CHAPTER IV
PROMOTED
The lieutenant took a boat when it became dusk and rowed to the frigate,where he handed in his report of the fight.
"I will read that later, Mr. Farrance," the captain said. "Meanwhile, tellme briefly what is the result? Of course I saw you returning with thethree vessels in tow."
"We had a very sharp fight, sir, and I am sorry to say that the casualtiesare heavy, twenty-eight killed and nearly forty wounded more or lessseverely."
"That is a heavy list indeed, Mr. Farrance, very heavy, and we are theless able to bear it since we have some seventy men away on the Frenchprize. The rascals must have fought desperately."
"They did, sir. I am bound to say that men could hardly have foughtbetter. We had very hard work with the two outside ships, and as most ofthe fellows jumped overboard and swam to the other, we had an even stifferfight there. In fact, if we had had only one of our division of boatsavailable I am sure we should not have carried her."
"What are the casualties among the officers?"
"Midshipman Howard is killed, sir, and Lieutenant Ayling and MidshipmanJames very severely wounded. I myself had a very narrow escape. I slippedupon some blood, and two Moors rushed at me and would have killed me hadnot that boy Gilmore thrown himself between us. He waved his cutlass aboutwildly, and, principally from good luck, I think, cut down one of them. Onthis the other attacked him, and I had time to get to my feet again. Assoon as I was up I ran the Moor through, but not before he had given theboy a very ugly wound on the arm."
"That is a wonderful boy," the captain said with a smile. "I think he istoo good to remain where he is, and I must put him on the quarter-deck."
"I should feel greatly obliged if you would, sir, for there is no doubtthat he saved my life. He is certainly as well up in his work as any ofthe midshipmen. The chaplain told me only yesterday that he had learnt touse the quadrant, and can take an observation quite as accurately as mostof his pupils."
"Such a boy as that," said the captain, "ought to be given a chance ofrising in his profession. He is quite at home aloft, and may be fairlycalled a sailor. He is certainly a favourite with the whole crew, and Ithink, if promoted, will give every satisfaction. Very well, Farrance, wemay consider that as settled."
"Thank you very much, sir! I need hardly say that it will be a pleasure tome to fit him out."
The next morning there was a light breeze, and the three prizes, which hadremained four miles from the frigate through the night, closed up to her.The wounded were transhipped, and a prize crew was told off to each of thecaptures, a considerable portion of the Moors being also transferred tothe frigate and sent down into the hold.
In the afternoon Will, to his surprise, received word that the captainwished to speak to him. His jacket had been cut off and his injured armwas in a sling, so he could only throw the garment over his shouldersbefore he hurried aft. When he reached the poop he found that the crewwere mustered, and in much trepidation as to his appearance, and with agreat feeling of wonder as to why he had been sent for, he made his way towhere the captain was standing surrounded by a group of officers.
"Men," the captain said in a loud clear voice, "I am going to take asomewhat unusual step, and raise one of your comrades to the quarter-deck.Still more unusual is it that such an honour should fall to a ship's boy.In this case, however, I am sure you will all agree with me that the boyin question has distinguished himself not only by his activity andkeenness aloft, but by the fact that he has, under great difficulties,educated himself, and in manner and education is perfectly fit to be amessmate of the midshipmen of this vessel. Moreover, in the fightyesterday he saved the life of Lieutenant Farrance when he had fallen andwas attacked by two of the Moors. One of these the lad killed, and theother he engaged. This gave Lieutenant Farrance time to recover his feet,and he quickly disposed of the second Moor, not, however, before therascal had inflicted a severe wound on the lad. Mr. William Gilmore, Ihave real pleasure in nominating you a midshipman on board His Majesty'sship _Furious_, and inviting you to join us on the quarter-deck."
The cheer that broke from the men showed that they heartily approved ofthe honour that had fallen upon their young comrade. As to Will himself,he was so surprised and overcome by this most unexpected distinction thathe could scarcely speak. The captain stepped forward and shook him by thehand, an example followed by the other officers and midshipmen.
"You had better retire," the captain said, seeing that the lad was quiteunable to speak, "and when you have recovered from your wound the ship'stailor will take your uniform in hand. Lieutenant Farrance has kindlyexpressed his intention of providing you with it."
Will, with the greatest difficulty, restrained his feelings till hereached the sick berth, and then he threw himself into a hammock and burstinto tears. Presently Tom Stevens came in to see him.
"I am glad, Will," he said, "more glad than I can possibly express. It issplendid to think that you are really an officer."
"It is too much altogether, Tom. I had hoped that some day I might come tobe a mate, or even a captain in a merchant ship, but to think that in lessthan two months after joining I could be on the quarter-deck was beyond mywildest dreams. Well I hope I sha'n't get puffed up, and I am sure, Tom,that I shall be as much your friend as ever."
"I don't doubt that, Will; you would not be yourself if it made anydifference in you. Dimchurch asked me to tell you how much he too waspleased, but that he was not surprised at all, for he felt sure that inless than a year you would be on the quarter-deck, as it would beridiculous that anyone who could take an observation and be at the sametime one of the smartest hands aloft should remain in the position ofship's boy. One of the elder sailors said that in all his experience hehad never known but three or four cases of men being promoted from thedeck except when old warrant officers were made mates and appointed torevenue cutters."
"Thank Dimchurch very heartily for me, Tom, and tell him that I hope weshall sail many years together, although it may be in different parts ofthe ship. Now I will lie quiet for a time, for my arm is throbbingdreadfully. The doctor tells me that although the wound is severe it canhardly be called serious, for with so good a constitution as I have itwill heal quickly, and in a month I shall be able to use it as well asbefore."
The agitation and excitement, however, acted injuriously, and the next dayWill was in a state of high fever, which did not abate for some days, andleft him extremely weak.
"You have had a sharp bout of it, lad," the doctor said, "but you are safenow, and you will soon pick up strength again. It has had one good effect;it has kept you from fidgeting over your wound, and I have no doubt that,now the fever has left you, you will go on nicely."
In another three weeks Will was able to leave the sick bay, and on themorning he was discharged from the sick list he found by his hammock twosuits of midshipman's uniform, a full dress and a working suit, togetherwith a pile of shirts and underclothing of all kinds, and two or threepairs of shoes. His other clothes had been taken away, so he dressedhimself in the working suit, and with some little trepidation made his wayto his new quarters. The midshipmen were just sitting down to breakfast,and, rising, they all shook hands with him and congratulated him heartilyboth on his promotion and his recovery.
"You are very good to welcome me so heartily," he said. "I know thatneither by birth nor station am I your equal."
"You are quite our equal, youngster," said one of the midshipmen,"whatever you may be by birth. Not one of us could have worked half sowell as you have done; the chaplain tells us that you can take anobservation as well as he can. I can assure you we are all heartily gladto have you with us. Sit down and make yourself at home. We have not muchto offer you besides our rations; for we have been out for over a month,and our soft tack and all other luxuries were finished long ago, so we arereduced to ham and biscuit."
"It could not be better," Will said with a sm
ile, "for I have got such anappetite that I could eat horse with satisfaction. I feel immenselyindebted to you, Mr. Forster; for if you had not brought my request beforethe first lieutenant I should not have been able to make such progresswith my books as I have done."
"The chaplain is a first-rate fellow--but, by the way, we have no mistershere; we all call each other by our surname plain and simple. Even Peters,who has welcomed you in our name and who is a full-fledged master's mate,does not claim to be addressed as mister, though he will probably do sobefore long, for the wound of Lieutenant Ayling, who, it is settled, willbe invalided when we get to Malta, will give him his step. On thatoccasion we will solemnly drink his health, at his own expense of course."
"That is not the ordinary way," the mate laughed. "I know that you fellowswill be game to shell out a bottle apiece--I don't think I can do it--not atleast until I get three months of my new rate of pay."
So they laughed and chaffed, and Will felt grateful to them, for he sawthat it was in no small degree due to the desire to set him at his ease.
"You will be in the starboard watch, Gilmore," the mate said when the mealwas finished. "That was the one Ayling had. The third lieutenant, Bowden,who is now in charge, isn't half a bad fellow. Of course he is a littlecocky--third lieutenants on their first commission generally are, but he iskind-hearted and likes to makes himself popular, and he will wink one eyewhen you take a nap under a gun, which is no mean virtue. The boatswain,who is in the same watch, is a much more formidable person, and busieshimself quite unnecessarily. One cannot, however, have everything, and onthe whole you will get on very comfortably. I am in the other watch,Rodwell and Forster are with you. They are well-meaning lads; I don't knowthat I can say anything more for them, but you will find out their faultssoon enough yourself."
Will then went up on deck with the others. It seemed strange to him toenter upon what he had hitherto regarded as a sort of sacred ground, andhe stood shyly aside while the others fell into their duties of lookingafter the men and seeing that the work was being done. Presently the firstlieutenant came on deck. Will went up to him and touched his hat.
"I cannot tell you, sir," he said, "how indebted I feel to you for yourkindness in speaking for me to the captain, and especially in providing mewith an outfit. I can assure you, sir, that as long as I live I shallremember your kindness."
"My lad, these things weigh but little against the saving of my life, andI can assure you that it was a great satisfaction to me to be able to makethis slight return. I shall watch your career with the greatest interest,for I am convinced that it will be a brilliant one."
Owing to the fact that two officers had gone away in their first prize,and that three had been killed or disabled in the late fight, there was ashortage of officers on the _Furious_. Three had left in the Moorishprizes, and when, a week later, another Moorish vessel was capturedwithout much fighting, the captain had no officers to spare above the rankof midshipmen.
"Mr. Forster," he said, "I have selected you to go in the prize. You cantake one of the juniors with you; I cannot spare either of the seniors.Who would you like to take?"
"I would rather have Gilmore, sir. I feel that I can trust himthoroughly."
"I think you have made a good choice. I cannot spare you more than thirtymen. You will go straight to Malta, hand over your prize to the agentthere, and either wait till we return, or come back again if there shouldbe any means of doing so."
Will was delighted when he heard that he was to go with Forster. "Will youpick the crew?" he asked his friend.
"No, but I could arrange without difficulty for anyone you speciallywished."
"I should like very much to have my friend Tom Stevens and the sailornamed Dimchurch; they are both good hands in their way, and were veryfriendly with me before I got promoted."
"All right! there will no difficulty about that; we shall want a boy toact as our servant, and one able seaman is as good as another. I havenoticed Dimchurch; he is a fine active hand, and I will appoint himboatswain."
Great was the pride of Will as the prize crew rowed from the _Furious_ tothe Moorish galley of which he was to be second in command, but he couldnot help bursting out laughing as he went down with Forster into thecabin.
"What are you laughing at?" Forster asked.
"I was having a bit of a laugh at the thought of the change that has comeover my position. Not that I am conceited about it, but it all seems sostrange that I should be here and second in command."
"No doubt it does," laughed Forster, "but you will soon get accustomed toit. It is almost as strange for me, for it is the first time that I havebeen in command. I have brought a chart on board with me. Our course isnorth-north-east, and the distance is between two and three hundred miles.In any decent part of the world we should do it in a couple of days, butwith these baffling winds we may take a week or more. Well, I don't muchcare how long we are; it will be a luxury to be one's own master for abit."
The first step was to divide the crew into two watches.
"I am entitled not to keep a watch," Forster said, "but I shall certainlywaive the privilege. We will take a watch each."
Tom Stevens was appointed cabin servant, and one of the men was made cook;nine of the others were told off to each watch.
"I wish she hadn't all those prisoners on board," Forster said. "They willbe a constant source of anxiety. There are over fifty of them, and ashang-dog scoundrels as one would wish to see. We shall have to keep asharp look-out on them, to make sure that they don't get a ghost of achance of coming up on deck, for if they did they would not think twiceabout cutting our throats."
"I don't see how they could possibly get out," Will said.
"No; it generally does look like that, but they manage it sometimes forall that. These fellows know that when they get to Malta they will be setto work in the yards, and if there was an opportunity, however small, forthem to break out, you may be sure that they would take it. These Moorishpirates are about as ruffianly scoundrels as are to be found, and if theydon't put their prisoners to death they only spare them for what they willfetch as slaves."
After three days' sailing they had made but little way, for it was only inthe morning and the evening that there was any breeze. Will had justturned in for the middle watch, and had scarcely dropped to sleep, when hewas suddenly awakened by a loud noise. He sprang out of bed, seized hisdirk and a brace of pistols which were part of the equipment given him bythe first lieutenant. As he ran up the companion he heard a coil of ropethrown against the door, so he leapt down again and ran with all speed tothe men's quarters. They, too, were all on their feet, but the hatch hadbeen battened down above them.
"This is a bad job, sir," Dimchurch said. "How they have got out I have noidea. I looked at the fastenings of the two hatches when I came downtwenty minutes ago, and they looked to me all right. I am afraid they willcut all our comrades' throats."
"I fear so, Dimchurch. What do you think we had better do?"
"I don't know, sir; it will require a good deal of thinking out. I don'tsuppose they will meddle with us at present, but of course they willsooner or later."
"Well, Dimchurch, as a first step we will bring all the mess tables andother portable things forward here, and make a barricade with them. Wewill also obtain two or three barrels of water and a stock of food, sothat when the time comes we may at any rate be able to make a stoutresistance."
"That is a good idea, sir. We will set to work at once."
In a short time, with the aid of tubs of provisions, barrels of water, andbales of goods, a barricade was built across the bow of the vessel,forming a triangular enclosure of about fourteen feet on each side. Thearms were then collected and placed inside, and when this was done therewas a general feeling of satisfaction that they could at least sell theirlives dearly.
"Now, sir, what is the next step?" Dimchurch asked. "You have only to giveyour orders and we are ready to carry them out."
"I have thought of noth
ing at present," Will said. "I fancy it will bebetter to allow them to make the first move, for even with the advantageof attacking them in the dark we could hardly hope to overcome four timesour number."
"It would be a tough job certainly, sir; but if the worst comes to theworst, we might try it."
"It must come to quite the worst, Dimchurch, before we take such a step asthat."
As evening approached, the Moors were heard descending the companion.There was a buzz of talk, and then they came rushing forward. When theyreached the door between the fore and aft portions of the ship Will andhis men opened fire upon them, and as they poured out they were shot down.Seven or eight fell, and then the others dashed forward. The seamen linedthe barricade and made a strenuous resistance. Cutlass clashed againstMoorish yatagan; the Moors were too crowded together to use their guns,and as they could gather no more closely in front than the sailors stood,they were unable to break through the barricade. At last, after many hadfallen, the rest retired. Three or four of the sailors had received moreor less severe wounds, but none were absolutely disabled. Tom Stevens hadfought pluckily among the rest, and Will was ready with his shouts ofencouragement, and a cutlass he had taken for use instead of his dirk,wherever the pressure was most severe.
When the Moors had retired, Dimchurch and two others went outside thebarricade and piled some heavy bales against the door, after firstcarrying out the dead Moors.
"They will hardly attack us that way again, sir," he said to Will; "itwill be our turn next time."
"Yes, six of their number are killed, and probably several badly wounded,so we ought to have a good chance of success if we make a dash at them inthe dark."
They waited until night had fallen. Then Will said:
"Do you think you can lift that hatchway, Dimchurch?"
"I will have a pretty hard try anyhow," the man said. "I will roll thistub under it; that will give me a chance of using my strength."
Although he was able to move it slightly, his utmost efforts failed tolift it more than an inch or two.
"They have piled too many ropes on it for me, sir; but I think that ifsome others will get on tubs and join me we shall be able to move thething."
"Wait a minute, Dimchurch. Let each man make sure that his musket isloaded."
There was a short pause, during which all firelocks were carefullyexamined. When he saw that all were in good order, Will said:
"Now, lads, heave away."
Slowly the hatchway yielded, and with a great effort it was pushed up farenough for a man to crawl out. Pieces of wood were shoved in at eachcorner so as to hold the hatch open, and the men who had lifted it stoodclear.
"Clamber out, Dimchurch, and have a look round. Are there many of them ondeck?"
"Only about a dozen, as far as I can make out, sir. They are jabberingaway among themselves disputing, I should say, as to the best way to getat us."
"I expect they intend to leave us alone and take us into Algiers. However,that does not matter. You two crawl out and lie down, then give me a handand hoist me out. I think the others can all reach, except Tom; you hadbetter hoist him up after me."
Each man, as he clambered out, lay down on the deck. When all were up,they crawled along aft to within a few yards of the Moors, then leapt totheir feet and fired a volley. Five of the Moors fell, while the others,panic-stricken, ran below.
"Now, pile cables over the hatchway," Will shouted.
The sailors rushed to carry out the order. They were startled as they didso by a shout from above.
"Hillo, below there! Have you got possession of the ship?"
"Yes. Is that you, Forster?"
"Yes."
"Thank God for that!" Will shouted back, while the men gave a cheer. "Whydon't you come down?"
"I am going to slide down the mast."
"What for? Why don't you come down by the rattlings?"
"I have cut the shrouds. When our last man fell I made a dash for them,and directly I got to the top I cut them, and half a dozen men who wereclimbing after me fell sprawling to the deck. Then I cut them on the otherside. I thought then that they would at once shoot me, but there was alively argument among them and shouts of laughter, and they evidentlythought that it would be a great joke to leave me up here until I chose toslide down and be killed. Of course I heard their attack on you, andtrembled for the result; but when the noise suddenly ceased I guessed thatyou had repulsed them. Well, here goes!" and half a minute later he sliddown to the deck. "How do matters stand?" he asked, when he stood amongthem.
"We killed six and wounded eight or ten in the first attack upon us, andwe have shot five more now. All the rest are battened down below."
"There they had better remain for the present. Well, Gilmore, Icongratulate you on having recaptured the ship. It has been a bad affair,for we have lost nine men killed; but as far as you are concerned you havedone splendidly. I am afraid I shall get a pretty bad wigging for allowingthem to get out, though certainly the bolts of the hatchways were allright when we changed the watch. Of course I see now that I ought to haveplaced a man there as sentry. It is always so mighty easy to be wise afterthe event. I expect the rascals pretty nearly cut the wood away round thebolts, and after the watch was changed set to work and completed the job.We shall not, however, be able to investigate that until we get to Malta."
"We have blocked up the door between the fore and the after parts of theship," said Will; "but I think it would be as well to place a sentry ateach hatch now, as they might turn the tables upon us again."
"Certainly. Are you badly wounded, Dimchurch?"
"I have got a slash across the cheek, sir, but nothing to speak of."
"Well, will you take post at the after-hatch for the present. Stevens, youmay as well go down and guard the door. You will be able to tell us, atleast, if they are up to any mischief. I should think, however, the fightis pretty well taken out of them, and that they will resign themselves totheir fate now."
"This is a bad job for me," Forster said, as he and Will sat down togetheron a gun.
"I am awfully sorry, Forster, but I am afraid there is no getting out ofit."
"No, that is out of the question."
"There is one thing, Forster. If you did not put a sentry over thehatchway, neither did I, so I am just as much to blame for the disaster asyou are. If I had had a man there they could hardly have cut away thewoodwork without his hearing. I certainly wish you to state in your reportthat you took the watch over from me just as I left it, and that no sentryhad been placed there, as ought certainly to have been done when I came onwatch at eight o'clock."
"It is very kind of you, Gilmore, to wish to take the blame upon your ownshoulders, but the responsibility is wholly mine. I ought to have remindedyou to put a man there, there can be no question at all about that, but Inever gave the matter a thought, and the blunder has cost us nine goodseamen. I shall be lucky if I only escape with a tremendous wigging. Imust bear it as well as I can."
While they were talking the sailors were busy splicing the shrouds. Whenthis was done two of the men swarmed up the mast by means of thehalliards. Then they hoisted up the shrouds, and fastened them round themast, making all taut by means of the lanyards. The sails were stillstanding, flapping loosely in the light breeze, so the sheets were hauledin and the vessel again began to move through the water. Two days laterthey anchored in Valetta harbour.
"Here goes," Forster said, as he stepped into the boat with his report."It all depends now on what sort of a man the admiral is, but I should notbe surprised if he ordered me to take court-martial."
"Oh, I hope not!" Will exclaimed. "I do wish you would let me go with youto share the blame."
"It cannot be thought of," Forster said; "the commanding officer must makethe report."
Two hours later Forster returned.
"It is all right, Gilmore," he said as the boat came alongside. "Of courseI got a wigging. The admiral read the report and then looked at me asfierce as a tiger.<
br />
" 'How was it that no sentry was placed over the prisoners?'
" 'I have to admit, sir,' I said, 'that I entirely overlooked that. I amquite conscious that my conduct was indefensible, but I have certainlypaid very heavily for it.'
" 'It was a smart trick taking to the shrouds,' the admiral said, 'thoughone would have thought they would have shot you at once after you had cutthem.'
" 'That is what I expected, sir,' said I, 'but they seemed to think it wasa very good joke, my being a prisoner up there, and preferred to wait tillI was driven down by thirst.'
" 'I suppose your men sold their lives dearly?' he asked.
" 'Yes, sir,' I replied. 'Taken by surprise as they were they certainlyaccounted for more than one man each.'
" 'And doubtless you did the same, Mr. Forster?'
" 'Yes, sir, I cut down two of them, and I did not cease fighting until Isaw that all was lost.'
" 'Then I suppose you thought that your duty to His Majesty was to takecare of yourself,' he said slyly.
" 'I am afraid, sir,' I said, 'at that moment I thought more of my dutytowards myself than of my duty to him.'
"He smiled grimly.
" 'I have no doubt that was so, Mr. Forster. Well, you committed ablunder, and I hope it will be a lesson to you in future.'
" 'It will indeed, sir,' I said.
"Then he started to question me about you.
" 'Your junior officer seems to have behaved very well,' he said.
" 'Extremely well, sir,' I said. 'I only wish I had done as well.'
" 'His plan of forming a barricade across the bow so that his little forcewere ample to defend it was excellent,' he said. 'Also the blocking up ofthe door of communication through the bulkhead was well thought of, andhis final escape through the hatchway and sudden attack upon the enemy waswell carried out. I will make a note of his name. I suppose he is not asold as yourself, as he is your junior?'
" 'No, sir, he is not yet sixteen, and he was only promoted from being aship's boy to the quarter-deck three weeks ago.'
" 'Promoted from being a ship's boy?' the admiral said in surprise.
"Then I had to give a detailed account, not only of the fight that led toyour promotion, but also of your life so far as I knew it.
"When I had finished, the admiral said:
" 'He must be a singular lad, this Gilmore, and is likely to prove anhonour to the navy. Bring him up here at this hour to-morrow; I shall beglad to see him. There, now, you may go, and don't forget in future thatwhen you are in charge of prisoners you must always place a guard overthem.'
"So unknowingly you have done me a good turn, Gilmore, for I expect thatif the admiral had not been so interested in you he would not have let meoff so easily. You must put on your best uniform for the first time and goup to-morrow."
"Well, I am afraid I should have felt very shaky if I had not heard youraccount of the admiral. From what you say it is evident he is a kindlyman, and after all you have told him about me he can't have many questionsto ask."
"Well, I feel a good deal easier in my mind, as you may guess," Forstersaid. "When I went ashore I felt like a bad boy who is in for a flogging.I dare say I shall get it a little hotter from the captain, but it will bejust a wigging, and there will be no talk of courts-martial. By what wesaw of the goods on board this craft before this rumpus took place I fancythe Moor had captured and plundered a well-laden merchantman. In that casethe prize-money will be worth a good round sum, and as the admiral gets apicking out of it he will be still more inclined to look favourably on thematter. Here comes the boat to take off the prisoners. I have no doubtsome of them will be hanged, especially as they will not be able to giveany satisfactory explanation as to the fate of the merchantman. As soon aswe have got rid of them we will overhaul a few of the bales and see whatare their contents."
When the last of the prisoners were taken ashore Forster and Gilmore wentbelow and examined the cargo. This proved to consist of valuable Easternstuffs, broad-cloths, silks, and Turkish carpets.
"It could not be better," Forster said; "she must be worth a lot of money,and it will add to the nice little handful of prize-money we shall getwhen we return home. They ought to give us a good round sum for the_Proserpine_; then there were the three Moorish vessels, though I don'tthink they were worth much, for their holds were nearly empty and I fancythey had only been cruising a short time. This fellow, however, is a richprize; he certainly had very hard luck, falling in with us as he did. Ifancy the ship they pillaged was a Frenchman or Italian, more likely thelatter. I don't think there are many French merchantmen about, and it ismost likely that the cargo was intended for Genoa, whence a good part ofit might be sent to Paris. Well, it makes little difference to us what itsdestination was, its proceeds are certainly destined to enrich us insteadof its original consignees."
The next morning Will put on his best uniform for the first time, and,landing with Forster, ascended the Nix Mangare stairs and called on theadmiral.
"Well, Mr. Gilmore," the admiral said as he was shown in, "it gives megreat pleasure to meet so promising a young officer. Will you kindly tellme such details of your early history as may seem fitting to you."
Will gave him a fairly detailed account of his history up to the time hejoined the navy.
"Well, sir, you cannot be too grateful to that young lady, but at the sametime there are few who would have availed themselves so well of herassistance. It is nothing short of astonishing that you should haveprogressed so far under her care that you were able, after a few lessonsfrom the chaplain of your ship, to use a quadrant. As a mark of myapprobation I will present you with one. I will send it off to your shipto-morrow morning."
With many thanks Will took his leave, and returned with Forster to theprize.
On the following morning the quadrant arrived. That afternoon the prizewas handed over to the prize-agents, and the crew transferred to the navalbarracks, Forster and Gilmore receiving lodging money to live on shore.Hitherto, the only fortifications Will had seen were those of Portsmouth,so he was greatly interested in the castle with its heavy frowning stonebatteries, the deep cut separating it from the rest of the island, and itstowering rock. Then there was the church of St. John, paved withtombstones of the knights, and other places of interest. The costume andappearance of the inhabitants amused and pleased him, as did the shopswith their laces, cameos, and lovely coral ornaments. Beyond the wallsthere were the gardens full of orange-trees, bright with their fruit, andthe burying-place of the old monks, each body standing in a niche, dressedin his gown and cowl as in life.
Will wished that he could get his share of prize-money at once, andpromised himself that his very first expenditure would be a suite of coralfor the lady who had done so much for him. In no way, he thought, could helay out money with such gratification to himself.
A fortnight later the _Furious_ came into harbour bringing another prizewith her. This had been taken without any trouble. One morning, when daybroke, she was seen only a quarter of a mile from the frigate. A gun wasat once fired across her bows, and, seeing that escape was impossible, shehauled down her colours without resistance.
Forster and Gilmore, with the officers who had brought in the otherprizes, all went on board at once and made their reports. As Forster hadpredicted, he was severely reprimanded for not having placed a sentry overthe prisoners, but in consideration of the fact that he had already beenspoken to by the admiral himself the captain was less severe on him thanhe would otherwise have been. Gilmore, on the other hand, was warmlycommended.
"You managed extremely well," the captain said, "and showed that you fullydeserved your promotion."