Show c BULLY BOY LEIGH by RICHARD V copyright by joseph bowles midshipman hon geeald leigh 0 her majesty s service walked the deck of the amphibian w th a big telescope under his arm and discontent in hia heair it was stupid eno agh to be shut up on board a man of war with nothing to do except pace backward and for ward it was infinitely more so when there was plenty of ashore with a prospect of a ahe row before the day was over over there at honolulu the king lay dead and the nobles and represents alves of the kingdom were s eting in solemn conclave to select his successor for the king had left no heir and had een tailed to take advantage of that provision of the hawaiian constitution which permitted him to name the per son who should come after him on the throne there had been talk of an uprising many of the natives had declared that they would never submit to be governed by any other than the widowed queen emma and it was said that the nobles and re presenta alves were opposed to emmas sion just as midshipman leigh s watch was relieved a boat came off from the shore with midshipman arthur bailey oh jerry he cried as he stepped aboard the old man said I 1 was to tell you that you could have liberty he sent me back said be dian didn t need me but I 1 don t care for nothing s going to happen they re as harmless as guinea pigs midshipman leigh was over the side in a jiffy and into the boat that had brought bailey f when the boat reached the landing 1 e stepped ashore quickly and started toward the scene of interest in the town few people were in the streets but around the courthouse where the leg was sitting was a great crowd mostly natives walking back to the landing place that night he decided that being a naval officer gasn wasn t such a bad thing plunged into the melee after all and he confessed to being rather glad that he was a younger son and wouldn t succeed tp the title and be obliged to settle down at leigh house where there gasn wasn t any excite ment or chance to oneself jut then midshipman leigh s pleas ant reverie was interrupted by boia berous noise show us the bloody lime juicers was the cry that leigh heard as he came up with blue jackets a hundred or more of them he aw with dismay that they were from the american ships of war here s a pretty mess said he midshipman leigh knew that there had been an agreement between his captain and the senior american naval officer that british and american sea men should not be allowed shore lib erty at the same time evidently there had been a misunderstanding some where tor that very night several score of british blue jackets lime juicers to the americans were enjoying themselves in honolulu if the two factions met there was bound to be a fight as leigh well knew there wa enough of traditional ill feeling be tween the men of her majesty s ice and those who were employed by uncle sam and this had been anten rifled at honolulu over the belief among the americans that the brit ih ship had come to put queen emma on the throne and the supposition of the Britis hers that kalakaua owed his success to yankee the roistering tars were near the water front row hooray for dave calico down with the lime juicers they shouted from the distance came an answering shout of defiance cod fish codfish they were at it in a minute or two each side eager for the fray leigh was at a loss what to do he did not care to be mixed up in a brawl between seamen but he was a british officer and perhaps duty de banded that he sho lid interfere he ran forward undetermined but satis bed that the affair was serious A glance showed him that the alphi baans men were getting the worst of it midshipman leigh forgot that he was an officer and a gentleman forgot everything except that his men were being ported anc rolling up the sleeves of his short uniform jacket plunged into the melee the british sailors recognized imme that they had a leader and an officer at that they rallied quickly and so terrific was their onslaught that the americans were beaten back hooray for the 1 atle one yelled her maesky s blue jackets stand by the little one and for the next few min tf the british had the honors all that night the marines worked hard arresting the riotous bluejacket and the brigs and ho petals on the two ire rican ships an on the opre filled to overflowing mi iship man leigh had managed to get on hoard the amphibian biti out being obliged to exhibit his wounds but he knew they could not be concealed in the morning hats thata cried capt knapp of the merican merl can ship when he heard of the melee led by a british officers 9 this Is outrageous and I 1 won t stand it call away the cutter sir capt knapp proceeded straight to the american legation and palled by the minister called on the british commissioner the three then went to the amphibian where formal complaint was made to capt gleam that one of his officers had led the british tars in a disgraceful attack on american seamen midshipman leigh s black eye and swollen cheek were all that were feces sary to point him out as the culprit but he frankly acknowledged that he had been a participant in the melee and made a poor fist of explaining the extenuating circum stan es man leigh was ordered in arrest and the next steamer carried to san cisco a brief telegram to the admiralty and a long official report to go for ward by mall three mia rable weeks were spent by midshipman leigh on board the amphibian then came another mall steamer with telegraphic instructions from the admiralty to send man leigh t ome the admiralty was willing to hear any statement be had to make said the instructions in or der to determine whether he should be dismissed or given the to resign J thompson seaman U S N went aloft the very day that the instructions from the admiralty were received to fix some spars of the Winni sook and missed his footing midshipman ger aid leigh sitting disconsolate on the deck of the amphibian a hundred yards away saw the man fall in an instant leigh was overboard and when the cutter from the winal sook reached the spot where thompson had disappeared leigh rose to the sur face with the dead body of the sea man in his arms when he handed it over to the boats crew leigh swam back to his own ship the cry of man overboard brought capt knapp to the deck he was just in time to see leigh appear with the seaman s body who was that mana he asked when the boat returned to the little chap beg sir mid shipman who fought our men sir answered the coxswain capt knapp was nothing if not a man of action stay in your places was his order to the boats crew and when thompson s body bad been hoisted aboard the commanding of fleer nimbly went down the side ladder and took his place la the stern the amphibian saia he capt knapp appeared to be excited when be reached the deck of the am phabian capt gleam he burst forth you ve got an officer on your ship who has just performed a gallant act sir which my government will not pass unnoticed I 1 understand sir that be 1 about to be sent to england to suffer for some slight infraction of the regulations to that young man sir would be an outrage sir I 1 may remark capt knapp the british commander said that it was your complaint that caused the al miralta to take the action it did with reference to midshipman leigh then I 1 withdraw my complaint sir and desire that the admiralty be not fled to that effect sir when the mall steamer alcatraz left her wharf two hours later she car ried some official communications in which the name of midshipman leigh appeared more than once nearly 0 month later the alcatraz was again at her wharf in honolulu she had just arrived from san fran cisco her commander personally de livered the official mail addressed to capt gleam when capt gleam had finished reading his gaail he sent for man leigh mr leigh he said you are restored to duty the admiralty will send an admonitory letter but in view of your act of heroism and the request of capt knapp you are to suffer no other punishment As the Winni sook steamed out past the amphibian next day the ameri can blue jackets manned the rigging and cheered the officers and the crew of the englishmen were too sur to respond A lot of bunting brol e out from the signal mast of the Winni sook it took a minute for those on board the amphibian to read the flag symbols then there was a scram ble for the sides and rigging capt gleam led the responsive cheers three of them and a tiger and a midshipman on her majesty s ship found his eyes so dim that he coulden couldn t read the signal again ama is what it said bully boy leigh |