Peter Simple | Page 8

she would wait for me; but she replied, if that was my captain, it was
her idea that I should have a confounded wigging and be sent on board.
So, wishing me good-bye, she left me and continued her way home. I
could as little comprehend all this as why the captain looked so black
when I passed him; but it was soon explained when I went up to him in
the parlour at the George Inn. "I am sorry, Mr Simple," said the captain,
when I entered, "that a lad like you should show such early symptoms
of depravity; still more so, that he should not have the grace which
even the most hardened are not wholly destitute of--I mean to practise
immorality in secret, and not degrade themselves and insult their
captain by unblushingly avowing (I may say glorying in) their iniquity,
by exposing it in broad day, and in the most frequented street of the
town."
"Sir!" replied I, with astonishment, "O dear! what have I done?"
The captain fixed his keen eyes upon me, so that they appeared to
pierce me through, and nail me to the wall. "Do you pretend to say, sir,
that you were not aware of the character of the person with whom you
were walking just now?"
"No, sir," replied I, "except that she was very kind and good-natured;"
and then I told him how she had addressed me, and what subsequently
took place.
"And is it possible, Mr Simple, that you are so great a fool?" I replied
that I certainly was considered the greatest fool of our family. "I should
think you were," replied he, dryly. He then explained to me who the
person was with whom I was in company, and how any association
with her would inevitably lead to my ruin and disgrace.

I cried very much, for I was shocked at the narrow escape which I had
had, and mortified at having fallen in his good opinion. He asked me
how I had employed my time since I had been at Portsmouth, and I
made an acknowledgment of having been made tipsy, related all that
the midshipmen had told me, and how I had that morning fought a duel.
When I had finished, he said, "Mr Simple, I can no longer trust you on
shore until you are more experienced in the world. I shall desire my
coxswain not to lose sight of you until you are safe on board of the
frigate."
Altogether I did not feel sorry when it was over. I saw that the captain
believed what I had stated, and that he was disposed to be kind to me,
although he thought me very silly. The coxswain, in obedience to his
orders, accompanied me to the Blue Post. I packed up my clothes, paid
my bill, and the porter wheeled my chest down to the Sally Port, where
the boat was waiting.
"Come, heave a-head, my lads, be smart. The captain says we are to
take the young gentleman on board directly. His liberty's stopped for
getting drunk and running after the Dolly Mops!"
"I should thank you to be more respectful in your remarks, Mr
Coxswain," said I with displeasure.
"Mister Coxswain! thanky, sir, for giving me a handle to my name,"
replied he. "Come, be smart with your oars, my lads!"
"La, Bill Freeman," said a young woman on the beach, "what a nice
young gentleman you have there. He looks like a sucking Nelson. I say,
my pretty young officer, could you lend me a shilling?"
I was so pleased at the woman calling me young Nelson, that I
immediately complied with her request. "I have not a shilling in my
pocket," said I, "but here is half-a-crown, and you can change it, and
bring me back the eighteen-pence."
"Well you are a nice young man," replied she, taking the half-crown;

"I'll be back directly, my dear."
The men in the boat laughed, and the coxswain desired them to shove
off.
"No," observed I, "you must wait for my eighteen-pence."
"We shall wait a devilish long while, then, I suspect. I know that girl,
and she has a very bad memory."
"She cannot be so dishonest or ungrateful," replied I. "Coxswain, I
order you to stay--I am an officer."
"I know you are, sir, about six hours old; well then, I must go up and
tell the captain that you have another girl in tow, and that you won't go
on board."
"O no, Mr Coxswain, pray don't; shove off as soon as you please, and
never mind the eighteen-pence."
The boat then shoved off, and pulled towards the ship, which lay at
Spithead.
CHAPTER FIVE.
I AM INTRODUCED TO THE QUARTER-DECK, AND FIRST
LIEUTENANT, WHO PRONOUNCES ME VERY
CLEVER--TROTTED BELOW