Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 11 — page 16: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

| 16 ee ee ee ee ee orders. He gave Jack great credit for his conduct, and was also much pleased with that of Mesty. Jack took the opportunity of stating Mesty’s aversion to his | his ship, carelessly loading his musket, had found him- his recommendation was | self minus his right hand, which, upon the musket off as he rammed down, had gone off too. He | present employment, and rraciously received, Jack also succeeded in obtaining | goin e pardon of the men, in consideration of their subse- eS eee —_—-- —— + | } The New York i Library. = -=- ———_ __ —__ — ner, Mr. Minus, who had charge of the first cutter in | the night action in which our hero was separated from was invalided and sent home during Jack’s absence, quent good behavior; but notwithstanding this promise | and another had been appointed, whose name was on the part of Captain Wilson put in irons for the present. and Mesty told the men, that they would be release they were ordered to be Tallboys. Mr. Tallboys was a stout dumpy man, with However, Jack told Mesty, | red face, and still redder hands; he had red hair and red whiskers, and he had read a great deal; for Mr. with a reprimand when they arrived at Gibraltar, so all | Tallboys considered that the gunner was ‘the most im- that the men cared for was a fair wind. Captain Wilson informed Jack, that after his joining the admiral he had been sent to Malta with the prizes, and t, supposing the cutter to have been sunk, he had written to his father, acquainting him with his son's | death, at which our hero was much grieved, for he) knew what sorrow it would occasion, particularly to— his poor mother, ‘ But,” thought Jack, “if she is un- happy for three months, she will be overjoyed for three | | po rtant personage in the ship.. He had once been a distinguished himself very captain’s clerk, and eh | had opps for and re- e much in cutting-out service, ceived his warrant as a gunner. had studied the “Art of Gunnery,” a of which he understood, but the remainder was above his comprehension; he con- tinued, however, to read it as before, thinking that b constant reading he should understand it at last. e had gone through the work from the title page to the more when she hears that I am alive, so it will be all | finis at least forty times, and had just commenced it square at the end of the six; and as soon asl arrive at be to-morrow or the next day.”’ After a long conversation Jack was graciously dis- heard that Jack would turr out a very good officer, and had already forgotten all about equality and the rights | that he should be a navi of man; but there Captain Wilson was mistaken—tares | instances to bring forw sown in infancy are not so soon rooted out. Jack went on deck as soon as the captain had dis- missed him, and found the captain and officers of the oe corvette standing aft, looking very seriously at the Nostro Signora del Carmen. When they saw our hero, whom Captain Wilson had told them was the pe officer who had barred their entrance intc Car- hagena, they turned their eyes upon him not quite so graciously as they might have done. Jack, with his usual politeness, took off his hat to the Spanish captain, and, glad to have an opportunity of sporting his Spanish, expressed the usual wish that he might live a thousand rs The Spanish captain who had reason to wish that Jack had gone tothe devil at least twenty-four hours before, was equally compli- colors were that Jack had hoisted ae Jack replied that they were colors to which every Span- ish gentleman considered it no disgrace to surrender, although always ye! te engage, and frequently at- tempting te board. was ve stood a little Spanish, then in “ By-the-by, Mr. Easy, what colors did you hoist = we could not make them’out. I see Mr. Jolliffe keeps them up at the peak.”’ ** Yes, sir,’’ replied Jack, rather puzzled what to call them, but at last he replied, ** that it was the banner of yy meee and the — of man.” ptain Wilson frowned, and Jack, perceiving that he was displeased, then told him the whole story, whereupor Captain Wilson laughed; and Jack then also explained in Spanish, to the officers of the cor- vette, who replied, ‘“‘ that it was not the first time, and would not be the last, that men had got into a scrape through a petticoat.”’ rrupted by observing: over in Gibraltar I will write, and as the wind is fair, that will | ner’s "eadeamecutt ” in his pocket, with his han =e missed, Captain Wilson being satisfied from what h3 | idea of the importance of a | | | | the action. | navi | ciple, Mr. Tallboys had added John Hamilton mentary, and ther. begged to be informed what the | without the gun- al- He never came on dec n it to refer to it in a moment, r. Tallboys had, as we observed before, a great ualifications he conside it absolutely necessary tor. the captain and all the commissioned officers had been nner, and, among other | He had at least ten | of bloody actions, in which | ** Yes,” continued the purser’s steward, “ I should like to see the fellow who would have done so on shore; however, the time will come when I can hagain pull on my plain coat, and then the insult shall be washed out in blood, Mr. Biggs.” : ‘“* And I'll be cursed if I don’t some day teach a lesson to the blac who stole my trowsers.”’ “Vas hall your money right, Mr. Biggs?’ inquired | the purser’s steward. “1 didn’t count,’ replied the boatswain, magnifi- pe | **No—gentlemen are above that,” wit mente ye _but there are many light-fingered gen about. @ quantity of vatches and harticles of value vich were lost ven I walked Bond Street in former times is in- credible.” | “Tecan say this, at all events,” replied the boatswain, “that I should be always ready to give satisfaction to any person beneath me in rank, r I had insulted him. Idon’t stand upon my rank, although I don’t | SS about equality,damme—no, nor consort with | niggers.” this was too plain for our hero not to understand | so Jack walked up to the boatswain, and taking his hat off, with the utmost politeness, said to him— “If I mistake not, Mr. Biggs, your conversation ré- fers to me.” ‘Very likely it does,” replied the boatswain. ‘‘ Lis- teners hear no good of themselves.” ‘*Tt appears that gentlemen can’t converse without killed or wounded, and the command of the ship had | being vatched,” continued Mr. Easthupp, pulling up his devolved upon the gunner.”’ ** Now, sir,’ would he say, “if the nér is no navi- panor he is not fit to take charge of his Majesty’s ships, he boatswain and carpenter are merely practical | you appear to consider men; but the gunner, sir, is, or ought to be, scientific. Gunnery, sir, is a science—we have our own disparts | and our lines of sight—our windage, and our parabolas, | and projectile forees—and our point-blank, and our re- duction of powder upon a uated scale. Now, sir, there’s no excuse fora gunner not an a navigator; for knowing ‘his — a gunner, he has the same | mathematical tools to work with.” Upon this prin-' oore | to his library,’ and had advanced about as far into | yation as he had in gunnery—that aa to the threshold—where he stuck fast, with all mathe- matical tools, which he did not know how to) use. To do him justice, he studied for two or three > owe which the Spanish captain | hours every day, and it was not his fault if he did much puzzled. pia seo Wilson, who under- | not advance—but his head was confused with technical terms; he mixed all up together; and disparts, sines and cosines, rabolas, tangents, windage, seconds, lines of sight, logarithms, projectiles, and traverse sail- ing, quadrature, and Gunter'’s scales, were all crowded together in a brain which had not capacity to receive the rule of three. “Too much lea said Festus to the apostle, “ hath made thee mad.”’ r. Tallboys had | not wit ae to gc mad, but his learning lay like lead upon his b ; the more he read, the less he under- stood, at the same time that he became more satisfied with his supposed acquirements, and could not speak but in mathematical parables.” **T understand, Mr. Easy,” said the gunner to him one day, after they had sailed for Malta, “‘that you The Spanish captain complimented Jack on his | have entered into the science of navigation—at your Spanish, which was reall months, with nothing else in the world to do, he had made great progress), and asked him where he had learnt it. Jack replied, ‘‘ At the Zaffarine Islands.” * Zaffarine Isles,’’ replied the Spanish captain; “ they are not inhabited.”’ “Plenty of ground-sharks,”’ replied Jack. The Spanish captain thought our hero a very strange fellow, to fight under a green silk petticoat and to take lessons in Spanish from the etn neem However, being quite as polite as Jack, he did not contradict him, but took a huge pinch of snuff, wishing from the Wot- tom of his heart that the ground-sharks had taken Jack before he had hoisted that confounded green petticoat. However, Jack was in high favor with the captain, and all the ship’s company, with the exception of his four enemies—the master, Vigors the boatswain, and the purser’s steward. As for Mr. Vigors, he had come tc his senses again, and had put his colt in his chest until Jack should take another cruise. Little Gossett, at any insulting remarks made by Vigors, pointed to the window of the boat and grinned; and the very oe mare made Vigors turn pale, and awed him intc ence. In two days they arrived at Gibraltar—Mr. Sawbridge rejoined the ship—so did Mr. Jolliffe—they remained there a fortnight, during which Jack was permitted to be continually on shore; Mr, Asper accompanied him, and Jack drew a heavy bill to prove to his father that he was still alive. Mr. Sawbridge made our hero relate to him all his adventures, and was so pleased with the conduct of Mesty that he appointed him to a situation which was particularly suited to him—that of ship's corporal. Mr. Sawbridge knew that it was an office of trust, and provided that he could find a man fit for ~ he was very indifferent about his color. Mesty walk and strutted about three inches taller than he was be- fore. He was always clean, did his duty conscientious- ly, and seldom used his cane. “IT think, Mr. Easy,” said the first lieutenant, ‘that as you are so particularly fond of taking a cruise ’’—for Jack had told the whole. truth—‘it might be as well that you improve your navigation.”’ ‘Ido think myself, sir,’ replied Jack, with great mae Wel’ “that [am not yet quite perfect.” “Well, then, Mr. Jolliffe will teach you; he is the most competent in this ship: the sooner you ask him the better; and if you learn it as fast as you have Spanish, it mill not give you much trouble.” Jack thought the advice good: the next day he was very busy with his friend Jolliffe, and made the im- rtant discovery that two parallel lines continued to nfinity wouid never meet. It must not be su poms that Captain Wilson and Mr. Sawbridge received their promotion instanter. Promo- tion is always attended with delay, as there is a certain routine in the service which must not be departed from. Captain Wilson had orders to return to Malta after his cruise. He therefore carried his own dispatches away from England—from Malta the dispatches had to be forwarded to Toulon to the admiral, and then the ad- miral had to send to England to the Admiralty, whose reply had to come out again, All this, with the delays rm from vessels not sailing immediately, occupied an interval of between five and six months—du which tine there was no alteration in the officers an crew of His Majesty's sloop Harpy. There h: El 4f-0r0¢ $F ad, however, been one cifteration; th Lo gue very good (for in two | age it was high time.” “Yes,” replied Jack; “I can raise a perpendicular, at all events, and box the compass.” Pan Ye, but you have not yet arrived at the dispart of e com Sy MATS pou sware'that 6 tip Gailihg deacetbes a para: *Are you aware a ship a bola round the globe?” *““Not come to that yet,” replied Jack. “And that any ropelled bod other flies off at a nt?” tans ee, replied Jack; “‘that is a ‘sine’ that he don’t like it.”’ “You have not yet entered into ‘acute’ trigonome- t dal "% Not come to that yet,’’ replied Jack. ‘That will uire very sharp attention.”’ *“T should think so,”’ replied Jack. “You wili then find out how your parallels of longi- tude and latitude meet.”’ “Two parallel lines, if continued to infinity, will never meet,”’ replied Jack. **T beg your pardon, said the gunner. “T beg yours,” said Jack. Whereupon Mr. Tallboys brought up a small map of the world, and showed Jack that all the parallels of latitude met at a point at the top and the bottom. ‘Parallel lines never meet,’ replied Jack, producing pipenicnedipor Jack asic th ed the point ereupon Jack an e gunner é point, until it was agreed to refer the case to Mr and not ee As both were right, both were satisfied. It was fortunate that Jack would argue in this in- stance; he believed all the confused asser- tioas of the gunner, he would have n as puzzled as the gunner himself. They never met without an ent and a reference; and as Jack was put right in the. end, he only learnt the faster. By the time that he did know some- thing about navigation, he discovered that his antagon- ist knew nothing. Before they arrived at Malta, Jack could fu a day’s work. But at ta Jack got into another scrape. Although Mr. Smallsole could not injure him, he was still Jack’s pene 4 the more so as Jack had me very — lar; nape also submitted, planning revenge; but the parties in this instance were the boatswain and pur- ser’s steward. Jack still continued his forecastle con- versations with Mesty; and the boatswain and pur- ser’s steward, probably from their respective ill-will toward our hero, had me tallies. Mr. East- me now put on his best jacket to walk the dog- watches with Mr. Biggs, and they took every opportu- nity to talk at our hero. It's my ar hopinion,” said Mr. Easthupp, one evening, pulling at the frill of his shirt, “ that a gentle- man should behave as a gentleman, and that if a a rofesses opinions of hequality, and such iberal sentiments, that he is bound as a gentleman to hact up to them.,”’ . “Very true, Mr. Fasthupp; he is bound to act up to them; and not because a person, who was a géntleman as well as himself, happens not to be on the quarter- deck, to insult him because he only has perfessed opinions like hisown.” — funnel, and looked at our hero. shirt collar. ‘It is not the first time that you have thought proper to make very offensive remarks, Mr. B ; and as urself ill-treated in the affair of the trowsers—for I tell you at once that it was I who brought them on board—I can only say,”’ continued our hero, with a very polite bow, “that I shall be most hap y to give you satisfaction.” ; Con your superior officer, Mr. Easy,” replied the boatswain. “Yes by the rules of the service; but you just now asserted that you would waive your rank—indeed, I mr me it on this occasion; I am on the quarter-deek, and you are not.” his is the gentleman whom you have insulted, Mr, ee a replied the boatswain, pointing to the purser’s steward. “ Yes, Mr. Easy, quite as a gentleman as your- self, although I ‘av ‘ad ortunes—I ham of as old a family as hany in the country,” replied Mr. pesteP now backed by the boatswain; ‘‘many the year I valk Bond street, and I ’ave as good blood in my weins as you, Mr. Heasy, halthough I have been misfortunate —I've had hadmirals in m family.” “You have grossly insulved this gentleman,” said Mr. B in continuation; “and notwithstanding all your talk of equality, you are afraid to give him satisfaction —you shelter yourself under a quarter-deck.” *Mr. Biggs, replied our hero, who was now y¥ wroth, “Is go on shore tly we arrive at abr a and this fellow put on n clothes, and I m you both—and then I'll show you whether I am afraid to give satisfaction.” , : **One at a time,” said the boatswain. “No, sir, not one at a time, but both at the same time—I will fight both or none.’ If you are my superior officer, you must descend,’’ replied Jack, with an ironical sneer, *‘to meet me, or I will not descend to meet that fellow, whom I believe to have been little better than a pickpocket.” ‘This accidental hit of Jack’s made the purser’s steward turn pale as a sheet, and then equally red. He raved and foamed amazingly, although he could not meet Jack’s indignant ook: who then turned round * Now, Mr. Biggs, is this to be understood, or do you shelter yourself under your forecastle ?”’ “Tam no dodger,” replied the boatswain, “and we will settle the affair at Malta.” At which reply Jack returned to Mesty. ** Massa wasy, I look at um face, dat fello, Eastop, me no like it. go shore wid you, see fair play, anyhow —sup IT can? Mr. Biggs having declared that he would fight, of course had to look out for a second, and he fixed upon Mr. Tallboys, the gunner, and requested him to be his friend. Mr. Tallboys, who had been latterly very much annoyed by Jack’s victories over him in the science of navigation, and therefore felt ill-will toward him, con- sented; but he was very much puzzled how to arrange that three were to fight at the same time, for he had no idea of there being two duels; so he went to his cabin and commenced reading. Jack, on the other hand dared not say a word to Jolliffe on the subject; indeed there was no one in the ship to whom he could co y striking against an- | again de . Jolliffe, who | but Gascoigne: he therefore went to him, and although asserted, with a smile, “* That those lines were parallels | Gascoigne thought it was excessive Jack to meet even the boatswain, as the challenge eee ee there was no retracti He therefore con- sented, like all midshipmen, anticipating fun, and quite thoughtless of the consequences. The second I tg tei had been anchored in Valette harbor, the boatsw and gunner, Jack and Gascoigne, obtained permission to go on shore. - Mr. Easthupp, the purser’s steward, dressed in his best blue coat with brass buttons and velvet collar, the very one in which he had been taken up when he had been vow- ing and pro that he was a _eeerre st at the very time that his hand was abstracting a pocket-book, went up on the quarter-deck and requested the same ind nce, but Mr. septs r refused, as he required him return staves and a at the orn e. snag ewe, much to his mortification, was not to SPrhis was awkward, but it was got over by pro that the meeting should take place behind the cooper- age at a certain hour, on which Mr. Easthupp might pour and borrow a portion of the time wf se to his duty, to heal the breach in his wounded honor, So the parties all went on shore, and put up at one of the small inns to make the necessary ments, Mr. Tallboys then addressed Mr. Gascoigne, taking him apart while the boatswain amused himself with a any of grog, and our hero sat outside teazing a mon- © Mp. Gascoigne,” said the gunner, ‘“* LThave been ve much puzzled how this duel should be fought, but have at last found it out. You see that there are th to fight; had there been two or four there wo ave been no difficulty, as the ~~ line or square might guide us in that instance; but we must arrange Gascoigne stared; he could not imagine what wae coming. com « infra dig” of had it upon the triangle in this."’ Hereupon Mr. Biggs struck his rattan against me ,yOoo0Ks com ms