Young Tom Bowling | Page 8

"Who knows, too," she added, as a clincher to her argument, "whether
Tom may not rise to be a leftennant, ay, and even an admiral, through
this good Captain Mordaunt's introduction!"
"Right you are, my lass, bless you!" chimed in father, rising up
enthusiastically from his seat and tossing off the glass of beer he held
in his hand. "So he will too, you'll see, or I'm a Dutchman. Hurrah,
Sarah, here's good luck to the boy and speedy promotion!"
"'Oo-ray, Say-rah!" screamed `Ally Sloper,' the cockatoo, in cordial
appreciation, apparently, of this sentiment. "'Ip, 'ip, 'oo-ray!"
That settled the matter.
So, early the following morning, after an affectionate hug from mother
and a kiss from Jenny, who came to the corner to see the last of me, I
started off for the Saint Vincent with father, who rowed me aboard
himself, I being the very first fare he had for the day, though, of course,

as you can imagine, he did not earn much by the job.
However, it pleased father at any rate; and, as soon as he had landed me
safe and sound at the foot of the accommodation ladder on the port side
of the old ship, which lay broadside on, almost on the mud abreast of
Haslar Creek, the tide being out, he handed me a big official letter
which Captain Mordaunt had given him overnight, as he had promised,
recommending me to the commander of the training-vessel, and
enclosing certificates of my birth and character.
"There, sonny, them's yer papers," said he, thus laconically wishing me
good-bye, sheering off out of the way of an approaching galley from
the shore whose sternsheets were chock-full of big quartern loaves of
bread, and then laying on his oars as I skipped up the ladder. "You jest
give that there letter to the cap'en when you sees him, and good luck to
you, my lad!"
I waved my hand in reply as he sculled away, all alone now in the
wherry, towards the flagship to try and pick up some stray passenger
for Gosport or Hardway; and the next instant I had gained the top of the
accommodation ladder, and was standing within the entry-port leading
on to the middle deck.
"Hullo!" cried a bluejacket stationed at the gangway, who, I noticed,
had a red stripe on his arm, and subsequently learnt was one of the
ship's corporals, who serve as police always aboard a man-of-war.
"What do you want here, boy?"
"I've come to join the ship, sir," said I to him respectfully, seeing that
he was some one in authority, and having been taught by father to be
deferential to everybody, especially those who were my superiors,
respect to rank and station being the very essence of the discipline of
the service. "Got a letter for the cap'en."
"Give it here, my lad," said the man more civilly to me, calling to a
marine close by. "I'll have the letter passed off to him at once; and
you'd best step into the office there and wait till the master-at-arms can
see you."

So saying, he pointed to a large open sort of cabin, with glass sides to it,
immediately adjoining the entry-port, where I found a couple of boys of
about my own age, and who had evidently come aboard on a similar
errand.
One of these was a red-haired, short, thickset fellow, with an ugly,
bulldog sort of a face, whose beetle-brows met over a pair of ferrety
eyes, giving him a most forbidding appearance, and I did not like the
look of him at all.
The other was a poor ragged chap, without any shoes to his feet; but he
had a jaunty devil-me-care air, and such a pleasant smile and merry
twinkle about the corners of his mouth, that I could not help taking a
fancy to him, at once hoping that we might be chums.
However, I did not have much time for reflection anent either of them;
for hardly had we taken stock of each other, when a stoutish
middle-aged man, dressed in a tight-fitting monkey-jacket, ornamented
with the letters `NP' on the collar, and a row of bright
crown-and-anchor buttons down the front, besides having a gold badge
bearing the same device over the mohair band of his blue peaked cap,
appeared at the doorway of the cabin, or `police office,' as the place is
properly called, where we three boys were waiting anxiously to learn
our fate.
"Ha, humph! A nice lot of raw material to be licked into shape!"
observed this gentleman, whose uniform denoted that he was the
master- at-arms, or head of the ship's police. He was evidently
cogitating within himself as to our respective and collective capabilities,
for he eyed us critically the while as we