh a signal was made +to man yards, and a cheer went over the water after the +receding ship that must have rung in the ears of the +crew for many a long day after. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0304"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IV +<br><br> +THE SEARCH FOR THE FRENCH FLEET—AT LAST. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Now's the day, and now's the hour,<br> + See the front of battle lower."—BURNS.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +We must now return to our hero Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +In an early chapter of this story I +mentioned that the great man had once +gone to Paris, and had there met an +officer who was somewhat of a dandy, +and whose name was Ball. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson had found it impossible to associate bravery +and pluck with fine clothes. This dislike to fine +clothing he had doubtless picked up in the merchant +ship in which he served for a time, and it had clung +to him. However, he lived to find out that though +first impressions are usually very strong, it does not +follow that they are always just and correct. +</p> + +<p> +After joining St. Vincent, about the end of April, +the admiral of the fleet got word that the French +were getting ready a great expedition at Toulon and +Genoa.* It was not known for what this armament +was intended, and various conjectures were hazarded. +Perhaps the enemy meant to attack Naples or Sicily, +or to invade Ireland. However, this armament of +theirs must be sought for and destroyed if possible. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* <i>Vide</i> Map. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Now there were many officers senior to Nelson on +the station, and on one or other of these—so they +thought—ought to have devolved the command of +the anti-French squadron. +</p> + +<p> +The Earl of St. Vincent, however, thought different. +He <i>knew</i> Nelson; knew what he could dare and what +he could do; knew how wise and clever he was, how +energetic, bold, and determined; knew that if he +undertook a mission of any kind he would, figuratively +speaking, "give neither sleep to his eyes nor slumber +to his eyelids" until he had fulfilled it. +</p> + +<p> +But when the admiral of the fleet appointed him +to the search-squadron there was a howl of rage from +all quarters, at home as well as abroad. Sir John +Orde, a senior in the service to Nelson, let his wrath +get such mastery over him that he challenged +St. Vincent to fight a duel. St. Vincent was no fool, +and I suppose quietly lit a pipe with the challenge. +Anyhow, it never came off. +</p> + +<p> +But even a lord of the admiralty condemned the +conduct of the admiral of the fleet, who, however, +could stand red tape abuse quite as well as he could +the fire of the French in battle. +</p> + +<p> +Still so high did popular feeling run in some +quarters, that one trembles to think what the fate +of our great hero would have been, had he been beaten +by the foe when he at last found his fleet. He would +certainly have been brought home, tried, and probably +executed. +</p> + +<p> +Can you imagine anything more horrible than that +would have been, reader—executing Nelson? But +the mere possibility of such a thing only proves that +the public, which heroes serve so faithfully and well, +is after all like a caged lion or tiger, tame to a fault +with its keeper, the hero, but a savage creature and a +fool in its wrath when crossed or put out of temper. +The public will pamper and idolize a man one day, +and trample his bleeding body under foot the next. +</p> + +<p> +So Nelson sailed with his ships. +</p> + +<p> +He had orders to requisition stores, food, water, +&c., in any port of the Mediterranean he chose. If +such stores were not forthcoming, that port was to +be treated as an enemy's. One exception only was +made; viz., in the case of Sardinia. +</p> + +<p> +Well, this expedition of Nelson's had but a bad +beginning; for while crossing the Gulf of Lyons +he encountered a terrible storm of wind, which +scattered his ships in all directions, and nearly +wrecked the <i>Vanguard</i>, on which his flag was flying. +There is almost as much humour as pathos in the +letter he writes to his wife on this occasion. +</p> + +<p> +"Imagine if you can," he says, "a vain-glorious +man—your husband—walking his quarter-deck on +Sunday evening, with his squadron all around him, +who* looked up to their chief to lead them to glory, +and in whom this chief placed the firmest reliance +that the proudest ships, in equal numbers, belonging +to France would have lowered their flags, and with +a very rich prize lying by him. Figure to yourself +this proud, conceited man when the sun rose on +Monday morning, his ship dismasted, his fleet +dispersed, and himself in such distress that the meanest +frigate out of France would have been a very +unwelcome guest." +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="footnote"> +* The young reader will note that Nelson's grammatical +construction of sentences was not always on an even keel. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +But, lo! the very man whom Nelson had so despised +in France, and dubbed a dandy and a fop, came now +to his assistance in the <i>Alexander</i>, and at the imminent +danger to both ships of foundering, took him in tow +to St. Pierre. No wonder that Nelson loved the man +from that day forth. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +In a few days' time, however, Nelson had undergone +repairs, and was able once more to start on his voyage. +But, alas! he had lost sight of his frigates. +</p> + +<p> +Britain and France at this time, reader, you must +remember were playing at cross purposes to some +extent, and great wars usually have been carried on in +this way. Britain and France, not content with +hitting each other in the face straight from the +shoulder whenever they had a chance, did all they +could to kick the stools from under each other. For +instance, we bolstered up the kingdom of Naples, +which has well been stigmatised as one of the most +abominable, disreputable, and licentious of European +governments. The king was inferior to an English squire. +He would have been good in a rat hunt with fox terriers, +or in a rabbit coursing match; but he was utterly +unfitted either to fight or rule a people. His wife, the +queen, was—well, the least said the better. And we, +Britain, were to protect the two of them against the +revolutionary schemes of France, not, mind you, +because we loved them, but because we hated France. +This kingdom then was the stool we intended to kick +from under France. But kicking is a game both +can play at, and France turned her attention to India. +They would attack us <i>there</i>, just as the Russians will +before fifty years are over. May they be as unsuccessful +as old Napoleon was. +</p> + +<p> +But before India could be used as a basis of +operations against Britain, Egypt must be conquered and +occupied. +</p> + +<p> +It must be confessed too, that the French carried out +their plans for the invasion of Egypt with consummate +skill and boldness, for as your school history tells you, +reader, Napoleon, with an army of 30,000 old and +well-disciplined troops, managed to hoodwink the British +and put to sea <i>en route</i> for Alexandria. +</p> + +<p> +Malta fell in the first off-go. +</p> + +<p> +Napoleon landed in the end of June unopposed near +to Alexandria. +</p> + +<p> +The conquest of Egypt followed in rapid course. +With such troops, under such a splendid commander, +this conquest was all one glorious picnic. So the +battle of the Pyramids was fought, and crushed was +the pomp and panoply of the great Marmelukes. +Cairo fell, and on marched the victorious troops. +</p> + +<p> +So sure of getting his army to India was Napoleon, +that as soon as he landed he dispatched secret envoys +to Tippoo Saib, son of Hyder Ali, who had built up a +great new state in the south of India. These envoys +were to inform Tippoo to hold himself in readiness for +a <i>coup de grace</i>, because the French were on their way +to his assistance. +</p> + +<p> +BUT—and please note this is a very important +<i>but</i>—Napoleon's dreams of further glory in India depended +entirely upon his being able to keep up his +communications with France, and, says Davenport Adams, +"while France held Italy and the Ionian Islands these +could not be interrupted, so long as the British +armament in the Mediterranean was kept occupied in +watching the movements of the French fleet." +</p> + +<p> +The <i>raison d'etre</i> of Nelson's movements will now be +easily seen. +</p> + +<p> +Owing to the shilly-shalling and inactivity of the +king of Naples, who would neither move hand nor foot +to save himself or help to free Italy, Nelson was very +much delayed. Meanwhile St. Vincent was reinforced +by ships sent from England. His lordship had +previously received word that such reinforcement was +about to be dispatched, and therefore he had lost not +a moment in getting ready another squadron to send to +Nelson's assistance, and this consisted of the most +powerful ships under his command, under the best of +his captains. +</p> + +<p> +No sooner, therefore, were the outcoming fleet visible +off Cadiz Bay, than Troubridge's squadron sailed. It +was upon the 9th of June that the hero was joined by +this squadron. +</p> + +<p> +Then commenced the great game of hide and seek. +Nelson had to solve a puzzle somewhat similar to the +pictorial advertisement, in which you are presented +with an illustration called "The babes of the wood and +cock robin." There lie the babes under the trees +quietly enough, with a few leaves over them, but +where is cock robin? That is what you have to find +out. And here was Nelson with his squadron in the +Mediterranean—the Mediterranean was all about +him, blue and evident enough, but where was the +French fleet? That was what the hero had to +find out. +</p> + +<p> +The story of Nelson's search for the enemy would +make a very pretty and romantic story all by itself. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson, however, was not a man to be very easily +disheartened, so he started in pursuit, if such a +blindman's buff could be termed pursuit. He learned that +the enemy had been seen off Trapani, in Sicily, in the +first week in June, and that they were then steering +eastwards away. +</p> + +<p> +Troubridge next found out that they had gone to +Malta, and Nelson bore up for that city of tumbledown +forts and steps and stairs. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson arrived at Malta just too late. So on the +18th of June he steered for Egypt. Had Nelson only +had the frigates with him, which he had lost sight of +in that unlucky gale in the Gulf of Lyons, it would +not have been difficult now to find the French. +On his way to Alexandria, however, he overhauled +several merchantmen, but could get no tidings of the +enemy. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you seen anything of the French fleet?" was +the question that seemed to be always put. "Or you? +Or you?" +</p> + +<p> +And the answers were always— +</p> + +<p> +"No, no, no." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, they may be at Alexandria," thought Nelson. +He arrived off this city on the 28th of June. +</p> + +<p> +"No," was again the answer to his enquiries; the +French had not been seen or heard of. +</p> + +<p> +But the governor had received intelligence that the +armament prepared by the French was really intended +for Egypt. +</p> + +<p> +"It would have been," says Southey, "Nelson's +delight to have tried Bonaparte on a wind. It would +have been the delight of Europe too, and the blessing +of the world, if that fleet had been overtaken with its +general on board. But of the myriads and millions of +human beings, who would have been preserved by that +day's victory, there is not one to whom such essential +benefit would have resulted as to Bonaparte himself. +It would have spared him his defeat at Acre—his only +disgrace; for to have been defeated by Nelson upon +the seas would not have been disgraceful, and it would +have spared him all his after enormities. +</p> + +<p> +"Hitherto his—Bonaparte's—career had been glorious, +the baneful principles of his heart had never yet passed +his lips. History would have represented him as a +soldier of fortune, who had faithfully served the cause +in which he had engaged, and whose career had been +distinguished by a series of successes, unexampled in +modern times. A romantic obscurity would have hung +over the expedition to Egypt, and he would have +escaped the perpetration of those crimes that have +incarnadined his soul with a deeper dye than that of the +purple for which he committed them—those acts of +perfidy, midnight murder, usurpation, and remorseless +tyranny, which have consigned his name to universal +execration now and for ever." +</p> + +<p> +Not finding the French at Alexandria, Nelson steered +north for Caramania, and thence along the shores of +Candia, "carrying a press of sail both night and day +against a contrary wind." +</p> + +<p> +He next returned towards Sicily, only to find that +the Government of Naples were too much afraid of the +French to give him any assistance in the shape of water +and provisions, without which he could not have +continued his pursuit of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +But Nelson had a friend at Court, and after some +little vexatious delay he was permitted to re-victual +at Syracuse. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson was glad at heart now, and wrote to Sir +William Hamilton, the British Ambassador at Naples, +and to Lady Hamilton, as follows: "Thanks to your +exertions, we have victualled and watered, and surely, +watering at the fountain of Arethusa, we must have +victory. We shall sail with the first breeze, and be +assured I will return either crowned with laurel or +covered with cypress." +</p> + +<p> +He wrote also to St. Vincent, telling him that if the +enemy was still above water he should find them; and +to the First Lord of the Admiralty, saying, among other +things, "but should they be bound to the Antipodes, +your lordship may rely upon it that I will not lose +a moment in bringing them to action." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +On the 25th of July Nelson got away from Syracuse, +and made the Gulf of Coron on the 28th. +</p> + +<p> +One cannot help pitying poor Nelson at this time, +lying awake in his bed at night after a few hours of +sleep, thinking and worrying till almost ill, asking the +officer of the watch again and again what time it was, +and peevishly crying, "Will morning never come?" +</p> + +<p> +There was hardly an hour of the day now that he +did not lament and bemoan the loss of his frigates, that +were no doubt looking for him somewhere, as eager +to meet him as he was to catch sight of them. +</p> + +<p> +In this game of hide-and-seek, or blind man's buff, +strange as it may seem, the French and British fleets +must positively have crossed each other's tracks on +the night of June 22nd. +</p> + +<p> +Troubridge now entered the port of Coron, and came +back with the news that a whole month before this the +French fleet had been observed steering to the south-east +from Candia. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson determined, therefore, to once more bear up +for Alexandria, convinced in his own mind that the +fleet of the enemy would be found there. +</p> + +<p> +Nor was he mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +For on the morning of August the 1st Captain Hood, +of the <i>Zealous</i>, hoisted the signal to say he had +discovered them. +</p> + +<p> +"Thank God!" said Nelson fervently. "At last!" +</p> + +<p> +He had hardly slept or eaten for a week before this, +but to-day he dined with his captains, while preparations +for battle were being made. As they rose from +the table Nelson exclaimed, +</p> + +<p> +"Before this time to-morrow I shall have gained +a peerage or Westminster Abbey!" +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0305"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER V. +<br><br> +THE BATTLE OF THE NILE—HORRORS OF THE<br> +COCKPIT—NELSON WOUNDED. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Commanding fires of death to light<br> + The darkness of the scenery."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Tom Bure and Raventree, after the +burning of their ship, and their wonderful +deliverance from what seemed the +certainty of death, would, upon their arrival +on board the flagship of the Earl of +St. Vincent, have dearly liked to have +been appointed together to the same ship, but this +was not to be. Tom Bure had to join Troubridge, +of the <i>Culloden</i>, and Raventree was sent on board the +<i>Zealous</i>, under Captain Samuel Hood. +</p> + +<p> +On the very morning that the French fleet was +discovered, not altogether satisfied with the outlook, +Raventree had himself run aloft, and had not been +there three minutes before he was able to raise the +topgallant masts of the Frenchmen. He immediately +hailed the deck, and the glad signal was at once +hoisted. +</p> + +<p> +It may be to the advantage of the reader to scan +the following lists of the ships, guns, and men of +the two fleets that were engaged in +</p> + +<p class="t3"> + THE BATTLE OF THE NILE.<br> +</p> + +<pre> + I. <i>British Line of Battle at the Nile</i>.* + + SHIPS. CAPTAINS. GUNS. MEN. + + 14 Culloden . . . Troubridge . 74 ... 590 + 4 Theseus . . . . Miller . . . 74 ... 590 + 7 Alexander . . . Ball . . . . 74 ... 590 + 8 Vanguard . . . <i>Nelson</i> . . . 74 ... 525 + 9 Minotaur . . . Luis . . . . 74 ... 640 + 6 Leander . . . . Thompson . . 50 ... 343 + 11 Swiftsure . . Hallowell . . 74 ... 590 + 1 Audacious . . . Gould . . . . 74 ... 590 + 10 Defence . . . Peyton . . . 74 ... 590 + 2 Zealous . . . . Hood . . . . 74 ... 590 + 5 Orion . . . . . Saumarez . . 74 ... 590 + 3 Goliath . . . . Foley . . . . 74 ... 590 + 13 Majestic . . . Westcott . . 74 ... 590 + 12 Bellerophon . Darby . . . . 74 ... 590 + 15 <i>La Mutine</i> . Hardy + + + II. <i>French Line of Battle</i>.* + + A Le Guerrier . . ....... . 74 ... 600 Taken + B Le Conquérant . ....... . 74 ... 700 Taken + C Le Spartiate . ....... . 74 ... 700 Taken +</pre> + +<p class="footnote"> +* The figures and letters prefixed to each vessel marks on the plan +its position in the battle. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-309"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-309.jpg" alt="PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF THE NILE."> +<br> +PLAN OF THE BATTLE OF THE NILE. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<pre> + SHIPS. CAPTAINS. GUNS. MEN. + + D L'Aquilon ........ 74 ... 700 Taken + + E Le Peuple Souverain ........ 74 ... 700 Taken + + F Le Franklin } Blanquet, 1st { 80 ... 700 Taken + } Contra-Adm. { + + } Brueys, V.A., { + G L'Orient } and { 120 ... 1010 Burnt + } Com.-in-Chief { + + H Le Tonnant ....... 180 ... 800 Taken + + I L'Heureux ....... 74 ... 700 Taken + + K Le Timoléon ....... 75 ... 700 Burnt + + M Le Mercure ....... 74 ... 700 Taken + + L Le Guillaume } Villeneuve, { 80 ... 800 Escaped + Tell } 2nd Con-Ad. { + + N Le Genéreux ....... 74 ... 700 Escaped + + + French Frigates. + + Q La Diane . . . . 48 ... 300 Escaped + + E La Justice . . . . 44 ... 300 Escaped + + P L'Artemise . . . . 36 ... 250 Burnt + + O La Sérieuse . . . . 36 ... 250 Sunk +</pre> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +It is difficult at this date to determine with any +degree of exactness what were the orders given +to the commander-in-chief of the French fleet by +Napoleon Bonaparte. It seems strange that a great +soldier and conqueror like him should not have sent +away his ships after he had effected his landing, and he +accused Brueys, after that unfortunate admiral was +killed in the battle of the Nile, of having lingered +in Egypt without his orders. The French fleet was +sorely enough needed in other directions. It might +even have succeeded in raising the blockade of +Cadiz. +</p> + +<p> +Be this as it may, here were Brueys and his fleet +safely—as the Frenchmen thought—moored in Aboukir +Bay; in a line of battle of such strength that one would +have thought no three navies in the world could have +broken it up. +</p> + +<p> +Brueys would gladly have entered the port of +Alexandria, but his ships were too heavy, so he did the +next best thing. +</p> + +<p> +A glance at the plan will show how the Frenchmen +were positioned in this great fight. But besides the +advantage of location, it will be noticed that the enemy +had also more ships, more guns, and more men than the +British. Brueys might well have felt certain that +victory would be his. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps it was the apparent impregnability of his +situation that caused him to wait here for Nelson. He +must have known that our hero was headstrong +enough to attack him wherever he found him, and +that in Aboukir Bay he had a reasonable chance of +victory, while in the open sea he would have had +none. +</p> + +<p> +I have not the slightest doubt in my own mind +that Nelson took into calculation, even before he fell +in with the French here, the possibility of their being +moored in battle array, just as he found them. Nor do +I doubt that an attack, even by Nelson, from the +front or in the ordinary way would have been +unsuccessful. But Nelson was no ordinary man, and +never did attack in any ordinary way. So when he +found out how the enemy was moored, it instantly +flashed upon him that if the water of the bay +between their fleet and the shore was deep enough +for such great ships as <i>L'Orient</i> and <i>Le Tonnant</i> to +swing, there was room enough for one line of our +ships to sail up behind them, as a landsman would +call it, and thus attack them on their least prepared +side, while another attacked on the outside. These +were tactics that Brueys was entirely unprepared for, +and never could have even dreamt of. But as it was +getting towards evening when our ships hove in sight, +Brueys must have also flattered himself that Nelson +would not be headstrong enough to attack that night. +No, he would assuredly let go anchor, and commence +the battle at the earliest dawn of day. +</p> + +<p> +Our hero was never a man to wait, however. "Go +at the enemy pell-mell whenever you meet them," +was one of his few mottoes, and now he meant to act +upon it. +</p> + +<p> +He ordered his ships to form in line-of-battle ahead +and astern of the flagship, then signalled to Hood, +of the <i>Zealous</i>, to know if there was depth enough +of water between the French line of battle and the +sandbank. "I do not know," was the reply, "but I +shall stand in and see." +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Zealous</i> started at once on her dangerous mission, +taking soundings as she went leisurely on. +</p> + +<p> +She cleared the shoal. +</p> + +<p> +With her went the <i>Goliath</i>. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson's signal was, "that the headmost ship should +bear down, and engage as she reached the enemy's van, +the next ship to pass by and engage the second, +the third to pass by and engage the third, and +so on." +</p> + +<p> +And one by one our ships took up their positions. +The battle began in earnest at half-past six, and in +half an hour's time it was pitchy dark. +</p> + +<p> +As long as daylight lasted the streaming flags on our +ships could be seen above the white and curling smoke. +As soon as night fell each British ship hoisted four +horizontal lights at her peak. "The third ship," says +Southey, "that doubled the enemy's van was the <i>Orion</i>, +Sir F. Saumarez. She passed to windward of the +<i>Zealous</i>, and opened her larboard guns as long as they +bore on the <i>Guerrier</i>; then, passing inside the <i>Goliath</i> +(<i>i.e.</i>, 'twixt that ship and the land), sank a frigate that +annoyed her, hauled round towards the French line, +and anchoring inside, between the fifth and sixth ships +from the <i>Guerrier</i>, took her station on the larboard side +of <i>Le Franklin</i> (Blanquet's 80-gun ship) and the +quarter of the <i>Le Peuple Souverain</i>, receiving and +returning the fire of both." +</p> + +<p> +The sun had now nearly sunk. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Audacious</i>, Captain Gould, pouring a heavy fire +into the <i>Guerrier</i> and <i>Conquérant</i>, fixed herself on the +larboard side of the latter, and when she struck passed +on to <i>Le Peuple Souverain</i>. The <i>Theseus</i> followed, +brought down the <i>Guerrier's</i> remaining masts, the main +and mizen, then anchored inside the <i>Spartiate</i>, the third +in the French line. +</p> + +<p> +So much for the inner or land side of the enemy's +fleet. What about the outer? +</p> + +<p> +"While," continues Southey, "these advanced ships +doubled the French line, the <i>Vanguard</i> was the first +that anchored on the outer side of the enemy within +half a pistol shot of the <i>Spartiate</i>. He veered half a +cable, and instantly opened a tremendous fire, under +cover of which the other four ships of his division, the +<i>Minotaur</i>, <i>Bellerophon</i>, <i>Defence</i>, and <i>Majestic</i>, sailed on +ahead of the admiral." +</p> + +<p> +Captain Louis, in the <i>Minotaur</i>, anchored next ahead, +and took off the fire of the <i>Aquilon</i>, the fourth in the +enemy's line. So terrible had the fire of this ship been +that fifty of the <i>Vanguard's</i> men were killed or +wounded in a few minutes. But bold Louis quickly +quieted her. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Bellerophon</i>, Captain Darby, passed ahead and +dropped her stern anchor on the starboard bow of the +<i>Orient</i>, seventh in the line. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Peyton, in the <i>Defence</i>, took his station +ahead of the <i>Minotaur</i>, and engaged the <i>Franklin</i>, the +sixth in the line; by which judicious arrangement the +British line remained unbroken. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Majestic</i>, Captain Westcott, got entangled in the +main rigging of one of the enemy's ships astern of the +<i>Orient</i>, and suffered dreadfully from that three-decker's +fire; but she swung clear, and closely engaging the +<i>Heureux</i>, the ninth ship on the starboard bow, received +also the fire of the <i>Tonnant</i>, which was the eighth in +the line. +</p> + +<p> +The other four ships of the squadron, having been +detached previous to the discovery of the French, were +at a considerable distance when the action began. +</p> + +<p> +Troubridge, in the <i>Culloden</i>, was nearest, however, +though some five miles away. He was very unfortunate, +and ran fast aground. The <i>Leander</i> and <i>Mutine</i> +came to his assistance, but were unable to get him off. +The <i>Alexander</i> and <i>Swiftsure</i>, however, kept off the +reef, entered the bay, and commenced the battle in a +most masterly and seaman-like fashion. +</p> + +<p> +Of all our ships perhaps the <i>Bellerophon</i> suffered the +worst. The <i>Swiftsure</i> met her staggering out of the +line, and at first took her for a strange sail, for she +carried not the four horizontal lights. In fact these +had been shot away, with all her masts and cables, +while nearly 200 of her brave crew were either killed +or wounded. +</p> + +<p> +The <i>Swiftsure</i> took her place against the <i>Orient</i>, +which had done the mischief. +</p> + +<p> +The last to come into action was the <i>Leander</i>, which +she did as soon as she found she could be of no service +to poor Troubridge. She took up a position boldly, so +that she could rake both the <i>Orient</i> and the <i>Franklin</i>. +</p> + +<p> +So speedy, determined, and terrible upon the whole +was the attack of the British upon the French line of +battle, and so completely were Nelson's instructions +carried out on both the inner and outside of the lint +that victory was a matter of certainty in a very short +time. +</p> + +<p> +In less than fifteen minutes the two ships first in the +French line were dismasted, and at half-past eight the +third, fourth, and fifth were taken. +</p> + +<p> +When we remember that in a very few minutes after +the <i>Vanguard</i>, Nelson's ship, took up her position every +man at the six guns in the fore part of the vessel was +either killed or wounded, and that these guns were +several times cleared we can easily believe that down +in the ghastly cockpit the surgeons were busy enough +at their terrible work. +</p> + +<p> +Do not forget, reader, that there was no chloroform +in those days, no way of producing insensibility or of +conquering pain, and the brave men who fell on deck +were dragged or carried below bleeding and sick, often +to endure such agonies of pain as only medical men +who have seen gunshot wounds can realise. +</p> + +<p> +At best the cockpit of an old-fashioned man-of-war +ship is but a stuffy place, and during a battle it would +be stifling as well as stuffy. As soon as the orders +were given to clear for action, or go to quarters, all was +bustle and stir with the surgeons as with others. They +had their attendants, and "the idlers"—so called—of +the ship were all requisitioned to assist them—spare +clerks, &c. +</p> + +<p> +Although the space between decks was so low that +an ordinary sized man had to stoop as he walked along, +to save his head from being knocked against the beams +or bolts, there was usually plenty of length and breadth +of beam also, in the cockpit or orlop deck. +</p> + +<p> +Lanterns too were hung here and there in abundance, +and there were carrying lanterns as well, sometimes even +naked lights. +</p> + +<p> +The operating table was placed pretty near to the +foot of the main hatch ladder well aft, and close to it +the tool table. On this last was laid out in order +every instrument that was likely to be of service, with +plenty of bandages, splints, lint, and tow, with +ointment for dressings, &c. On the deck near to this +table were placed buckets of water and bottles of +wine, brandy, or rum, so positioned that they would +neither be in the way nor liable to fall over with any +sudden motion of the ship. +</p> + +<p> +When all was ready the doctors had only to wait as +coolly as they could. The waiting for the first shot was +the worst of it. When the battle was once begun it +was not long before the shuffling of feet overhead, and +the unsteady steps of bearers at the top of the stairs +told of a coming case. As often as not blood came +pattering down first, but blood is nothing to a surgeon +in working dress. So the wound, ghastly though it +might be, was soon seen to, and temporarily dressed, +and the moaning patient laid down near the bulkheads. +Then cases begin to come down thick and fast. +Smoke too, and the suffocating after-damp of the battle +fill the cockpit, the lanterns burn dimly, the heat is +overpowering almost. The doctors are busy enough +now. They throw off their garments, they roll up +their sleeves, their hands and arms are encarnadined, +their faces and hair bespattered with blood, but quietly +and firmly they work, and all as gently as may be. +Many a soothing word of kindness helps to rally a +fainting heart, and they give hope even in cases they +know are dangerous. +</p> + +<p> +But, oh, the heat and the smoke and the stifling +odour! The decks all around are slippery with blood, +which the sprinkled sawdust is not sufficient to absorb. +There are moans and cries and pitying appeals for +help and water—water—water—coming from every +direction. The very water itself is oftentimes red +with blood. +</p> + +<p> +Fainting patients need wine, or even brandy; and +but for that wine and brandy very often the surgeons +themselves would faint with very fatigue and want +of air. +</p> + +<p> +A surgeon's operating tent in the rear of a field +of battle may be a sad and fearful sight; but in +horrors it could not be compared to the cockpit of +an old seventy-four while a fight like that of the +Nile was raging overhead. +</p> + +<p> +It was into the midst of just such a scene as I +have but too feebly depicted that Nelson, wounded +and bleeding, was carried during the night of this +glorious but fearful battle. +</p> + +<p> +The loss of blood has a paralysing effect upon the +nerves and spirits of a wounded man. It is doubly +so if he can feel the blood all about him—feel soaked +in it, swamped in it, without being able to see. +</p> + +<p> +That was Nelson's plight. The piece of shot had +struck him on the forehead, and the flap of skin and +flesh hung over his one remaining eye, entirely +blinding him. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson believed himself dying. +</p> + +<p> +But not even the darkness of what seemed approaching +death could daunt the heart of the hero. +</p> + +<p> +The chief surgeon would have left his other patients +unattended for a time to see to Nelson's wound, but +he would not hear of it for a moment. +</p> + +<p> +"No," he cried, "I will take my turn with my +brave fellows." +</p> + +<p> +And at last that turn came; and even the wounded +and the dying raised a cheer when they heard the +wound, despite the amount of blood lost, was only +superficial. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0306"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VI. +<br><br> +THE BURNING OF THE "ORIENT"—A HEART OF OAK. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "All is wail<br> + As they strike the shattered sail,<br> + Or in conflagration pale<br> + Light the gloom."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +From seven till eight o'clock the scene of +conflict must have been appalling in the +extreme. No wonder that Arabs gathered +on the beach, and stood in groups looking +on, awestruck and silent. What sounds +those spectators must have heard—the +continued thunder of the great guns, the roar and rattle +of langridge and grape, the crashing of broken timbers, +the shouting of orders, and often the shrieks of the +wounded rising high above the din of battle! And what +sights must have been presented to their view—the +quick, angry flash of cannon, lighting up the darkness +of the night; lighting up the bleak, bristling sides of +the huge ships; luridly lighting up the clouds of white +smoke that at times quite hid the upper decks; and +lighting up the sea with a crimson glare, so that even +floating spars were visible; aye, and drowning men, +with all the debris of great ships in action. +</p> + +<p> +To an onlooker upon the beach all would appear +fearful confusion and chaos. It would indeed seem +almost impossible that anyone should come unscathed +from such an awful scene of battle. +</p> + +<p> +Yet every Heart of Oak in those British ships knew +his duty, and was bravely doing it, and continued to +do it, unless shot down. +</p> + +<p> +And no one acted more bravely or coolly that night +than young Lord Raventree of the <i>Zealous</i>. Men and +officers too fell bleeding at his side. That such sights +affected him there cannot be a doubt, but they failed +to daunt his extraordinary courage. He was here, +there, and everywhere in his battery, issuing his orders +as unfalteringly as if the battle were a mere parade, +his very presence seeming to give additional courage +to the half-naked and smoke-begrimed men who so +bravely obeyed his orders. +</p> + +<p> +But more than once during the battle Raventree +found time to think for a moment of his friend Tom +Bure. Little did he know—he was too busy to know +anything save what was going on around him—that +poor Tom's ship had gone on shore, and that he and +all on board could be but spectators in the battle that +was raging so near them. +</p> + +<p> +Incidents of this memorable fight, and individual +instances of courage, could be related by the score, +but space forbids. +</p> + +<p> +Just a word about Nelson, however. His restless +spirit could ill brook being below. Superficial though +his wound was, important arteries were cut through, +and unless he could be induced to lie down and keep +still, there was great danger. Even before the +surgeon's verdict was given he sent for Mr. Capel, +his first lieutenant, and ordered him off in the +jollyboat to fetch Captain Louis, of the <i>Minotaur</i>, that he +might thank him for his gallant and meritorious service. +At this time Nelson believed himself to be dying. +"It is the hundredth and twenty-fourth time," he said, +"that I have been engaged, but I believe it is now +nearly over with me." +</p> + +<p> +The meeting with Louis was of a most affecting +character, the brave captain of the <i>Minotaur</i> hanging +over his blind and bleeding friend in grief that +precluded any attempt at words. "Farewell, dear Louis," +said Nelson, "I shall never, should I live, forget the +obligation I am under to you for your brave and +generous conduct, and now, whatever may become of +me, my mind is at peace." +</p> + +<p> +Everything points to the conclusion that the great +hero's mind at this time must have been a perfect +whirl of emotions. It is said that even after his +wound had been dressed, and he had sent for his +chaplain and his secretary, the one to attend to his +orders, the other to administer some spiritual comfort, +he desired to be led on deck once more, that he +might behold that awful conflagration—the burning +of the <i>Orient</i>. +</p> + +<p> +This ship was in the midst of the fight till her +destruction, and bravely indeed had she been handled. +It is said that a little before nine o'clock the men of +the <i>Swiftsure</i> detected "signs of fire in her mizenchains, +and pointed their guns towards the spot with +terrible effect; and the flames glided swiftly along the +deck and ran up the masts, and wreathed the yards +and flickered upon the shrouds, throwing an awful glare +on the dense clouds of battle, and distinctly defining, +as in the pageantry of a festal illumination, the spars +and rigging of the contending warships." +</p> + +<p> +Says Clark Russell, in the poetic imaginings of +which he is a past-master: "Fore and aft the flames +were waving in forks and living sheets, and leaping +on high as though from the heart of some mighty +volcano. She had ceased to fire, her sprit-sail yard +and bowsprit were crowded with men, who continued +to crawl out, blackening those spars like flies, as the +raging fire grew. By the wild mast-high flames the +whole scene of battle was as visible as by the light +of the noontide sun. The colours of the flags of the +ships could be easily distinguished. Every rope, every +spar, the forms of the half-naked crews, +smoke-blackened and in active motion, the land beyond, +with all details of the island-fortress and of the +distant, rearmost ships, were startlingly visible by the +glow of the burning ship, the brilliancy of which was +that of the conflagration of a city. +</p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-320"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-320.jpg" alt=""The blowing up of the <i>Orient</i> at the battle of the Nile.""> +<br> +"The blowing up of the <i>Orient</i> at the battle of the Nile." +</p> + +<p> +"Shortly after ten the great ship blew up. The +explosion was like that of an earthquake. The +concussion swept through every seam, joint, and timber +of the nearest ships with the sensation as though the +solid fabrics were crumbling into staves under the +feet of the seamen. The sight was blackened as if by +a lightning stroke, and the instant the prodigious +glare of the explosion had passed, the darkness of the +night seemed to roll down in folds of ink upon the +vision of the seamen." +</p> + +<p> +Says another eloquent writer, and what writer is +not eloquent on such a subject as this?—"The whole +sky was blotched with the corpses of men, like the +stones of a crater cast upward, and the sheet of fire +behind them showed their arms, their bodies, and +streaming hair. Then, with a hiss like electric hail, +from a mile's height all came down again, corpses +first and timber next, and then the great spars that +had streaked the sky like rockets." +</p> + +<p> +The dread silence that followed lasted for nearly +a quarter of an hour. Meanwhile boats from various +ships were generously lowered to pick up the survivors, +and thus nearly eighty were saved. +</p> + +<p> +But where was Admiral Brueys? Poor, brave +fellow, he had been dead before the fire broke out. +Twice had he been wounded; but he stuck to his +place, till a shot almost cut him in two. +</p> + +<p> +When they would have carried him below, "No," +he cried; "let me die on my quarter-deck, as becomes +the admiral of a French fleet." +</p> + +<p> +Among those who perished was Commodore +Casabianca and his faithful little son, a lad of barely +eleven years of age, who died, if not on the quarterdeck, +at least by his father's side, who it is said by +some authorities was wounded and below at the time +of the explosion. +</p> + +<p> +That rough iconoclast, the dissecting critic, +endeavours to dispel all romance from the beautiful +story, immortalised by Mrs. Heman's verses. +</p> + +<p> +I prefer to believe with the poetess, rather than +to sneer with the saucy critic. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="poem"> + "CASABIANCA.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "The boy stood on the burning deck,<br> + Whence all but him had fled;<br> + The flames that lit the battle's wreck<br> + Shone round him o'er the dead.<br> + Yet beautiful and bright he stood,<br> + As born to rule the storm;<br> + A creature of heroic blood,<br> + A proud though childlike form.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "The flames rolled on—he would not go<br> + Without his father's word;<br> + That father faint on deck below,<br> + His voice no longer heard.<br> + He called aloud, 'Say, father, say,<br> + If yet my task is done!'<br> + He knew not that the chieftain lay<br> + Unconscious of his son.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "'Speak, father,' once again he cried,<br> + 'If I may yet be gone';<br> + But now the booming shots replied,<br> + And fast the flames rolled on.<br> + Upon his brow he felt their breath,<br> + And on his waving hair,<br> + And looked from that lone post of death<br> + In still but brave despair;<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "And shouted but once more aloud,<br> + 'My father, must I stay?'<br> + While o'er him fast, through sail and shroud,<br> + The wreathing fires made way.<br> + They wrapt the ship in splendour wild,<br> + They caught the flag on high,<br> + They streamed above the gallant child<br> + Like meteors in the sky.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Then came a burst of thunder-sound.<br> + The boy—oh, where was he?<br> + Ask of the winds, that far around<br> + With fragments strewed the sea,<br> + With mast and helm and pennon fair<br> + That well had borne their part;<br> + But the noblest thing that perished there<br> + Was that young and faithful heart."<br> +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * * +</p> + +<p> +The firing was re-commenced, it is said, by the +French ship <i>Franklin</i>; and the battle raged until about +five o'clock in the morning, with brief spells of +intermission, as when the men of the <i>Alexander</i>, by leave +of their captain, threw themselves down beside +their guns and slept for twenty minutes. The +<i>Alexander</i> was at that time lying close to a French +eighty-four that she had been engaging in deadly +conflict. The men of the latter were also exhausted, +and sunk to sleep; so that side by side, it may be +said, rested French and British. +</p> + +<p> +When dawn of day began to glimmer faintly in the +east there were but two ships of the French line +that had their colours flying—the <i>Guillaume Tell</i> and +<i>Généreux</i>. They were the two rear ships, and had +not been engaged. They soon cut their cables, +however, and stood out to sea. With them went two +frigates. +</p> + +<p> +Raventree was the first to report their intentions +to the captain of the <i>Zealous</i>, and he at once hoisted +sail, and stood after them in pursuit. But there +being no other of our ships in a condition for fast +sailing, the signal was hoisted for his recall. +</p> + +<p> +Thus ended the great battle of the Nile, "the +most complete and glorious in the annals of naval +warfare." +</p> + +<p> +Our loss was indeed heavy, amounting, in killed +and wounded, to 895. +</p> + +<p> +Of the French 3,105, including the wounded, were +sent on shore by cartel (an agreement with an enemy +having reference to exchange of prisoners), and 5,225 +perished. +</p> + +<p> +As Nelson himself said, "Victory is not a name +strong enough for such a scene, it is a conquest." +</p> + +<p> +The only British captain who fell was gallant +Westcott. He was indeed +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +A HEART OF OAK. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +Westcott was born among the green lanes of +romantic Devon, and in very humble life too. His +father was a baker, and not burdened with too much of +this world's wealth, and his son assisted him in his +business while still a little lad. He used to be sent +frequently on messages to a mill in the neighbourhood. +The miller, as millers often are, was a good-natured +jovial fellow, but one day when young Ben went to +execute some commission for his father he found not +only the miller, but the miller's-man, pulling very long +faces indeed. +</p> + +<p> +"We can't send the flour to-day," the boy was told. +"Perhaps not to-morrow either. We've had a rope +broken, and the working of the mill is quite thrown +out of gear." +</p> + +<p> +"But why not splice it?" said young Westcott. +</p> + +<p> +The miller laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Who's to do a job like that?" he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, I will," was the boy's bold reply. +</p> + +<p> +The miller caught him by the shoulder, and pointed +upwards to where the broken ends of the rope were +dangling. +</p> + +<p> +"You'd have to be hoisted up there, my boy," he +said, "among the pulleys and wheels and things, and +ten to one you'd come down by the run, and break +your neck." +</p> + +<p> +"I can splice that rope," said Ben determinedly, "if +you'll let me try." +</p> + +<p> +"Let the lad try," pleaded the miller's man, and the +master then consented. +</p> + +<p> +The boy, with deft fingers and the aid of a marlin-spike, +worked away for an hour or two, and lo! the +rope was as good as ever. +</p> + +<p> +"And a jolly sight better," said the merry miller. +</p> + +<p> +"I tell you what it is, Ben," he added, "a lad like +you is too good for the shore. You're a sailor born, +and ought to be fighting the French." +</p> + +<p> +"I'd fight them fast enough," said the boy, "but I +don't see a chance." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll get you a chance, lad," said the miller. +</p> + +<p> +And he soon did. +</p> + +<p> +Westcott entered his Majesty's service afloat as a +humble cabin boy. But so clever did he soon prove +himself to be, and so unflagging in his zeal and +attachment to duty, that he soon found himself a +midshipman. For, mind you, boys, in those dashing days of +war, talent was never allowed to wear itself away +before the mast, if it could be found of service on the +quarterdeck. +</p> + +<p> +Young Westcott's advancement went on with rapid +strides after this, and at the battle of the Nile he +commanded the <i>Majestic</i>, and fell fighting like a true +hero. His ship alone had 50 killed and 143 wounded. +</p> + +<p> +This baker boy with heart of oak has a monument +erected to him, at the public expense, in St. Paul's, +which any other boy of the present day who desires to +emulate his deeds may see if he has a mind. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Thanksgiving to Almighty God, who had so blessed +his Majesty's arms, was returned by the whole fleet at +the same time. And solemn and impressive such a +service must have been on decks still slippery with the +blood of the fallen, and sad evidence of the battle on +every hand. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +I have always considered that trophy of the great +battle which was afterwards presented to Nelson as a +very ghastly one. The <i>Swiftsure</i> had picked up a +portion of the <i>Orient's</i> main-mast, and from it Captain +Hallowell ordered his carpenter to fashion a beautiful +coffin, and this was sent to Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +"Sir," ran the letter that accompanied the <i>memento +mori</i>, "I have taken the liberty of presenting you with +a coffin, made from the main-mast of <i>L'Orient</i>, that, +when you have finished your military career in this +world, you may be buried in one of your trophies, but +that that period may be far distant is the earnest wish +of your sincere friend, BENJ. HALLOWELL." +</p> + +<p> +It shows how little fear of death Nelson had, and +how far from being superstitious he was, that he +ordered the coffin to be placed behind his chair upright +in his cabin. +</p> + +<p> +He was afterwards buried in it. +</p> + +<p> +There are a few words in the above letter of Captain +Hallowell's that strike one as strange, if not indeed +amusing; viz., these, "When you have finished your +military career <i>in this world</i>." Did honest, bluff +Ben. Hallowell think that—with all reverence be it +said—Nelson would recommence to fight the French in the +next? +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Immediately after the battle or conquest Nelson had +once again to lament the loss of his frigates. Had he +been possessed of these I doubt not he would have +entered the port, and burned all the French stores and +storeships. +</p> + +<p> +"Were I to die at this moment," he is reported to +have said, "the loss of frigates would be found engraven +on my heart." +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0307"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VII. +<br><br> +FACE TO FACE WITH THE DANISH SHIPS. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Your glorious standard launch again<br> + To match another foe,<br> + And sweep through the deep,<br> + While the stormy winds do blow,<br> + While the battle rages loud and long,<br> + And the stormy winds do blow."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The British nation that possibly—very +probably indeed—would have shot our +hero, Nelson, had he lost the Battle of +the Nile, now presented him with the +title of Baron. +</p> + +<p> +He was once more the people's darling. +</p> + +<p> +Could the British nation have done less? +</p> + +<p> +"It was this battle," says Graviére, "which for two +years delivered up the Mediterranean to the power of +Britain; summoned thither the Russian squadrons, +left the French army isolated amidst a hostile +population; decided Turkey in declaring against it; saved +India from French enterprise; and brought France +within a hair's-breadth of her ruin, by reviving the +smouldering flames of war with Austria, and bringing +Suwarrow and the Austro-Russians to the French +frontiers. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Honours from all directions fell thick and fast +upon our naval hero; yet amid all this glory, what +Nelson longed for more than anything else perhaps +was rest. +</p> + +<p> +He was now on his way back to Naples, but his +long exertions began to tell upon his never very +strong system. He was, while yet at sea, seized with +a fever, and for eighteen hours his noble life was +despaired of. Even after he got over the crisis, he +writes thus despondingly to St. Vincent: +</p> + +<p> +"I never expect, my dear lord, to see your face +again. It may please God that this will be the +finish to that fever of anxiety which I have endured +from the middle of June. But be that as it pleases +His goodness." +</p> + +<p> +However, Nelson was destined to live to accomplish +still further triumphs, as we soon shall see. +</p> + +<p> +As to his doings in the Mediterranean after the +Battle of the Nile; of his return to Naples; of the +rejoicing, pomp, and panoply with which he was +received there; of his private opinion of this corruptest +of Courts; of all his sieges and all his successes until +his return to England, history must inform you, +reader; but the whole story reads like one long +delightful romance, all the more delightful of course in +that it is true. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +The curtain falls for a time on this life-drama, and +our heroes leave the stage for refreshment. As far +as fêtes and feasts were concerned, Nelson was very +much refreshed indeed; and so in those times was +every officer, ay, and every tar, who had been at the +Battle of the Nile. +</p> + +<p> +But soon the curtain rises again, and we behold a +great fleet departing from Yarmouth Roads, under the +command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker in the <i>London</i>, +98 guns, with Nelson as his second in command in +the <i>St. George</i>, also of 98 guns. +</p> + +<p> +They are bound for the North this time, our gallant +ships; but whither and why? A question that a +sentence can answer. In fact, it can be answered in +the refrain of the good old song: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +"Britons never shall be slaves." +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +Three Northern nations had formed a league to make +us slaves, at least to wrench from the grasp of +Britannia the sceptre of her rule over the waves. +</p> + +<p> +Just think for a moment, reader, of the terrible +combination that was now formed against us. Russia, +with 82 ships of the line and 40 frigates; Denmark, +French at heart, with 23 ships and 31 frigates; and +Sweden, with 18 ships and 14 frigates. +</p> + +<p> +Our Government had boldly determined to resist +this combination, and crush it. A braver man than +Hyde Parker they could not have had, but Nelson +ought to have been chief, for he was a born +commander. +</p> + +<p> +And so on the 12th of March, 1801, the fleet sailed +away. +</p> + +<p> +Their country had forgotten neither Tom Bure nor +Raventree. They were both now commanders, although +Tom was only in his twenty-first year. +</p> + +<p> +They had spent some time at home, however, and a +right happy time it had been. +</p> + +<p> +There was no change in Dan, but poor old Meg, +the faithful collie, would never meet Tom again. She +was buried with all honours in a grave dug for her +on the green grassy lawn where she used to lie in +the summer days near her dear old master, Uncle +Bob. +</p> + +<p> +All was the same at the Hall, as well as at the +cottage, except that Bertha seemed to have grown +quite up, and was a child no more. +</p> + +<p> +Not only she, but her mother and Dan drove to +Yarmouth to see the great fleet sail away towards the +cold, inhospitable North, and there were tears in +Bertha's beautiful eyes as she bade her old friend Tom +farewell. Merryweather—the same old Merryweather—was +there also, and no less a personage than Captain +Hughes, of the <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>, who made the departure +of our hero Tom a "most auspicious occasion" for +splicing the main-brace, not once, but three separate +times. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Hyde Parker was just a little nervous at starting; +he was candid enough to tell Nelson so. Only he +added: "It is no time for nervous systems, and +icebergs or no icebergs, we shall, I trust, give our +Northern enemies that hailstorm of bullets which +gives our dear country the dominion of the sea. +We have it, and all the devils in the North cannot +take it from us if our ships have but fair play." +</p> + +<p> +You have heard, reader, of the "gallant good Riou." He +was captain of the <i>Amazon</i>, and when some Danes +who were aboard went to him, saying that they had +no desire to quit the British service, but were unwilling +to fight against their country, Riou, instead of snubbing +them as some captains would have done, acceded to +their request, and transferred them. Indeed, so affected +was he by their speech that the tears stood in his eyes. +For the brave are ever generous and kind. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +It seemed indeed as if Heaven fought on our side in +this great expedition, for the weather was milder than +had been remembered for many a year, so that fields +of ice and bergs floated only in the dreams of Sir Hyde +Parker. +</p> + +<p> +The reader, however, must not jump to the conclusion +that it was all plain sailing with Sir Hyde and Nelson. +Very far from it indeed. Nor was it wind and +weather only, but the dangers of straits, and banks, +and shoals that they had to contend against. Yet +Nelson would have made light of all these, and of the +enemy's ships as well, had it not been for the attempts +at negotiation that had to go on with the Danes the +while precious time was being lost, and the armaments +of the foe were getting stronger and stronger every day. +</p> + +<p> +The first thing to annoy and fret poor brave Nelson +was the circumstance that the fleet was to anchor +out of sight of the Danes, till the negotiations were +at an end. Red tape again! +</p> + +<p> +"I hate your pen-and-ink men," he cried impatiently. +"A fleet of British ships makes the best negotiators +in the world. They always speak to be understood, +and their arguments carry conviction to the very +hearts of our foes." +</p> + +<p> +When our fleet was off Elsinore—Nelson had by +this time changed his flag to a handier and better +ship, the <i>Elephant</i>—the admiral forced the passage of +the Sound. The forts fired on them, it is true, but +it is said that never a shot touched a ship. +</p> + +<p> +The fleet then anchored near Huën, an island about +fifteen miles from Copenhagen; and Nelson, with +Colonel Stewart, Admiral Graves, and others, went in +a lugger called the <i>Lark</i> to reconnoitre. +</p> + +<p> +They found that the defences were of all sorts, and +fearful to behold. To begin with, there was the +exceeding difficulty of approach, for the buoys on all +the shoals had been taken up or shifted by the +Danes. Then there was the great Danish fleet to +encounter, drawn up in a line that extended for a +mile and a half in front of the entrance to the harbour. +The ships were flanked by strong batteries, while +batteries bristled all along the shore. +</p> + +<p> +The Danish forces then consisted of the fleet, which +was moored close to the city, six line-of-battle ships, +eleven strong floating batteries, gun brigs, a bomb +vessel, supported by batteries on the Crown Islands, +and four sail of the line drawn up across the harbour +mouth, which was also protected by a great chain. +The whole of the Danish protective armament, including +hulks, batteries, and ships, from end to end, was +about four miles in length. +</p> + +<p> +But in order to get near this terrible array of defences, +the attacking force would have to be navigated through +a most intricate passage among the shoals. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson's greatest trouble was to get safely through +this natural deep-water canal. +</p> + +<p> +On the 31st a great council of war was held, to take +into consideration the best mode of attacking the place, +as the negotiations had fallen through. +</p> + +<p> +Nervous active men, in contradistinction to the +slower and plethoric class, have been termed the "salt +of the earth." Nelson then might well have been +called the "salt of the sea." At this council, which +was not "fast" enough for him by a deal, he kept +pacing up and down the cabin deck, shaking his +"flipper," as the sailors called it, meaning the stump +of his arm. It must have been a grand sight to +behold, and to note his glances of withering scorn at +anyone who for a moment doubted the success of his +plans. +</p> + +<p> +And the refrain of Nelson's song at this council was, +"Let me have but ten line of battle ships, and the +smaller craft, and the battle is ours." +</p> + +<p> +Sir Hyde Parker took him at his word. +</p> + +<p> +Twelve ships he gave him, instead of ten, and also +gave him <i>carte blanche</i> to carry out this detached +service as he thought best. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson was as happy now as a nervous man can +ever be. +</p> + +<p> +Denmark's fleet he looked upon as already in his +power. The Russians and Swedes would be smashed +next. He hadn't forgotten them. +</p> + +<p> +But there was much to be done before this battle +even began. Misplaced buoys must be re-adjusted +along the channel, and during all that night of the +31st—and a bitterly cold one it was—he rowed about +with Captain Brisbane, of the <i>Cruiser</i>, in his open boat +surveying the channel. +</p> + +<p> +Personal experience of this work in sunny seas has +proved to me how tedious and wearisome it is; but how +much more so must it have been to our hero by night, +in that almost Arctic climate. +</p> + +<p> +Despite this, however, the work was satisfactorily +accomplished. +</p> + +<p> +Next day the whole fleet moved close up to the great +shoal, with its middle channel, to which the Danes +trusted as really their first line of defence. +</p> + +<p> +Narrow though the channel was, and light though +the breeze, the division under Nelson, headed by brave +Riou, in the <i>Amazon</i>, went safely in, and at dusk +anchored near Point Draco. +</p> + +<p> +"Here," says Clark Russell, "the narrowness of the +waters as an anchoring ground brought the ships into +a huddle, and infinite mischief might have been done +to the British had the Danes taken advantage of the +crowded state of the fleet, by sending shells amongst +the ships, from mortar boats and the batteries of Amak +Island." +</p> + +<p> +Captain Hardy, we are told, who was amongst those +who up to a late hour that night were taking +soundings, rowed under the very shadow of the Danes' +leading ship, and felt the bottom of the water with a +pole. +</p> + +<p> +To Nelson's great joy, Hardy and the rest returned +with the tidings that there was depth enough of water +for our ships to range themselves in battle array, +between the great shoal they had passed through and +the defences of the enemy. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +As usual, Nelson's chief officers, including Hardy, +Foley, Graves, Fremantle, Riou, &c., dined with him +on the eve of the battle, and the hero was in the +highest of spirits. +</p> + +<p> +Riou and Foley remained with Nelson to plan details +after the others had gone, and the great fight was +commenced next morning, the ships filing into line, and +taking up their positions with steadiness and precision, +despite the extreme difficulty of navigating great +vessels in a place like this. +</p> + +<p> +Both the <i>Bellona</i> and the <i>Russell</i> went aground. +</p> + +<p> +"Yet never," says Clark Russell, "had British +seamanship found finer illustrations of its capacity of +daring and skill than in the manner in which the +vessels of the division calculated their stations, in a +channel bewildering with its complicated and perilous +navigation." +</p> + +<p> +Face to face with the foe at last. +</p> + +<p> +Beam to beam with the Danish ships, and the battle +at once began. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0308"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII. +<br><br> +A "GLORIOUS DAY'S RENOWN." +</h3> + +<p> +The fight began about ten o'clock, the +thunder of war increasing till twelve, at +which time it probably roared its loudest. +By one o'clock four of the Danish +vessels—block ships they were—had been +silenced. And now occurred one of those +little inter-acts which serve so well to show our +national hero in his true colours. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Hyde Parker, the reader will remember, was +outside the great sand bank, through which Nelson's +division was so successfully steered, so at this distance +no very clear notion of the battle that was raging +could be obtained; but noticing that four of the +enemy's vessels had ceased firing, probably he imagined +that the battle was won, and that further havoc was +unnecessary. At all events he hoisted the signal to +cease firing. A man with one eye can see as much as +a man with two if he is looking. On this occasion +Nelson did not see that signal—when his head was +turned the other way. This is strange, but true! +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure, who, though commander, was acting as +lieutenant, was standing near to Nelson, and called his +attention to Sir Hyde Parker's signal. +</p> + +<p> +"It is the signal to leave off action, my lord," said +Tom. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson walked up and down his quarterdeck jerking +his "flipper," which showed he was terribly angry +and excited. And that was the reason why he verbally +consigned the good Sir Hyde's signal to a warmer place +than the hottest part of this great battle. +</p> + +<p> +"Besides, Foley," he added, turning to his captain, +"I have only one eye, so have a right to be blind +sometimes." +</p> + +<p> +Then he put his telescope to his eye, and turned it +towards Parker's ship. +</p> + +<p> +"Never a signal do I see," he said. +</p> + +<p> +Foley laughed, for the glass was at the admiral's blind +eye. +</p> + +<p> +"Hang such signals," Nelson cried. "Make mine +for closer action, and nail the colours to the mast." +</p> + +<p> +Fainter and fainter rolled the thunder of the Danes, +till, just before two o'clock, it had ceased all along their +line of battle. +</p> + +<p> +The Danes, however, had fought most bravely, even +those prames on which the flag had been struck had +kept on firing till the last, being constantly reinforced +by fresh batches of men from the shore. +</p> + +<p> +From his previous great exertions, want of sleep and +rest, Nelson was irritable, and this irregular action on +the part of the Danes angered him beyond measure. +He sat down therefore, with, however, no appearance of +hurry, and wrote that famous letter of his to the Crown +Prince of Denmark. It is worth repeating even in a +story, and ran thus: +</p> + +<p> +"Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson has been commanded to +spare Denmark when she no longer resists. The line +of defence which covers her shores has struck to the +British flag; but if the firing is continued on the part +of Denmark he must set on fire all the prizes he has +taken, without having the power of saving the brave +men who have so nobly defended them." +</p> + +<p> +A wafer was suggested to seal this letter withal, but +Nelson must have wax. Want of formality might +have suggested impatience or nervousness to the Crown +Prince. +</p> + +<p> +The half-hour that intervened ere an answer came +was probably felt to be one of the longest ever Nelson +experienced. For his ships, albeit victorious, were in a +terrible plight, and it would take all the seamanship +that even British sailors could boast of to get them +out. +</p> + +<p> +The answer came at last, however, and was all that +could be desired. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson went on shore next day, and was hailed with +cheers by the multitude who came to receive him by +the waterside. The prisoners and wounded were sent +on shore, and the prizes nearly all burned. No less +than thirteen of the Danes' vessels altogether were +destroyed—our losses, though severe, amounting to no +less than 300 killed, and 850 wounded. But the +Danes had at the lowest estimate over 1,700 killed, and +nearly 4,000 taken prisoners. +</p> + +<p> +Tom Campbell, our Scottish poet, author of so many +well-known spirited lays, such as "Ye Mariners of +England," gives us the following poem on this great +naval action: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + BATTLE OF THE BALTIC.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + I.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Of Nelson and the North,<br> + Sing the glorious day's renown,<br> + When to battle fierce went forth<br> + All the might of Denmark's Crown,<br> + And her arms along the deep proudly shone;<br> + By each gun a lighted brand,<br> + In a bold, determined hand,<br> + And the Prince of all the land<br> + Led them on.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + II.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Like leviathans afloat<br> + Lay their bulwarks on the brine,<br> + While the sign of battle flew<br> + On the lofty British line.<br> + It was ten of April morn, by the chime;<br> + As they drifted on their path,<br> + There was silence deep as death,<br> + And the boldest held his breath<br> + For a time.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + III.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "But the might of England flushed<br> + To anticipate the scene;<br> + And her van the fleeter rushed<br> + O'er the deadly space between.<br> + 'Hearts of oak!' our captain cried; when each gun<br> + From its adamantine lips<br> + Spread a death-shade round the ships,<br> + Like the hurricane eclipse<br> + Of the sun.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + IV.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Again! Again! Again!<br> + And the havoc did not slack,<br> + Till a feeble cheer the Dane<br> + To our cheering sent us back.<br> + Their shots along the deep slowly boom,<br> + Then ceased, and all is wail<br> + As they strike the shattered sail,<br> + Or in conflagration pale<br> + Light the gloom.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + V.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Out spoke the Victor then<br> + As he hailed them o'er the wave,<br> + 'Ye are brothers, ye are men,<br> + And we conquer but to save:<br> + So peace instead of death let us bring.<br> + But yield, proud foe, thy fleet,<br> + With the crews at England's feet,<br> + And make submission meet<br> + To our King.'<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + VI.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Then Denmark blessed our Chief<br> + That he gave her wounds repose,<br> + And the sounds of joy and grief<br> + From her people wildly rose<br> + As death withdrew his shadow from the day.<br> + While the sun looked smiling bright<br> + O'er a wide and woful sight,<br> + Where the fires of funeral light<br> + Died away.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + VII.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Now joy Old England raise!<br> + For the tidings of thy might,<br> + By the festal cities' blaze,<br> + While the wine-cup shines in light.<br> + And yet amidst that joy and uproar,<br> + Let us think of them that sleep,<br> + Full many a fathom deep.<br> + By thy wild and stormy steep<br> + Elsinore!<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + VIII.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Brave hearts! to Britain's pride<br> + Once so faithful and so true,<br> + On the deck of fame that died,<br> + With the gallant good Riou.<br> + Soft sigh the winds of Heaven o'er their grave,<br> + While the billow mournful rolls,<br> + And the mermaid's song condoles,<br> + Singing glory to the souls<br> + Of the brave!"<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The death of the "gallant good Riou," whom Britain +so deeply mourned, was both affecting and romantic. +He was captain of the <i>Amazon</i>, and with the rest of +the frigates, that were doing but little apparent good, +hauled off or retreated from the actual ground of +battle on seeing Sir Hyde Parker's "silly signal." These +frigates, however, were being terribly mauled, +yet Riou thought only of the disgrace, as he termed it, +of having to retire. +</p> + +<p> +"What will Nelson think of us?" he said again and +again. +</p> + +<p> +The fire under which the <i>Amazon</i> then lay was very +heavy. The captain himself was wounded in the head, +and leant bleeding against a gun. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after a shot killed his clerk, who stood near; +and another smashed a batch of marines, who were +hauling in the main-brace. +</p> + +<p> +"Boys!" cried Riou, "we can now but die together." +</p> + +<p> +These were the last words e'er he spoke. He fell +dead next moment. "That shot," says Colonel Stewart, +"lost to Britain one of its greatest honours, and to +society a character of singular worth, resembling in no +small measure the heroes of old romance." +</p> + +<p> +Poor Riou! +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +That was a wonderful voyage made by our fleet +through the intricate passage between the islands of +Amoy and Saltholm, and full of danger. It astonished +the Northern Powers, who no longer felt themselves +safe from Nelson anywhere. +</p> + +<p> +A mere show of force sufficed to bring the King of +Sweden to his knees. Before, however, this show was +made before Carlscrona, Nelson had an adventure which +is well worthy of being related here, bringing out, as it +does, the hero's character for pluck and derring-do in +the most vivid of colouring. +</p> + +<p> +The ship in which he made the difficult passage +between the two islands just named was the <i>St. George</i>. +For her greater lightness and safety her guns had been +removed into an American vessel, requisitioned or +chartered unceremoniously for the purpose. She got +safely through, but was detained by contrary winds +from joining the rest of the fleet, now far ahead. +When, therefore, intelligence was received that Sir +Hyde Parker had sighted the Swedish fleet, Nelson's +anxiety knew neither bounds nor limits. +</p> + +<p> +Says Mr. Brierly, "The moment he received the +account he ordered a boat to be manned, and without +even waiting for a boat cloak, cold though it was, +jumped into her and ordered me to go with him..... +All I had ever seen or heard of him could not half so +clearly prove to me the singular and unbounded zeal of +this truly great man. His anxiety in the boat for +nearly six hours, lest the fleet should have sailed +before he got on board one of them, and lest we +should not catch the Swedish squadron, is beyond all +conception. +</p> + +<p> +"It was extremely cold, and I wished him to put on +a great coat of mine that was in the boat. +</p> + +<p> +"'No,' he cried, 'I am not cold; my anxiety for my +country will keep me warm. Do you think the fleet +has sailed?' +</p> + +<p> +"'I should suppose not, my lord.' +</p> + +<p> +"'If they have, we shall follow them on to Carlscrona +in the boat.' +</p> + +<p> +"At midnight Nelson, much to his relief, reached his +flagship, the <i>Elephant</i>, and his sailors were overjoyed +to see him; for Nelson was worth a fleet in himself." +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +The Swedes made peace therefore. +</p> + +<p> +The Russians did not see their way to fight. +</p> + +<p> +And so the great Northern Confederacy was smashed +up, and never formed again, and our brave tars could +still sing +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves,<br> + Britons never, never, NEVER shall be slaves."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The fleet, having now boldly accomplished its mission, +and proved the truth of Nelson's words, that "guns +are the best negotiators, and always speak to the point," +&c., returned once more to England. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0309"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER IX. +<br><br> +NELSON'S LAST DAYS AND HOURS. +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "I saw before thy hearse pass on<br> + The comrades of thy peril and renown.<br> + The frequent tear upon their dauntless breasts<br> + Fell.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem2"> + "I beheld the pomp thick gathered round<br> + Through armed ranks—a nation gazing on.<br> + Bright glowed the sun, and not a cloud distained<br> + Heaven's arch of gold; but all was gloom beneath.<br> +</p> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Awe and mute anguish fell<br> + On all. Yet high the public bosom throbbed<br> + With triumph."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +There is one individual who, although +mention has been made of him, has never +yet appeared on the stage of our story, +namely, Max Colmore, the son of Lady +Colmore, and therefore Bertha's brother. +Tom Bure had seen him only once or +twice. The first time was when Tom—a very little boy +then—was one day floating on the broad in his boat. +Max, who was far older than he, had come to the bank +with his gun on his shoulder, and ordered Tom to haul +off on pain of being shot. Tom had obeyed, and forgiven +his foe too for the sake of Bertha, but never had +he forgotten the insult. +</p> + +<p> +The second meeting was at the Hall after Tom's +return from the Baltic. Our hero was by this time old +enough to study the man and sum up his character, +which he might have done, not only in a few words, +but with three letters—F O P. +</p> + +<p> +Tom wondered to himself how such a surly, haughty +fellow as this, such a blood-proud fool, had been +permitted to assume his Majesty's uniform; for he +was then a captain in the army, and had even seen +service in the wars. +</p> + +<p> +Well, Tom Bure had quite as much aversion to a fop +as his great chief, Nelson had, so he avoided Max as +much as possible. Indeed, they would soon have +quarrelled; for over his wine, of which he took a +grown-up person's share, the captain talked almost +disrespectfully of Nelson and "sailor fellows" in general. +</p> + +<p> +Shockingly bad taste, you say? True, and the man +was really no gentleman at heart. +</p> + +<p> +Tom avoided him, therefore, for Bertha's sake, and +although this was to be his last visit to the Hall for +many and many a long day, he even cut this visit +short. +</p> + +<p> +After he had bidden good-bye to Lady Colmore and +other guests, he simply bowed stiffly to Max, who was +gaping at him through an eye-glass, and took his +departure. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly, through the shrubbery he was walking +towards his boat when he heard a light step behind +him. +</p> + +<p> +He turned quickly. +</p> + +<p> +"Dearest Bertha," he said gently, "I knew you'd +come." +</p> + +<p> +The girl was crying. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Tom!" she exclaimed, "it seems all so sad and +terrible, your going away like this. And something +seems to say to me I shall never, never see you +more." +</p> + +<p> +"You mustn't talk so, my more than sister," said +Tom. "True I am going away, but I shall return, safe +and sound. I'm not going to be killed, Bertha, and +I'm not going to lose a leg, like poor Merryweather. +So you see I shall be able to dance on your wedding-day." +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma says I am too young to think of the +future, but she means to give me to some lord or +another, and Max doesn't mind. I'm going to be sold, +Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Bertha!" cried Tom, "sooner than you should be +given away to a man you didn't care for, were he the +proudest noble in Britain, I'd——" +</p> + +<p> +There was the sound of voices heard coming towards +them through the shrubbery, and so Tom's sentence +was never finished. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Nearly four years had passed away. Busy and +eventful years indeed they had been to both Tom Bure +and to Raventree. +</p> + +<p> +Not once in all that time had either of them seen +home or friends. They had been kept constantly +active, and pretty constantly in action. Tom had +been much with Nelson, not in the same ships, but +on the same service. He had been here and there in +many lands too, for many of his duties had been to +form a convoy to trading ships. +</p> + +<p> +It was his fate, nevertheless, to be present at the +great naval engagement of Trafalgar—a name that is +never heard even to this day by a true Briton without +a feeling of pride and patriotism. +</p> + +<p> +Nelson had been on half-pay for a time. Perhaps +he never expected to serve again. Nevertheless he +came, like the hero he was, to his country's aid at his +country's call. +</p> + +<p> +I need not remind my reader of Napoleon's pet +ambition, the invasion of England—he never could have +reached Scotland—nor of that grand review he held on +his birthday, August 15th, 1804, at Boulogne, +surrounded by his dignitaries of State, his marshals, his +ministers, his sailors and soldiers, or how liberally +he distributed the ribbon of the Legion of Honour. +</p> + +<p> +"Let us be masters of the Channel," he pompously +exclaimed, "for six hours, and we are masters of the +world!" +</p> + +<p> +There was somewhat of honour to us in this sentence +of the Emperor, for in smashing Britain he should +certainly smash the world. +</p> + +<p> +But the death of his chief admiral threw his scheme +in abeyance for a time. Yet having the disposal of +the Spanish fleet, he believed in 1805 that he had +only to crush our squadrons in order to open the +British door, and walk quietly in. +</p> + +<p> +There is sometimes a good deal in that little word +only, however. If you, reader, want to open a door +and walk into a room, even if you are six feet high, and +strong in proportion, as doubtless you are, you will find +that you have attempted a task beyond your strength +if behind that door there is stationed even a very, +tiny man with his foot against it. +</p> + +<p> +Now Britain had just such a little man to stand +behind her door. +</p> + +<p> +The little man was Nelson. +</p> + +<p> +And the little man made a vow that he would put +his foot against the door, and keep Napoleon +Bonaparte on the other side of it. +</p> + +<p> +And the little man did. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +My readers have all heard tell and read of the +marvellous chase by Nelson of the combined fleets +of France and Spain. I may possibly be hauled up +on the quarter-deck for calling it a chase, but really +it was as much so as it was a search. He followed +them all the way to the West Indies; he heard they +were bound for Trinidad. He would have followed +and drubbed them there, but the information was +false, and only meant to mislead him. He would have +followed them round the world, and drubbed them, +just as he followed them back to Europe, and drubbed +them there at last. And such a drubbing he +administered to them! +</p> + +<p> +History has no other such great naval fight as that +of Trafalgar on record. No parallel to it. +</p> + +<p> +I have, however, no intention of describing the +Battle of Trafalgar. To do so would be to insult the +British schoolmaster, and question the knowledge of +the most ordinary British school-board boy—whoever +that may be—who has mastered even an epitome of +our nation's story. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +NELSON'S LAST DAYS AND HOURS. +</p> + +<p> +I think that a man who is universally loved must be +good and true at heart. Nelson's was a heart of oak in +one sense of the term, but it was a tender and feeling +heart nevertheless, and he wore it, figuratively speaking, +on his sleeve. His kind and gentle nature could be +read in his eyes, as well as in his every action, private +as well as public. His men loved him, his officers, +more especially his midshipmen, loved him, and the +people loved him. Ah! there is no deceiving or +dissembling before the people. In the matter of affection +and good-heartedness, it is as impossible to deceive the +people as it is to deceive a dog, and that is saying a +deal. +</p> + +<p> +As I sit here writing in my country home, I have +but to place my hand before my eyes, and scene after +scene rises up before my mental vision of Nelson's last +days and hours. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +SCENE I. It is the night of September 13th, 1805, +and half-past ten of that night, and the hero is leaving +Merton—a home of his in the country. But see, ere +he leaves the house, he goes on tiptoe, fearful lest he +should wake her, to the bedroom where his little girl +Horatia lies sleeping. He gazes long and fondly at her, +he softly kisses her, then kneels beside her bed with +tear-filled eyes upturned to heaven to crave a blessing +on her. I see him kneeling thus and there at this +moment. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +SCENE II. It is very early on the morning of the +14th. Hardly has the autumn day began to dawn, yet +all around the George Inn, Portsmouth, dense crowds +have gathered to catch but a glimpse of the naval hero +before his embarkation. He had their huzzas many a +time before, but now he has their hearts. They follow +him even to the water's edge, they press forward to catch +a sight of his face; many are in tears, and many kneel +down and bless him as he passes. They love him as +true and fervidly as he loves England. But, alas! they +will never, never see him more. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +SCENE III. Nelson has joined his fleet off Cadiz. +Though at his express desire no guns are fired, no +colours shown, that the enemy may be kept in +ignorance of the arrival of a reinforcement, the +loving-kindness and joy shown at his arrival cause him "the +sweetest sensation of his life." The officers who come +on board to welcome his return forget even his rank as +commander-in-chief, in the enthusiasm with which +they greet him. He cannot for a time speak for +emotion. But he regains his voice at last, and then +while they crowd around the table he proceeds to +explain to them his previously arranged plans for +attacking the enemy. That, he says, is the "Nelson +touch." They see it all in a moment. It is a touch of +true genius. So new, so singular, so simple. Some of +them are even affected to tears, so much are their +minds relieved by the prospect, nay, the very certainty +of victory now before them. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +SCENE IV. It is the very eve of battle, and among +his warlike and busy thoughts those of home come +crowding uppermost, and down he must sit all alone in +his cabin to write to his little Horatia. Only a little +letter, but how full of love and affectionate +thoughtfulness. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"MY DEAREST ANGEL,—I was made happy by the +pleasure of receiving your letter, and I rejoice to hear +you are so very good a girl. The combined fleets of +the enemy are now reported to be coming out of Cadiz; +and therefore I answer your letter, my dearest +Horatia, to mark to you that you are ever uppermost +in my thoughts. I shall be sure of your +prayers for my safety, conquest, and speedy return +to dear Merton. Be a good girl, mind what Miss +Connor says to you. Receive, my dearest Horatia, the +affectionate parental blessing of your father, +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +"NELSON AND BRONTE." +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +SCENE V. Ah! this scene is one which is almost +too gloriously dreadful to contemplate. But I can see our +noble fleet advancing in two columns to crash through +the enemy's battle line. And now the flashing guns, +and the white wreathing smoke—the tapering masts, +with flags unfurled, towering and swaying high above +the battle clouds. But this scene fades momentarily +from my view, or rather it resolves itself into another +and a sadder. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +SCENE VI. Nelson and Hardy on the battle-deck, +in the very thick of the dreadful engagement. And, +see, Nelson sinks rather than falls, and his faithful +Hardy springs to his side. On that very spot his +secretary, Scott, was killed some time before, and the +blood, still fresh, stains our hero's clothes. I see him +being borne tenderly below to the cockpit. I see +him—kindly-hearted even in the hour of death—place his +handkerchief over his face that his brave fellows may +not know 'tis he, their own loved admiral, who is being +carried below. +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p class="capcenter"> +<a id="img-358"></a> +<br> +<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-358.jpg" alt=""The death of Nelson.""> +<br> +"The death of Nelson." +</p> + +<p> +SCENE VII. The cockpit. The dimly-burning lights, +the smoke, the heat, and against the bulkheads the +wounded, the dying, and the dead. The surgeons half +naked, with blood-sprinked faces, arms, and garments; +the "idlers"—all too busy here. Moan and groan and +mournful cry. What a terrible scene! What a fearful +place to die in! +</p> + +<p> +But as the hero is borne down here, even wounded +men forget their own pains and misery as they draw +the chief surgeon's attention to the bearers. +</p> + +<p> +"Doctor, doctor," they cry, "it is the admiral! It is +Lord Nelson himself!" +</p> + +<p> +The dying Hero is borne tenderly into the midshipmen's +berth, and laid upon a bed. Even the surgeon, +who hastens to help him, sees how unavailing all his +efforts must be. The poor admiral can read his doom +written in the surgeon's pitying face. Yet it only +confirms what he himself had thought before. His +days are numbered, his hour is come. He is in pain, +in agony, so much so that he wishes death would +come to relieve him—wishes it were all, all over; and +yet not for a little. Hardy he must see, and it seems +such an interminable time before he can come to him. +"Will no one bring him?" he moans piteously. +"Perhaps he is slain. He is surely dead." +</p> + +<p> +But overhead the battle rages on and on, and he +can hear the wild "hurrahs!" of the men as ship after +ship strikes her flag. +</p> + +<p> +Hardy comes at last and bends mournfully over him, +utterly unable to suppress his emotion. But Hardy +must tell him how the battle goes. Then this faithful +officer, with a heart bursting with emotion, shakes +hands, and rushes once again to his post on deck. +</p> + +<p> +But see! Hardy has returned; and Nelson can talk +now only of the dear ones at home. +</p> + +<p> +"God bless you, Hardy," he says feebly, and shortly +after, "Thank God, <i>I have done my duty!</i>" +</p> + +<p> +And these are the last words the Hero speaks. His +breast heaves, there is one long-drawn, but half-stifled +sigh, and—<i>Nelson is no more</i>. +</p> + +<p><br><br><br></p> + +<p><a id="chap0310"></a></p> + +<h3> +CHAPTER X. +<br><br> +"JACK, I FEEL THERE IS SOMETHING WANTING IN MY LIFE." +</h3> + +<p class="poem2"> + "Then all is well. In this full tide of love<br> + Wave heralds wave: thy match shall follow mine.<br> + . . . . . . . Meanwhile farewell<br> + Old friends. Old patriarch oaks farewell."—TENNYSON.<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +The character of Captain Max Colmore +is not one of those which commands any +very great amount of respect, and I +should willingly have left it out of my +story. But then if we have no shading +in a picture we cannot so well appreciate +the high lights. Besides, he was Bertha's brother, and +independently of that fact, his death had a bearing on +our "ower true" tale, even if his life had none. +</p> + +<p> +They say that a certain dark gentleman, whose nama +it is best not to mention in polite society, is not so +black as he is painted. Happily the task of acting as +his biographer does not devolve upon me, but the +old saying reminds me that even in the character of a +man like Max there may be something of good to +record. I am willing to let him have the benefit of +this. He was no coward then. There were very few +cowards in the army in those old days, though I fear +it is different now that men of muscle have in competitive +examinations often enough to lower their flags to +those with long memories, puny bodies, and hearts no +bigger than a bantam chick's. +</p> + +<p> +Max Colmore—— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "ne'er refused<br> + When foeman bade him draw his blade."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +In fact, he rather liked drawing his blade than +otherwise, whether the man who suggested his doing so +were a foeman or a quondam friend, for Max was a +somewhat famous duellist, and quite as clever with +the pistol as the sword. Faith in his own ability, +however, rendered him somewhat of a blusterer, while +abuse in the matter of potable table luxuries made +him hot-headed, and apt to take offence where no +offence had been meant. Even until this day, although +duelling has gone out of fashion, and is punishable as a +crime, we could understand, and even give some meed +of praise to a man who drew his weapon to defend +the honour of his country, the name of majesty, or +injured innocence. But we view matters from a +different light when we read of a quarrel at mess from +one hasty word or look, leading up to a fight to the +death. +</p> + +<p> +Such was the case one night at a dinner given in +honour of Colonel Stuart's birthday, and to which +nearly a score of as happy young fellows as ever used +knife and fork sat down. The dinner passed by +pleasantly and cheerfully enough too, until even +dessert was finished and the colonel had retired. +Some of the younger bloods reseated themselves at +table, among them Max, among them too a youthful +merchant, at whose house many of the officers had +been most hospitably received and treated. Mr. Drake, +the name of this young merchant, had a young sister +who resided with him, and whom Max Colmore, rosy +now about the gills, and with a strange sparkle in his +eye, proposed as "a toast" in a not over-complimentary +manner. +</p> + +<p> +It was surely only natural that Drake should lose +his temper. +</p> + +<p> +"It is only a coward and a fool," he said, "who +would dare to behave so." +</p> + +<p> +"This to me, Mr. Snip, and from such a fellow as +you, a miserable purveyor of silks and sarcenet. Have +that," cried Max. +</p> + +<p> +The word "that" was accompanied by the contents +of a glass of claret, thrown full in the face of poor +young Mr. Drake. +</p> + +<p> +All rose to their feet, and the insulted gentleman +made a motion as if to throw a decanter at the +blustering Max. +</p> + +<p> +But Lieutenant Moore restrained him. +</p> + +<p> +"Stay, Drake, stay your hand," he exclaimed. "This +is my quarrel. You are my guest. Captain Colmore, +you account to me for this gross insult to a friend of +mine." +</p> + +<p> +"To the pair of you," said Colmore, "if you prefer +it." +</p> + +<p> +"Mr. Snip," he added, "I'll have you first, if you +please." +</p> + +<p> +"So be it," said Drake, very calmly and quietly. +</p> + +<p> +Early next morning, soon after the birds had begun +to sing, and before the dew had left the grass, or the +cicada had given voice, the combatants met with all +due formality in a beautiful green grove, not far from +the chief fort. +</p> + +<p> +Did no thoughts of his far-off home, near the quiet +and peaceful Norfolk broad, or of his mother and +gentle sister, steal across the young man's mind as he +stood, pistol in hand, waiting the word to fire? +Probably none, for he looked half dazed from the +dissipation of the previous evening, and his body was +far from steady. +</p> + +<p> +"At the word 'three' you will fire. One—two—three." +</p> + +<p> +The pistols rang out almost simultaneously on the +still air of morning, and for a second or two it seemed +as if neither belligerent had been hit. Then Max +Colmore's weapon dropped suddenly from his hand, +and he sank in a heap on the ground beside it. +</p> + +<p> +He neither opened his eyes again, nor spoke. +</p> + +<p> +Captain Colmore was dead. +</p> + +<p> +And to all intents and purposes he had died a death +that was fraught with dishonour, for he had owed an +apology, and had refused to pay it. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +At the time that Captain Max Colmore met with his +death the great battle of Trafalgar was quite a thing +of the past; indeed, two years had passed away since +that splendid victory, which had cost Britain her +cherished hero, but gained for her the supremacy of +the seas. These years had not been uneventful for +either Tom Bure or Lord Raventree. Both had gained +additional glory and renown at sea, and poor Tom had +gained something else—which in the dashing days of +old frequently accompanied honour and glory—a severe +wound in the left forearm, which would prevent his +serving again for a year at least, if not for ever. +</p> + +<p> +He was brought home an invalid in the end of 1807, +from that marvellous expedition against the Danes, by +which they lost the whole of their large navy, and +had their capital city, Copenhagen, laid in red-hot +ashes. +</p> + +<p> +Tom was not sorry to find himself once more an +inmate of his foster-father's little cottage, near the +peaceful broad, with Ruth and his foster-mother to +wait upon him. +</p> + +<p> +He found but little change in either of the latter; +but Dan was getting old, yet hale and hearty in his +declining years, and it was the greatest delight of his +life when the sweet springtime brought bud and +burgeon to the trees, and the wild flowers to the +marshes, to row the invalid Captain Tom, as he with +some pardonable pride called our hero, out and away +over the broad. +</p> + +<p> +Nor were his friends at the great hall, as Colmore +Manor was invariably called, otherwise than delighted +to see him on their return from the south. +</p> + +<p> +But partly through his being an invalid, and partly, +perhaps, through being a sailor—sailors being, you +know, always shy—Tom was half afraid to address +the tall and willowy girl who now stood before him as +Bertha. +</p> + +<p> +Bertha had grown up very beautiful, and was +likewise very accomplished, as far as accomplishments +went in those days. She could talk more than one +language at all events, and play well on the harp +and spinet. But there were times when the graceful +and accomplished girl had moods of innocent playfulness, +in which she appeared to Tom precisely like the +wilful wee tottie of six or eight she was in the early +days of his acquaintance with her. Strangely enough, +Tom Bure liked her best in these moods, and longed to +catch her in his arms, or rather in his one utility arm, +and give her a kiss; but then his invalid or sailor +shyness, whichever it was, overflowed his breast, and +he didn't or couldn't. +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * * +</p> + +<p> +Those days of war and bloodshed were eventful +enough both by land and sea, and it need surprise no +one to be told that the ship which ought to have +brought the news of Max Colmore's sad death, as trim +a brig as ever sailed the seas when she left Jamaica, was +never heard of any more. Whether she had caught +fire and been burned at sea, foundered during some +terrible gale, or been taken aback and gone down in a +white squall nobody ever knew. But her non-arrival +prevented the account of her son's end from reaching +Lady Colmore for many months after she ought to +have known of it. +</p> + +<p> +When the news did arrive at last, then the crash +came, and her ladyship knew she was no longer +mistress of Colmore Manor, and that its real owner +was some distant relative of her late husband, for +the estate was an entailed one. +</p> + +<p> +Very soon after Lady Colmore did a thing which +proves that her pride—and she had a good deal of it—was +really genuine and heartfelt, that it was indeed part +and parcel of her nature. As soon as the heir, or the +gentleman who was described as such by his solicitors, +put in an appearance she left the county, and went no +soul knew whither. To all seeming she and Bertha +had vanished from off the face of the earth. +</p> + +<p> +Tom, before the crash came, had found himself so +much better, that he determined to travel for a month +or two for the benefit of his health, and wounded arm, +which still remained a most unserviceable limb to +him. +</p> + +<p> +Previous to his going away, his old friend, Jack +Merryweather, became the husband of poor little +innocent Ruth. Jack was indeed a happy soul, and I believe +I am justified in adding he was not the only happy soul +at the quiet wedding in Dan's cottage. +</p> + +<p> +One thing Jack had done before leading his bride to +the altar, was to polish up that wooden leg of his till +it shone like Whitby jet. +</p> + +<p> +It so happened that Captain Lord Raventree was in +the country at that time. There was no word of his +marrying. His sword was his bride, and would be till +the peace came. But he came to Jack Merryweather's +wedding all the same, and it is currently reported that +he had even kissed the bride. If he did it was quite +in accordance with his character. +</p> + +<p> +Then away went Tom and he together in Ashley's +boat, which they chartered for the occasion, for a +coasting cruise up north. +</p> + +<p> +They enjoyed themselves as only sailors and old +messmates can. Tom going so far as to affirm it +was the happiest time ever he had had in all +his life. +</p> + +<p> +Of course these two friends were like brothers, and +had no secrets the one from the other. So Tom had +confessed that he was exceedingly fond of Bertha, and +that he wasn't at all sure Bertha wasn't just as fond of +him. +</p> + +<p> +"Then why don't you go in and win, man?" cried +Raventree. "What would our mutual friend, Nelson, +have thought of any officer hanging fire when there +was something before him that was a duty?" +</p> + +<p> +"A duty, Raventree?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, your duty to posterity, Tom." +</p> + +<p> +"Not that posterity ever did anything for me as +yet," said Tom Bure thoughtfully; "but now that +you've mentioned dear old Nelson, I—I—will go in +and win." +</p> + +<p> +But lo! when Tom returned to the cottage, and his +friend went off to Raventree Court, the first thing he +heard was about the Colmore crash, the second the +disappearance of Lady Colmore and her daughter, and +the third and most wonderful of all, that he, Captain +Tom Bure, R.N., was the nearest heir to the estates of +Colmore, and not the other fellow. +</p> + +<p> +All this news coming of a heap, as old Dan phrased +it, quite took our hero's breath away, and it was some +time before he fully realised his position. +</p> + +<p> +"It was all owing to that black box," said Dan, +"that your poor Uncle Bob took so much pains to save, +and that I took up to the banker at Yarmouth. That +proved it all, and there's none livin' that can disprove +it." +</p> + +<p> +Whether Tom's uppermost thoughts at this moment +were those of joy or sorrow, it is probably hard +to tell. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor Bertha!" he muttered half aloud, "shall I +never, never see her more?" +</p> + +<p class="thought"> +* * * * +</p> + +<p> +Long months after Tom Bure was settled in his new +home, he continued by every means he could think of, +his endeavours to find out the whereabouts of Lady +Colmore and Bertha. But all in vain. It was rumoured +that her ladyship had died of a broken heart, or of a +combination of pride and poverty, leaving her daughter +to stem a sea of adversity as best she might. +</p> + +<p> +Tom, in something akin to hopeless sorrow, settled +down to look after his estates in good earnest now. +</p> + +<p> +He fain would have built a new house for his foster-father +Dan on the grounds, so that he might have the +old couple close to him. But Dan would not hear of +leaving his bit o' property, where he and his old wife +had lived so long and happy, and where poor Uncle +Bob had died. +</p> + +<p> +Tom soon found out that recreation was good for +him, or diversion, as Jack Merryweather phrased it, so +he often went to town, and with his friend was +frequently at concerts, fêtes, and plays. +</p> + +<p> +One evening, after a quiet dinner together, Jack +addressed his friend as follows: +</p> + +<p> +"Tom, you appear in doleful dumps to-night. You +have sat opposite me for ten minutes, and never said a +word." +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not over merry at heart, Jack," said Tom. +"The fact is, amidst all this fun and gaiety I feel there +is something wanting in my life." +</p> + +<p> +"And isn't it a fool you are," cried Jack, "to go on +mourning for the partial loss of one hand? Look at +me—one leg only and a timber toe. Do I mourn and +lament?" +</p> + +<p> +Jack held up that wooden extremity of his, which +shone to-night like an ebony ruler. +</p> + +<p> +"Bah! Tom, what's the use of it?" +</p> + +<p> +And Merryweather burst into the old song— +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Life let us cherish<br> + While the wasting taper glows."<br> +</p> + +<p><br></p> + +<p> +"Come along with me, Tom. There's something +good going on to-night at the old Drury." +</p> + +<p> +Tom Bure yawned through three acts of a somewhat +dreary play. +</p> + +<p> +As shifting of scenery necessitated a longer interval +than usual between the third and fourth acts, a +beautiful girl came on to sing a charming Irish song. +It was, the play-bill said, her first appearance on any +stage. +</p> + +<p> +At the first sound of her voice Tom pricked up his +ears. +</p> + +<p> +At the first glance he started as if he had been shot +again. +</p> + +<p> +Then he disappeared—went tearing out of the box, +as Jack afterwards described it. He tore down below, +and almost fought his way behind the scenes. +</p> + +<p> +He was just in time to meet the young lady walking +off the stage with a whole lap-full of bouquets. +</p> + +<p> +"Bertha!" +</p> + +<p> +It was Tom's voice. +</p> + +<p> +And as he went awkwardly rushing forwards, somehow +or other she dropped everyone of those bouquets +on the deck of the stage—I think they call it the +deck. If they don't they ought to. +</p> + +<p> +Never mind, I have this to add: Bertha's first +appearance on any stage was likewise her last. +</p> + +<p> +And just as Bertha dropped those bouquets am I +now going to drop anchor, and almost quite as suddenly. +I do not wish that a good boy's story should degenerate +into an ordinary love yarn, else I should devote a dozen +pages to telling you how it came about that two months +after this our hero, Tom Bure, was married to the +orphan girl, Bertha Colmore, in presence of Jack +Merryweather, Lord Raventree, and honest Dan himself. +</p> + +<p> +And just as the happy couple were standing on the +deck of the saucy <i>Yarmouth Belle</i>—same old skipper, +same old mate—that was to bear them from London to +the North, "I say, Tom," said the same old +Merryweather, "I misunderstood you that evening after +dinner." +</p> + +<p> +"Never mind," said Tom, "I have at last found the +something that was wanting in my life. Good-bye." +</p> + +<p> +"Mate!" roared the skipper. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," cried the mate. +</p> + +<p> +"On this auspicious occasion, mate——" +</p> + +<p> +"Let us——" said the mate. +</p> + +<p> +"That's it. <i>Let us splice the main-brace</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"Hurrah!" +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t3"> +FINIS. +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="t4"> + LONDON:<br> + JOHN F. SHAW AND CO., 48, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.<br> +</p> + +<p><br><br></p> + +<p class="transnote"> +[Transcriber's Note: Near the start of Chapter IV +is the footnote "Vide Map". There was no map +in the source book.] +</p> + +<p><br><br><br><br></p> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75979 ***</div> +</body> + +</html> + + diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-022.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-022.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2bd3e31 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-022.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-076.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-076.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0fe123 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-076.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-134.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-134.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fdaebc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-134.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-212.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-212.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4dd62b6 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-212.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-270.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-270.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1b1b690 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-270.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-309.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-309.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e3ad79 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-309.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-320.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-320.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..69940d1 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-320.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-358.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-358.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce54870 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-358.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-cover.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e0bed5 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-cover.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-front.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d8caa9 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/75979-h/images/img-title.jpg b/75979-h/images/img-title.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..543a7d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/75979-h/images/img-title.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5dba15 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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