Show 3 STORY SJ copyright bobbs SYNOPSIS at 14 sears ot age admiral sir peter nephew fell deeply in love at sight with bady arabella stormont Who spurned his attentions the lad an orphan was given a berth as mid chipman on the ajax by hia uncle giles vernon nephew ot sir thomaa vernon became the bo a pal CHAPTER I 1 continued now the peculiar circumstances ot my bringing up had given me a rl di culous haughtiness tor betty green had never ceased to implore me to re member my quality so I 1 replied to this off band speech in kind A ship ot the line said I 1 damme do you think id serve ao 10 a gun briga he came up a little closer to me looked at me attentively and said it s in infant rodne sure haq j not americus Amerl cus vespucius your grand fathers and was not our grand mother in loe with aoah when he was oakum boy at the portsmouth docks I 1 considered this very offensive and drawing myself up said my grandfather was a baronet and my grand uncle Is admiral sir peter hawkshaw whose flagship as you may know Is the ajax 71 I 1 know him well responded my new acquaintance e were together this night week he bears or arms lots wife after she was turned into a pillar of salt with this device 1 I thirst this was an allusion to the daiy diy for I 1 soon found that the young gentlemen in the cockpit were intimately acquainted with all of the antecedents glorious or otherwise of their superior officers the lie in the early part of this sentence was patent to me but so great was the power to charm of this squinting wide mouthed fellow that I 1 felt myself drawn to him irresistibly and something in my countenance showed it tor he linked hia arm through mine and began again 1 I knoy your great aunt too polly hawkshaw dreadful old girl I 1 hear she can tack ship as well as the ad amiral knows to a shilling what his mess bill is and teaches him trigonometry when he Is on leave this was of course a vilification and lady haw shaws name was not polly but apolonia but I 1 blush to cay I 1 spoke not one word in defense of either her or her name it occurred to me that my new friend was a per son who could give me much informs alon about my outfit and uniforms and I 1 candidly stated my case to him come on be cried there s a rascal of a haberdasher here who lives off his majesty s officers and take you there and fit you out for sir peters the man to have his young officers smart A friend of mine poor fellow I 1 happened to be caught in mufti in the ajax the other day and sir peter had all hands turned up tor an execution my unhappy friend begged that he might be shot instead ot hanged and sir peter admit granted him th favor the poor fel low tied the handkerchief over his eyes himself forgave all his enemies and asked bis friends to pay his debts zounds tho most at teching scene I 1 ever witnessed I 1 plainly perceived that my corn canlon waa talking to frighten me and showed it by thrusting my tongue into my cheek which caused him to burst out laughing he presently became grave however and assured me sol emaly that a sea officer had his choice of dressing handsomely or being court martl aled and shot for said he the one hundred and forty fourth regulation ot the service reads all of his majesty a sea officers corn banded to marry heiresses and in these cases the usual penalties tor the abduction abduct ton of heiresses are re now how can we abduct heir esses or even get them to look at us without fine clothes women my boy are caught by the eye alone and I 1 know by gad this rifling speech remil ned in my memory and the day came when I 1 recalled the idle talk of us two laugh ing midshipmen as prophetic e went together to a shop where under hia direction and that of an oily tongued I 1 ordered one of the handsomest outfits any mid shipman could possibly have include ing two dozen ot silk stockings as my new found friend informed mo that every man on board his majesty s from the admiral down to the duat always wore silk stockings because in the event of being astruck by a ball or a pike or a la action the danger from in flam matlon was much leee with silk than with cotton or wool all went unell it was time to pay for the things then ij acknowledge I 1 was at a loss the suddenly changing his tone cried out fo my companion mr giles vernon I 1 the last reefer pu brought here bought near a boatload and paid with the fore sail as iou gentlemen of the sea call it I 1 will not ba done rne I 1 as sure you at this giles ernon promptly drew bis avord which did not disturb the in the least as I 1 found out afterward boung gentlemen of giles age and rank in portsmouth drew their swords whenever they could not draw their but I 1 was very unhappy not on giles account but on that of the poor whom I 1 ex peeled to see weltering in his blood after a ordy ar giles left the shop taking me with him and menacing the in case the purchases I 1 had ordered did not come aboard the ajax that night I 1 thought it wise to suggest that I 1 should now go aboard as it was well on to three clock agreed with me I 1 had forgotten to ask him what ship be was attached to ant it sud denly occurred to me that he too might be in the ajax and I 1 asked him imagine my delight when he said yes but it the admiral does not be have himself better be added and it the captain does not ask me to dinner oftener than he has been doing lately I 1 shall prefer charges against both of them I 1 have been assured by the lord in admiralty that any request of mine will be re girded as an order by them and I 1 shall request that admiral hawkshaw and capt elul ford be relieved of their commands by that time we bad reached the water and there stepping into a asplen did eight oared barge I 1 saw sir peter hawkshaw he caught sight of us at the same moment and the change in giles vernon s manner wat what might have been expected he was even more modest and deferential than I 1 is we advanced you aret pleasantly cried the admiral to me you ran away so fast t other day that I 1 had no chance to ghe ou iny directions and I 1 scarcely expected you to turn up to arabella day however I 1 ashall now take you to the ship mr vernon I 1 have room tor you thank you sir responded giles gratefully but I 1 have a pressing engagement on shore a matter of am business at which I 1 saw the suspicion of a grin on the admirals homely old face he said little to me until we were in the great cabin of the alax for myself I 1 can only say that I 1 was so awed by the beauty the kalesty ma lesty the splendor of 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 J burst out with the whole story of what occurred in the haberdashery haberdashers haber dashers at which sir peter looked very solemn and lectured me upon tho recklessness of my conduct in ordering things with no money to pay for them and followed it up with an offer to fit me out handsomely this I 1 accepted with the utmost agrati tude and in a day or two I 1 found my self established as one of bis majesty s midshipmen in the cockpit of the ajax and I 1 began to see life CHAPTER II 11 my introduction nto the cockpit of the ajax was pretty much that of every other reefer in his majesty navy I 1 was of course told that I 1 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 noth ing of an exchange of black eyes and bloody noses with every midshipman of my size in the cockpit through all this giles vernon was my chief tormentor and best friend he proclaimed the fact of my dry salting an bestry and when I 1 impudently re minded him that I 1 was the grandson grand gon ofa of a baronet be gae me one kick tor the and two tor the baronet he showed me a battered old cocked hat hung up on a nail in the steerage country do you see hit hat you young rapscallion he asked I 1 replied that I 1 did and a shocking bad hit it was too 4 that hat wis jonce the property ot that old pirate ind buccaneer sir peter hawkshaw odthe white it is named atter him and whenever bis conduct sp leases tha junior of bleers on this ship which 1 generally does that bat dear boy Is kicked and cursed as a proxy for om respected o 0 was undoubtedly tin smartest of fleer among them and cock of the between decko he meriable good qualities but the beggarly virtue of prudenca was not among great uncle isow understand your position in the that of this hat in cacti son win take the hats place which I 1 found to be true and I 1 was billed to account aery day to some part ot the conduct 0 admiral hawkshaw although I 1 did not see him twice in the week mr buxton our first lieutenant wag fine officer and celebrated for lick ing midshipmen into shape andelt learned my duty quickly he rather than I 1 deserves the credit my experience of other vinces roe that the juniors in the ajax wore clever fellows but giles ver them he bad however another virtue in a high degree a daring and invincible courage that and hia smartness as an officer made mr buxton his friend and caused many of his peccadilloes to be overlooked the act that at 19 giles vernon was still only a midshipman made me think that he was without fortune or influence but I 1 was soon enlightened on the subject though not by him he was the distant cousin and heir ot sir thomas vernon of vernon court near york and of grosvenor square lon don this man was generally spoken of as the wicked sir thomas aad mortal hatred subsisted between him and his heir giles had been caught trying to induce the money sharks to take his but as sir thomas ft as not yet 50 years of age and it was quite possible that he should marry the only result was to fan the flame of animosity between him and hia heir without giles getting a shilling the next heir to giles was another cousin remote from both him and sir thomas one capt philip overton of the guards who was as much disliked by sir thomas as was giles giles who had been at sea since his twelfth year knew little or nothing ot capt overton although he swore many times in a month that he meant to marry the first woman who would take him for the purpose of cutting off Ov ertons hopes but it occurred to me young as I 1 was that giles waa not the man to give up his liberty to the first woman who was willing to accept of if we ere fitting for the mediterranean and the ship lay in the inner harbor at portsmouth waiting her turn to go in dry dock to be coppered there was plenty for the seniors to do but not much tor th midshipmen at that particular time and we had more runs en shore than usual the rest of us were satisfied with portsmouth but giles was always raving ot bondon and the london playhouses knowing bow long I 1 had lived in london he said to me one day were you ever at drury late thea ter my lad I 1 said no 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 by betty green a corporal s widow then child he cried whacking me on the back you have set to live have you not seen mistress trenchard the divine sylvia as roxana as lady percy as violetta oh what a galaxy ot parts oh the divine creature lie threw himself across the mess table at that for we svere in the cockpit at the time I 1 laughed at his raptures and he groaned loudly such a face and figure 1 such a foot and ankle such a melting eyel such a luscious 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 tor f knew that older men did not so rave and he cried wildly 1 I can not see her before we sail by heaven I 1 will see her 74 miles between me and her 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 ha making son of a farmer TO qc |