MIDSHIPMAN BOB, . BY E. L. DORSEY. REPRINTED FROM THE "AVE MARIA. "AVE MARIA" OFFICE: NOTRE DAME, IND. COPYRIGHTED, 1886. BY D. E. HUDSON. DEDICATION. TO BOYS IN GENERAL, BUT PARTICULARLY TO THOSE WHO ARE PLUCKILY FIGHTING THEIR WAY AGAINST THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL, TOWARDS A MANHOOD WORTHY OF THEIR FAITH, THEIR COUNTRY AND THEMSELVES, THIS VOLUME IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED. 2229055 PART I. I. WE were at our wits' end. Bob, the only grandson in the family, had been East to visit our oldest brother, and had come home wild about the sea. He dreamed of it, he talked of it ; he devoured Cooper, Marryatt, and Mayne Keid ; he routed in junk-shops, until his room was an armory of old swords, cutlasses, and pistols ; he bought prints of ships at every possible angle of sailing, and his portfolio was bursting with pictures of sea-fights. But this was simply the prelude to our woe. He declared he was going to be a sailor, and the only thing that kept him from rushing off immediately was that he could not make up his mind whether to ship 5 6 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. aboard a whaler and go to the frozen North, or a fruit-vessel bound for the tropics, or (and this was his favorite) to go out to China to fight pirates! We argued, we pleaded, we begged, we im- plored; but the louder our eloquence waxed the more his brown eyes would flash, his chin square itself, and his very curls look rebellious. Not that he said much: he was too good a boy for that ; but we could get no promise from him, nor could we persuade him to give up the project. In the midst of our perplexity we made our usual summer move to our country home, which was so far removed from the city that we heard Mass only when Father McDonald could be spared from his small parish church at Shrewsbury, or his chapel at Whitfield, or his mission at Town- ley. Whenever he came, there was great rejoicing ; and, as we always had the pleasure of entertaining him, we would notify the Catholic neighbors the day before "Lsetare Sunday" (as we called our Mass-day), and MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 7 quite a little congregation would assemble to assist at the Holy Sacrifice and go to confession and Holy Communion. We heard the priest was due the Sunday after our arrival; and, as he was a prime favorite of Bob's, we determined to lay our trouble before him. Imagine, then, our disappointment when a strange priest pre- sented himself, saying Father McDonald was ill, and had asked him to take his place. He was a square-shouldered man, with blue eyes, a bronzed face, and an indescribable something in his walk that suggested the open air (and plenty of it) and military training. His manner was simple and di- rect, and as one after the other of us went to confession, we were so impressed by his sturdy common sense that we concluded to talk to him about Bob as frankly as we would have done to Father McDonald. At breakfast, the favorable impression was .deepened; and, better still, he won our boy by a hearty answer, and an interested dis- cussion about lacrosse; so much so, that 8 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. after we had finished our meal he invited "Father Jerome" (as he bade us call him) to go up to his "cabin" (otherwise bed- room) and see his " collection." Always polite, the dear boy turned to his mother and myself and asked us to go too ; she ex- cused herself, but I thanked him and went, thinking it a good opportunity to approach the subject nearest our hearts. As we entered, the priest said, in a hearty voice: "Why, this is famous! Did you do it all yourself ! " "Yes, Father," said Bob, flushing with pride. " I haven't seen such a neat cabin since I was aboard the old Cumberland.' 1 ' 1 " The Cumberland! " cried Bob, eager, breathless. "Yes: I was aboard of her when she went down." "Oh, were you were you? Sit down here on this locker, please, and tell me about it " ; and he grasped Father Jerome's arm, literally gasping with excitement. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 9 " But, my lad, it's a long yarn, and I must not trespass on the time of your moth- er and aunt." " Father," I answered, honestly enough (although my heart sank a trifle at the rather inauspicious beginning), "the longer you can stay, the happier we shall be; and if you will spare time to tell our boy the story, we will all feel obliged to you for your kindness." " Very well," he said, and without more ado he seated himself on the locker, and, after several keen glances at the eager boy, the room and its decorations, and my anxious face, he began: " When I was about fourteen years old I was wild to go to sea. My father was dead, and my mother and brothers lived on a little farm in Northern Ohio. We worked hard and lived simply, for we were very poor, and I soon got tired of it; and, after making my mother miserable, and my brothers angry, I ran off in the middle of the harvest, to work and tramp my way to New York. All the 10 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. way on the road the sad face of my mother, with its lines of care and eyes full of tears, was before me ; her brown hands, that were hard with labor, and yet so tender, seemed to be drawing me back at every step; but I hardened my heart, and went ahead dog- gedly, declaring I wouldn't go back, and I wouldn't write until I had done something famous; and then I slipped off into dreams of glory and gunpowder. " The war had broken out the spring be- fore, and the villages on the road were full of soldiers, drilling, marching, hurrahing-, and sometimes I almost thought I'd like to go into the army, but a little reflection would leave me as sea-mad as ever. "I got into New York, dirty, hungry, and almost stunned by the noises and the rush of the crowd. I clung to the railings near Union Square, sick and disheartened. The stream went by, and I stared stupidly at it, until rolling down the street, with a genuine sea- walk, came an old sailor, togged out in a new suit of blue and white, with his hat MIDSHIPMAN BOB. H balanced on the back of his head at a most surprising angle. I let go my hold and rushed up to him, and gave his sleeve a stout tug. "'Ahoy!' he shouted. 'What have we here ! ' " ' Oh, please, sir! ' I gasped. " ' What d'ye want, my lad? Speak out! ' And he stopped, and gave his trowsers a hitch, and shifted his quid of tobacco, just as the sailors in stories always do; but somehow in real life it scared me, and I only stared at him. I suppose I looked miserable enough, for he patted me on the shoulder, and said: ' ' ' Cheer up, and take yer time. Hungry ? ' " I shook my head. "'Lost?' " This time I glared, for he was treating me like a child. My temper braced me up and steadied me, so I said, pretty stoutly: " ' I want, please, sir, to find the ships. I want to be a sailor.' 12 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. "'Bless my stars! Why, yer nawthin' but a baby ! ' '"I ain't, either! I'm fourteen years old.' " ' What does your ma say to it? ' " I sulked. "'Bun away, hey? Thought so. Well, the bes' thing you kin do, youngster, is to toddle straight home agin.' " My heart swelled, but I proudly choked back my tears. " ' It's too far. Besides, I'm going to be a sailor, if the stars fall ! ' For I was a self-willed lad. And he sighed. "The sailor shifted his quid again, and his eyes twinkled as he said : " ' Wall, 'course we all want the stars to stay aloft. It 'ud be a bad lookout for sail- ors ef they fell. B'lieve, too, the master- at-arms does want a extry powder-monkey. Come along ! ' " And he went yawing and tacking down the street, I paddling after as fast as I could go. We got to the docks, where he hail, and all Orders or Regulations that conflict with the foregoing, are hereby annulled. 156 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. permutations, logarithms, mensuration of rectilinear figures, and so forth English, Ancient History, Rhetoric, Modern History, Geography, and French and Spanish. Then we have drills aboard ship and ashore; marline-spike seamanship, lead and line, ropes, compass, and the rigging-loft. Next year it will be all that, and Physics, Descriptive Geometry, and Trigonometry; Mechanical Drawing, cutting and fitting rigging (wire and hemp) ; rigging and strip- ping ship; making up, bending, unbending, and handling sail; and sailmaking besides. The next year but I'll belay." " My dear," said his mother, " why should you, who are an officer, have to learn all this manual work? You surely are never obliged to do it at sea." "No, ma'am," replied Bob; "but you see we've got to know how it ought to be done, and just how long it ought to take to do it. You know, mother," he continued, earnestly, " a slouchy piece of work, such as a bad bit of rigging, might endanger the life of a ship MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 157 and its whole crew. Don't you remember that, story of the careless carpenter who put in the side of a vessel a piece of timber that had a worm-hole in it, because he was too lazy to get another one, and how the worm gnawed away, and weakened the plank, until once, in a gale, the vessel sprang a leak, and all hands were lost? Well, that's the principle." "And, Madame," said Robertin, "would wonder at the knots Robert can make already." "Yes; Matthew Walker's gr " began Bob, mischievously. "No more of that, Bob!" said his aunt, with dignity. " But," she added, with ani- mation, "I do want to see old Haxall! " " Well, now, you are a daisy! " exclaimed Bob, sincerely gratified. " He's a regular old brick!" "O Bob, such slang!" "Not this time," he answered; "that's classical. It was a Spartan gen-e-ral," he began, in a sing-song tone; "and when the 158 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. hostile am-bassa-dor visited his country, and asked, ' Where are your walls, that you defy us so proudly ? ' he answered, pointing to his soldiers drawn up in a line: 'These are my walls, and every man is a brick.' Now, what do you think of that, ma'am?" " That you are a bigger goose than ever! " Then they went into the mess-hall, where the white - jacketed waiters were flying about, their arms filled with glass and china, and their jolly black faces beaming. Bob explained to his mother how each crew had a table to itself; how the captain of that crew, being a senior classman, gave an eye to the deportment of his youngsters, and preserved a wholesome discipline, with- out checking the fun or comfort. And he called her special attention to the tables themselves, draped with nice linen, set with good china, glass, and silver; and read her the bill of fare, which, comprising as it did a soup, roast, four vegetables, a salad, and dessert, was appetizing. Then he showed her the great block-tin cylinders, in which MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 159 the tea, coffee, and cocoa for breakfast and supper were made, and kept " piping " dur- ing meals; and the carving-tables, dished at short intervals, and zinc-covered, with a steam coil under them, and capacious gravy " gutters " ; for it is a fixed principle at' the Naval Academy that not only shall the mid- shipmen be served abundantly, but that whatever they get shall be hot and appetiz- ing. He also pointed out with pride the rifle-scores made and the race-trophies carried off by the various crews (during the half-term), which decorated the walls and stanchions; and, finally, as they turned to leave the building, he got one of the waiters to bring him the breakfast and supper menu, which he handed his aunt. Then he led them through the winding paths, past the great bronze bell (cast and carved in Japan, and sent home by Perry as a token of good- will) ; past the monument " raised by midshipmen " the stone says to Pillsbury, Clemson, Hynson, and Gleason (other midshipmen, who fell long years ago 160 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. at Vera Cruz) ; past the band- stand, with the shining water always before them, until they turned to the left, and entered on another phase of their sight-seeing. VI. THAT certainly was a busy day for Bob, and his tongue rattled so fast that his aunt pretended to be seriously alarmed for the safety of his hinge-pins. In her heart she rejoiced in the boy's delight, and was really surprised at the amount of information he had already gathered about his profession and his surroundings. "And as she gazed, the wonder grew"; for when they went into the old gunnery (now the headquarters of the Naval Insti- tute), he had something to tell of every flag and every object of interest there dis- played. " See here, Aunt Nell," .he said, " this great chap is the royal standard captured at York.* This fellow's the ensign of the Peacock, and this" with kindling eyes * Now Toronto. 11 161 102 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. "is Perry's own. See, aunt look!" and he pointed to the great white letters, " Don't give up the ship!" that sprawled over its surface. " You know those were Lawrence's last words. He sang 'em out when he was dying, aboard the Chesapeake. And, then, wasn't it just a burning shame that those beastly Lascars struck, and ran below, almost without a show of fighting? The Americans in the crew didn't have a fair chance; for before the ship sailed, they changed the drummer for a bugler; and he was a darky, and got so scared when the Shannon and Chesapeake fouled, that when Lawrence or- dered the boarders called away, he couldn't make a sound, and they had to be scrambled together the best way they could. You know in those days they kept the boarding- arms around the mast "Boarders?" said his aunt, in a puzzled way. " Did they take passengers about in war-ships in those days?" Bob stared at her a minute. "Gracious, no! Boarders are the chaps MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 163 told off to make a dash onto the enemy's deck when two ships grapple. On land," he added, in a lofty, explanatory way, as if he were then afloat, and never expected to raise a coast-line again, "you'd call it a ' charge.' " "Where is Lawrence buried, Bob?" asked his aunt, wishing to make amends for her blunder. "Here?" " No," said Bob, his face falling. " He's buried in Halifax. It's a disgrace out and out ; for even if he was dead when the white flag was run up, and hadn't any say, I don't think his country ought to let his dust lie there in a foreign soil. He isn't all alone, though, for his men are at his feet But I don't like to think about it. This" he turned to the flags again "is the Co- rean Royal Standard our fellows captured at Sun-tol-mok in '70. Isn't that a bird of dragon, though? And those black spots are Hugh McKee's blood. He was killed just near it, and was covered with it. I wrote you about it. Those things like 164 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. feather dusters are Corean, too; and all these " with a sweep that included a large number of banners, ensigns, and gridirons " were captured during the war of 1812. This was" " Adair! " called a gentle voice just then, and a little figure appeared in the doorway. "Oh, I beg pardon, I'm sure! I did not know any one was with you." " That you, Dalrymple? The very chap I wanted. Come here, and be introduced to my people." And Bob drew him forward, and in a few minutes he was looking with pleased con- fidence into Mrs. Adair' s face, and showing his pretty dimples at the chaff that always flew when Bob and his aunt were together. VII. "LooK here, Steady," said Bob, after a long yarn about the Hornet and the Frolic, so crammed with technicalities that his aunt clasped her head distractedly, and shut her eyes, " I don't believe this dear old chap cares a rapp for sea-fights, so take her over yonder and show her the cannon and flint- locks." "What is there special to see about them?" she asked. "They are Cortez cannon, Ma'm'selle," answered Eobertin; " and the special thing is they are breech-loaders. You know," he added, seeing that she still looked at him expectantly, "we thought breech-loaders were new inventions, but these three-hun- dred-year-old cannon say not. And here's another thing about them: the touch-hole is under the breech ; so the fire did not spirt 165 166 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. up in the faces of the gunners, as it does in ours." "I think it is all frightful!" she ex- claimed " I mean all these fire-arms. It's awful to think that men should use the minds God gave them to invent means of murdering each other! " " Perhaps, Ma'nrselle, the war-engines will become so terrible that nations will not go for each other as carelessly as before," he said, quietly. " Perhaps," and she stared at him reflec- tively. "That's a new idea tome." Then she asked: "Do you believe in fighting?" "For a principle, yes, to the death! " he answered, with emphasis. Then Bob bustled up joyously with his mother and Dal, and they went into the sea- manship building, where, he remarked, his foot was on his native heath, though Mac- gregor didn't happen to be his name. The first object that engaged their atten- tion was the working model of the Aniie- tam ; and, with its towering masts, tracery MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 167 of ropes, delicate spars, and perfect sails, it was worth looking at. The next thing was the array of ropes, splicings, etc., with which the walls were covered. There were specimens of wire rope, hide rope, tarred rope, silk and linen rope, and every kind of hemp that is used in rigging the navies of the world. And the knots and splicings oh, dear! Their names were painted in bold white letters, " so he who runs may read," quoted Bob, with his best air. "Oh, no, my dear!" groaned his aunt; "you mean, so he who reads may run. Who ever heard of such things ? " and she read: " 'Sheep-shank, jar-knot, French and American shroud-knots, diamond on six strands, wall and crown, grommet and sel- vagee straps, three-strand Turk's-head, rose on six strands, paunch mat, breeches mat, Matthew Walker " At this Bob looked down with the deepest interest at his neat Oxford ties, which kept his eyes out of mischief; but his lips twitched, and she added, abruptly: 168 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. "Here, boy, take me away! I feel a strong symptom of imbecility creeping over me." " Well, here's the very thing to restore composure to your nerves, ma'am," he said, pointing with a flourish to the hideous lion that once guarded the deck of the old Macedonian. " Very pretty," she remarked, sarcasti- cally. " Looks as if he'd been put up in curl-papers, and hadn't got over the kinks yet." But to the relics of the Cumberland, the Florida, the Pennsylvania, and the figure- head of the Old Constitution she paid the tribute of silent respect, and found herself really interested in the models of every craft afloat from the flying proa of the South Seas and the Chinese junk, to the 74- line - of - battle and the monitor which adorned the walls of the gallery. As they made their round, Bob put his head into a side room, and there was Haxall " swabbing down decks " (mopping the floor, in other words). MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 169 "Here's luck!" he exclaimed, and told his mother who it was. She looked with in- terest, and, as the old fellow glanced up and saw Bob, such a brightness came into his face that she stepped forward, and said: " I am sure you are Haxall! My son has told me about you." "Has he now, marm?" replied Haxall, pulling his hat off with one hand, and draw- ing the back of the other across his mouth to hide the huge grin of satisfaction that stretched it. "I'm proud, indeed, marm, to see ye; an' I kin jes tell ye one thing, ye ain't got no cause whatsomdever to worrit a grain about that there young gen'leman (he told me wunst ye was sot agin his corn- in' inter the sarvice) ; he's got the makin' of a prime sailor, an' a fustrate off'cer; and he's as clean and white a little man as ever stepped. So don't ye fret, marm." And then, somewhat alarmed at having said so much to that "purty chaney doll of a lady," he raised his hand to his forehead in salute, and " made a leg" (a sailor's bow) 170 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. that was more respectful than graceful. But as the party turned away he asked, in a troubled voice: " Why, Mr. Adair, ye ain't never goin' 'thout showin' the ladies them thar Tra- falgar pictures ? " "That's so, Haxall!" replied Bob, and straightway led them to the awful (artisti- cally) but interesting old paintings. Then they went to Stribling Bow to see the quarters of the two Boberts, and from there to the docks, where the practice ships, prison ships, launches, balsas, and catama- rans were anchored and moored. " See that catamaran," said Bob, after he had told in glowing terms the history of each ship " that black one, bobbing up and down there ? Well, that's the sort of thing Lucien Young rode ashore on when the Huron was wrecked off the Carolina coast." "Wouldn't a boat have been better, my son?" asked his mother, looking with hor- ror at the seemingly flimsy thing. "I don't think so, dearest," he said. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. " You know she " the Huron " grounded on the shoals four hundred yards out, and the waves made a clean breach over her. The first ones smashed the boats on the weather-side, killed the captain, and washed off the executive and a lot of the deck watch; and everything on the lee-side was so awfully mixed up that the men who tried to launch the boats were knocked away, and either killed or drowned. The sea was a smother of breakers, and the sailors and the rigging were going every minute. Besides, I don't believe a boat could have lived "O Bob! why didn't they swim for the shore? Four hundred yards isn't very far," interrupted his aunt, quite pale with the awful story. "Well, my dear," said Bob, "you never saw a storm on the coast, but you can easily believe that swimming through waves as high as the cross-trees yonder, and being hauled under and beaten with the breakers, would make four-hundred yards seem an eternal distance. Besides, pretty nearly 172 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. everybody thought landward was seaward, and such as could swim went the wrong way, and were soon drowned, Lord have mercy on their souls! " After a pause he resumed his narrative: " Young stayed aboard, trying to get the bearings, and hanging to anything he could lay hands on, until a spar fell on him, and caught him across the legs, and mashed him down, with his head in the piece of sail that it had fetched away with it. Then he was in a fix; for every time the poor old Huron gave a roll and that was pretty often, as she took the ground broadside on his head would go under, and the sail didn't drain off quick, and he was almost smothered, besides being nearly broken in two by the spar. But he wriggled loose somehow, and made shift to cut adrift the catamaran ; and he and two sailors got on it, and put out for the shore, paddling, hanging on, and choking, till they felt the sand grind under them. Then Young dragged himself on those banged up legs ever so far * MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 173 four miles, I think to the Life-Saving Station, broke it open (it wasn't the season for a crew to be there), and took what things he could; when he got back, the wreck was empty, and the dead sailors lay in rows on the sand. And those wreckers those wreckers ! " and his boyish face took on a look so stern, so full of white wrath, that his little audience of four watched him spell-bound " they say those men saw the rockets sent up by the Huron; that they saw the blue lights burned while she lay rolling in the jaws of death; that they made no effort to get out the life-boats, and that they pushed the sailors (who struggled through the surf) back into the water to drown, so that they could rob them of their money-belts and clothes. "I hope to God," he added earnestly, "it isn't true ; for " But just then across the water flew the strong, sweet notes of the bugle calling them to formation; and the three lads hauled off their hats, made their best bows and raced 174 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. as hard as they could for the rapidly form- ing line, leaving Mrs. Adair and her sister to make their way back along the pleasant walks to the gate, where Bob met them (having been excused from supper), and took them to the hotel. VIII. The next day a light snow-fall made the walking vile, and filled the air with damp- ness; but Bob and Bobertin took the two ladies around by the fish-market, through a " cut " more short than savory, and in at the gate of the Navy Yard, near the chapel. A few steps thence led them to the library, which is one of the most fascinating places on the grounds. It was formerly the residence of the Co- lonial Governor, and its rooms were left unchanged, as to size and shape, by the au- thorities of the Academy; but they filled them with books (technical and otherwise), with busts, portraits, paintings, and relics; all bearing on the one object of the insti- tution honoring the memory of the nation's great naval dead, and stimulating the stu- dents to serve their country with like devo- tion, and equal credit to their cloth. 175 176 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. Bob pointed out with much gusto the four views of the battle between the Constitution and the Guerri&re, the first of which repre- sents the two ships in the pride of swelling sail and perfect hull; the others, in the va- rious stages of mutilation that befell, until the English wreck was surrendered to the American wreck. And how the boy did talk! He had the naval history at the end of his tongue, and, having a lenient audi- ence, rattled away to his heart's content. The portraits of the Fathers of the Amer- ican Navy were also objects of absorbing interest to him. " See, mother, what a beauty Decatur is ; and Stewart too! He's ' Old Ironsides ' Parnell's grandfather, you know. I think they have the most perfect faces I ever saw. This is Barney, of the Hyder All, don't you remember? And here's Hull. He's not quite such a good-looking chap ; but he isn't bad. Look at the cut of his jib his nose, I mean. Doesn't it set up at a most defiant angle? He's the one that outsailed MIDSHIPMAN BOB. and out-maneuvered the English squadron under Broke, in 1812. There never was such a piece of seamanship since the world began. He fell in with them five days out from the harbor here. There were the Shannon " checking them off on his fingers "the Guerri&re, the Africa, the Belvi- dera, the ^olus, and the prize Nautilus; and the whole kit of them made all the sail they could during the evening and night of the 17th of July, and closed in on the Con- stitution. The actual chase began at five o'clock on the morning of the 18th, and the English ships had more wind than we had; so Hull had all the rope that could be found payed down into the cutters, bent on, a kedge run out half a mile ahead, and let go. Then the crew just clapped on, and walked away with the ship, overrunning and tripping the kedge as she came up with the end of the line. " The boats were so evenly ahead of the ship that they couldn't be seen by the Eng- lishmen, and she just quietly ' progressed ' away from them before they caught on to 12 178 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. the scheme. Then came the tussle; for the enemy held on like bull-dogs, and were clever enough and quick enough to follow up trick for trick. And the Shannon put out her men, and towed and kedged too; while the Guerri&re swelled round, watch- ing her chance to close. " After a while we got a little wind, and sailed a bit; then it failed, and we towed and kedged again. Then Hull had a lot of water started to 'lighten ship,' for it's no joke to tow along a man-of-war under a July sun. " Every now and then a shot plumped alongside, and by and by we began answer- ing with a long eighteen, and with two twenty-four pounders that were run out of the cabin windows. But these twenty-fours had to be stopped off; for the transoms had so much rake, and the windows were so high, and the guns so short, that every time they were fired the explosion humped-up the upper deck, and almost shook the stern- frame out of place. Then came some more MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 179 towing and kedging, with little cat's-paws of wind to whip along in between; and when the third day came the chase was still on. " It must have been beautiful! "-with en- thusiasm "the still sea, the blue aloft and alow, the five frigates just a cloud of canvas from truck to water, and the other six ves- sels dotted around ten flying the English flag, one the American. And, mother, I do think one of the finest things Hull did was when a twelfth sail came fluttering up; as it rose, he saw it was an American merchant- man, and beset as he was he hoisted an English ensign to warn it off; for the other chaps had run up the stars and stripes as a decoy, and it would have been a regular ' walk-into-my-parlor-said-the-spider-to-the- fly ' business, if the little Yankee had come bumping into the tea-party gunpowder-tea party. Ha-ha ! " Well, at seven o'clock that last evening a great squall came tearing along, and Hull had everything kept fast till just before the wind struck the ship. Then he ordered, 180 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. ' Clew up and clew down ! ' The light can- vas was furled, a second reef taken in the mizzen-topsail, and she was under short sail in a jiffy. As soon as she got the weight of the blow, she sheeted home, hoisted fore and main topgallant sails; and while the Englishmen thought she was steering free before the wind, she was flying away from them at the rate of eleven knots an hour. " The next morning the wind fell light, but Hull 'had the sails wet down from the sky-sails to the courses, so they drew for all they were worth ; the squadron was widely scattered by the blow, and at a quarter past eight the chase was off. Come, look at his medal." And Bob showed the case of superb medals, struck off after each great victory, and awarded by Congress to the heroes of 1812. Their busts were in relief on the ob- verse sides, and on the reverse were, finely engraved, the scenes of their triumphs, with sonorous Latin lines of praise, and citation of the deeds commemorated. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. After this outburst the boy called their attention to the portraits of the superintend- ents of the Academy, Buchanan being the first on the list. " He commanded the Merrimack at Hamp- ton Roads, mother; and wasn't it the 'for- tune of war,' sure enough, when he went sailing against Captain Smith's ship (Fa- ther Jerome's Captain Joe, you know) ! For Captain Joe had been a midshipman here under Buchanan, and had made his first cruise in the Merrimack. He was very clever in gunnery, and took special interest in it on that cruise; and it must have been one of those very guns that he had han- dled and commanded that killed him, and set the Congress afire. Dr. Shippen* says when the Merrimack (or, as the 'Johnnies' called her, the Vir- ginia] ranged alongside, Buchanan sang out: " ' Smith, will you surrender? ' * Surgeon U. S. N., to whose devoted courage Cap- tain Smith's family owed the recovery of his body from the burning vessel. 182 MIDSHIPMAN BOB "And he answered: 'No! not while I have a gun left, or a man to work her.' * " And, mother dearest, the first time I go up to Washington I wish you'd give me a letter of introduction to his sister; for they say she's got a first-rate portrait of Captain Joe, and his sword. This sword was given back to her father, the Admiral, f by Cap- tain Tatnall, of the Merrimack, for they were old friends; and he [Tatnall] said: ' Death bridges political differences,' the old brick! " And here's a bust you must both see. He isn't ours, 'except by right of purchase,' like the old General's ancestors in the ' Pi- rates of Penzance.' ' "Who is he?" asked Bob's aunt, looking with close attention* at the splendid, rugged countenance, with its masterful brow and sensitive mouth. * These words are historical. f This officer rendered signal and distinguished ser- vice to the Union cause. His advocacy of iron ships was largely instrumental to their successful adoption; and I have been informed by an ex-Confederate officer that the New Ironsides (built by his advice, named by him for Commodore Stewart, and famous about Hilton Head) was the terror of the Confederacy. MIDSHIPMAN BOB.. 183 "Look at his empty sleeve, Ma'm'selle," said Robertin. "That doesn't help me," she answered, with a brilliant smile; "there are so many empty sleeves since the war." "It's the Nelson of Trafalgar." " And the greatest man that ever lived, I suppose you two think?" she remarked. "I think he was great, Ma'm'selle, cer- tainly," said Robertin, thoughtfully. "He was not a good sailor "What is that!" she asked, surprised, while Bob gasped. " Why, Steady, what under the sun " " No, Robert, not a good sailor, person- ally; for he didn't bother much over ropes and spars, trimming sail, and all that, but left it to his sub-officers, while he worked out the way to handle fleets. That was his metier; he felt the importance of that, and he was a very great fleet-commander. It was that which won Trafalgar to England." Then, embarrassed by such a long speech, Robertin stopped abruptly, and, by way of 184 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. changing the subject, called attention to the view from the Annex window. The Annex is the modern addition to the library a beautiful building, finished with- in and without in pressed brick ; the girders, rafters, ceiling, and trimmings being of an oak so rich and golden in color as to look like sunshine. Its walls are lined with val- uable books ; a wide oaken table runs down its center, and finely-carved oaken chairs, upholstered in stamped leather, are ranged about it. A great window "gives" on the Severn, and looks like a splendid picture hung on the wall. After they had enjoyed the shifting scene for a while, Bob's mother said: "Come, dear, let us go now and see if our flowers have come from Baltimore; and then let us have an early dinner, so we can go to confession before dark." For it was Christmas Eve, and the dear little lady had ordered a hamper of bloom for the altar, next day. The afternoon was spent in quiet and MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 185 devout preparation for the great event of Christmas; for Father Grotius had decided to give Dalrymple conditional baptism, as it was impossible to ascertain whether any member of the stricken, agonized household had thought of baptizing the child while the young mother, so beloved, so lovely, lay dying; and it was certainly not done afterward. In the morning (for our boys had a " special permit " to leave the Navy Yard at 4. 30 a. m. ) , while the stars and frost made the darkness glorious, they joined the throng that pressed with hurrying feet toward St. Mary's, for the first Mass. The church is a fine specimen of the % Gothic, and in its Christmas garb was radi- ant. Some of the Catholic sailors had asked and obtained permission to decorate it, and the marvelous festoons of crowfoot and evergreen that seemed to float in mid-air, the crosses, stars, and garlands, were a tes- timony of their skill and piety. The main altar was a pyramid of light, and the flow- 186 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. ers Mrs. Adair had sent filled the air with a sweetness as penetrating as the odor of the incense. The two Roberts, and Bob's mother and aunt, received Holy Communion, and to Dal- rymple came the great Sacrament of Regen- eration. The boy was in such an exalted state, and his soul shone so clearly from his great eyes, that Mrs. Adair fairly started as she looked at him; and her heart yearned over the young mother who had died so un- timely a death, even as she bowed in tearful gratitude to the Mother of mothers for the white soul now born to the Church. The little fellow was dressed in his parade uniform, with his Jbiny dirk belted at his waist, and his side-arms polished to the last point of brightness. It was an idea of his own; for when Bob suggested his "full dress " uniform, or his " fatigue-uniform," he had said, seriously: "No, Adair; for I would never want to wear the ' dress ' to a hop or ball after being baptized in it; and I wouldn't want to lazy MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 187 round in the ' fatigue ' if I wore that; but as it is a sort of enlistment into ranks, where I do want to do my duty, why I'll just wear the clothes I have on when I receive and obey the orders that are making an officer of me. See?" And Bob, with a quaintly tender look in his merry face, had answered: " All right, chappie! " As the sun rose, they went back to the hotel, and Mrs. Adair had breakfast served in her parlor. To each of the boys she gave an appropriate and handsome gift, and was both surprised and touched to receive from her godson and Eobertin souvenirs of the day. The first wa,s a great knot of Parma violets, and the other a small ebony crucifix, the figure of metal, and black with age. As Robertin gave it, he said: " It is believed to have belonged to Pere Marquette himself. That he blessed it is certain, and my mother venerated it highly." " But I must not take so valuable a relic from you," answered Mrs. Adair. 188 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. "I beg you will, Madame; it will be best, too. For the holy relic might get mislaid or lost, in spite of care. You know I shall be here to-day and anywhere to-morrow, when once I am at sea. Besides," he added, with intense earnestness, " I should like you to have it, you are Robert's mother." And again she saw that softening of his face, that lighting up of his eyes, that proved how dear Bob was to him. "Well," as Bob remarked, "that was a day," one of the happiest imaginable; and next morning the best of the holiday was over, for the two ladies went away, and in a few days the boys buckled down to hard work, which was not remitted until the June examinations were over, the practice-ships fitted out for a cruise, the anchors weighed, and the white-winged hulls dropping down the Bay as fast as they could drive. Ah, that cruise! Its first days were like a living poem to Bob (after he got over his sea-sickness), but in the third week came a stunning shock. IX. THERE was a brisk, dry northeaster blowing, and the waves ran in sapphire hills crested with pearl ; and as the spray flew in the air, the sun filled it with flashing bits of rain- bow hues. The middies were aloft, hard at work taking in sail. Suddenly the vessel gave an uncommonly heavy lurch, and Bob heard a faint cry at his side. He was bending over the yard with his hands full of sail, and tugging away like a good fellow. (For a handful of canvas, with a spanking breeze stiffening it, is about as easy to reef as a board.) He glanced up quickly, and saw Dalrymple falling into the water. His heart stood still a moment, then he sprang after him, shouting as he went, " Man over- board!" They struck the water almost together, 189 190 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. but while Bob rose like a cork, and puffing like a young grampus, Dal rose slowly, and labored heavily. The waves that from the ship's sides looked so gently rolling, now seemed awfully high above them; and the white-caps slapped their faces and blinded their eyes. As Bob struck out, he kept saying, over and over again, " Our Lady of Mount Car- mel, save us!" and when he reached Dal, and seized him under the arm with one hand, he opened his mouth for a good hur- rah; but a white-cap popped into it, making him sputter and choke ; and Dai's white face lay so close to the water that his joy was short-lived. Meantime the ship was hove to, and all was alertness and action. The boats were *' let go," manned, and shoved off; two buoys were cut loose and thrown out; and the surgeon had hot blankets and stiff grog prepared for the boys; but even while Bob's shout vibrated in the air, and before an order could be given, help was on its way. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. Bob and Dal were in the foretop, Rob- ertin in the mizzeu ; but the latter constantly kept his eyes on the two boys, and was never comfortable about them when there was any sea on. This day he was especially uneasy, and several times, as he watched Bob's nimble heels, he muttered: " Oe gars-Id,, est trop hardi A" As the ship lurched, his eyes and hands were fully occupied for a few minutes; then he looked forward, and Bob's foot- rope dangled empty! At this sight Rob- ertin straightened himself on his precarious foot-hold, and swept his hawk-eyes around in one keen glance (the fellow next him said he became so white he thought he was going to faint) ; and the great beads stood out on his forehead, although the Avind was fresh and keen. Then came Bob's cry, and Robertin gathered himself together, watched his chance as the ship rolled, and jumped. " Great Heavens ! " said the startled officer of the deck; "is the whole Academy going overboard ? " 192 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. As Robertin rose from his plunge, he uttered a cry so piercing, so full of agony, that it made itself heard above the creaking of the blocks, the wash of the sea, and the whipping of the sails. " Tiens, gars, moi je metis & toi ! " and he seemed literally to tear his way through the water. He was not very far from the boys, for the motion of the ship had covered more than the distance between the masts; but he reached them in fewer minutes than seemed possible. He had caught up a buoy as he swam, and he and Bob, by treading water, made shift to get it on Dal, who lay limp and un- conscious across their arms. Then Rob- ertin turned to Bob, with a great sob in his throat: " Robert, I thought I had lost thee," and in his keen dark eyes the tears rose. But as he swung up on the crest of a wave, he smiled brightly, and sang out: " Cheer up, gars ! the boat is near." And it was, but the time seemed terribly MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 193 long, and Bob grew almost as pale as Dal. Seeing this, Robertin called out to him, sharply : "Float!" adding, as Bob hesitated to loosen his hold on Dal, "it is the best chance for all of us." Then the great fellow managed to keep Dai's head up, while he hovered near Bob, full of anxiety for that bright boyish face; and he had never heard such sweet music in his life as the " rick-rack, rick-rack " of the oars in the thole-pins, and the ring- ing cheer of the crew as the boat swept down on them, and a dozen hands were stretched out to haul them inboard. As it happened, Bob was the nearest, but he told them to take Dal first; then he and Robertin almost had a fight as to which should be helped in last. They were tum- bled in between the thwarts, and covered with jackets during the short pull to the ship, and were received with the greatest enthusiasm, an enthusiasm tempered, how- ever, by Dai's continued unconsciousness. 13 194 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. They were hurried to the sick-bay, and the surgeon found the poor little chap's collar-bone and two of his ribs broken, and his body badly bruised; for he had fallen partly on his side, and the wonder was that he had not been killed outright. " A plucky little beggar, to swim at all!" said the doctor; and, turning to Bob : "Be- yond doubt, you saved his life, Adair. It will be a nice item in the report of the cruise. Eh?" Bob's ready color showed even through his pallor. " I didn't any more than Steady, sir, not as much; for he saved us both." To which Steady responded by a brisk " Taise toi, p'tit choux ! " For under strong excitement he always relapsed into his French, and often his idioms. "But, doctor," he added, with a loving glance at the p'tit choux that belied his sharp tongue, "look at this boy, and see if he is hurt in any way." "Of course I'm not," said Bob; "and how about you?" MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 195 " Oh, I'm all right," he answered, indif- ferently, and shrugging his shoulders; "I'll go shift into dry clothes, and return to my work." And he did, to the great delight of his classmates, who, however, found him very unresponsive to everything except praise of Bob and sympathy for Dal. The first free moment he had he went below to see Bob. The latter was lying with his eyes closed, but opened them im- mediately on Robertin's approach. " Steady," said he, " you saved my life. What shall I say to you?" "Nothing, Eobert, only thank God and Our Blessed Lady. Ah!" he added with a shudder, " when I saw your place empty I thought my heart would burst; and as I swam for you, the water felt just like lead, and I could hardly make headway. And all the time I prayed, not " he remarked, with a gesture of humility " as I should have done, but with a fierce challenge to God. I said: ' Thou wert an only Son. Thou must 196 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. save him for the sake of Thy Mother ! ' and to her I cried: 'You dare not let him per- ish for the love of your Son.' God forgive me!" And for the second time that day (and in his life) the tears stood in his eyes. Then he added, softly: "And I think He has forgiven me, for I have you safe. And she ah! she is so gentle and loving! I will serve her better the rest of my life." Poor Bob, quite overcome by this out- burst, hardly knew what to answer; but, with the impulse of a grateful and affection- ate heart, he threw his arms about Robertin, as he bent over him, and gave him a hug that certainly entitled him to the name of Bruin Minor. Then I think the two boys would have cried in a minute, but Robertin kissed Bob, and that youngster broke into a merry laugh. "My eye, Steady!" said he; "don't let the fellows get wind of this, or we'll be chaffed out of our lives." MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 197 " Perhaps," said Bobertin, sinking back into his usual gravity, half ashamed of his emotion, although still shaken by it. " And now," said Bob, as Robertin sat by him, their hands fast locked, " as soon as ever we get to Funchal we will go to Holy Communion in thanksgiving ; for, after all, it was a mighty narrow squeak." And it certainly was; for the ship was running free, the 1 sea was brisk, the fall high, and the two lads first in were inex- perienced swimmers. That night Bob tossed and turned for hours before he fell asleep, and even when he did it was a fitful and uneasy rest, haunted by suffocating dreams of the day's adventure. Once, as he awakened with a start, he saw Dal sitting on the side of his berth. A shaft of moonlight came in at the port, and fell athwart his slight figure. His bare feet were on the ground, and he bent forward, with his hand on his breast, breathing heavily. " Why, laddie," said Bob, " do you want 198 MIDSHIPMAN DOR anything? You should have called me. You mustn't stir." "Oh! please, Adair, I'm almost smoth- ered." Bob was up in an instant. He opened the port wide, caught up a towel, twisted it into a fan, and began fanning him. "Here, lean on me," he said; and, put- ting his arm round the sound side, he gently drew the boy toward him; but Dal gave a choking, gasping cough, and from his mouth the blood and froth came pouring. Bob was terrified, but he kept him well up, and gave a shrill whistle, knowing that would carry as far as a call, and would at- tract attention without rousing up every- body; besides, it wouldn't jar Dal so much as the effort of shouting. A marine instantly appeared, and Bob told him- to call the doctor, and report to the watch officer that Cadet Midshipman Dalrymple had a bad hemorrhage. The doctor came hurrying in, in undress, and found Dal lying across Bob's knee, white and unconscious. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 199 "I didn't know what to do, sir," said Bob, anxiously. " He was such an awful color I thought I'd better lay him down right here, for I didn't dare lift him into his bunk." "Eight," said the doctor, mechanically; "when a fainting person's face is white, lay him down ; when it is red, keep his head well up." Then he muttered, as he gently moved Dal, " This is just what I was afraid of; his lung is pierced, and his effort to sit up has done the business." "Will he die, sir?" asked Bob, in an awestruck whisper. "I hope not, of course," said the doctor; but he looked so anxious, and was so long about his preparations and instructions for the rest of the night, and gave his assistant such special charge to call him up in an hour, that Bob's heart sank. He had learned to love Dal dearly, and to think of his dying was a hard blo'w. The next few days confirmed the doctor's fears. Hemorrhage followed hemorrhage, 200 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. and just as the peak of Ariero rose sharp and clear against the sky, it was evident to everyone that the child was sinking. His courage and endurance were amazing, and, although every breath was agony, no com- plaints escaped his lips, only his great, sad eyes implored relief, and his one expressed longing was for the Sacraments before he died. His favorite nurses were Eobertin and Bob, who spent all their spare time with him. He asked for Peyton several times, but he came only once; for he could not bear the sight of pain, and hated to think of solemn things. Of course he was sorry for " the poor little beggar," but he could do him no good, he said, and there wasn't any use in being miserable when one couldn't help things. On that last evening of his life Dal lay in Robertin's arms, his head pillowed on his broad breast; Bob sat at his feet, with blanched face, and his teeth set in the ef- fort to repress his grief. The captain, the surgeon, and the captain MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 201 of Dai's watch stood near, with uncovered heads. As the light slipped down the west, the dying boy opened his eyes and whis- pered: " Captain" " Aye, my lad," said he, stepping forward. "Write, please, sir." "What shall I write?" " My will." And the captain, who was a man of few words and many deeds, pulled out his note- book and stylographic, and wrote: "To Robertin I leave $5,000; to Adair, my library and pictures; to Father Grotius, $10,000, and" He stopped, panting heavily. Robertin and Bob, greatly startled, said: "Let it go"; but he nodded faintly, and added: " The rest yes, my guardian can attend to that." And with his failing strength he signed his name: "Mary Van Alstine Dai- ry m pie." Then he looked up with a shadow of his 202 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. old smile, and the ghosts of his pretty dim- ples appeared for a moment in his cheeks. "I love you two Mother Mary's boys." Then, " Lift me up, Steady, and say- say" " Domine Deus9" asked Robertin. The dying boy nodded, and when the beautiful prayer of poor Queen Mary in prison was ended, he sighed rather than said, " Now " but his voice failed. " The Memorare, Steady," said Bob, with a sharp sob; and Robertin began. "Is it wise to excite him so by praying, and er that ? " asked the captain, un- easily. " Well, I do not know," said the doctor, thoughtfully. " These Catholics are such queer fish, it seems to settle rather than upset them." Dai's fingers pulled feebly at his neck. "Oppressed, my boy?" asked the doctor. He faintly shook his head, but smiled as Bob gently but quickly drew out the little pearl rosary-string he wore about his neck, and put it in his frail hands. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 203 "Begin quick!" he gasped. And Robertin, holding before him the crucifix he always wore, began the Rosary. His deep, quiet voice rose on the stillness like a tide of peace, and the dying child's eyes grew larger and brighter. In the midst of the decade of the Nativity he suddenly joined in the responses, and his voice, so long sunk to a whisper, was clear and loud as he said: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death" Then the red torrent rushed from his lips, and Dai's clean white soul was with God. Outside, the song of the sailors rose full and strong as they let the anchor go, and the ship swung round to her berth. The full moon floated like a pale reflection of the setting sun, and by the dead boy knelt the two Roberts Bob, with the tears blind- ing his sight; Robertin, with his mouth stern-set, and the veins in his forehead standing out like a whip-cord ; but the hearts and voices of both rose in the De profundis. THERE was a great military funeral, and for a few days the middies spoke often of their little shipmate, and moralized, in their boyish fashion, about life and death; but after that Dal was put aside, except by the few who had known and loved him best; not forgotten, but " put aside " ; for in the Army and Navy, the "Dead past buries its dead." And this is the reason that, when the last three volleys are fired over the grave, and the sleeper is left in "The low, green tent, whose curtain never outward swings," the funeral train (which has marched with reversed arms and solemn tread to the som- bre, thrilling music of the Dead March) wheels about, and steps out homeward to the gayest strains the band can play. Or, 204 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 205 if the burial be at sea, when the dead man is sewed in his hammock and launched into the deep, the gratings are unlashed and re- placed, and all hands are piped to some duty For the life and spirit of the living must be kept healthy, and free from mor- bidness; and grief unhinges a man's nerves sorely. Bob and Robertin held the dead boy's memory tenderly and tenaciously, and as they knelt to receive their Communion of thanksgiving in the Mount Church their hearts were full as they recalled that last Sunday at St. Mary's, when they had all approached the Holy Table together, little dreaming that Dal was receiving his Viati- cum. But, like the healthy, hearty boys they were, they set about making the most of their shore-leave, and after they had breakfasted at a queer little cafe they hired two mules and started to see the island. The peak of Ariero was their objective point, but their progress was at first slow; for they stopped every few minutes to enjoy 206 MIDSHIPMAN non. the strange and beautiful view. The moun- tains stretched in a line not unlike a great natural amphitheater, broken here and there by brawling torrents and deep ravines and chasms. The basalt cropped through the luxuriance of tree and flower in fantastic peaks and turrets, or else descended boldly in great sheets and walls to the sea. The red tufa added its basic tint to the dark grays, reds, cream-whites, and browns; and as the light shifted and changed in the grow- ing day, the sea, sky, and shore took on won- derful colors, in the midst of which Ariero rose like a pyramid of flowers to the cloud- line ; and indeed it thrusts its cap so far into the upper air that aquatic plants are often found growing thereon. The Mount Church stood out on its rock-bracket, like a pious hand holding the crucifix to the world of stone and water; and flumes and rifts in the mountain sides disclosed glimpses of a beautiful country beyond. A soft wind blew from the sea, and the " jocund day " crept into the bones of our MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 207 boys and their long-eared, short-legged steeds. They felt distinctly festive, and be- gan to mend their pace so effectually that, as Bob said, they were soon " scudding under bare poles." Of course they rode like sailors that is, frantically wherever their mules took them, and they had a glo- rious time. It went to Bob's heart to crush the heliotropes, the lilies, and the great, glowing geraniums, that made a fragrant tangle everywhere; but Robertin sensibly remarked : " They are the wood-carpet here, Robert, the weeds and where you crush them new ones spring; for they are hardy ces fleurettes." "That's so, old Steady," answered Bob; " and as I am neither a sea-gull nor a dear little fairy I reckon they'll have to go smash. But don't they just smell, though! It's like having a bouquet tied to your nose." And it was, with the addition that through it all ran the keen perfume of the sea. 208 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. They spent a glorious hour on the moun- tain top. How the sun did shine, how the lizards darted about, resplendent in color, and the rabbits scudded by with startled eyes and vibrant ears! And how the gulls and sail-boats wheeled and dipped in the two blue arches that girt the island. But the afternoon was creeping on, and they had to think of getting down. Slowly they dragged themselves from the fragrant herbs and flowers, from the beautiful rice- grass, and lingeringly looked their good- bye to the scene; and, as they looked, Bob sighed: "Poor little Dal!" "Jfon ami" said Bobertin, his hand on Bob's knee, "he's in a far lovelier land. God made this yes, and it is fair to see but the other is God." And he raised his cap reverently for an instant. Then he added, with his grave, sweet smile: "I have often thought that the Star shone on the dear little lad Christmas morning." "What do you mean, old man?" MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 209 " We have a legend that whoever goes to the first Mass of Christmas with a sinless heart and pure mind, will catch the light of Bethlehem's Star. And it will make him blessed, and if he begs any special favor of God he will receive it, if it be for God's honor and glory." " Well, but that's pretty! Where do you pick up such a lot of things, Steady?" " Oh! " said Bobertin, confused as always when attention was attracted to himself, "I could hardly say. Look, Robert, isn't that a farm-house ? " "Hurrah!" exclaimed Bob; "it is, and I'm as hungry as a kite ! Let's prick along, and get some bread and milk." And off he clattered like a young whirl- wind, with Robertin after him. They found the farmer's wife was a rosy Irish girl, who had come out as nurse to an English officer's child; but the child died, and she married one of the melancholy, dark-eyed peasants of the country, who go about looking like the chorus of an Italian 14 210 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. opera, and have the manners of Spanish princes. When our boys politely made their re- quest, little knowing that milk was one of the luxuries of the island, she hospitably bustled about, saying: " Indade ye shall have bread and milk, an' somethin' stay in' besides; for it isn't me Pa-dro and me that's goin' to let ye go by hungry. An' is it Americans ye are ? Well, glory be to God! it's meself has a brother in that same place. Dennis McCarthy is his name, an' it's the prosp'rous man he is by this. He wint to Pittsburg, where he's blowin' the lungs of him to tatthers in a glass factory ; but he gets the wages, though ! And -aha, here's me Pa-dro a-comin' now!" And she called out (perhaps not sorry to show off her Portuguese) to the tall figure that approached, toiling along under a heavy load of straw.* His wide white cottonade trousers looked spotless in the distance; his shirt was open at the throat, showing * In Madeira the harvests are sown in October and reaped in June. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 211 a bronzed, hardy breast and throat, on which hung a great silver medal of Our Lady; and his long blue cap and short blue jacket contrasted well with the yellow rye-stalks. He saluted the boys with much natural dignity, and made them a little speech (which his wife translated), to the effect that he laid himself at their feet, and his house was theirs, and all it contained. Then, un- der kindly compulsion, they sat down to a capital meal of what tasted like venison, but was wild goat; aqua pe,* a sort of po- lenta made of chestnuts, an abundance of rye-bread, and a glass of milk apiece. When they were ready to go, Mrs. Pedro quite declined to take anything in payment; so when her back was turned they slipped a gold piece under the jug of aqua p, and went out to mount their mules, pretty stiff, it must be confessed, from their morning ride. As they were tightening up the girths, Pedro spoke a few words to his wife, where- * A thin, light drink, made from the crushed stems and pulp of the grapes from the wine-presses. 212 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. upon she slapped him on the shoulder with an "Och, but your're the boy! He says" turning to Bob and Bobertin " mebbe instead o' ridiii' down, ye'd like to slide down on a sled." "Come now, Mrs. Pedro," said Bob, " are you not ashamed to try and play a trick on two poor little midshipmen? " " It ain't a joke at all at all," she laughed, " but a rale plan. The hills are too steep for wagons, an' we slide manny a thing down on the sleds." "What do they goon?" " Sure on their own wooden runs, wid grease rubbed in to kape 'em from stickiu'." "Why, that would be immense!" said Bob, with dancing eyes ; and even Robertin looked excited. "But the mules?" he ad- ded; "I'm afraid we can't leave them." "An' ye shan't," she answered; "I'll ride 'em down meself, an' Pedro an' me can haul the sled up." And in a few minutes they were dashing down the mountain side at a rate that took MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 213 their breath, and made Pedro's blue cap stand up straight. A sudden stop jolted them off in a heap; but Pedro, his dignity- unruffled by standing on his head (although so much can not be said of his clothing and hair), turned the sled up, greased the run- ners carefully and amply, and off they streaked again. At the bottom of the slide, after thanking Pedro heartily, and vainly urging some small change on him, they watched with some anxiety Mrs. Pedro and the mules as they came down the almost sheer slope; but the wise little creatures neither stumbled nor balked, and the Irish girl held on tight, so the boys were soon trotting off for the harbor, full o their day's adventure. Another day was spent in the Coural the sheepfold an immense valley near the village of Comera de Lobos, which is walled in by almost perpendicular hills a thousand feet high; another in the vineyards, and rabbit shooting ; and then it was up anchor, and off for home. 214 MIDSHIPMAN BOD. At the Academy they found several tel- egrams from Mr. O , Dai's guardian, re- questing, if possible, their immediate pres- ence in New York. " It just fitted," as Bob said; for he and Robertin had a few days' leave, and his mother and aunt wanted to stop on their way from the mountains, to do their fall shopping. So the boys packed their "kits," had their papers made out, and started. Mr. O met them at the depot, and rattled them off to the Union League, where they lunched. He thanked them earnestly for coming, and said he had asked it of them because they had known Dal so well, "better," he added remorsefully, "t.han I did, and can advise me what to do about certain things. " You see," he said, " he has left every- thing so entirely to me that I feel doubly anxious to do the square thing by him. Now, there are a lot of diamonds that be- longed to his mother. What had I better do with them?" MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 215 "Perhaps," replied Bob, hesitatingly, " he would have liked your wife and daugh- ters to have them." "No; I don't think so," decisively, " for he never saw them but once in his life. Isn't there some use they could be put to in your church ? " "Yes, sir; no end of uses." " Well, for instance, now. You know there is no need to sell them to raise money; for he left a tidy lot of that, which I mean to divide between the orphan asylums and Brace's Home for Destitute Children." " In that case, then, sir, I'd suggest that the gold should be made into a chalice, and the stones set in it. You know, believing as we do in the Real Presence, we think there is nothing too beautiful or too valuable for the altar. Then the chalice could be given to some church or chapel. Eh, Steady?" "As a perpetual memorial of the little one? Yes, Robert. And if" " Go ahead." 210 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. "If there is - not enough gold," said Eob- ertin, directing his level gaze at Mr. O , " I should like to add it from what he gave me." " And I," said Bob. " No, boys," answered Mr. O , " that will be my part. Don't grudge it, for it's precious little. Ah ! " he added', with a melancholy look in his fine face, " that re- ligion of yours is a great thing, Some day, when I have time when I have time " Just then the clocks chimed eleven, and, recalled to the race for gold, he excused himself hastily, invited them to dinner, and rushed off to the Exchange; for he had dipped heavily into wheat, and was then overdue in the ring where the " bulls " and " bears " fight for the upper hand. The chalice was soon completed. It was as gorgeous in chasing and carving as Tif- fany could make it, and was fairly crusted with splendid gems. It was given, by the wish of the boys, to St. Mary's of the Sea a little chapel they found while hunting out MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 217 Lieut. Berry's school ship, the St. Marifs a quaint structure, around whose weather- beaten eaves the sea-winds piped and shrilled, and on whose altar Mass was daily- said for sailor-men living and dead, and to whose congregation Father Moriarty often told the story of the little lad who bore the name of Our Lady, and who died in his baptismal innocence. XI THE new academic year brought new duties, new scenes, new friends, and some new complications. For instance, as Bob went to boat-drill one afternoon, he came on an unexpected group. Two of the Jap- anese stood leaning against the railing near the carpenter's shop, looking sullen and half-frightened; while Saito, his usually pleasant face distorted with anger, was threading his way, in his stocking-feet, in and out, around and between his shoes, which were set about a foot apart on the walk. As he went, he kept his eyes steadily fixed on his two countrymen, and muttered or chanted words in his native tongue. At certain points of the recitative his anger seemed to half suffocate him, and then, with 218 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 219 a look of elfish malice, he would spit at his shoes and to the four cardinal points. "My eye!" said Bob, " what in the mis- chief " "Ah!" said Saito, slowly 'and solemnly, " bear witness, Adair. I have cursed them by the ' twelve signs ' their comings and their goings. I have set a mark upon the North, the South, the East, and the West. I wish they may die away from home, and lie far from the bones of their fathers." " Why, Mick," (they called him the Mi- kado, and this was the friendly shortening up of it,) "what in the world have they been doing? " " Doing ! They have insulted me." " But look here, old boy, it's perfectly awful to wish things like that to fellows!" "Don't you get mad ever, eh?" asked Saito. " Yes, I'm sorry to say I do tearing mad sometimes." " Well, then don't you want fellows killed?" 220 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. " No," said Bob, roundly. "Why?" asked Saito, in surprise. "Why!" echoed Bob; "why, what would be the use of it?" "Vengeance!" said the Jap, with gleam- ing eyes, his long, yellow fingers contract- ing nervously. "But that's heathenish, Mick, and you are a Christian." "Well?" " Well, Our Lord died to bring peace and good-will." " But," said Saito, naively, " that was so long ago!" "His death, yes; but His law is alive, all the same. Like your Fusiyama, don't you know? Men come and men go, but 'the mountain' stays." " Ha! " said the Jap, with a quick, pleased smile. " But why you feel so? Lots of fel- lows don't." " Becaiise that's what the Church teaches, and if you're a Catholic you've got to mind." MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 221 "Cath'lic? What's that?" "Anybody that belongs to the Church the Church Our Lord established," said Bob, feeling the subject too vast to enter upon there or then; for the bugler was mounting the steps, and if he wasn't in his seat, with his hand on his oar, when his name was called, somebody would know the reason why. So he turned to go, adding : " Come now, Mick, uncurse those chaps, and let them alone. It's bad for your health, my boy, to get mad in this climate makes you bilious, and spoils your appetite." And he smiled his brightest at the glow- ering little heathen. "No, I will not uncurse, do you say?" asked Saito, with a glare at the offenders; " but to please you " and he bowed like a grandee " I will let them go." And he slipped into his shoes, and walked after Bob, his minute figure stiff as a ram- rod, and with dignity enough, as the latter afterward told Robertin, "for a pasha of nine tails pigtails, I mean." 222 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. But, although he laughed over it in some of its aspects, the scene as a whole weighed on him, and he and Robertin managed, in one way or another, after this, to see a good deal of the Mikado, and to draw him into the circle of their intimates, which circle included a lot of not only the jolliest, clev- erest fellows in the Academy, but nearly all the oddities as well. " A regular hennie- pennie and turkie-lurkie crowd," Bob called it sometimes in confidence to B/obertiu, and in joking allusion to the old nursery story. And certainly the boy, with his bright tem- perament, his honest soul, his clean mind, and his physical perfections, did attract to himself not only kindred spirits, but the weak, the queer, the sad, and the shy; for they always felt sure of sympathy and pa- tience, at least, two qualities as needful as courage and strength, if one wants to serve his fellow-men. A few days after "the incantation scene," Kobertin distinguished himself in a way that filled his class with pride at his MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 223 "savey," set the Academy in a roar, and forced the upper classmen to the conclusion that Bruin Major was "up to a trick or two worth knowing." The practice of hazing, which had been pretty successfully kept under during the year the two Roberts were " plebes," broke out with fresh force in this their third class- year. Among the first classmen was a no- torious " hazer " a ridiculous little creature, who looked like a canary-bird, and put on airs enough for "a shipload of admirals" (Bob's comparison, of course). He came down to the Phlox's wharf one afternoon, where Robertin and a group of classmates were waiting for Bob. They had a " permit " to go sailing in a " bug-eye " a craft peculiar to the Chesapeake and three or four of them were baling the boat, examining the ropes, wetting down the sails (for the wind was light), etc.; but Robertin was standing, craning his neck for the first glimpse of Bob. Up stepped the "Peacock" (his name 224 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. was really Babcock, but the change was irresistible), and, in his piping treble, sang out: "I wish you to go in swimming Mr. Bobertin." " Thank you Mr. Babcock, I have no de- sire to go in swimming. A previous en- gagement." "But, Mr. Bobertin," he squeaked, "I order you to go in swimming." This was conclusive, for he was Bober- tin's superior officer. Bruin Major glanced down at his uniform. " Strip off your coat, your trousers, and vest, Mr. Bobertin," ordered the Peacock; " and take a header off the wharf." Bobertin looked very glum, but suddenly his eyes twinkled, and the fellow nearest him said afterward he saw his mouth twitch. In the mean time a crowd of first and second classmen gathered, chuckling over the fan. Bobertin slowly "peeled," the Peacock standing near to see his orders faithfully executed. " That's it! " he said, approvingly. " Now MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 225 the header, if you please." (Verbal polite- ness was his great forte. ) "Aye, aye!" answered Robertin. "Come along!" And before the dismayed and routed Peacock could utter a word, he caught him in his arms, and plunged into sixty feet of water with him. Down he went like an otter ; then, rising slowly, swam a few yards ; dived again, and swam under water; rose again and struck out for the shore, where he hoisted the Peacock such a draggled, dismal peacock! choking and subdued, to the wharf, shook himself into a Mclntosh Bob had rushed after, and slid into the back-door of his quarters to shift into dry clothes. But as he went, Babcock sang out, fairly dancing with rage: "How dared you, sir! how dared you! " " Dared ! " said Eobertin over his shoul- der, in mock surprise; "why, you didn't say anything about not wanting to go." 15 XII. Bur things were not always harmonious; the boys had their ups and downs, and blows and throws; and sometimes tempers were " absent without leave," and the mis- chief was to pay generally. Take that day in the gymnasium, when Peyton was holding forth to a lot of the fel- lows on the necessity of " lying like a gen- tleman, when honor demanded." A group of his friends and followers listened in re- spectful silence, until one boy a simple, straightforward Westerner spoke up: " But, Peyton, can a man be a gentleman and a man of honor if he lies? The chap- lain said last Sunday "Oh, bother the chaplain! He's an old duffer anyway, and religion's all "Hallo, you fellows! What's up?" ex- claimed Bob, whirling over and over on a MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 227 trapeze, and landing at their feet in a cloud of tan-dust. They explained, and Bob clapped Claus- meyer on the shoulder with a " Bight you are, my boy! And the chaplain's head is level." But Peyton said: "You don't understand, Adair. Suppose a man's honor is at stake " 5 "Now, see here, Jimmie" (they called him Jimmie, Bob used to explain, because his name was Dacre), "save your breath to pray for your soul, old man; for a lie is a lie any way you fix it; and the Command- ments distinctly " "Oh, pshaw! If you go in for that sort of cant " "Cant!" exclaimed Bob. " Well, then, superannuated superstition" (Peyton was fond of big words), "if you like that better." "I don't," said Bob, bluntly. "And,, apart from the question of religion (ihafs the word for it), to tell the truth is good, hard-pan common sense. For if you tell a 228 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. lie you not only have a nasty blot on your conscience, but you get tripped up sooner or later every time, and then where are you?" " Look here, Adair, you'll find that sort of thing won't go down when you get out in the world of men. By Jove," showing his white teeth, "wouldn't it be a nice mull if a fellow had to tell the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth every time ? No, no, my boy ; too inconven- ient!" "Not as inconvenient as losing your soul." "Losing your Bless me, you don't believe in that?'" " Well, rather," said Bob. "Why, Adair, you are centuries behind the times." "About eighteen yes," replied Bob, dryly. " Well, that's not a half bad answer," said Peyton, somewhat amused; "and, since your chin wags so freely, just tell me what's the use of religion anyway? It keeps you MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 229 out of pretty much everything, especially making money ; and the ' mighty dollar ' is a big factor, you know. Religion does well enough for women and children, but for men pshaw, it puts a bit and snaffle on you at every turn ; and J believe in ' Eat, drink, and be merry.' ' " ' For to-morrow we die,' " finished Bob. "And then?" " Then the deluge," said Peyton, shrug- ging his shoulders. " This life is good enough for me. What do you think about it, Saito? " And he turned to the little Jap- anese, who stood listening, his black, bead- like eyes twinkling shrewdly. " Short. Hard. Soon old, sick, die. Bet- ter to have something afterward to pay up." "Oh!" said Peyton, " are you going to be one of the moral preachers and teachers, * too?" (He was fast growing angry.) "What's that preacher, teacher?" asked Saito. " Why, a snuffling young saint, like Adair there," with an unlovely sneer. 230 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. " Adair all right," said the Jap. " You all funny fellows. One believe one thing, one another, next man something else; and all talk, talk, talk much, get mad. Adair there, and him, and him, and him " (indi- cating with his forefinger Robertin, O'Don- ovan, Blake, and two or three Catholics), " all think same, say same, and don't get mad." * When Peyton last spoke, a hot answer had rushed to Bob's lips, but, true to a childish habit he still retained, he bit his lip and whispered a " Hail Mary." Then he turned to Peyton and quietly said: " Don't talk stuff, Jimmie. You know and I know that I'm not much of a hand at an argument. But there's just this to it: if you'll go to any place, among any people, and find a lot of infidels who are just as good, out a"nd out, as the same number of those who believe in God and keep His Command- ments, why, then we can begin to talk about it on an even tack." * This was noted and commented on in nearly these words by an amiable Eastern pagan of my acquaintance. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 231 "Well," said Peyton, he was really ashamed of his outbreak, "all I have to say is, you'll never get on in society if you stick to those ultra views. Mark my words." "Did Our Lord die that we might 'get on in society'?" Bobertin asked, in his quietest voice. "Bah!" said Peyton, "there's no use talking to you. You are such a confounded papist "Hold hard, there, Peyton!" put in Bob; " don't call names. We are both Catholics, and proud of it." And he squared round to Bobertin's side. " How in the dickens does it happen that a fellow like you is one?" asked Peyton, irritably. " I thought only ignorant chaps like" He stopped abruptly, but his look at Bob- ertin completed the sentence. "Like me?" said the latter, tranquilly. " No. Bead Father Zahm's lecture on 'What the Church has done for Science,' and you'll see that the greatest minds of the world belong 232 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. "Oh, stow it!" interrupted Peyton, per- emptorily. "What?" asked Robertin, with an omi- nous gleam in his eyes, and nervously handling the Indian club he had been swinging. "Drop it!" exclaimed Peyton (meaning the subject). " Assuredly," said Robertin. And he let the heavy wood fall on Peyton's foot, elicit- ing a howl from that young gentleman. Wrong? Of course, but so natural that Bob hardly knew how to comfort Robertin' s passionate regret. "O Robert! " he groaned, as they walked up to their room, "it is just such begin- nings that make bad endings, with tempers like mine. And, then, what a way to end a talk about our Faith!" Poor Peyton! A few months later some twenty or thirty fellows were involved in a "whiskey-ring." Two bottles were smug- gled in, a gathering held after hours, the rules broken; and when the officer-of-the- MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 233 day got wind of it, and pounced down on the crowd, Peyton was recognized, and, in the court of inquiry that followed, was sum- moned to testify. Instead of acknowledg- ing that he knew who the ringleaders were, but felt obliged to be silent, Dacre Peyton, although on oath, " lied like a gen- tleman " at the demand of a false sense of honor, was caught in the lie, and dismissed. And so the service lost a junior officer who was meant by God and nature to be an ornament to it. Given: Bad moral training, lack of relig- ious teaching, indifferent home example, and perhaps unfortunate early associations, and what a deplorable result! A career spoiled, a young life " scratched " at the very start in the great race, a blight put upon a name, and a fine nature debased to the poor uses of the world and the flesh. Bob was deeply distressed, and pondered seriously on a sentence in one of Father Jerome's letters: " My boy, in the log-book of your con- 234 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. science, enter lying that sin against the Holy Ghost as one of the worst of the sunken reefs in life's sea. Steer clear of it; give it a wide, wide berth." XIII. THE second class-year ran its course smooth- ly, the only break being the " Shavers' Rebellion," which, however, ended peace- fully, evaporating in a huge laugh before any damage was done, and chiefly through Bob's instrumentality. The commandant had a perfect passion for uniformity (one Academy wag declared it was the sorrow of his life that he couldn't regulate the sun to rise and set at the same hour Summer and Winter) ; and one after- noon, when he had a bad attack of his mania, he happened to look down the pa- rade-line at the moment the adjutant was reading the orders of the day. The result was a sudden conclusion that the appearance of the corps was ruined by the diversity of full beard, no beard, " straggles," mus- taches, imperials, and "mutton-chops" that 235 236 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. adorned the faces of the members ; and next morning an order was issued that on and after the 10th inst. the cadet-midshipmen should appear clean-shaven. Well, there certainly was a row! Chins wagged at the rate of a mile a minute, and you couldn't hear yourself think for the racket. Everybody talked at once, and you would have thought that at least liberty and life were at stake. The first classmen felt it most keenly; and Paxton, whose tawny mustache was the joy of his life, asked, in bitterness of spirit: " What are we going to do about it ? We've wasted enough breath to sail a frigate. Let's belay now, and act." "I move for a deputation," said Hilton, whose father was a Congressman, and who doted on committees, motions, and parlia- mentary phrases; and who couldn't "go" to save his life, but must always " adjourn." "Well, what then?" " Go to the old man and ask him to recon- sider " MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 237 " Haw! " snorted Ben ton, a gigantic Ken- tuckian, bearded like a pard; "I'd like to hear you suggesting such a thing to him! " "What are you going to do about it, Blue Grass?" they asked, eagerly; for he would be the heaviest sufferer. " Shave. And so are you! " laconically. "No, sir!" said the Peacock, who came up just then. (He had been turned back a year for "hazing," and was still in the Academy.) "No, sir. I do not consider that any man has a right to order my per- sonal appearance. Let him regulate my comings and goings yes, sir; but when it comes to my beard " " Hear! hear! " cried the others. " Tour what? " asked Bob, ranging along- side, with twinkling eyes; for he had long felt lie owed the Peacock one for the trick he had played on Robertin, and here was his chance. " My beard, I said, Mr. Ah Adair," in a very-slightly-acquainted tone. " My conscience !" exclaimed Bob, "you 238 MIDSHIPMAN SOB. don't call that a beard!" pointing to the straggling down on his cheek. " Well, that certainly is giving an ' 'airy nothing a local habitation and a name.' ' The shot told, and a howl went up that broke the Rebellion's back; for, although there was much growling and more heartfelt regret, the "'airy nothing" was too much. The first class-year followed swiftly, and then, as Bob said, it was " pull for the shore sure enough"; for the standard had been raised, the recitations lengthened, and a set of enthusiasts put at the heads of the various departments; but he threw himself heart and soul into the tussle, working his way up steadily among the " stars," * and having three stripes and a double diamond to show for his pains. Robertin followed in his wake; and although he did not win * The first five men in the class. The " Adjutant" of the corps is the one who stands No. 1 in everything, and one of the insignia of his rank is the cluster of four stripes of gold lace on the sleeves of his uniform. The "three-stripers" come next, the two-stripers next, and then the one-stripers, and the "double" and "single diamond " men, all of whom are chosen for some specially officer-like qualification, and whose commands range from a company to a gun's crew. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 239 a star-ship, he too carried his gold lace and had his command, and he and Bob were known as the hardest readers in their " crowd." When the second term began, their diffi- culties increased; for Gunnery and Astron- omy got them in their terrible grip, and "ground them exceeding fine." After the first week Bob declared he felt " like Mr. Dolls, the one that ' 'ad the 'errors,' you know. For these chaps "slapping his Mackinlay, Briger, and Sarraud " are the toughest lot I ever struck. I'll warrant 'em to kill at sixty paces any day." To which Steady responded by a dismal shake of the head, and expressed his belief that they weren't " a patch on White, Chau- vet, and Bowditch; while for this" his great palm on American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac " I have no words." And it was about this time that the great trial of Bob's life began to germinate, a trial that wrenched his nature to its founda- tions, and tore to shreds Robertin's calm- 240 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. ness, threatening with destruction the result of years of earnest effort and religious training. There was a fellow in the class named Amherst, a young man of plausible address and pleasant manners, and who was far from ill-favored; but his gray eyes had a trick of flickering and slipping away from a direct gaze, and he was almost too anxious to agree with every statement advanced by those with whom he talked. He was inti- mate with a rather turbulent set of fellows, but always spoke so regretfully of their fast ways, and urged their fine traits with such apparent good-feeling, that he got the gen- eral reputation of letting his heart run away with his head, and of sticking to his friends to his own disadvantage. There were some, however, who declared he was " as deep in the mud as they in the mire," and called him a sneak, and various other names more forcible than polite. He was rather an odd "lot," too very nervous at recitations, especially Gunnery, MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 241 and liis antics both amused and annoyed his classmates. Robertin's attention was early attracted to this peculiarity, as the fellow sat, first running his fore finger round the inside of his collar, then pulling at his cuffs, then twisting a scrap of paper in his hands. The first time he did this last- the in- structor called to him sharply: "Mr. Am- herst, you will please hand me that paper." He started, but walked forward promptly with it. The officer took it, examined it, and glanced keenly at Amherst, as he stood before him with downcast eyes. " Return to your seat, sir," he said, with a baffled look; and Amherst bowed and walked off, but not before Robertin caught a malicious gleam in his eyes, and a fleeting smile on his thin lips, that set him wonder- ing. However, he rebuked himself sharply as uncharitable, and wrongly suspicious ; for, of all academic vices, "gouging"* is the most despised and most severely punished. * "Cribbing," writing "gags" on cuffs, handker chief, or slips of paper, to aid in recitation. 16 242 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. But the seed was sown, and Robertin caught himself watching the fellow again and again. The "nervous habit," as Amherst called it whenever spoken to about it, was gener- ally disapproved of, and he seemed to make a genuine effort to overcome it, suc- ceeding at times; but Robertin noticed that when he was most nervous he made the best recitations, and, in spite of himself, he had strange thoughts. Another thing. Toward the close of the year Bob got permission for special study, so as to prepare himself better for the ex- amination in this branch ; and many a night he and Robertin heard the morning rung in by the ship's bells to the tune of "All's well " ; but Amherst, although not a clever fellow, still kept pace with Bob, and this without extra effort or extra study. The instructor noticed his excellence in this department, and one day, when the young fellow was in a specially restless state, all his " habits " in full swing at once, MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 243 the former called out kindly: "Take it easy, Mr. Amherst; take it easy; you are doing very well, sir." And after recitation, when Bob waited to ask some question about an apparent dis- crepancy in one of the velocity tables, Lieut. Ingersoll said: " That fellow's no dab at Gunnery. It's a pity he can't have a stripe or two. No chance though, I suppose, with such a set of fellows holding the lines." " Yes, sir," answered Bob, heartily, " he does get on first-rate. I only wish I could do it as easily. Why, Mr. Ingersoll, I declare sometimes I get in a regular blue funk when I think of the examination." "Nonsense, Mr. Adair!" laughed the young officer. But he remembered it, un- fortunately. Well, the time came, and the fellows worked at their Gunnery papers .all day. Bob wrote page after page, and Amherst, who sat next him, did the same, wriggling and twisting meantime as if he had St. 244 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. Vitus's dance. Finally, Bob, having rubbed his crisp curls seven ways for Sunday, and told all he knew, closed his desk, folded his paper, handed it in, and went off for a turn in the air, for his head was splitting. As he walked up and down, Haweis, one of his classmates, came up and said: " Adair, Mr. Ingersoll says you've dropped a page out of your paper." "Have I?" asked Bob. "I must have stuffed it into my desk with the scraps." "All right; I'll get it for you," said Ha- weis, good-naturedly. " You look pretty well used up, and it's as hot as Tophet in there." "Thanks!" replied Bob. "You're a brick, Tommy." And that night "Tommy" poked his head in Bob's room, and said: "I didn't know which it was, and grabbed up the lot." The next morning Mr. Ingersoll came to Bob with a very grave face. "Mr. Adair, I found this among the pa- pers Mr. Haweis handed me by your re- quest" MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 245 "How did it get there, sir?" asked Bob, in surprise ; for it was a long list of answers, copied figure for figure from the text-books, and covering the hardest part of the exam- ination. "I don't know," said Ingersoll sorrow- fully; "and I'd rather have cut off my fin- gers than to have found it; for I shall have to report it." " Why, you don't think you don't be- lieve " stammered Bob, his face flushing scarlet, and then turning deadly white, as the significance of it all dawned upon him, "you couldn't think, Mr. Ingersoll, that- I did it, or used it?" " Personally, I couldn't and wouldn't, Adair. But here's the paper; and as it has> fallen into my hands, I simply have to do my duty." Bob stood stupefied. Before him rushed his boyish aspirations, his joyous youth, his pride in his first uniform, his happy, honor- able Academy days, his future, his hopes, his mother; and now this disgraceful sus- 246 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. picion, with the blighting, crushing pen- alty ! His heart sent up a bitter cry to God and Our Lady, while a hollow groan burst from his laboring breast. Lieut. Ingersoll was speaking. " Until the real criminal is found, you stand ac- cused, you know." " I swear, sir " Adair," said the young officer, stepping nearer, and lowering his voice, "don't waste your time on me. I believe you. But find out who did it, and bring him to taw. I'll hold this up for two days; meantime do your best." Bob reeled away to his room, half uncon- scious, and showed such a ghastly face to Robertin that he started to his feet in dis- may. " Robert !" he cried, "what is it?" And poor Bob, leaning on that faithful friend, told him. Eobertin's eyes flashed fire, and a mighty rage kindled in his breast. He said noth- ing, but the chair-back on which his great hand closed tighter and tighter suddenly MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 247 split with the force of his grip, and fell clattering to the floor. "Who sat near you?" he asked, and his voice had a muffled sound. "Brintiiall, Clausmeyer, Burton, Wright, Clinton, Amherst " "Ha!" said Bobertin, with a snarl so savage that Bob looked up in surprise; "it's he, the coyote! " " How do you know, Steady?" "I don't know yet; but I have a clew. And I'll track him; I'll hunt him down till I tear it from his foul heart with my bare hands. I'll" The Angelas cleft the air. Bobertin started, and fell upon his knees. In a few moments he arose, and, by an effort that left him pale, he regained control of him- self. " It came just in time, Bobert Our Lady's summons. If I have done him an injustice, God forgive me; if I have not, then God forgive him and help me; for I can't answer for myself," he muttered. 248 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. Then he added, in a louder tone : " Tell me everything all you know about it." And Bob began again, and answered every question, but in a stunned sort of a way, patiently going over each point. " That's all, and we must be as close as wax about it; for I begin to feel suspicion stir- ring in my heart, and ' anger, hatred, and ill -will.' A nice trio, Steady ! And if by chance I should say anything to hurt a fel- low as I'm hurt, I'd be too mean to ever hold up my head again." "Come," said Bobertin; "there's the call for dinner." "O Steady, I couldn't eat a mouthful!" "Brace up, gars! You are innocent " So help me God and our Lady ! " "They will too!" "I believe that. And I say, old man, let's get out to church this afternoon; for I've got to think it over quietly, and that's the best place." Bobertin nodded, and they went to the mess hall, where they were greeted by a volley of chaff, inquiry and comment. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 249 "Bust on Exam., Adair," shouted one; and the joke was so exquisite to his " gang " that they laughed uproariously. For they always backed Bob " as the horse that would win." Robertin checked it somewhat by saying Bob had had bad news; while he, poor fellow, answered as best he could. Was it imagination that made Bob feel that Amherst was watching him furtively, and that two or three others were whisper- ing together? "Lord help me!" he thought; "If I get that canker into my mind, it will be as bad as the trouble I'm in." XIV. TRUE to his -word, Robertin tracked and followed up Amherst, until the latter grew almost distracted, but dared not make a sign. He gleaned nothing, however, until the morning of the third day, when he overheard Amherst telling a party of his chums that he thought Adair was " in for a mess," and he expected some stripes would be floating around without an owner before very long. "You don't say! " they exclaimed, eager- ly. "Isn't that 'one for your heels,' eh?" Amherst laughed consciously. Then a chorus arose : "I thought he was too good to last!" "I thought he looked awfully down on his luck!" "What's the row, Pollie?" " ' Gouging,' I believe." "Who said so?" asked a grave, ominous 250 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 251 voice, and Robertin stood before him. Am- lierst struggled hard for his self-possession; for he felt he had betrayed himself. "Why, isn't it that, Bruin? You ought to know. I hope I've mistaken," he added; " for Adair's a good fellow." " No, it isn't that, and you know it," said Robertin, marching off, white with rage ; for he was on his way to recitation, and could not stop. "What does the beggar mean by that?" asked one of the crowd. " Indeed you chaps will have to find out," said Amherst, yawning and turning away. "I have other fish to fry than guessing Kanuck's riddles low brute ! " he added, viciously, between his teeth. "But I say, Pollie, you haven't settled about to-morrow's chimney-picnic." "That's so! Well, I'll tell you. It's pretty near Grad., and some of us don't want any more demerits than we've got on hand, eh? (A broad grin ran around the circle.) " The commandant's an old lunatic 252 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. about discipline, and one sniff of tobacco smoke gives him the rabies. So, I say, after dinner let's take a boat and sail out a way, smoke our pipes and cigars, and there you are, with nobody the wiser! " " Good for you! " " Great head! " " Smart boy!" and other compliments greeted his plan ; and off sauntered Amherst to get his books, for his section was to be called in a few minutes. As he turned into his room after recita- tion he met Robertin. "Stand!" said the latter, imperiously. " Have you no honor, that you gave tongue to such a lie to-day ? How dare you say such things of Adair Adair, whose shoes you are not fit to brash "Well, really!" replied Amherst, with a sneer, ' ' I was not aware I had applied for the post of boot-black to Adair." " Tiens! " said Robertin, gripping the shoulder near him with a force that left it black for many a day. " No sneers, Am- herst, but truth, if you are a man. Why did you put that paper in Robert's desk ? " MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 253 A quick, flickering light played in the gray eyes for a moment, then he pulled himself together, and with some dignity said: " That's a serious charge to make, Bruin Major. "What proof have you?" " No proof yet, but I will have it soon. Your nervous habits have been found out " his keen eyes burnt into Amherst's quak- ing heart; " they were just a trick to get at your 'gouges.' ' Amherst grew ghastly white, but, turn- ing his back sharply to the light, he said: " Robertin, I make great allowance for the worry you are in about Adair, but there are certain things I can not allow you or any man to say to me. I don't think anyone would agree with you that I needed ' gouges ' in Gunnery. Perhaps ' r his smooth voice breaking into malice " Adair says that, to shield himself." " Say that again," shouted Kobertin, "and I'll break every bone in your body!" And he bore down on him like an avalanche. 254 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. Amherst saw the officer of the day coming, so did not give way to the fear that con- tracted his heart-strings. " Mr. Eobertin, Mr. Amherst ! Out of your rooms, and brawling in this unseemly manner!" And he wondered to himself, "What's got into Hercules? His face is distorted out of shape, and his eyes shoot chain-lightning. ' ' "Who began this?" he asked, sharply. Amherst hesitated, as if he were unwill- ing to get Bobertin into a scrape, but while he did so the latter spoke. " I, sir." "I'm sorry to hear it, Mr. Bobertin," said the officer, a kind-hearted, clever fel- low " for it's this sort of thing that loses stripes and double diamonds." " So much the better," answered Bober- tin. " Do you suppose, Monsieur, I want to wear them" plucking passionately at the gold lace " if Bobert's sleeves go empty? " "Oh, come now!" said Lieutenant Kin- caid, good-naturedly Amherst had passed on "isn't that going it a trifle too steep?" MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 255 " No, Monsieur. Where Robert goes I go. He's more to me than anything. I'd rather follow him into a fokesel, than walk a quarter-deck without him," all this in quick blurts. Just then a marine came up with a tele- gram, and, as Eobertin saluted and moved off, Kincaid read it, and a smile broke over his face as he said: " That lets me out of reporting him. I'm afraid it won't be quite ship-shape " (and it certainly was not), " but I'll risk it ; for the poor old chap is evidently off his head, and it's actually his first of- fence. Besides, that Amherst is a sly lot, and I bet he egged the Kanuck on." The 'gram read : " Detached. Proceed at once to join Omaha, New York." And as it was dated 9.30, the officer argued he was not really on duty when the fracas oc- curred. The next morning found the mystery still unsolved. Bob had been notified that on graduation day his diploma would be with- held, and his dismissal would follow in due 256 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. order. Sick at heart, broken down by sleepless nights, worn with sorrow, the poor fellow was like a grave, still ghost of his former self. And Robertin was little better ; but the bitter storm that had raged in the heart of the latter had been stilled that morning by a visit they had paid to Father Grotius, and by receiving Holy Communion at the early Mass, and only a deep sorrow reigned in its stead. He followed Bob's every movement with wistful, loving eyes, and after dinner said: "Robert, let us sail a while." "Well," said Bob, listlessly, "as you will, old man." And they got into a cat-boat, and drifted off before the rose-scented wind. Shortly following, came the "chimney- picnic " the smoking party. They were in a "bug-eye," with all sail spread, and were enjoying their forbidden pleasure keenly. They had eaten heartily, and smoked abun- dantly, and one by one they fell asleep, un- til only Amherst was left awake. The air MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 257 was soft, the sun warm, and the lap of the waves drowsy, and in a little while he too nodded. He started awake two or three times, then finally headed the boat bayward, lashed the tiller in place, and dropped off too. Crouching on the horizon was a black cloud, with wind in its heart and lightning on its crest; but the boat, full of sleeping youths, swept toward it with bellying sail, and heeling farther and farther to leeward. Suddenly the storm leaped on them, and over she went like a shot. Roused from their sleep to find them- selves struggling in the water, hampered by their clothing, the tempest bursting over their heads in a fury of rain and a glare of lightning, and the bay gone mad with the wind, they gave themselves up for lost, and clung to the boat's, keel, face to face with Death and Conscience and a mighty ugly pair some of the crowd found them. Meantime Bob and Robertin had spied them, and, at the risk of their lives, put 17 258 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. about, spread a scrap of sail, and raced down to their rescue. As they ueared the cap- sized craft, Amherst was torn from the keel, and swept off, with a white, agonized face, and wildly grasping hands. "Keep her steady!" shouted Robertin, who had kicked off his shoes, and jerked out of his jacket and vest; and over he went, grasping the hair of the drowning man as he sank. For, although Amherst could swim, he seemed paralyzed with fright. Meantime Bob shot alongside, and, be- hold! the squall was over and the sun was out; the tossing water and struggling fig- ures being the only trace of the outburst. He got the fellows inboard, and tacked for Steady, who was leisurely swimming along, towing his "catch." As they drew near, Robertin sang out: "Here, you fellows, listen!" Then to Am- herst: "Did you put^that 'gouge' in Rob- ert's desk?" And he said: "Yes." MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 259 Imagine the surprise! But Bob, in an agony of mingled relief and sympathy for the poor coward, whose lie had found him out, begged the fellows to hold their tougues, and turn to at the bug-eye, which they righted, baled out, cleared of the sail and masts, and had in tow when the picket launch from the Academy bore down upon them. The lookout on the Santee had seen the "spill," and reported it; so the tired " M ids " went back in fine style. As they neared the wharf, Bobertiu turned to the two senior members of Amherst's crowd, and said: "You will meet me at the commandant's as soon as you shift into dry clothes, if you please." And they nodded prompt and subdued acquiescence. On the way to their room Robertin, with his arm over Bob's shoulder, said: "That's settled, grars." "Thank God!" replied Bob. "But, O Steady! I'm so sorry for Amherst!" 260 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. " Bah! the base But we will not speak of him." "How did he happen to tell you?" asked Bob. Robertin looked a little confused. "He didn't ' happen ' at all. I told him I'd let him drown then and there if he didn't tell the truth, and he told it." "Steady!" said Bob, half imploringly, half amused. "No, of course I wouldn't, gars, but it was neck or nothing." As he started out, Bob put his hand through his arm, caught step and went too. "That's right! You ought to have the first of the apology." " It isn't that," said Bob, " but I've got something I want to say." " All right." The four young men rose as the com- mandant entered his library, and as he looked from one to the other, his heavy eye- brows settled down into a thatch over his eyes. MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 261 "You wished to see me, sir?" he said curtly to Robertin. And the latter, "the string of his tongue loosed," for Bob's sake, told his story, which was amply confirmed by Bascom and Carsdale. The " old man's " face was a study, but he said very little, beyond assuring them that justice should be done in every partic- ular, repeating' and emphasizing the last three words in a way that smacked of courts- martial, short shrift, and brisk execution. Then he shook Bob heartily by the hand, and said: "I am glad, sir, you are cleared; for there are very few young men that could be so illy spared from the service." Bob asked for a few words in private, and as soon as they were alone went to his point: "I want to ask, please sir, if it is possible to let Amherst off." " Impossible. His dismissal will be made out at once." "Yes, sir; but it won't have to be read out on the parade-grounds, before every- one?" 262 MIDSHIPMAN BOD. " It ought to be." "Perhaps, sir, from an official standpoint; but, good God, just think of the agony of it the horror of it! You see," he added, with quivering lips, "I've lived it over pretty constantly, and I wouldn't want any- body to suffer as I have done." "Oh! you wouldn't, eh?" said the com- mandant. "No, sir," replied Bob; "and, besides, I think it would blast Amherst's whole life. He's very sensitive to blame, and if he got started wrong there's no knowing where he would fetch up." " Well, really, Mr. Adair, this is rather an extraordinary performance on your part." . "Indeed, sir," said Bob, "it isn't just interfering." "Didn't say it was," growled the com- mandant, sotto voce. "You see, when I thought I was going, I wrote to an old sea-captain I know, who is bound for the East Indies, and asked him MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 263 if there was any show in the merchant ser- vice; for I meant to apply to sail with him. I couldn't have faced " Here his voice faltered, but he went on after a moment. " I got a letter from him this morning, say- ing his second mate was down with yellow fever, and if I knew anybody that could tackle the berth, to send him along. Now, sir, Amherst's a good seaman, and maybe if you'd see him, and tell him of the opening, let him resign, and get right away " " Why don't you see him yourself ? " asked the officer, surveying Bob curiously. " Well, sir, he mightn't want to see me, and mightn't want to take the place if I gave it. Fellows get queer and streaky sometimes, you know. Then, too, he might think I wanted to be lathery, and and all that." " Mr. Adair, let me understand exactly. You want the fellow that came within an ace of ruining your career to get off scot- free, and go into a comfortable and profita- ble berth that you provide for him ? " 264 MIDSHIPMAN BOB. " Yes, sir," said Bob. "Isn't it rather a premium on villainy, and that sort of thing ? " "No, sir," answered Bob; "something a good deal simpler than that putting my- self in his place." "Very well; I'll think of it." And I'll say here that when Amherst heard the plan, and learned who was trying to save him, he broke down, and cried a few honest, wholesome tears, and swore a vow to come up to Bob's expectations. And he did, making a good sailor and a faithful officer, until he was swept off the bridge of The Begum in a typhoon, and found a grave in Chinese waters. Bob graduated with 6clat, and Robertin with credit; and if you go down to the Academy, you will find a neat brick house, just outside the gate, in which Bob lives, with his pretty, young wife, and his sturdy MIDSHIPMAN BOB. 265 baby boy ; for he is now a lieutenant and an instructor. And every fortnight he and Steady can be met pacing the walks, shoulder to shoul- der, or can be seen sitting contentedly to- gether in Bob's home ; for, although sta- tioned in New .York, aboard the St. Mary's, Eobertin runs down twice a month to see ce gars-let, who is still the dearest thing the world holds for him. THE END. 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