Show STORY aft THE I 1 OVES of th the 0 LADY dy by MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL r sl copyright IV awo ablis W SYNOPSIS at 14 henra of ago age admiral sir peter nephew fell deeply in lovo at lloil sight bady arabella stormont who spurned split nol ills him the lad biml tin nn orphan oi plinn avam given a berth an aa inid on the ajax by lila its uncle giles vernon nephew of sir thomas vernon became the boys pal CHAPTER I 1 continued now tho the peculiar circumstances ot of my bringing up had given tile ino a ridiculous di haugh haughtiness for hetty green lind had never ceased to implore nio nib to remember my quality so I 1 coplind to this offhand off hand speech in ili kind ind A still ship of the line hald 1 I Dan damme inic do you think id serve lit in a gun brig ile he came anio up ili a 1 ditto choki to me ile looked at lit nie attentively mid ind said its an infant It odney suro was riot not americus your grandfather and was not your graild brand mother in fit lovo love with noah when lie ho was oakum boy at tile tho portsmouth docks 7 I 1 considered this very offe nilve and drawing myself up ill suld bald my aly grandfather was a baronet baro I 1 let and my granduncle grand uncle Is admiral sir peter whose flagship as you may know Is tile tho ajax 71 74 1 I know jilin him well responded my new acquaintance ne wo were drunk together this night week lie ile bears for arms lots lota nelfo after sho was waa turned into a pillar of salt with this device 1 I ahw this waa an illusion to tho for 1 I 1 soon found that tho th e young gentlemen gen tio nien in the cockpit were wera intimately acquainted with all of the glorious or otherwise of their superior off officers leers the lie in ili the tha early part of 0 tills this sentence was patent to me but so grent great was yaa the power to charm of this tellow i ill that ilat I 1 felt myself drawn to him irresistibly and nd something in my countenance showed it ft for lie ho linked ills his arm through inina and began again 1 11 I know your groat great aunt too polly dreadful old girl I 1 hear she bho can tack ship as well as the ad miral knows to a shilling what ills his mesa mass bill Is and teaches him trigonometry nor when lie he Is on leave this was of course a vilification find and lady name was not net polly but apollonea Apoll onla onta but I 1 blush to ray cay I 1 spoke riot not ono one word in defense of either her or liar her name it occurred to me ilia that my new friend was wad a person who could give me much information about my outfit and uniforms and I 1 candidly stated my caso case to him como come on lie ho cried theres a rascal of a haberdasher horo here who lives oil oft his maje officers and ill take you yon thero there and fit you out for sir peters the man mail to have ills his young officers gulcera smart A friend of mine poor fellow I 1 bapp happened ened to be caught in mattl in the ajax the other day and sir peter had all hands turned up for an execution my unhappy friend bogged begged that he might be shot instead of hanged and sir peter ill admit granted him the favor the poor fellow tied the handkerchief over his bis eyes himself forgave all his enemies and asked tits hla friends to pay his debts zounds the most affecting scene I 1 ever witnessed I 1 plainly perceived that my companion was talking to frighten me and showed it by thrusting my tongue into my cheek check which caused him to burst out laughing lie ile presently became grave however and assured me ine solemnly that a sea officer had bad his choice of dressing handsomely or being court and shot for said lie the ono one hundred undred li and forty fourth regulation of tho the service sen ice reads all ot of his maje sert sea officers are commanded to marry heiresses and tit in those these cases the usual penalties for tile the of heiresses aro are remitted 1 now how can wo we abduct heir asee or evan get them to look at us without fine clothes women my boy are caught by tile the eye alone and I 1 know em by gad this trifling speech remained in my memory and the nay L ay came when I 1 recalled the idle idie talk of us its two laughing midshipmen as prop prophetic hatle we went together to a shop where under tinder ills his direction and that of an ail oily tongued I 1 ordered one of the handsomest any midshipman could possibly have including two dozen of silk stockings as my newfound new found friend informed me that every roan man on board tits his maje ships from the admiral down to the lack acko W tho th odus dust always wore bilk stockings because in the event of being struck by a ball or a pike or a cutlass tn in action the danger from inflammation flam mation was much less with silk than with cotton or wool kit all went swimmingly until unell it was time to pay ay for tho things thon then I 1 acknowledge I 1 was waa at it loss lose the sli alio suddenly changing his tone cried out to my companion air olios vernon I 1 remember the last reefer you brought horo here bought near a boat boatload lorid ant abul paid with the foresail ns Is you gentlemen of tho sea call it I 1 will riot not be done this time I 1 assure you at this illes giles vornon vernon promptly drew tits fila sword which did riot not disturb them the hi tile tho least an I 1 found out afterward young gentlemen gentleman of olles adilea ago and rank in portsmouth drew their swords whenever they could not draw drav their purses iut but I 1 wash was very unhappy not on geleal account but on aidt of nf the poor whom I 1 expected to see weltering lit in hla his blood after a wordy war giles left aft the shop taking with will him and menacing the in citso the he purchases I 1 lind ordered did riot not como come aboard tho the ajax that night I 1 thought it wise to suggest that I 1 should now go BO aboard as it was well on oil to three giles with nic me I 1 liar had forgotten to ask jilin him what still lie IB was attached to but it suddenly occurred to mo me that lie he too might be in tile the ajax and I 1 asked him imagine my delight when lie he said yes but it 1 tile tho admiral does not be ba have himself better lio lie added and if the captain does riot not ask me to dinner 11 or oftener than ho to has been doing lately I 1 shall prefer charges against both of them I 1 have been assured by the lord in fit admiralty that any request of mine will be regarded as an order by them and I 1 shall request that admiral hawkshaw and capt elul ford lie ho relieved of their commands ny by that time we had reached the witter water and there stepping into a splendid olgat oared barge I 1 saw sam sir peter hawkshaw ile ho caught sight of us at tho the same moment and the change lit in giles Ver vernona manner was waa what might havo have been expected he was oven even more arid and deferential than 1 I as aa we advanced you arol anro pleasantly cried thu the admiral to me you ran lan away so be fast day that I 1 had no chanco chance to give you tiny any directions and I 1 pe scarcely arcely expected you to turn up today I 1 az P 4 arabella Ilo however wever I 1 shall now tako take you to the ship mr vernou vernon I 1 have room for you thank you sir responded giles very gratefully but I 1 have a pressing engagement on shore a matter of tm bu business at which I 1 saw the suspicion of a grin on the admirals homely old face lie ho said little to me until we were in the great cabin of tho the ajax for myself I 1 can only say that I 1 was so awed by the beauty the ina majesty jesty tho the splendor of ono one of the finest ships of the line in the world that I 1 was dumb with delight and amazement once in the cabin the admiral asked me about my means and my outfit I 1 burst out with the whole story of what occurred in the haberdashers haberdashery haber dashers shop at which sir peter looked very solemn and lectured me upon the recklessness of my conduct in ordering things with no money monay to pay for them hem and followed it up with tin an oner offer to fit mo me out handsomely this I 1 accepted with the utmost gratitude and in iii a day or two I 1 found myself established ns as one of his maje midshipmen midshipman in the cockpit of the ajax and I 1 began to see life CHAPTER 11 my Intro introduction luction into the ilia cockpit of the ajax was pretty much that of overy every other reefer in his maje navy I 1 was was of course told that 1 I showed the most brazen presumption in daring to wish to enter the naval service that I 1 ought to be a choir boy at st pauls that haymaking was my profession by nature to say nothing of an exchange of black eyes and bloody noses with every midshipman of my size lit in the cockpit through all this giles vernun vernon was my chief tormentor and best friend lie ile proclaimed the fact of my dry salting ancestry and when 1 impudently reminded him that I 1 was the grandson of a baronet baro nut he gave me one kick for the arid and the baronet lie ho showed me inc a battered old cocked hat hung up on a nail in the steerage country co antry do you see that hat you young rapscallion lie he asked I 1 replied that I 1 did and a shocking bad hat it was too that hat was once the property of that old pirate arid and buccaneer sir peter hawkshaw vice admoral of the white it is named after him and wite whenever its his conduct displeases the junior officers on this ship which it generally does that hat dear boy Is kicked and add cursed as a proxy for your respected non was undoubtedly the smartest officer among thern them and cock of the walk between decks ile ho had cunti in morable erable good qualities but tho beggarly virtue of pk was waa not among great uncle now understand your sotir position in ili aho ho cockpit Is that of abla hat in fact you will take the havil hata place which I 1 found to be true and I 1 was called to account every day for sonio sonic part of the conduct of admiral although 1 did not see him twice in fit the week mr buxton our first was a line fine arid and celebrated for lie licit ins ing midshipmen into shape and if I 1 learned my duty quickly lie he Jat rather lier than 1 I deserves the credit my experience of other ships convinces tile ine that tile juniors tn in tile the ajax were clever fellows hut but giles ver them hom lie ile had however another virtue in ili a high degree it a daring and invincible coinage that and ills his smart jeaa as an officer made ad mr air buxton his friend and caused many of his peccadilloes to be overlooked the fact that at 19 giles vornon vernon was still only a midshipman made nil ma think that lie was without fortuno fortune or influence but I 1 was soon enlightened on tile the subject though not by him he was the distant cousin and heir of sir thomas vernon of vernon court near york and of grosvenor square london this man was generally spoken of as aa the wicked sir thomas and 4 i mortal hatred subsisted between him mid his heir giles had been caught trying to induce tile tho money sharks to take hla his pos but as sir thomas was not yet GO 00 years of ago and it was quite possible that he should marry the only result was waa to fan the flame of animosity between him and hla his heir without giles getting a shilling the next heir to giles was another cousin remote f from rain both him anil and sir thomas 0 one no capt philip overton of the guards who was as much disliked by sir thomas as was giles giles who had been at sea since ills his twelfth year knew little or nothing of capt Oy oberton Ch erton although lie ho swore many times almos in a month that lie he meant to marry many the first woman wiio who would take him for the purpose of cutting ort off ertons overtones Ov hopes but it occurred to me young as I 1 was that giles was not the man to give up hla his liberty to the first woman who was willing to accept or oc it wo we were fitting tor for the mealter manean and tha ship lay in the inner harbor ut tit portsmouth waiting liar her turn turi L to go lit in try dry dock clock to be ba coppered there was plenty for the seniors to do but riot not much tor for tile tho midshipmen midshipman at that particular time and we had more moio runs rn shore than usual tho the rest of its wore were satisfied with portsmouth but giles was always raving laving of london arid and tile london playhouses knowing ho how long I 1 had lived in london ho he said to mo me ono one day were you over ever at drury lato theater my lad ad I 1 said dia I 1 had never been to the playhouse and I 1 blushed as I 1 said it not desiring my messmates mess mates to know that I 1 had been brought up babetty by Betty green it a corporals widow then child ho he cried whacking mo me on oil tile tho back you have yet to live hae you yon riot not seen mistress Ml the divine sylvia as roxana as lady percy as violetta Vl oletta olt oh what ft a galaxy of parts oh tho the divine r crea rea ho threw himself across the mess mass table at that for wo we were lit in the cockpit at the time I 1 laughed boyll ke at his raptures and he groaned loudly such a face and figure such a foot and ankle such a melting eyel eye such a luscious lus cloua voice I 1 own that this outburst did more to make me realize that giles after all was but 19 than anything that had gone before for I 1 knew that older men did not so rave and ho he cried wildly 1 I can not see sea her before we sail dy by heaven I 1 will sea her 74 wiles miles between me and liar her angol angel face it can be done in 7 hours and 20 minutes I 1 can get 24 hours leave but not a word of this you haymaking son of a farmer TO DP DE CONTINUED 5 |