THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 lil
 
 , 
 
 f
 
 M \Y-liKKAM>.
 
 BOY LIFE IN THE 
 
 
 
 UNITED STATES NA 1 
 
 BY 
 
 H. H. CLARK, U. S N. 
 
 * 
 
 51 3^ 
 
 LOTHROP PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 BOSTON
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1885, 
 
 BY 
 1>. LOTHROP AND COMPANY. 
 
 A U rifktt reserve tL
 
 TO 
 
 COMMODORE STEPHEN B. LUCE, U. S. NAVY, 
 
 Whose earnest and unremitting devotion to the United 
 States Naval Training Service has contributed so much 
 toward its present efficiency and its future promise, this 
 little book is respectfully dedicated. 
 
 661659
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 " IN THE BLOOD " . . 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 AN EXCITING JOURNEY 17 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 ENLISTED 2 9 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 GETTING HIS BEARINGS . . . . 43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 DINNER FORMATION AND POLICE COURT .... S3 
 
 CHAPTER VI.- 
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE . . . ... .63 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TIP AND JOE COLLIDE . . . . . , . 74 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JOE PERFORMS A DARING FEAT * * . 87 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 JOE S FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR . . 96 
 
 3
 
 4 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 JOE IS INVITED TO MAKE A VISIT . ... . . IO8 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 GABRIEL BUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS . . . .118 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 JOE GITS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE 130 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 SHARP IN DOUBLE IRONS . . . . . . . 142 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 THE DEATH OF CHARLIE SMITH. . . . . .155 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON ...... 164 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 COURT MARTIAL 176 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER ....... 189 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ROUGH BUT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCF.3 . . . .203 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A FORECASTLE SCARE 216 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION 227 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER 238
 
 CONTENTS. 5 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON 250 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 CLEARED FOR ACTION 263 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS 276 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 JOE S CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED . . . . . 301
 
 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED 
 STATES NAVY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " IN THE BLOOD." 
 
 UPON a large tree, blazed by many an Indian 
 hatchet and lumberman s axe, standing near 
 a newly-made road in the Aroostook wilderness, 
 flamed out. one September day, in brightly-colored 
 letters, to catch the eye of the passing boy traveller, 
 a handbill which read as follows : 
 
 WANTED ! 
 
 5OO BOYS 
 FOR THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Directly underneath this announcement, in 
 smaller type, the terms of enlistment for naval 
 apprentices were stated, together with such other 
 information as it would be necessary for a candidate 
 to know before setting out from home. 
 
 7
 
 8 DOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 How this advertisement thrilled Joe Bently, a 
 farmer s boy, who, while riding by on his shaggy 
 pony, chanced to see it, only those can appreciate 
 who, like him, have an intense longing for the sea. 
 He had scarcely finished reading it before he had 
 turned his pony s head homeward, and with a vig 
 orous application of a willow switch, was flying 
 along at a pace only rivalled by the ancient Paul 
 Revere, or Sheridan on his famous ride to Win 
 chester. 
 
 " Mother ! " he shouted, bursting into the kitchen 
 where Mrs. Bently was busily engaged getting sup 
 per. "Can t I go now? There s a notice over 
 there in the woods that tells all about it." 
 
 His mother looked up with a troubled face. She 
 had heard about the " notice." It had been ad 
 dressed to the postmaster of the neighboring village, 
 and had reached him the night before. But Hiram 
 Coburn, the poor cobbler who held that official re 
 lation to the government in that retired spot, had 
 not the wall space sufficient in the little room that 
 served the double purpose of workshop and mail- 
 assorting, for a large placard, and, therefore, after 
 much cogitation, had taken his shoemaker s hammer 
 and nails and fastened it, early in the day, to " In 
 dian Tree," as it was called. A passing neighbor 
 had seen it, and dropped in at the Bentlys on his 
 way home from the mill that morning, to tell about 
 it and talk it over, country fashion. All day long 
 Mrs. Bently had carried a load upon her heart.
 
 " IN THE BLOOD. 9 
 
 " Now s my chance, mother," the lad continued ; 
 " the Navy is a good deal better place than the mer 
 chant service. There s no end of teaching and 
 drilling on the schoolships, and what a fellow can t 
 learn there about being a sailor ain t worth learning. 
 I ve been finding out all about it." 
 
 The mother looked sadly for a moment at her 
 impetuous boy, walking up and down the kitchen 
 with flushed cheeks and eager face, and then said 
 in a trembling voice : 
 
 " But how can we spare you, Joe ? Father is- 
 getting old. If you go away, there ll be no one to 
 help him but me and the girls. He works too hard 
 now." 
 
 "Oh, I ll send him money all I get," pleaded 
 Joe. "I reckon it ll be enough to hire a farm hand 
 in my place." A moment s silence followed, and 
 the lad burst out again: "It s no use! I ve tried 
 to settle down and be content, and I can t ! I can t 
 be a farmer, and father knows it as well as I do. 
 It s got to come, sooner or later ; I can t stay here. 
 I must go to sea. I tell you, mother, it s in the 
 blood! What s the use of fighting against it?" 
 
 This kind of talk was not a new thing at the 
 Bently farmhouse. For several years it had been 
 the dream of Joe s life to see the world ; and to see 
 it as a sailor boy a profession which was pecul 
 iarly fascinating to his uninstructed imagination. 
 He had often teased his father to let him make one 
 voyage, if no more ; but Mr. Bently had thus far
 
 IO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 persistently declined the request, and treated Joe s 
 desire as a mere boyish whim which he would soon 
 outgrow. " All boys of his age want to rove," he 
 used to argue; "they ll get steady when they grow 
 up." And therefore, just as in his young manhood 
 he had " set his face as a flint Zionward," so had 
 he " set his face as a flint " against his son s pro 
 pensity to leave home and try the fortunes of the 
 sea. He was an obstinate "professor" and a no 
 less obstinate father. 
 
 Mrs. Bently looked at the matter from a differ 
 ent standpoint. She knew what this longing for 
 the sea meant, and though heartbroken at the idea 
 of parting from her only boy, she was inclined to 
 yield to his earnest appeals. Herself the daughter 
 of a successful sea-captain, she had, in her girlhood, 
 made several voyages with her father to far-off 
 lands ; and though for five and twenty years she 
 had not gazed upon the ocean, the magic of blue 
 water exercised its spell on her still. At the thresh 
 old of young womanhood, her father died sud 
 denly ; the bulk of his property went down shortly 
 after in an uninsured ship, and the bereaved girl had 
 turned her back on the seaport town which had been 
 her home, to seek her subsistence as a schoolteacher 
 in Northern Maine. There, in a few years, she had 
 been wooed and won by Isaiah Bently, a rising 
 young farmer and a leading member of the Con 
 gregational Church of M : . Her home had had 
 
 its lights and shadows, its joys and hardships. Liv.
 
 " IN THE BLOOD." I I 
 
 ing remote from town and school privileges, she 
 had herself instructed her children ; and though 
 denied the books and society for which her mind 
 thirsted, she preserved a certain refinement of man 
 ner and feeling which gave her home a reputation 
 for miles around. 
 
 Often during the childhood of her children she 
 had been wont to brighten the long winter even 
 ings with stories of the sea her own varied experi 
 ences afloat and ashore in foreign lands, and the 
 traditions of her sailor ancestry. She did not rea 
 lize at the time what seed she was sowing, and how 
 receptive the soil in one heart, at least, of her inter 
 ested hearers, until one night, after an oft-repeated 
 and vivid recital of the rescue of a man who fell 
 overboard in a terrible gale, little Joe, then but ten 
 years old, had suddenly exclaimed, " Ma, I want to 
 be a sailor ! " From that time the stories of the 
 sea were gradually suppressed, and the mother 
 taxed her inventive powers to the utmost to provide 
 interesting games and pastimes in their stead. But 
 the hereditary instinct in her boy which her stories 
 had not originated, only fed, was not to be sup 
 pressed. The fever was in the blood. 
 
 For his father s sake Mrs. Bently sought, as Joe 
 grew older, to quench his passion, and when his dis 
 appointment and her husband s disapproval, like two 
 heavily-charged thunder clouds, came into collision, 
 with womanly tact she drew away each bolt of anger 
 lest it should shatter some beautiful branch on the
 
 12 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 fair tree of affection growing within the garden of 
 their home. But many a night when the fire burned 
 low, and Joe had long been sleeping in his garret 
 overhead, she would plead for him. 
 
 "You know," she would say to her husband, 
 "Joe doesn t take to farm work, and he s just 
 crazy for the sea. He is getting to be almost a 
 man in size, and to have a mind of his own. If we 
 keep on opposing him it will only alienate his feel 
 ings more and more, and keep us all unhappy. 
 Why not let him make the trial ? If he gets sick 
 of it, he will gladly come back to the farm." 
 
 Then Mr. Bently would pray that if it were God s 
 will that their boy should go forth from the shelter 
 of his home, the way might be opened, and duty 
 made plain, and the stumbling-blocks be removed. 
 But the next day Joe s importunities would find 
 him as unyielding as ever. 
 
 Despite Joe s restlessness of temperament, he 
 had been carefully trained, and in the final issue of 
 all matters of family discipline, was under subjection 
 to his parents will. He had never joined the 
 Church, or made " a profession " even, as it was 
 called, but in the very core of his being he was 
 honest, straightforward, reverential. He hated all 
 meanness. The cowardly idea of sneaking away 
 from home, and usurping the direction of his own 
 life, never once came into his head. The smart of 
 continued disappointment was hard to bear, but his 
 filial obedience never relaxed. Thanks to the steady
 
 "IN THE BLOOD. 13 
 
 influence of consistent Christian surroundings, his 
 conscience had been kept sensitive and true, and 
 though he had his weaknesses, there were fibres in 
 his character which would stand the strain in the 
 hour of temptation. 
 
 Withal he was very tender-hearted. Any grief 
 which he might cause his parents in wayward mo 
 ments, in his better moods cut him to the heart. 
 Often when his father showed sorrow instead of 
 anger at some manifestation of restlessness on his 
 part, he had a spasm of self-rebellion against this 
 tormenting desire to leave home ; but some new in 
 cident was always happening to cast fresh fuel on 
 the smouldering flame, which would shortly blaze 
 forth with more intensity than ever. Some boys, 
 like birds, are born with migratory instincts, and 
 all the beautiful home autumns and Indian summers 
 in the world cannot keep them from their predeter 
 mined flight. 
 
 It was the handbill nailed to "Indian Tree" which 
 finally turned the scale in Joe s favor. When that 
 appeared, his father concluded that it was a " sign 
 of Providence," and no longer withheld his consent. 
 The little household at once became a scene of 
 lively confusion in making preparations for Joe s de 
 parture. Knitting needles were busy with mittens 
 and stockings, and the mother s experience fur 
 nished just the information of what was most im 
 portant by way of outfit. Mr. Bently wrote to the 
 commandant of the training squadron and secured
 
 f 
 
 14 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 the necessary papers, all of which were duly signed 
 and sealed. Meantime Joe had gone around among 
 the neighbors far and near and bade them all 
 good-by. 
 
 The last night at home had come. Was the 
 clamor of the elements on that long-remembered 
 evening a prophecy that he was going forth to a 
 tempestuous life ? The wind roared among the 
 trees. The rain, falling in a deluge from the sky 
 was hurled against the cottage like the surf of an 
 angry sea. The house trembled at the repeated 
 shocks. Every blast of the warring gale caused the 
 younger members of the group gathered in the 
 great kitchen, to shudder all but Joe. Their 
 quickened imaginations pictured wild seas lashed 
 by the storm, a foundering ship, and their brother 
 clinging to a single spar, calling in vain for help. 
 
 " Isn t it dreadful ? " sobbed Mollie Bently. " I 
 can t bear to think of Joe going off " 
 
 " Hush, Mollie dear ! " exclaimed Mrs. Bently, 
 as a great limb came crashing down on the roof and 
 rolled into the yard. "All the dangers of the world 
 do not belong to the sea. If they did, poor cousin 
 George would not have been killed while logging 
 last winter. I never used to think, when a girl, that 
 a storm at sea was so terrible. It always made me 
 feel how great God is, and what little things men 
 are. We can trust Joe in his hands. Danger 
 should be the last thing a manly boy should fear 
 going out to make his way in life."
 
 " IN THE BLOOD. 15 
 
 Later in the evening, Mr. Bently took down tht 
 old Bible and read the one hundred and seventh 
 Psalm that most appropriate selection for them 
 that go down to the sea in ships, that do business 
 in great waters." The family then sang, ." Guide 
 me, O Thou great Jehovah!" Joe s ordinarily 
 clear tenor being somewhat tremulous as he began 
 to realize the coming change in his life, and that he 
 was joining in the family devotions for the last time 
 in years. In the fervent prayer which followed, Mr. 
 Bently besought the Lord to make Joe s integrity 
 like the armor which the arrows of temptation 
 could never pierce, and that the gentle influence of 
 home might be as a plaited shield to ward off "the 
 fiery darts of the wicked one." 
 
 Meanwhile the storm had broken. One after 
 another the stars came out. The moon burst forth 
 from rifts of scurrying clouds and shed a gentle 
 beauty on the outer world. Peace settled down 
 upon the little farmhouse both without and within, 
 and sweet slumber soon caused each inmate to for 
 get the grief of parting till the day broke which was 
 to witness the going forth of our hero to the life he 
 had coveted so long. 
 
 Joe was up betimes next morning. A beautiful 
 day had dawned and completely dissipated the 
 gloomy forebodings of the previous evening. Joe 
 had to make hasty preparations to catch the forenoon 
 train for Bangor, at a station twenty miles away. 
 He ran to the barn to pat his pony s neck, and to
 
 l6 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 say good-by to Turk and Brindle, who responded 
 by a loving look. There was not a duck, or chicken, 
 or calf, on the whole place, that was not on the best 
 of terms with Joe ; and he could scarcely keep back 
 the tears as they came running to him, each to 
 claim its little share of his notice.. It was curious 
 how everything about the old farm took on a fas 
 cination that last morning, causing him to say to 
 himself a dozen times that he wished he had never 
 decided to go away. It was hardest of all to take 
 leave of his mother, and Mollie and Sadie. But he 
 promised his sisters many beautiful and curious 
 presents, and told his mother that the finest silk 
 dress in the country should be hers when he made 
 his first visit as a sailor lad to his old home. 
 
 So, with many promises and many tears, he set 
 out with Mr. Bently for the station. Two minutes 
 after they reached it the cars thundered in, and Joe 
 had just time to say good-by to his father when the 
 train was off, separating him by many a long month 
 and year from the friends and home to which, in 
 the distress of parting, he would gladly have re 
 turned.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AN EXCITING JOURNEY. 
 
 TOE S face presented a varied study as the cars 
 ** sped on. Occasionally it would light up with 
 excitement and joy as the thought came to him 
 that the cherished dream of years was about to be 
 fulfilled, and his imagination pictured the strange 
 and thrilling life on which he was about to enter ; 
 and then a cloud would obscure the light, and a 
 tear would glisten and drop as he thought of his 
 rapidly-receding home with its prized treasures and 
 associations and familiar tasks. 
 
 The curious glances of his fellow travellers in the 
 car disturbed the spell of Joe s imaginations. He 
 woke up to his surroundings, and began to look 
 about him. A few seats in front sat a bright-look 
 ing girl, with eyes full of fun, who was scanning 
 him every moment or two with a comical expres 
 sion, and then bending her head, was making quick 
 strokes with a pencil. It occurred to Joe instantly 
 that he had unconsciously been " sitting for his pic 
 ture " to this merry young artist, and a quick blush 
 came to his cheek. But Joe was neither sentimen 
 tal nor quick to take offence. Leaving the viva- 
 
 17
 
 1 8 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 cious miss to amuse herself at his expense if she 
 liked, our hero glanced around the car. Gradually 
 the impression was made upon his mind that the 
 men and youth around him were somehow dressed 
 differently from himself, but in what respects he 
 could not at once determine. 
 
 He was, indeed, rather oddly attired for a boy of 
 fifteen. His coat was long in the waist, and showed 
 no economy in the skirt. His hat was very wide in 
 in the brim and very low in the crown. Its mate 
 rial was fur, but whether beaver, mink, or muskrat, 
 was hard to determine. Had it been turned up at 
 the sides, it would have resembled the comical hats 
 worn by Spanish and Italian priests. His honest 
 large feet were encased in a pair of thick cowhide 
 boots of generous proportions. 
 
 This unboyish costume had already excited con 
 siderable sly mirth in the car, but the thoughtful 
 observer remarked that behind it all was a splendid 
 physique, a manly, open face, and plenty of fire, in 
 the fine, bright eye. 
 
 The only dignitaries Joe had ever met were the 
 village minister, the doctor, and a railroad conduc 
 tor. He was, therefore, a little overawed at first 
 in the presence of so many well-dressed and easy- 
 mannered people ; but the feeling soon passed away. 
 He listened with almost breathless interest to 
 snatches of conversation going on around him. 
 Most of his fellow travellers, he discovered, came 
 from St. John. An old gentleman, with gold spec-
 
 AN EXCITING JOURNEY. IQ 
 
 tacles and a great seal hanging from his watch rib 
 bon, sitting just behind him, was telling in a pomp 
 ous way of a case he had just won in some court. 
 Opposite him a richly-dressed lady was describing 
 a reception in Windsor Castle which she had at 
 tended. A loud-speaking, rough-looking man was 
 informing his neighbor that he was going to Dakota 
 to start a cattle ranch, and already had five thou 
 sand head of cattle to begin with. While not far 
 from where Joe sat, a clever-appearing boy from 
 Halifax, of about his own age, was talking eagerly 
 about a Cunard steamer on which his father held a 
 position, and he was on his way to New York to 
 join him as an assistant, and he hoped some day to 
 be himself an officer in the employ of that company. 
 " What a wonderful world this must be ! " said Joe 
 to himself as he settled back in his seat and began 
 again to picture his own future. 
 
 The wonder did not cease as from the car win 
 dow he noticed the changing scenery. The familiar 
 surroundings of his boyhood log cabins, zigzag 
 fences, black stumps, vast areas of uncleared wilder 
 ness had given place to the neat white cottages, 
 the fine farms and the cosey towns and villages of 
 the Upper Penobscot. Occasionally the beautiful 
 river would come into view, with its shelving shores 
 and frequent islands and quick vista of some trap 
 per s camp, or the temporary wigwam of some In 
 dian family. Old Mt. Katahdin loomed up in sol 
 emn majesty on the far horizon.
 
 V 
 
 2O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 With his face turned to the window, and his 
 whole mind feasting on the novel beauties of the 
 changing landscape, Joe did not notice that the seat 
 beside him had been quietly taken, and he was not 
 a little confused when he discovered the fact. A 
 furtive glance revealed to him a stylish young man, 
 in whose smooth face and composed manner noth 
 ing sinister appeared at least to so unsophisti 
 cated an observer as our Joe. Presently the 
 stranger opened conversation by politely asking Joe 
 if he knew the name of the village through which 
 they had just passed. 
 
 " No, sir," was the reply ; " I ve never been this 
 way before." 
 
 " Ah ! this is your first trip away from home. 
 May I inquire where you are going ? " 
 
 " I am on my way to Boston to ship in the Navy," 
 ingenuously returned Joe, beginning to feel flattered 
 that such an elegant gentleman should take the 
 trouble to talk with him. 
 
 " I was bound for Boston myself," said the young 
 man, "but owing to a little misfortune" and 
 here he lowered his voice to a confidential tone 
 " I met with in Vanceborough, I shall have to 
 stop over in Bangor. The fact is, I left my wallet 
 on the counter in the restaurant. It contained all 
 the money I took with me, together with my ticket. 
 I happen to know the conductor, and he says I can 
 go on, but I don t care to travel without money. 
 I ve telegraphed for the pocketbook to be sent on
 
 AN EXCITING JOURNEY. 21 
 
 by the next train. Still, it s going to embarrass 
 me greatly." 
 
 Joe s sympathy was instantly aroused. " Can t 
 I help you ? " he inquired. " We are both going to 
 the same place," and he plunged his hand into his 
 pocket. 
 
 " Oh ! I don t think you have money enough 
 to do me any good," the young man replied dep- 
 recatingly. "Nothing under twenty-five dollars 
 would help me out." Then, with a peculiar smile, 
 he added, " Of course, if you have that amount, and 
 can spare it just as well as not, I should esteem it 
 a great favor if you would loan it to me temporarily. 
 My father has a deposit at the Commonwealth Bank 
 in Boston, and when we reach the city, I could re 
 turn it at once." 
 
 Strange to say, twenty-five dollars just repre 
 sented Joe s financial resources. Eagerly drawing 
 out his purse, he assured his new friend, who seemed 
 reluctant to take the money now that he was sure of 
 getting it, that he would be delighted to let him 
 have it for the sake of his company. The young 
 man had seen Mr. Bently place just that amount in 
 Joe s hand at the depot. After telling Joe several 
 times how grateful he was for the favor, he politely 
 excused himself and withdrew to the smoking car, 
 promising to return in a short time. 
 
 Meantime the train stopped at a small station for 
 refreshments. Joe hastened out with the rest, but 
 was so hustled about that when the conductor
 
 22 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 shouted, "All aboard!" he had consumed all the 
 time, but nothing else. Moreover, he was penniless. 
 In the restaurant his beneficiary had smiled blandly 
 upon him, and then disappeared in the crowd on 
 the other side of the room. 
 
 Joe waited a long time for the return of his 
 agreeable companion, and at last, getting tired, 
 started to find him. He had been sitting in the 
 rear end of the car, and as he walked up the aisle, 
 he observed the conductor just entering the car at 
 the other end. All at once a heavy lurch so threat 
 ened to overcome his centre of gravity, that he in 
 voluntarily seized hold of the rope running along 
 the car above his head. Down it came with such 
 violence that the engineer quickly reversed the en 
 gine and clapped on the air-brakes, bringing the 
 train to so sudden a standstill as to throw every 
 body forward from their seats. 
 
 The conductor was furious. " You stupid block 
 head ! how dared you touch that line? Don t you 
 know that is the bell line ? I ve a great mind to 
 put you off the train ! " 
 
 Before Joe could stammer out that he had never 
 been on a car before, and did not know what the 
 rope was for, the official hastened out to give the 
 signal to go ahead again. Mortified at his mishap 
 and by the freely-expressed comments upon his ver 
 dancy, Joe hurried forward to the smoking-car 
 only to find that his fine friend was not there, but 
 had, in fact, left the train an hour before.
 
 AN EXCITING JOURNEY. 23 
 
 Then it flashed upon him that he had been swin 
 dled, that his smooth-voiced, .elegant friend was a 
 villain and Joe s face burned with anger. He de 
 tested knavery and meanness. " The scoundrel," he 
 muttered, as he sank into a vacant seat and brooded 
 over the situation, upbraiding himself for his stu 
 pidity. Keener than his regret at the loss of the 
 money was the chagrin at having been imposed 
 upon cheated. An uneasy suspicion began to rise 
 in his mind towards his fellow travellers. " I won 
 der if all men are liars, as father used to read in 
 the good book?" he thought. And then his mind 
 flew back to the farm, and a deep, bitter craving to 
 go back began to dominate him his first twinge 
 of homesickness. 
 
 Evening set in. The lamps in the car burned 
 brightly. Conversation gradually ceased. Most of 
 the talkers subsided into attitudes convenient for 
 repose. Joe s spirits had revived, and he began to 
 feel hungry. He thought he would jump off the 
 car at the next station and get something to eat 
 but how could he pay for it ? He was revolving 
 this problem in his mind when suddenly, without an 
 instant s warning, there came a quick succession of 
 bumps followed by a loud crash. Joe was hurled 
 with great force to the side of the car. Several 
 people were piled on top of him, and he was almost 
 suffocated from the weight. Nearly all the lights 
 had been extinguished by the shock, and in the 
 darkness and confusion the people were crying out
 
 24 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 quite as much from fright as from injuries received. 
 
 Little by little Joe felt the pressure upon him 
 lightened, and in a moment or two he recovered his 
 feet. Finding that he could stand without diffi 
 culty, he concluded that he had met with no more 
 serious injury than a few bruises. His next thought 
 was to get out of the car. The forward part 
 was badly wrecked ; and the blinds having been 
 put down after the lamps were lighted, made it, 
 from the position of the car, impossible to open any 
 of the windows. Men were tugging at them with 
 all their might, but not one would yield. While 
 Joe was looking about for some means of escape, 
 his eye fell upon an axe in its slings midway the 
 car. Climbing up to it, he wrenched it from its 
 place, and with a few sturdy blows demolished the 
 blind and sash of one of the windows and crawled 
 outside. 
 
 He saw instantly that from some cause the whole 
 train had been thrown from the track. The car in 
 which he had been sitting leaned at an angle of 
 about forty-five degrees and was a hopeless wreck. 
 People from the rear cars, which had not been so 
 badly demolished, were running wildly about in the 
 darkness, not knowing what to do. Joe at once be 
 gan to cut away the windows to liberate the people 
 of his car, and in a few minutes he had the satis 
 faction to see, as he thought, the car completely 
 cleared. 
 
 Meanwhile a fire had broken out in the baggage
 
 AN EXCITING JOURNEY. 2$ 
 
 car, and, defying all efforts to extinguish it, was 
 carried by a strong breeze rapidly down the whole 
 train. It had already reached the car of which we 
 have just spoken, when a cry was heard from the 
 interior which appalled everybody. At the same 
 time a lady inquired, in the greatest alarm, " Why, 
 where s Katie ? " Somebody had been left in the 
 car, who, up to the present instant, had evidently 
 been insensible. In the bewilderment of the dis 
 covery, while the crowd hesitated, Joe sprang for 
 ward, and with axe in hand entered the car. The 
 smoke was so thick that he could see nothing, but 
 guided by the cries, he soon came to a poor girl 
 lying on the floor in the middle of the car, tightly 
 wedged in between two broken seats. Though ex 
 erting all his strength, he was barely able to throw 
 one seat back ; the other was so bent it refused 
 to yield. The smoke was suffocating, and the fire 
 was making alarming headway. The people out 
 side were breathless with excitement as they caught 
 occasional glimpses of Joe tugging at the seats with 
 all his might. Presently they saw the gleam of his 
 axe as the smoke parted a little, heard two sharp 
 strokes, and the next instant a hundred hands were 
 thrust out to receive the girl as Joe lifted her to the 
 window. No sooner had he followed than, as if by 
 magic, the whole car burst into a blaze. 
 
 A loud cheer greeted our hero as he dropped to 
 the ground. 
 
 " You are a brave boy," said the conductor, as he
 
 26 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 gave him a warm shake of the hand. " I am very 
 sorry that I spoke so harshly to such a boy as 
 you." 
 
 Joe had to shake hands all around and receive 
 many congratulations. By this time it was ascer 
 tained that no one was killed, and that only a few 
 were seriously injured the girl whom Joe had 
 rescued being among the number. Her foot was 
 badly crushed, and it was feared she might be hurt 
 internally. Joe asked the Halifax boy to join him, 
 and they offered their services to the mother of the 
 young lady. Putting their hands together in the 
 form of a chair, they bore the suffering girl to a 
 farmhouse about a hundred rods away. It was 
 then that Joe discovered that she was the miss to 
 whom he had been such a source of amusement. 
 It was all the same to him, however. He saw that 
 she was not much more than a little girl, and had 
 she been the worst enemy he had in the world, he 
 would have risked his life to save her. As they 
 mutually recognized each other, both blushed deeply 
 Joe from diffidence, she from regret. 
 
 Joe was kept busy nearly the whole night in run> 
 ning to have prescriptions put up and going on 
 messages for wounded people to and from the train, 
 and he proved to be the most serviceable person in 
 the whole company. In the course of the night he 
 found an opportunity to tell the conductor of his 
 misfortune in losing his money. He was very an 
 gry that such a thing should have happened on his 

 
 AN EXCITING JOURNEY. 2 
 
 train, and said that if Joe had told him before, hr 
 would have telegraphed back to Bangor and had th< 
 villain arrested. 
 
 Our hero did not get much sleep his first night 
 away from home ; but as he lay down towards morn 
 ing on the haymow of a barn not far from the 
 train, he did not forget to thank his Heavenly 
 Father that his life had been so wonderfully pre 
 served, and he fell into a light slumber, thinking 
 how he would describe his journey to Mollie, and 
 how pleased he would be to add that " all dangers 
 do not belong to the sea." 
 
 In the morning he learned that the young lady 
 whom he had rescued wished to see him before he 
 took another train. Her mother had told her of 
 the great risk he had taken in going into the car 
 after her, and she wished to express her gratitude. 
 Joe found her quite cheery and much better. She 
 reached out her hand to Joe and gave him a hearty 
 welcome. 
 
 " You are a brave boy," she safd impulsively, 
 " and I want to know who you are, and where you 
 are going." 
 
 " My name is Joe Bently, and I am on my way 
 to Boston to enlist as an apprentice in the Navy," 
 promptly replied Joe. 
 
 " My name is Katie Aston," returned the girl. 
 " I live in Portland. My father is a merchant on 
 Commercial Street. When you get your uniform 
 I want you to send me your picture, so that I can
 
 2$ BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 show my friends the sailor boy who saved my life. 
 Mamma, mayn t I write to Joe, and mayn t he write 
 to me ? " inquired she, turning to Mrs. Aston. 
 
 " Certainly, my child," said her mother ; and Joe 
 had to promise to write and tell her all about his 
 new life, 
 
 " One thing more," said Katie, as the tears 
 sprang to her eyes ; " I want you to forgive me for 
 making fun of you and drawing your picture in the 
 car. I knew it was wrong, but your suit is so comi 
 cal," she frankly added. 
 
 " Oh, never mind that," said Joe. " I don t care 
 anything about it, and don t you think of it any 
 more." 
 
 Joe had gained his point, and had very clearly 
 demonstrated that clothes do not make the man, or 
 the boy either. With a hearty farewell he left his 
 new friend for the train. As he was about to step 
 on board, the conductor placed a sealed envelope 
 in his hand, saying, as he bade him good-by, 
 " Open that at your leisure ! "
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ENLISTED. 
 
 IT was early evening when the train rolled into 
 the brilliantly-lighted depot in Boston. Along 
 the way Joe had been the recipient of many little 
 courtesies from his fellow travellers, many of whom 
 had been on the ill-fated train the day before. But 
 on reaching the end of their journey, they hastened 
 from the car to meet waiting friends, or to seek a 
 conveyance to their homes. The depot seemed 
 alive with people, and as Joe walked up and down 
 in the confusion and listened to the greetings, he 
 realized painfully that his own home was left far be 
 hind. In a few moments all had gone but himself 
 and the railroad officials. The train had backed 
 out. The baggage masters were dragging the un 
 claimed trunks to the baggage room. 
 
 Joe felt lonely and friendless. He had torn open 
 the envelope handed to him in the early part of the 
 day by the conductor, and, seeing that it contained 
 money (it proved, afterwards, to contain fifty dol 
 lars, with a complimentary note signed by several 
 persons, and a suggestion that the money be used 
 to buy his outfit), had hastily put it back into his 
 
 29
 
 3O ROY LIFE IN THE UMTKD%TATES NAVY. 
 
 pocket. He had heard the hackmen call out the 
 names of the hotels, but he could not make up his 
 mind which to select. 
 
 Still, he must go somewhere ; and he was just on 
 the point of leaving the depot, when a gentleman 
 hastily entered and looked about in a nervous, ex 
 cited way, as though expecting to find some one. 
 He walked hurriedly down the platform and asked 
 a few questions of the baggage master. Something 
 in his manner detained Joe. He was dressed in a 
 neat-fitting business suit, wore side-whiskers, eye 
 glasses dangled from a cord in front, a silk-lined 
 summer overcoat hung over his arm, and he had a 
 strange habit of jerking up his right arm and at the 
 same moment contorting his face. This last pecu 
 liarity was so grotesque that Joe could hardly nelp 
 laughing. His face sobered, however, when the 
 gentleman came towards him, and, with great agi 
 tation both in manner and speech, inquired, 
 
 " Were you on the Bangor train ? " 
 
 Joe replied that he had come on that train. 
 
 * Do you know anything about the accident yes 
 terday ? " and the gentleman flung up his right arm 
 and contorted his face. But Joe was so impressed 
 by the evident distress of the stranger, that he 
 scarcely noticed now this peculiarity. 
 
 " I was on that train," said Joe. 
 
 " Ah ! then you can tell me, I hope, just what I 
 want to know. I have telegraphed in vain. Did 
 you see .in the cars a girl about ten years old, with
 
 ENLISTED. 31 
 
 light curls and blue eyes ? There was a woman 
 with her a servant." 
 
 Joe thought for a.moment. Yes, he remembered 
 now remembered distinctly to have seen her. 
 The man read his thoughts at once. 
 
 "Is she safe? Was she hurt ? " he next asked 
 impatiently, laying his left hand heavily on Joe s 
 shoulder. " Speak ! " 
 
 "She is safe all right," Joe replied. 
 
 " Thank God ! " the man exclaimed ; and then he 
 left Joe and walked into the waiting-room evidently 
 to obtain the mastery of his feelings. 
 
 Joe stepped out on the street, and was on the 
 point of walking away, when the gentleman re 
 turned. 
 
 "Are you going home?" he inquired, with the 
 same nervous gesture. " Where do you live ? My 
 carriage is here. Won t you oblige me by riding 
 with me ? " 
 
 " My home is in Maine," said Joe. " I am a 
 stranger here, and trying to find a hotel." 
 
 "Come with me, then ! Be my guest. You have 
 been of the greatest service to me. Here, Jim ! " 
 he called. " Have this young man s baggage sent 
 to the house. If you will give me your checks," 
 he said to Joe, " you shall have no trouble about 
 your luggage." 
 
 Joe gave up his check, not without some misgiv 
 ings, and feeling somewhat doubtful whether his 
 trunk had been among those thrown out before the
 
 32 BOY r.in: IN TIIK UNITKD STATES NAVY. 
 
 car was burned. He yielded to the evident kindness 
 of his new friend, who conducted him to a closed 
 carriage and gave a brief direction to the driver. 
 As the carriage was driven through the streets, the 
 gentleman inquired more particularly about his 
 daughter; and on learning that she had quite es 
 caped serious injury, and had travelled only as far 
 as Portland that day, he appeared satisfied. 
 
 The carriage stopped before a lofty brownstone 
 house on a wide street, and Joe found himself 
 shortly in an apartment that bewildered him at first, 
 so princely seemed its splendor. His host, however, 
 put him quite at his ease. An elaborate dinner, a 
 pleasant chat during which he frankly told his his 
 tory and life-purpose, and then he was conducted 
 to a luxurious chamber. Here he found his trunk, 
 somewhat charred at one end, but its contents un 
 touched by the fire. With a grateful heart he sank 
 to sleep, too tired to recall the strange experiences 
 through which he had thus far passed. 
 
 The next morning his host, after breakfast, cour 
 teously invited Joe to remain with him a few days 
 and see the city before going on shipboard ; but 
 finding that the lad was eager to enter upon his 
 new life, he ordered the carriage, and drove slowly 
 around the principal streets, pointing out the pub 
 lic buildings and business houses, and left him 
 finally at India Wharf, promising to see him again. 
 Here, as he had learned, the boats of the United 
 States Training Ship Minnesota landed.
 
 ENLISTED. 33 
 
 A steam cutter, towing a heavy launch, had just 
 puffed up to the wooden steps which led to the 
 water, and waited the accustomed morning load of 
 recruits. All around Joe stood boys from fourteen 
 to eighteen years of age, with their parents or guar 
 dians, earnestly discussing the probability of "get 
 ting in," as they termed it. 
 
 " All who wish to go on board to be examined 
 for enlistment, will get into the after boat," said the 
 smart-looking midshipman in charge of the steam- 
 cutter. 
 
 The boys scrambled in as if it were the last chance 
 they would ever have to board a man-of-war. The 
 order to "shove off" was then given, and the little 
 cutter shot out into the harbor as if she had noth 
 ing more than a feather in tow. As she rounded 
 the wharf, the big ship burst into full view, which 
 caused exclamations of astonishment from many of 
 the boys. Her massive hull, glistening with fresh 
 black paint, relieved only by a broad streak of 
 white ; the long rows of heavy guns ; the tall masts 
 seeming to pierce the sky ; the wilderness of ropes 
 and rigging ; the sails loosed and hanging in grace 
 ful festoons to the yards ; the fleet of boats trail 
 ing, some astern and some from the long booms 
 projecting from the sides ; the marines on guard 
 on the forecastle and gangway all awoke respon 
 sive feelings in the breast of Master Joe as he 
 gazed upon every detail with eyes dilated with 
 wonder.
 
 34 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " See there, Ben, and there ! " exclaimed a lady, 
 as she touched her son with a gesture of alarm. 
 
 A boy in a neat duck suit, with the name of the 
 ship in gilt letters on his cap ribbon, was dangling 
 from the side in a " boatswain s chair " cleaning the 
 brass rim of an air-port, quite indifferent to the 
 swirling water a few feet below. Another boy had 
 just run out on the boom projecting from the ship s 
 side and dropped overboard apparently, but no ! 
 for he was seen the next moment in one of the 
 boats lounging in the stern-sheets. Before any com 
 ments could be made, three piercing, prolonged 
 whistles, followed by the loud order, given on the 
 ship, to " furl sail," was the signal for crowds of 
 boys to swarm through the portholes and over the 
 hammock nettings, and climb upon the broad lad 
 ders which converged at the tops of the masts. On 
 the shearpoles they paused, impatient for the order 
 to go aloft ; and when it came, away they went like 
 monkeys, racing to see who would reach the tops 
 first. 
 
 By this time the boat was at the gangway, and 
 those on board hastened up the long companion- 
 ladder and descended to the deck on the other side. 
 A bridge ran across the deck just abaft the main 
 mast. On this the captain was standing, and also 
 the executive officer, the next in command. The 
 latter had taken the deck when all hands had been 
 called to furl sail, and still held the trumpet. Each 
 officer wore his appropriate uniform. They were
 
 ENLISTED. 35 
 
 looking down at the crowd which had just come 
 on board, and the captain remarked, as he left the 
 bridge : 
 
 " Better look those boys over, Mr. Moncrief, and 
 sift out those who are obviously unfit before they 
 go down to the office." 
 
 The executive officer leaned over the rail of the 
 bridge and called to the corporal of the guard on 
 duty at the gangway, who stepped briskly forward 
 and saluted. 
 
 "Pick out the boys who came to ship, form them 
 in a line on the port side of the quarter-deck, and 
 have their friends go below." 
 
 The corporal again saluted and went to his duty. 
 In a few moments a line of boys, some twenty-five 
 in number, were toeing a seam and ready for in 
 spection. The officer came down from the bridge, 
 glanced quickly at the different faces, and then 
 stepped up to an unhappy-looking youth, whose 
 bloated face and beery breath showed signs of re 
 cent intoxication. 
 
 "What are you here for? " he inquired sharply. 
 
 "I want to ship, sir." 
 
 " When were you drunk last?" 
 
 " I never gets drunk, sir, never ! I takes a glass 
 o beer casionally, an I thought mebbe it might 
 reform me if " 
 
 " You have come to the wrong place," said the 
 officer sternly. " This is not a reform school, and 
 we want no drunkards or vicious boys in the ser-
 
 36 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 vice. Fall out of the line! Corporal, take this 
 boy to the gangway and send him ashore by the 
 first boat." 
 
 " And what led you to come here ?" said the offi 
 cer, turning to a lad whose short stout figure and 
 clean, good face had attracted him. 
 
 " My mother is a widow, sir, and I want to help 
 take care of her. I heard you paid boys ten dol 
 lars a month over and above their board." 
 
 " That will do. I am sorry for your mother, my 
 lad, and it is a proper thing for you to do what you 
 can to support her, but you have come to the wrong 
 place. The law forbids that a cent of your earn 
 ings shall go to support any relative. A part of it 
 is needed for outfit and spending money, and the 
 rest is kept on the books for you till your discharge 
 at the age of twenty-one. Fall out i " 
 
 The next boy addressed was a terror-stricken lad, 
 who was looking about him as if trying to find a 
 way of escape. 
 
 " What brought you here ? " 
 
 " Father made me come," the boy replied, whim 
 pering. 
 
 " Don t you come of your own accord ? " 
 
 " No, sir. I d rather be thrashed than come. 
 Father swore he d put me" 
 
 " That will do. Give my compliments to your 
 father, and tell him this ship is not a penitentiary, 
 but a school a school for good boys boys that 
 can be trusted. Do you understand ? "

 
 ENLISTED. 37 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Well, fall out, then!" and the lad hurried 
 away. 
 
 " What do you come here for ? " the officer next 
 inquired of a pompous-looking little fellow who 
 seemed to want an opportunity to speak. 
 
 " To learn to be a sailor and get to be an officer," 
 the boy promptly replied. 
 
 " We can do the first for you; we cannot do the 
 second. You have a wrong idea. This ship is to 
 train boys to become sailors. The Naval Academy 
 at Annapolis is the place where boys are trained to 
 be officers." 
 
 " But, sir, can t a sailor become an officer? " 
 
 " No ; not a commissioned officer. You can rise 
 to be a petty officer, a sort of foreman among sail 
 ors, and there are a few chances to become warrant 
 officers a gunner, or boatswain, or sailmaker, or 
 carpenter. These are officers, but not commis 
 sioned officers." 
 
 The boy, whose sole ambition was to wear a 
 sword and strut in epaulettes, fell out of the line and 
 walked with a dejected air to the gangway. 
 
 "What are you working your jaws for?" in 
 quired the officer sternly, stopping in front of a 
 stunted little fellow, a street gamin from a neigh 
 boring city. 
 
 " Chewin , sir," was the timid reply. 
 
 41 How dare you bring tobacco on board this ship, 
 where not a boy is allowed to use it ? Go to the
 
 38 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 spit-kid, yonder, and empty your mouth, and I will 
 talk to you." 
 
 The boy standing beside Joe was the next candi 
 date. 
 
 " What have you been doing ? " was the first 
 question. 
 
 " Going to school, sir." 
 
 " What books have you been reading lately ?" 
 
 " A variety, sir ; among them the stories of 
 Cooper and Marryatt." 
 
 " I thought so. I am afraid your notions are too 
 romantic to suit the life on board this ship. How 
 would you relish chewing hardtack with those fine 
 teeth of yours, and putting those lily fingers in a 
 tar bucket ? " 
 
 " You can try me," the boy replied, modestly but 
 firmly. 
 
 " Very well ; you can go to the captain s office." 
 
 Joe s turn now came. The officer had observed 
 his fine physique and keen eye, but at the same 
 time he was secretly amused at his rather dazed 
 look and incongruous dress. Joe was evidently ex 
 cited and somewhat bewildered. Everything was 
 so new and strange to him the spotless deck, the 
 polished guns, the bright canopy-rails over the 
 hatchways, the binnacles, and wheel, and huge cap 
 stan, the dense crowd of boys forward of the main 
 mast, the officers in glittering uniform abaft it 
 so many things the uses of which he did not com 
 prehend that when the executive officer ad-
 
 ENLISTED. 39 
 
 dressed him, he was more embarrassed and ill at 
 ease than he had ever been before in his life. 
 
 " Stand up straight ; put your hands down at 
 your sides ! There, now, what have you been 
 doing?" 
 
 " Farming, sir." 
 
 " Did you ever see a ship before, or anything 
 that floats?" 
 
 "Nothing but a raft of logs and a skow, sir." 
 
 " Never mind the logs and the skow. Did any 
 boy ever give you a good licking ? " 
 
 Had not Joe discovered from the kindly manner 
 of the officer that he was trying to put him more at 
 his ease by "stirring him up" a little, he might 
 have resented the last question. As it was, he 
 simply smiled, and said, " I rather guess not." 
 
 " Do you really want to be a sailor ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Well, then you shall have a chance. Messen 
 ger, take this boy down to the captain s office." 
 
 Joe was conducted to the deck below to the 
 captain s office. Here the clerk looked over the 
 papers which Mr. Bently had signed, and put to 
 Joe several questions as to his previous occupation, 
 motive for enlisting, and his willingness to serve the 
 Government till he was twenty-one, all of which hav 
 ing been answered satisfactorily, an order was made 
 out to the surgeon to examine him as to his physical 
 fitness for the service, and he was conducted by the 
 orderly to a place screened off on the gun deck,
 
 4O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 The surgeon bade him strip naked, and then pro 
 ceeded to search his whole body for any malforma 
 tion or defect, making notes meanwhile on a blank 
 prepared for the purpose, which blank was sent to 
 the captain s office with the result of the examina 
 tion. 
 
 Having passed the surgeon, Joe was sent to the 
 "schoolroom" on the berth deck a steerage 
 fitted up as a library where a board of officers 
 were assembled to inquire into the mental and 
 moral qualifications and aptitude for the service of 
 those applying. 
 
 They were just examining the boy who had been 
 chewing tobacco, and his remarkable answers af 
 forded great amusement to all present. 
 
 " Who was George Washington ? " asked the 
 chaplain, who was the senior member of the board. 
 
 " I think he was a spy, sir, in the rebellion," re 
 plied the gamin. 
 
 " What is the name of the Queen of England ? " 
 proposed another member. 
 
 " I don t know, sir ; but I think her name is 
 Lizzie." 
 
 " That will do ; we can t take you." 
 
 Joe was next called. He was directed to read 
 aloud ; to write a sentence ; to perform examples in 
 arithmetic ; and to reply to a series of questions 
 such as any bright, intelligent boy could readily an 
 swer. Inquiries were made as to his moral train 
 ing and habits, how and where he spent his even-
 
 ENLISTED. 41 
 
 ings, his religious preferences, and various other 
 things, to all of which Joe s serious and bright 
 answers seemed to please the board very much. 
 Some explanation was made of the general charac 
 ter of life on board ship, the discipline, the re 
 straints, and the length of service, and the question 
 was put to him whether he was willing to accept 
 these conditions. 
 
 Of course Joe replied in the affirmative. 
 
 And now came the final test an ordeal which 
 it is impossible for many boys to pass. He was 
 taken on deck to see whether he could go aloft 
 without being dizzy. Joe had run along the ridge 
 poles of too many barns, and had climbed to the 
 crests of too many pine-trees, to be intimidated by 
 the mast-head of a man-of-war. He ran up the 
 rigging with great agility, as if he had been accus 
 tomed to it all his life. In a few moments he ap 
 peared on the opposite hammock netting, and 
 swinging himself clear, dropped down upon the 
 deck, the admired of all the recruits who had per 
 formed the feat with vastly more difficulty. 
 
 " You will do ! " exclaimed the officer of the 
 deck. " Take this slip of paper down to the cap 
 tain s office." 
 
 After a brief talk with the captain, Joe signed the 
 shipping articles, and his name was enrolled upon 
 the ship s books as a third-class apprentice boy in 
 the United States Navy. 
 
 "That is the finest boy we have ever examined,"
 
 42 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 observed the surgeon to the captain as Joe walked 
 away from the office. 
 
 " Those Maine boys are splendid young fellows," 
 replied the captain. " I wish the service was full 
 of them."
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GETTING HIS BEARINGS. 
 
 TOE felt a keen thrill of happiness when he real- 
 ** ized that he was actually enlisted. His name 
 was entered on the log as having shipped as a 
 third-class boy at nine dollars and fifty cents 
 per month, to serve until he was twenty-one. 
 After signing the articles, in the executive s office, 
 and having their obligation explained to him, the 
 officer struck a bell. Instantly a lad appeared at 
 the window and saluted. 
 
 " Tell Doughty I want to see him." 
 
 The boy started away on the run, and soon re 
 turned with another boy, short and stout, but with 
 a manly, intelligent look. He removed his cap, 
 and stood with hands at the side in a military and 
 respectful attitude. 
 
 " Doughty, this is a new boy. His name is 
 Bently. I turn him over to you. Take him to 
 the ship s-writer and have him put on the watch, 
 quarter and station bill ; then to the master-at-arms 
 for his bag and hammock, number of his mess and 
 outfit. After that, see that he is measured by the 
 tailor, and cropped by the barber. Then take him 
 
 43
 
 44 HOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 all about the ship and explain things to him. Keep 
 him out of mischief, and allow no skylarking. Do 
 you understand ? " 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir ! " 
 
 " That will do, then." 
 
 The boys thus dismissed went forward together. 
 It was about ten o clock in the morning. The great- 
 gun drill was over. On the starboard side a class of 
 a dozen apprentices was gathered around the sub 
 marine diving apparatus, listening to instruction. 
 Forward of these another class was busy with prob 
 lems of navigation. 
 
 On the port side the spaces between the guns 
 seemed filled with boys, sitting on benches and 
 divided into sections, each under the care of a 
 schoolmaster. The lesson for the hour was in geog 
 raphy, and Joe noticed, as he walked along, that 
 every facility for teaching was provided wall 
 maps, dissected maps, globes, atlasses, and tables 
 covered with moulding sand. They stopped at the 
 scuttle-butt to get a drink of water, and glanced up 
 at the bulletin-board where various " orders " were 
 placarded. 
 
 " Better keep your eye on those, if you want to 
 keep off the report book," remarked Doughty to 
 Joe. 
 
 Passing down the forward hatchway to the berth 
 deck, they soon reached the ship s-writer s office, 
 who quickly filled out a ticket for the young re 
 cruit, containing his name, rate, the part of the ship
 
 GETTING HIS BEARINGS. 45 
 
 to which he was assigned, his watch number, num 
 ber of division, gun and mess, and his ship s num 
 ber. Joe looked at it with a puzzled air. 
 
 u Oh, come along, and I will tell you all about 
 it," said Doughty. "You see the ship is all 
 divided up in order to carry on the work, and you 
 are put in the mizzen-top. The captain of that 
 part of the ship will tell you what to do. Then, 
 you are in the port watch, and that s your number. 
 You will find posted up on one of the bulkheads a 
 watch bill. Look on that for your number, and you 
 will find opposite to it just what you are to do in 
 handling sail and so on. 
 
 " Then the battery is divided up into so many 
 divisions, with a lieutenant, or some other officer, in 
 charge ; and in each division there are so many guns, 
 and you belong to the crew of Gun Number Eight. 
 When the drum beats to quarters, you are to fall in 
 at that gun. 
 
 " This is the number of your mess," he continued, 
 pointing to a chest filled with tin utensils. " You 
 take your scouse here. That is the mess gear, and 
 that table up there between the beams lets down, 
 furnishing as good a place to eat from as you have 
 at home. You ll get to know all about it before 
 long." 
 
 The master-at-arms was next sought, and found 
 pacing up and down the berth deck. He was a 
 muscular, determined-looking man, as he needed 
 to be, being chief petty officer of the ship. He
 
 4/5 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVV. 
 
 scanned Joe sharply, and was apparently satisfied 
 with his looks, for, turning to a fresh, white ham 
 mock, containing a mattress and blankets, he 
 said : 
 
 " This is your hammock. It is charged to you 
 on the paymaster s accounts ; and," stepping a few 
 paces forward and touching a hook on one of the 
 cross-beams, " this is your billet. You swing here. 
 Mind you don t get spilled the first time you get in. 
 Here, Doughty, sling that hammock, and show this 
 lad how to get into it." 
 
 Doughty brought the hammock, slung it, and 
 then seizing the hooks on the beam midway be 
 tween the two ends of the hammock, lifted himself 
 and dropped lightly into it with an ease quite sur 
 prising to Joe. After one or two attempts, how 
 ever, he succeeded in "turning in" as well as his 
 instructor. 
 
 
 
 The master-at-arms next proceeded to teach Joe 
 how to "lash " his hammock ready for stowing, and 
 then procured from the paymaster the rest of his 
 outfit a motley collection, including besides cloth 
 ing, a bar of soap, a jack-knife, a scrubbing-brush, 
 a shoe-brush, a comb, a box of blacking, buttons, 
 silk, needles, etc. Most of these things, after being 
 marked with Joe s number, were neatly stored in a 
 large black bag, the check for which was given to 
 the young recruit, with the injunction to take good 
 care of it. 
 
 Joe was then taken to the ship s barber, who
 
 GETTING HIS BEARINGS. 47 
 
 quickly despoiled him of all surplus hair, and then 
 co the ship s tailor. 
 
 Doughty was now called away for a few moments, 
 and Joe, left to himself, looked out at one of the 
 open ports, and tried to realize where he was. He 
 seemed to be in dreamland. So many things had 
 been told him within the last hour; so many things 
 had happened ! He felt of his head to see if any 
 hair was left, looked at his new uniform, fingered 
 his knife lanyard. He was no longer an outsider ; 
 he belonged to this beautiful ship. He had joined 
 the Navy, whose glorious deeds and history had 
 grown familiar to him in many an hour of raptur 
 ous reading. Soon he would know all about the 
 guns, and masts, and sails, and routine of ship life, 
 and his young heart fairly bounded with joyful 
 anticipation. All this, however, he kept to himself, 
 and when Doughty came back, he inquired with 
 apparent unconcern : 
 
 "And now, what am I to do first ? " 
 
 " Oh, you must knock about and get used to - 
 things. I guess you ll break in easy. They won t 
 put you through the regular drills the first few days. 
 Let s see, you must turn out in the morning when 
 all hands are called, lash your hammock and carry 
 it to the nettings. Then you must scrub yourself 
 in a bucket of water. After that the captain of 
 your part of the ship will give you something to do 
 until inspection at seven bells, when we all muster 
 on the spar deck. Then we go to formation at
 
 48 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 eight, have prayers and march to breakfast. Then 
 comes cleaning bright work, and quarters at 
 three bells. After that there will be nothing spe 
 cial till hammocks are piped down at sunset, unless 
 they put you into one of the sections for setting 
 up. I ll be near and post you when the time 
 comes." 
 
 "But I thought setting up was for a soldier, 
 and I came here to be a sailor," said Joe. 
 
 Doughty looked at Joe with surprise. 
 
 " A sailor ! Yes, you ve got to learn to be a 
 sailor and no mistake, but there s lots more you ve 
 got to learn. I would like to know what you 
 fawtn tgot to learn on board this ship ? Why, you 
 must be a regular soldier, and march in battalion 
 equal to the best Massachusetts regiments; you 
 must study gunnery and be an artillerist; you must 
 know how to use small arms. They teach you how 
 to fence and box, and row, and swim, and dive in 
 submarine armor, besides regular school studies. 
 You ve got to learn to make your own clothes, and 
 mend them, and scrub them, and take care of them, 
 too, so that none are stolen. There s no end to 
 the drilling and teaching here." 
 
 Joe opened his eyes in astonishment at this 
 lengthy and voluble catalogue of duties and studies. 
 Doughty smiled, and proposed that they should 
 take a look through the ship. 
 
 As they walked aft together, Joe inquired how 
 many boys there were on board ; and his friend,
 
 HIS OVTN SEAMSTRESS.
 
 GETTING HIS BEARINGS. 49 
 
 leaving him for a moment, stepped down to the 
 ship s-writer s office and borrowed a printed state 
 ment of the enlisted men on board at the close of 
 the last week and their respective ratings. 
 
 "You see," said Doughty, running his finger 
 down the list, " that we now have on board four 
 hundred and fourteen boys and some sixty seamen 
 and forty marines. Then of the rest, some fifty 
 or sixty are petty officers boatswain s mates, 
 gunner s mates, sailmaker s mates, quartermasters, 
 coxswain s, machinists, schoolmasters, yeomen, 
 apothecaries, stewards, and so on. In all, the ship s 
 company number six hundred and twenty-two, and 
 that doesn t take in the officers. Some of the 
 petty officers wear sack coats, but most of them 
 dress like the crew and wear badges on their sleeves. 
 There are so many of them that I cannot tell you 
 about them now, but you ll soon learn." 
 
 " See here ! " said Joe impulsively, turning 
 around to face his companion. " Will you tell me 
 why you don t talk as other boys do? Why are 
 you so particular in your in your language ? " 
 
 " Well, the truth is," said Doughty frankly, " I 
 was carefully trained at home. My father was a 
 clergyman and took great pains with me. Then, 
 too, I was a Boston schoolboy for some years, and 
 almost as soon as I came on board they made me a 
 boy instructor." 
 
 From that moment the two boys became 
 friendly and confidential. Though Joe s father was
 
 JO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 not a clergyman, but a straightforward, honest 
 /armer, the lads found they had much in common. 
 
 " You must tell the chaplain who you are," said 
 Doughty. " He is one of the best men, and full of 
 sympathy. You will come under him in studies. 
 He has charge of the schoolmasters. Then he 
 preaches every Sunday, and has a Bible class and 
 an evening service ; and he is in charge of the sing 
 ing school, and gives lectures on week nights on 
 astronomy and other subjects. There he is now, at 
 the cabin door, talking with the captain." 
 
 Joe looked eagerly and saw a short, delicately- 
 formed officer in uniform. He wore two stripes of 
 gold lace on his sleeves, and in his shoulder-straps 
 a silver cross glittered. 
 
 At this moment several officers came up from 
 the wardroom and gathered in a knot between two 
 of the guns, talking together in a very animated 
 style, on some topic of interest. 
 
 "That s a good chance for me to tell you about 
 the officers," said Doughty. " You see some of 
 them have a gold star on their sleeves just above 
 the lace. Those are all line officers, and went 
 through the Naval Academy. They graduate as 
 rflidshipmen, and are then promoted right up the 
 line as fast as those at the top die off, or are re 
 tired from active service at the age of sixty-two. 
 From midshipmen they get to be ensigns, and then 
 masters, and, after that, lieutenants, and lieutenant- 
 comma iders, and commanders, and captains, and
 
 GETTING HIS BEARINGS.. 51 
 
 commodores, and rear-admirals. The captain is 
 highest in rank on board this ship, and next to him 
 is the executive officer, who is a lieutenant-com 
 mander and who has the whole charge of the ship 
 under the captain ; and then comes the navigator, 
 who is a lieutenant, and after him the watch offi 
 cers, who stand watch on the spar deck in regular 
 succession. 
 
 "In the wardroom these officers all room on the 
 starboard side, and in accordance wkh rank, the 
 one having the highest rank occupying the first 
 room, and so on. Then, on the port side, are the 
 rooms of the staff officers the chief engineer, who 
 is in charge of the engine and fire-room ; the pay 
 master, who issues provision and clothing to the 
 crew, and pays off the men and officers ; the sur 
 geon, who takes care of the sick ; the marine offi 
 cer, in charge of the guard, or sea soldiers, as they 
 are called ; and the chaplain. Besides these, there 
 are assistant surgeons, and assistant engineers. All 
 these staff officers dress in uniform, and have rank 
 corresponding with the line officers. They are all 
 regularly commissioned, being appointed by the 
 President and confirmed by the Senate. 
 
 " In addition to the line and staff officers, there 
 are four warrant officers, and they are called the 
 boatswain, gunner, sailmakerand carpenter. They 
 are not appointed by the President and confirmed 
 by the Senate, like the commissioned officers, but 
 receive warrants from the Secretary of the Navy-
 
 52 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Their rooms are on the berth deck forward of the 
 steerage and wardroom." 
 
 A bugle call, followed by a general stir and move 
 ment among the boys, hindered further conversa 
 tion, and Doughty hastened forward with Joe to put 
 him in his proper place in the " formation " that 
 preceded dinner.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DINNER FORMATION AND POLICE COURT. 
 
 FALL in all the boys," rang through the ship, 
 immediately after the bugle call. 
 
 At this all the dilatory boys scampered for their 
 gun s crews. The columns, which stretched nearly 
 the whole length of the ship, on both the starboard 
 and port sides, were made up of gun s crews, each 
 crew being in charge of a boy gun-captain. The 
 whole battalion of boys, thus drawn up, made a for 
 midable appearance. 
 
 Doughty took Joe to gun s crew, number eight, 
 the one to which he had been assigned, introduced 
 him to its captain, and hastened to his own crew ; 
 but not till he had whispered, " Keep your eyes 
 open, and I guess you ll soon get the hang of for 
 mation." 
 
 A bright-looking apprentice was adjutant. His 
 duty was, to bring the columns into line, to receive 
 reports, and transmit them to the officer of the deck 
 who was standing by, to read out the names of boys 
 appointed to the anchor watches, to announce the 
 names of blacklisters, and to give all commands be 
 longing to the military functions of the formation. 
 
 53
 
 54 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Joe knew no more about military tactics than an 
 inhabitant of the tropics knows about ice-boating, 
 and the only order he fully comprehended was, 
 " Right about face ! " He got this wrong, however, 
 and, in facing round the opposite way, he gave the 
 boy next to him such a dig with his elbow that it 
 sent him sprawling out of the ranks. 
 
 The boy shot an angry glance at Joe as he fell, 
 as much as to say, "I ll get even with you." The 
 officer in charge, supposing the act had been done 
 in a spirit of mischief or malice, demanded in a 
 sharp tone, " Who did it ? " 
 
 " I did it, sir," promptly replied Joe. " It was an 
 accident. I struck him with my elbow as I came 
 round." 
 
 " See that you face properly next time, and keep 
 your hands at your side," said the officer, who knew 
 that Joe was a new comer. 
 
 By carefully watching how the other boys did, 
 Joe got through with the orders " dress " and 
 " front " very well, and was pleased to see how the 
 whole battalion, as by magic, formed into harmoni 
 ous lines. The only break he could discover was 
 made by a boy standing at his right. This boy was 
 very tall, very awkward, and very green. In the 
 course of their wanderings about the ship, Doughty 
 had pointed him out, and told Joe that his name 
 was Gabriel Butts. Butts stood directly under a 
 heavy beam, which obliged him to stoop; in this 
 manner throwing him out of perpendicular, and thus
 
 DINNER FORMATION AND POLICE COURT. 55 
 
 . marring the symmetry of the line. The trained eye 
 of the officer saw his awkward position, and he at 
 once ordered him to stand erect. 
 
 "I can t, sir," said Butts; "this rafter s in the 
 way." 
 
 " This what ? " 
 
 "Rafter, sir," repeated Gabriel, while the boys 
 all around exploded with merriment. 
 
 " Silence in the ranks ! " shouted the officer. 
 " How long have you been here?" he continued, 
 stepping in front of Gabriel. 
 
 " About a month, sir." 
 
 " Well, I ll give you till to-morrow morning to 
 learn the difference between a ship and a barn. Do 
 you understand ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," rather sulkily returned Gabriel. 
 
 " Muster your crews ! " sounded sharply along the 
 lines. At this each gun-captain stepped from the 
 ranks, called over the list of his crew, and fell back 
 into his place. 
 
 " Captains, front and centre, march ! " The cap 
 tains now moved one pace to the front, faced quickly 
 about, marched briskly to the centre, and stood 
 drawn up before the adjutant. 
 
 " Report ! " he commanded. 
 
 Saluting as they did so, the captains, in turn, re 
 ported the presence of their crews, or the absentees, 
 if there happened to be any. 
 
 " Stations, march !" 
 
 With the same military precision and decorum,
 
 56 BOY LIFE IN THE- UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 each captain returned to the ranks. A moment all 
 was silent; then, the welcome order, "March to 
 dinner ! " was passed, and the battalion moved off 
 in squads to the deck below. 
 
 When Joe s crew reached the berth deck where 
 dinner was served, he was surprised to see all the 
 boys, who had preceded them, stand ng in an or 
 derly manner around the tables. Not knowing 
 where his seat was, and desiring to see the boys 
 march up to their places, he quietly fell out, and 
 secured a good point of observation just abaft the 
 mainmast. 
 
 Presently all the boys were standing at the tables, 
 and it was so still that the fall of a feather would 
 almost have been heard. 
 
 The order " Seats," from the master-at-arms, 
 expelled with a force that almost raised Joe from 
 his feet, brought the whole four hundred boys to 
 the benches set by the tables as though each boy 
 had been a projectile and had slipped out of a shot- 
 rack. 
 
 So absorbed was Joe in watching the boys attack 
 the breastwork of "salt horse," which happened 
 to be the ration for the day, that he forgot all about 
 his own dinner. Not until the master-at-arms had 
 called at the top of his voice, "Boy Bently," did he 
 realize the situation ; then he hurried from his 
 temporary hiding-place to find, to his delight, that 
 the master-at-arms had directed that his seat at 
 meal-time should be by the side of Doughty.
 
 DINNER FORMATION AND POLICE COURT. 57 
 
 " You won t do that again, I reckon," laughed 
 Doughty, as Joe sat down at the table. 
 
 Joe saw that while he had been gazing about, 
 somebody had whipped away his dinner. 
 
 " You ll have to watch some of these fellows. 
 They ll play all sorts of tricks on you. But I ll fix 
 it for you this time. Here s Commodore Duff. 
 He ll give you all you want." 
 
 " Commodore Duff " was the commissary of the 
 boys messes, and a general favorite with his young 
 beneficiaries. He was as full of generosity and 
 good humor as he was of sea yarns. He was called 
 " Commodore " on account of his pompous bearing, 
 and "Duff " by reason of the frequency with which 
 he furnished the boys with the famous nautical 
 pudding "plum-duff." 
 
 " Hello, Commodore," called Doughty. " This 
 new boy has had his dinner stolen ; can t you give 
 him some more ?" 
 
 " I ll see the cook about it," said the commo 
 dore in an important but kindly tone, and he 
 rolled on to the galley as grand as an admiral. 
 
 " I want you to get acquainted with the com 
 modore," said Doughty. " There s lots of fun in 
 him, and information, too, when he gets going. 
 You just catch him some evening on the forecastle, 
 and make him tell you all about his cruise to Japan 
 as Perry s cook. He ll do it. And how he was 
 Admiral Farragut s steward in the Hartford. He ll 
 think you re doing him a kindness if you let him
 
 58 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 tell you about waiting on Daniel Webster and 
 Henry Clay at a hotel table when he was a boy in 
 Washington." 
 
 Here the conversation was interrupted by the 
 return of the commodore, bringing dinner enough 
 for a small crew of castaways on a desolate island. 
 
 " If you find out the boy who stole your dinner," 
 he said, "just let me know, and I ll see that he 
 joins the starvation army ." 
 
 " What s the starvation army ? " inquired Joe, 
 as the commodore moved away. 
 
 " Oh, it s the bread-and-water squad. They have 
 to toe a seam and dine on hardtack ana water." 
 
 Joe ate away with great relish, pleased that he 
 had got any dinner at all. He had not more than 
 half finished, however, when a piece of hardtack, 
 carefully aimed, struck him in the ear with such 
 force that he could scarcely keep from crying out 
 with pain. 
 
 "That s Tip Herdicks," exclaimed Doughty, 
 catching a glimpse of him as he fell back upon the 
 seat, from which he had risen to take aim. " He s 
 the worst boy in the ship. Now that he has behaved 
 so meanly, I will tell you that he stole your dinner. 
 I thought that he only did it for fun." 
 
 Joe looked over to the table from which the mis 
 sile was sent, and recognized the boy whom he had 
 knocked out of the ranks at formation, and who 
 was now taking further revenge because he had 
 seen the commodore bring Joe a much better dinner
 
 DINNER FORMATION AND POLICE COURT. 59 
 
 than the one he had stolen. Joe s first impulse was 
 to leap over the tables and give this boy a severe 
 thrashing, but a second thought restrained him. 
 
 " Never speak or act when in anger," had been 
 his mother s oft-repeated injunction, and he remem 
 bered it now just in time. But his face was hot 
 and his breath came quickly, and he secretly 
 resolved to keep his eye on Tip Herdicks and show 
 him, if further occasion demanded, that he was quite 
 able to protect himself from any attack. 
 
 "Come," said Doughty, observing that the sud 
 den check to Joe s dinner had deprived him of his 
 appetite, " let s go on the gun deck." 
 
 He led Joe to a mess chest in front of the execu 
 tive s office where they could get a good seat, and 
 have an excellent view of the great deck swarming 
 with men and boys. 
 
 " What are all those boys doing in that long 
 line ? " inquired Joe. " They don t look very happy." 
 
 " I shouldn t think they would," returned 
 Doughty, "they re waiting for police court. It is 
 held here by the executive officer every noon. It s 
 time for it to begin now, will you wait and see it ? " 
 
 " Here, Doughty," called the executive at the 
 same instant, " tell the master-at-arms I m all ready 
 for police-court. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir! " answered Doughty as he ran nim 
 bly away. 
 
 Presently he returned accompanied by the mas 
 ter-at-arms, and the court immediately opened.
 
 GO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " Boy Davvson," loudly called the master-at-arms 
 as he looked at the first name on his report book. 
 
 Dawson came timidly forward, looking as if some 
 terrible stroke of the law was about to fall on him. 
 
 " What s the report against boy Dawson ? " 
 
 " Creating disturbance at evening prayers," read 
 out the master-at-arms. 
 
 " What have you to say for yourself ? " 
 
 " I didn t do it, sir." 
 
 " Hands at your side, front !. Now look me 
 squarely in the eye, and tell me just what you did 
 do." 
 
 " One of the boys had a little whistling monkey. 
 He made him whistle in my ear and I laughed." 
 
 " Don t you call that a disturbance ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Dawson, bursting into tears. 
 
 " Well, then, what made you say you didn t do 
 it?" 
 
 "I don t know, sir ?" 
 
 " Divine service is a very solemn and sacred 
 thing on board ship as elsewhere. The laws of the 
 Navy provide that any irreverent or unbecoming 
 behavior during divine service shall be punished 
 as a court-martial may direct. I will pass over your 
 offence this time. Be careful and not let it occur 
 again." 
 
 "Boy Munroe," called the master-at-arms, as 
 Dawson retired, evidently congratulating himself 
 on his escape from punishment. 
 
 Munroe stepped forward.
 
 DINNER FORMATION AND POLICE COURT. 6l 
 
 * What s the charge against this boy? " 
 
 " Caught asleep behind a halyard rack, first 
 watch." 
 
 " Guilty or not guilty ? " 
 
 Guilty, sir." 
 
 " Didn t you know that an officer or man found 
 asleep upon his watch would be tried by court- 
 martial, and in time of war be punished by death ?" 
 
 " No, sir," replied Munroe, looking very much 
 frightened. 
 
 " You have been guilty of what would be a very 
 grave offence if you were not a boy, and had not 
 been but a short time in the Navy. I shall give you 
 a light punishment compared with the offence. 
 Anchor watch from twelve to one every night for a 
 week." 
 
 " But I didn t mean " 
 
 " About face, march ! " 
 
 " Gabriel Butts." 
 
 " Most likely we ll have some fun now," chuckled 
 Doughty. 
 
 Gabriel slouched up with his hands in his pockets. 
 
 " Hands out of your pockets," said the executive 
 sharply. 
 
 " I will hear the report against Butts." 
 
 " Lying to a petty officer," announced the mas- 
 ter-at-arms. 
 
 " I didn t lie," contradicted Butts. " I wouldn t 
 tell no lie to no officer, sir." 
 
 "Didn t you tell the boatswain s mate that that
 
 62 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 bundle of rags for cleaning bright work belonged 
 to you, when you know you stole it from Boy 
 Glynn ? " 
 
 " He ain t no officer," contemptuously exclaimed 
 Gabriel, shooting a withering glance at the petty 
 officer in question, who stood by to verify the 
 charge. 
 
 " Silence ! How dare you be so disrespectful ? 
 A lie is a lie whether you tell it to a petty or a 
 commissioned officer. Bread and water for one 
 week, full ration every alternate day, march," and 
 Gabriel ambled away with a rueful countenance as 
 he contemplated his meagre dietary for the week 
 to come. 
 
 "Are you Boy Bently ?" inquired the captain s 
 orderly, approaching Joe just as the next case was 
 called. 
 
 Receiving an affirmative answer, he said, "The 
 captain wishes to see you in the cabin without de 
 lay." 
 
 "Some good billet s in the wind for Bently," 
 said Doughty to himself, as Joe followed the orderly 
 into the main-deck cabin.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. 
 
 JOE entered the cabin with some <*egree of trepi 
 dation. It had been decorated with curios 
 from different countries, consisting of minerals, 
 bric-a-brac, and articles coming under a variety of 
 other, classifications. All these, arranged by some 
 artistic hand, gave the cabin a very striking appear 
 ance. 
 
 Falling within the scope of Joe s vision were also 
 an immense new compass which had just come on 
 board, and had been suspended over the table, and 
 a giant barometer, set up in an adjacent corner. 
 Each one of these was so curiously constructed that 
 in the worst rolling and pitching of the ship, it 
 would always maintain one position. Before the 
 captain, who was seated at the table, a chart was 
 spread out, suggesting that it might not be very 
 long before the ship would be under sailing orders. 
 The discovery of a sword lying near a cocked hat 
 and epaulettes, completed Joe s hasty, inadvertent 
 survey. He stood in the presence of the captain, 
 very much overawed by appearances around him. 
 
 The captain had been conversing with an elderly 
 63
 
 64 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 gentleman of very prepossessing appearance and 
 kindly manner. The instant Joe stepped in, both 
 the captain and his visitor looked at him as if he 
 were the subject of the interview. 
 
 "Bently," said the captain, "this is Mr. , 
 
 the president of the Maine Central. He wishes to 
 see you in regard to the accident which occurred on 
 that road the other night. He has told me all about 
 the part you took in it. I must say that I am pleased 
 with his report." 
 
 " Glad to make your acquaintance, my good boy," 
 said the president, taking Joe warmly by the hand. 
 " I wish to thank you, in person, for your brave 
 conduct on that disastrous night, and also to get 
 your account of the accident." 
 
 Joe was so overcome by the cordiality of this 
 reception that it was several minutes before he re 
 gained sufficient self-command to narrate clearly the 
 events of the night in question. He succeeded, 
 however, in giving a very good account, taking care 
 to make as few allusions to himself as possible. 
 
 At the conclusion of the story the president 
 thanked him heartily, and remarked that he had a 
 much better idea of it than before. He told the cap 
 tain that it had been his intention to offer Joe a 
 good situation on the road, but as he had already 
 shipped, it could not be desirable. Besides, he pre 
 sumed Joe could not accept it, in any event, as he 
 had already become articled to the Government. 
 Then addressing himself personally to Joe, he said,
 
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. 65 
 
 "Be a good boy amid the temptations of sailor-life, 
 and always display as manly courage in resisting 
 evil as I feel assured you would do in a sudden 
 tempest or in action should we get into war with a 
 foreign power. Take this pass," he added, quickly 
 filling out a blank, "and when you go on furlough 
 it will carry you through from Boston to your home. 
 Good-by," and he gave Joe another warm shake of 
 the hand. 
 
 " That will do, Bently," said the captain. " By 
 the way, as you go out you may say to the execu 
 tive officer that I would like to see him." 
 
 Joe quickly delivered the message, and in a few 
 moments the executive appeared in the cabin. 
 
 " I wish you to see, sir," said the captain, "that 
 Boy Bently has every facility for acquiring the 
 ship s routine. Advance him as rapidly as practi 
 cable, and report his progress to me every Satur 
 day for a month. You may put him in the gig s 
 crew at once. We want just such boys as he is in 
 the Navy," he added, turning again to his visitor. 
 
 While this was passing in the cabin, which, of 
 course, Joe was wholly unconscious of, he resumed 
 his investigations all by himself. Drills were go 
 ing on all around him ; he caught a glimpse of 
 Doughty, who was in the forecastle engaged in 
 sword exercise, and he started for that part of the 
 ship eager to witness the vigorous fencing going on 
 between the sword-master and his friend. 
 
 Something now occurred which very nearly
 
 66 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 brought everything to a fatal conclusion for our 
 hero, and at the same time our story to a sad end. 
 A loud cry from aloft caused him to glance upward 
 where he saw a huge block, which by some means 
 had become unhooked from an eye-bolt in the top 
 mast cap, descending with frightful velocity directly 
 to the spot on which he stood. 
 
 A dozen voices cried, "From under!" Fortu 
 nately he heeded the first warning from aloft, and 
 sprang forward just clearing the block by a few 
 inches, which buried its iron hook deep in the pine 
 planking of the deck. 
 
 " Didn t you come near making more work for 
 me, though ? If that block had spattered you over 
 the deck I should have had the job of scraping you 
 out." 
 
 Notwithstanding the shock he had received, Joe 
 looked up, or rather down, at the person who had 
 thus addressed him, wondering at his levity, in the 
 presence of what had been so nearly a fatal acci 
 dent. 
 
 He saw a boy sprawled out upon the deck hold 
 ing a scraper in his hand, which he leisurely applied 
 to some spots of tar, which had fallen from aloft 
 and marred the smooth white surface of the deck. 
 
 " I came very near being struck myself a few 
 days ago," the boy went on. "While I was clean 
 ing the cabin sky-lights a lubber dropped a marline- 
 spike out of the mizzen rigging. It struck the 
 deck within an inch of my toe. Didn t I go for
 
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. 6/ 
 
 him, though, when he came down? But I saw you 
 just now come out of the cabin ; what did the old 
 man want of you ? " propounded he, abruptly chang 
 ing the subject. 
 
 " Who is the old man ? " asked Joe. 
 
 "Why, where have you been that you don t know 
 who the old man is ? He s the skipper, of course. 
 We have names for everybody on board a man-of- 
 war, from the captain down to Jack-of-the-dust: 
 You ll have your name among the boys before the 
 day s over. There s the chaplain, we call him Holy 
 Joe. Couldn t get along without our pet names, 
 you know. But what did the old man want of you 
 in the cabin ? " 
 
 Joe frankly told this loquacious and inquisitive 
 boy the nature of the interview, failing, as he did 
 so, to mark with his unsophisticated eye the keen 
 speculative expression in the countenance of his 
 interlocutor. 
 
 " Oh ! I see, you re going to be one of the old 
 man s pets. I m one of them myself," he added 
 ironically. " If you ll come below, sometime, I ll 
 show you the cage he keeps me in most of the 
 time." 
 
 " Will you be good enough to tell me your name ?" 
 asked Joe, his curiosity thoroughly aroused. 
 
 " My name on board ship is Israel Sharp. Ashore 
 it s something else." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that your real name isn t 
 Israjl Sharp ? "
 
 68 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " That s just what I mean. An extra name s as 
 convenient, sometimes, as a night s lodging." 
 
 Joe looked at the boy in amazement, scarcely 
 comprehending the suggestiveness of his manner 
 and many of his remarks. Notwithstanding Joe s 
 suspicion had been somewhat excited, there was a 
 strange fascination about the boy, which enabled 
 him, now that the last drop of tar had been scraped 
 out, to take charge of Bently as naturally as an old 
 custodian does of a visitor at Pompeii or the Tower 
 of London. 
 
 While Joe was cogitating upon the incongruities 
 of Sharp s character, having reached with his com 
 panion the forward hatchway, his attention was mo 
 mentarily drawn away by the loud voice of an old 
 schoolmaster, acting in the capacity of an auctioneer 
 on the deck below. Followed by Sharp who for 
 some reason did not relinquish his hold upon him, 
 he hurried down, anxious to witness the first auction 
 of his life. 
 
 The schoolmaster was perched upon a division 
 tub, and had spread out upon a large round table, 
 with an immense compass painted on the top, the 
 assorted contents of the lucky bag. * He was hold 
 ing aloft a blanket marked in large letters Abra- 
 Jiainscn, and was proceeding with a humorous little 
 speech. 
 
 " Abrahamsen," he said," was a lineal descendant 
 of the house of Ilapsburgh. He arrived in this 
 country in a very seedy condition. Seeing a favor
 
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. 6q 
 
 able opportunity to become a naval hero, he enlisted 
 as a naval apprentice. After a few short weeks in 
 which he distinguished himself, after the manner of 
 his countrymen, more particularly at the mess-table, 
 he absconded, leaving this valuable souvenir of 
 royalty. What am I offered for this princely cov 
 erlet ? " 
 
 While the bidding was going on, Joe, greatly 
 interested, inquired of Sharp, what the lucky bag 
 was. 
 
 " Oh, it s a big bag into which everything is 
 bounced which the master-at-arms finds lying round 
 the decks before inspection, such as towels, socks, 
 brushes, and anything, in fact, that has been for 
 gotten. All that isn t claimed they keep. When 
 the bag is full they auction it off like this. That s 
 my shirt he s holding up now," he continued, glanc 
 ing up quickly just as the auctioneer had knocked 
 down the blanket, and was soliciting another bid. 
 
 " Why don t you claim it if it s yours ? " 
 
 "I m too old for that," chuckled Sharp. "I 
 wouldn t toe a seam six hours for half a dozen of 
 them. Besides I m standing a month s quarantine 
 already for losing my pea-coat" 
 
 " Do you mean to say that a boy is punished if 
 any of his things get into the lucky bag ? " 
 
 " Yes ; you ve got to toe a seam, or lug a ham 
 mock round, or what s almost as bad, clean bright 
 work." 
 
 " IJut how did you lose your pea-coat ?"
 
 7O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " Oh, I pawned it." 
 
 " Pawned it ! What made you pawn it ? " 
 
 " Want of money, of course. I have extravagant 
 tastes. A dollar a month s spending money isn t 
 enough for a boy of my habits. I ll take you round 
 to Hanover street some day. There s a place there 
 where you can pawn anything from a cap-ribbon to 
 a navy revolver" placing strange emphasis on re 
 volver. " There are a good many other places you 
 might like to go to, unless you are one of the goody- 
 goody boys, who keep Bibles in their ditty boxes, 
 and don t dare to turn in without saying their 
 prayers." 
 
 Joe discovered the same inquisitive, searching 
 look in Sharp s eyes he had noticed before. He 
 had read enough of his character to know that he 
 had better drop him at once, yet there was some 
 thing in his glibness and shrewd frankness which 
 held Joe under a kind of spell. 
 
 He even experienced a feeling of dread lest Sharp 
 should put him down as a goody-goody boy,* and 
 found himself revolving the question whether he 
 could not say his prayers just as acceptably in as 
 out of his hammock. 
 
 He had been so much interested in Sharp s 
 observations that the auction had closed without 
 receiving any more of his attention. Boys crowd 
 ing to the starboard gun-ports, now drew them 
 quickly across the deck to see what was going on. 
 Joe caught a glimpse of two shells shooting through
 
 A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. /I 
 
 the water with a velocity he had never seen equalled 
 by the lightest Indian birch. He was getting en 
 thusiastic over the race, when the shrill voice of a 
 woman caused them to turn away quickly from 
 the port. 
 
 The voice proceeded from the executive s office, 
 and could be heard all about the after part of the 
 deck. 
 
 " I tell you that boy s here," exclaimed the woman 
 with great vehemence. 
 
 " But I tell you, madam, he s not here. We 
 don t receive such boys. The only boy who in the 
 slightest degree approaches your description is an 
 orphan. Only last Sunday I allowed him to go 
 ashore to decorate his mother s grave." 
 
 " I want to see him," persisted the woman reso 
 lutely. 
 
 " Messenger boy, tell Alison to come here im 
 mediately." 
 
 In a few minutes Alison came demurely aft, 
 looking, Joe thought, more hypocritical than be 
 reaved. 
 
 " Well, my boy, where did you go the last time 
 you went ashore ? " 
 
 " I went to decorate my poor mother s grave." 
 
 At the first sound of his voice his mother for it 
 appeared that she held that relation to him was on 
 her feet. He had no sooner uttered the last word 
 than she sprang out of the office upon him in the 
 greatest apparent rage.
 
 72 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Seizing him by the collar, she ejaculated, " I ll 
 decorate you, you young villain ; I ll show you how 
 dead I am." The greatest merriment prevailed all 
 over the deck, for she could be heard fore and aft. 
 
 Taking him by the ear, she started to conduct 
 him over the ship s side to a boat in waiting at the 
 gangway, when the executive officer stepped for 
 ward and said : " Madam, we cannot permit this 
 boy to leave the ship. When you have proved to 
 our satisfaction that he is your son, we will procure 
 his discharge from the Navy Department, and let 
 you have him." 
 
 "But she is my mother," interposed Alison, his 
 whole demeanor suddenly changing in consequence 
 of his detention. 
 
 " Go forward," sternly ordered the executive. 
 
 " Why didn t you keep your mouth shut ? " said 
 Sharp in a low tone, as Alison passed him and Joe. 
 " He sees through it now." 
 
 " Sees through what," inquired Joe ? 
 
 " Why, the attempt to get Alison away from the 
 ship. Couldn t you see that it was a put-up job ? 
 Alison wrote that little play himself, but " Here 
 Sharp was called away for some duty in the after 
 guard, of which he was a member. 
 
 In the early evening, when all hands had been 
 piped to hammocks, while the chaplain prayed, as 
 he always did at this time, amid the reverential 
 silence of the whole ship s company, a tear fell from 
 Joe s eye.
 
 A \E\V ACQUAINTANCE. 73 
 
 He felt that he had done wrong in listening 
 at all to Sharp. With this twinge of conscience 
 came a pang of homesickness as the chaplain asked 
 the divine blessing upon the homes, scattered east 
 and west, north and south, over the vast land, from 
 which the hundreds of sailor lads present had been 
 gathered within the bulwarks 01 thai ship.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TIP .AND JOE COLLIDE. 
 
 THE instant prayers were over, the order was 
 given to "serve out," and a dozen or more 
 boys sprang into the nettings and began calling 
 out the numbers of the hammocks so fast that Joe 
 wondered how the owners were able to distinguish 
 them as they came raining down thick as hail-stones 
 into their arms. 
 
 He listened intently for his own number, and 
 barely caught it as Tip Herdicks sung out at the 
 top of his voice, 415. Joe instantly responded by 
 answering " Here," and stepped forward to receive 
 it. When Herdicks saw to whom it belonged he 
 flung it at our hero with such malignant force that 
 it struck him full in the breast, and threw him flat 
 upon the deck. Joe was very angry as he picked 
 himself up, and not a little mortified as he heard 
 several of the boys laughing at his misfortune. 
 
 Of course he had no opportunity, as he would 
 have had no right, to resent on the quarter-deck 
 such a mean advantage as Herdicks had taken 
 of him. He therefore went below smarting under 
 a sense of wrong, but boylike fully resolved to have 
 
 74
 
 TIP AND JOE COLLIDE. 75 
 
 it out with his antagonist the very next time he 
 should give him offense. 
 
 He did not brood long over his injury, and his 
 little blaze of resentment soon expired. By the 
 time he had safely slung his hammock he was ready 
 to see, with many agreeable anticipations, what the 
 great ship had in store for him, his first evening on 
 board a man-of-war. 
 
 The brilliantly lighted gun-deck drew him away 
 from the berth deck where his hammock swung, 
 and taking a seat on the combings of the engine- 
 room hatch, he was in an excellent position to see 
 what was going on. 
 
 Several accordions and violins, under the touch 
 of enthusiastic, if not skilful, performers, were exe 
 cuting a medley of the " Spanish Fandango," the 
 " Sweet Bye and Bye," and other equally incon 
 gruous combinations ; but all very enlivening to 
 Joe s classically uneducated ear. Presently the 
 whole was lost amid a grand burst from the ship s 
 band, like a child s voice in the ocean s roar. 
 
 You, my dear boys and girls, who have been 
 accustomed to good music all your lives, can 
 scarcely appreciate the sensations of a country boy, 
 who hears a fine band for the first time in his life, 
 and with the effect greatly heightened by the flash 
 ing of a hundred lights, and the lively movements 
 it awakens among hundreds of susceptible sailor 
 lads. So you will not wonder that Joe sat entranced 
 as the band played piece after piece until the close
 
 jf> BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 *ii" dinner in the officer s messes. Then it burst 
 into a grand galop which set everybody in motion, 
 and seemed to Joe s lively imagination to almost 
 inspire a desire in the big guns to jump down from 
 their carriages and join in. After this spirited 
 conclusion to the music, Joe took a stroll around 
 the deck. 
 
 So often had he to stoop in order to pass urider 
 the hammocks that it reminded him of creeping 
 under the low limbs of the familiar trees about his 
 home, which, in spite of all this novel life, kept 
 coming into his mind more and more frequently, 
 with the little white cottage they so pleasantly em 
 bowered the centre of all. 
 
 And how could he save himself a great pang of 
 homesickness, which often comes like a qualm of 
 seasickness, as he came across a boy prone upon 
 the deck, in front of a shell box, on which at a 
 great sacrifice of comfort, he was writing his 
 friends. Then he thought of the anxiety of his 
 dear mother, and Mollie, and Sadie, to get his first 
 letter home. Now for the first time the query 
 arose whether they had not heard of the accident, 
 and were not in great dread lest he had been hurt 
 or killed. 
 
 He would have continued along this line of mel 
 ancholy reflection, had not Doughty, just then, as 
 he stooped to dodge under a hammock, run plump 
 into him, nearly depositing him on deck as Her- 
 dicks had done a short time before.
 
 TIP AND JOE COLLIDE. 77 
 
 "Why, where have you been?" exclaimed 
 Doughty, vigorously rubbing his head, the part 
 which had come in such sharp contact with Joe. 
 " I ve been hunting everywhere for you since I 
 came off messenger watch. I want you to go to 
 singing school with me. Professor Hilton is almost 
 ready to begin." 
 
 Joe was delighted to be with Doughty once more. 
 Doughty s duty as messenger boy had deprived 
 him of his society at supper, and with the excep 
 tion of Sharp, he had not spoken to another boy on 
 board ship. That feeling of loneliness which creeps 
 over us in a strange city, as we have seen, had just 
 now begun to steal over Joe. He was not philoso 
 pher enough yet to note the fact that we experience 
 our deepest loneliness in the full and crowded city. 
 
 Among the squirrels and rabbits with an occa 
 sional deer leaping into view, Joe would have felt 
 perfectly at home the monotony relieved by drum 
 ming partridges, fluttering birds, and all the sweet 
 sounds and pleasant sights with which nature re 
 fines the beautiful and congenial homes of the hum 
 bler creation. So he turned joyfully away to spend 
 the rest of the evening with his friend. 
 
 On the port side of the gun-deck a place for sing 
 ing school had been "rigged." A white wall of 
 hammocks, which were waiting to be slung in the va 
 cant space, partially enclosed it. A table was set out 
 for the professor s music, covered with a piece of 
 bright bunting, and a fine high Mason and Hamlin s
 
 78 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 organ stood just aft of a double row of benches with 
 a very self-conscious look, as much as to say, " I m 
 the centre of attraction this evening." The pro 
 fessor, a slight, nervous man, stood by the organ, 
 the top of his head about on a level with it call 
 ing the boys to order, about a hundred of whom 
 had gathered aft on the benches. 
 
 Several officers sat near by smoking, and the cap 
 tain, who was frequently present, had come out to see 
 how the boys progressed with a lot of naval songs 
 he had edited, and was about to publish in a book. 
 
 Doughty and Joe came along and sat down on one 
 of the front benches. 
 
 " Can you sing ? " whispered Doughty. " If you 
 can he ll be sure to have you up." 
 
 Joe hardly knew whether to commit himself or 
 not. To sing before all those officers and boys was 
 appalling to contemplate. 
 
 " If Doughty will sing this solo," began the pro 
 fessor, " I would like to have you all join in a rous 
 ing chorus. Wake up the ship." 
 
 Nothing could help Doughty out of an embar 
 rassing situation, and, with his usual promptitude 
 in emergencies, he stepped in front and sang 
 "Nancy Lee" with thrilling effect. Joe saw men 
 and boys crowding up into the space just forward 
 of the seats that corresponded to an orchestra cir 
 cle, where they listened with the greatest attention 
 and delight to Doughty s fine voice. 
 
 But the chorus was tremendous. The boys sang
 
 GLEE SONGS AFTER DRILI,
 
 TIP AND JOE COLLIDE. 79 
 
 with a freedom and energy which they had caught 
 from the old sailors, who want their music to blow 
 in gales and roll in seas that would swamp all the 
 light and classic sounds of the more refined art. 
 
 "Are you a singer, Bently ?" asked the captain, 
 stepping in front of him. 
 
 Joe was horrified, and well nigh stupified as he 
 replied, rising and awkwardly saluting as he did so, 
 "I sing a little, sir." 
 
 " Here, professor, try Bently on anything he may 
 happen to know," said the captain. 
 
 Poor Joe, overawed by the captain s dignity, so 
 nearly lost his wits that he couldn t think of a thing. 
 The professor suggested one thing after another, 
 and finally hit upon the "Star-Spangled Banner." 
 
 With a trembling, but very pure, clear voice he 
 sang, gaining confidence as he went on. He was 
 surprised at the end of the second stanza to see 
 men and boys still crowding up around the benches. 
 He would have stopped, but he was encored so 
 heartily that he had to sing it through. Cries of 
 "Give us something else," came from all parts of 
 the crowd, but nothing could induce him to again 
 leave the bench upon which he had dropped, blush 
 ing like a schoolgirl. 
 
 The captain commended him warmly, and told 
 the professor to put him in the church choir. 
 
 The next few songs were patriotic, such as belong 
 to the romance of naval life. They were such as 
 the " Constellation and Insurgente," "The Consti-
 
 8O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 tution and the Guerriere," and presently came a 
 song which so captivated Master Joe that he forth 
 with committed it to memory. 
 
 The professor divided the boys into watches rep 
 resenting the watches of a man-of-war. Those to 
 the right took the place of the starboard watch, and 
 those on the left that of the port watch. All rising 
 they sang with the exception of a short chorus, 
 alternately the following song entitled 
 
 RULE OF THE ROAD AT SEA. 
 
 Starboard Watch. Two steamships meeting. 
 
 Port Watch. When both side lights I see ahead 
 I port my helm and show my Red. 
 
 Starboard Watch. Two steamships passing. 
 
 Port Watch. Green to Green, and Red to Red 
 Perfect safety ; go ahead. 
 
 Starboard Watch. Twc>steamships crossing. 
 
 Port Watch. If to my starboard Red appear, 
 It is my duty to keep clear, 
 To act as judgment says is proper, 
 To port or starboard, back or stop her. 
 
 Starboard Watch. But when upon my port is seen 
 
 A steamer s starboard light of Green, 
 There s less for me to do or say, 
 The Green is bound to keep away. 
 
 All. All ships must keep a good lookout, 
 
 And steamships must stop or go astern if necessary; 
 Both in safety and in doubt 
 Always keep a sharp lookout. 
 In danger with no room to turn 
 Ease her ! Stop her ! Go astern !
 
 TIP AXD JOE COLLIDE. 8 1 
 
 This song was for the purpose of grounding the 
 boys in very essential points of nautical information. 
 It had not become worn and was sung with great 
 enthusiasm. At the end of the second verse, Joe 
 had caught enough of it to join in with his beauti 
 ful tenor which could be clearly distinguished above 
 all the other voices. It was evident that he and 
 Doughty were the leading singers of the ship. 
 After this song there was a rehearsal for church 
 next Sunday morning, then the school broke up. 
 
 "Come," said Doughty, "let s go on to the fore 
 castle and have a good talk before tattoo." 
 
 It was a beautiful moonlight evening. The light 
 breeze that had been blowing through the day had 
 died out. The few sail boats in the harbor were 
 as motionless as sleeping swans. A score of little 
 white pulling boats flecked the shining surface. 
 One boat s crew, composed of gentlemen and ladies, 
 were resting on their oars, giving the ship a lively 
 serenade. The shipping, with its larger stays and 
 cordage visible, lay in graceful outlines scattered 
 over the bay, and thrown around all were the city s 
 shadowy walls, the far-away sleeping islands and 
 the sloping shores. Joe, whose moonlight nights 
 had been spent among the unpicturesque scenery 
 of the little clearing about his wilderness home, 
 mounted the starboard cat-head to look at this fine 
 picture and to listen to the serenade. 
 . Doughty jumped upon the bulwark in front of 
 him, and for a long time they stood in a sort of
 
 82 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVV. 
 
 reverie looking out. Then their reverie was broken 
 by the slouching figure of Gabriel Butts whose 
 shadow fell directly across the line of Doughty s 
 vision. He looked round just in time to see Gabriel 
 skulking down the forward companion ladder with 
 something under his arm. 
 
 " Butts is up to something," he remarked. 
 " When he moves that way it means mischief. 
 He s under the influence of a gang of bad boys in 
 the ship, and they put him up to all sorts of things." 
 
 " Is Sharp one of the bad boys ? I got acquainted 
 with him this afternoon; he was very pleasant," 
 said Joe, feeling his way along. 
 
 "Take my advice and let him alone. That s the 
 way he tries all the new boys. He ll be sure to 
 get you into a scrape if he can." Here he dropped 
 his voice very low, " I believe that Sharp is con 
 nected in some way but there goes tattoo, let s 
 turn in." 
 
 Unfortunately Joe s billet was on the deck below 
 Doughty s, or he would have probably told him his 
 whole interview with Sharp after they had turned 
 in. Bidding him a reluctant good-night he went 
 down to his hammock on the berth deck. 
 
 On board a man-of-war tattoo continues twenty 
 minutes, at the end of which time, or precisely at 
 nine o clock, all hands must be in their hammocks 
 and all noise must cease. 
 
 Joe was a little startled to see that Sharp s ham 
 mock was quite near his own and its owner was
 
 TIP AND JOE COLLIDE. * 83 
 
 seated on a mess chest divesting himself preparatory 
 to getting into it. He had now to pass through 
 one of the greatest ordeals of his life. From earli 
 est childhood never had he gone to bed without 
 first kneeling and repeating the prayers his mother 
 had taught him. Sharp s eye rested full upon him, 
 and for the first time he quailed in the presence of 
 his duty. Only for a moment, however, did he 
 hesitate. Then he drew his little Testament from 
 an inner breast-pocket which his mother had made 
 for him to keep it in, and read by the dim light the 
 last few verses of the sixteenth chapter of Matthew 
 which Mrs. Bently had told him to always read in 
 time of special temptation. Then in full view of 
 Sharp he knelt down and repeated, we must ac 
 knowledge in a great tremor, his prayers. 
 
 While on his knees he heard several coarse 
 laughs, not from Sharp, however. 
 
 Joe climbed to his hammock. The drum stopped 
 beating. The boatswain s mates in a series of shrill 
 whistles piped down, and all was as silent as a for 
 est with not a breath to rustle branch or leaf, and 
 not the tiniest animal to stir the tangles of the dry 
 underbrush. This was the simile that rushed 
 through our hero s mind as he lay down in his ham 
 mock. The events of the day came crowding in 
 upon him. Then dozing off the scenes of his brief 
 life changed. He was back in his Aroostook home 
 so weary after the hard day s work that he could 
 scarcely keep himself from falling asleep at family
 
 84 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 prayers. All at once he was in his little bed twist 
 ing and turning to get into a comfortable position. 
 
 It was by trying to accustom himself to the pe 
 culiarities of his new sleeping place that his first 
 gentle slumber was disturbed, and he opened his 
 eyes wide upon the unbroken tiers of hammocks. 
 In vain did he try to woo back the sleep which had 
 forsaken him. 
 
 He must have been in his hammock an hour or 
 more looking out into the dim light when he was 
 attracted by the stealthy movements of a figure 
 gliding along in stocking feet under the hammocks. 
 
 As it emerged into the reflection of a lantern 
 not far off he saw that it was Tip Herdicks. He 
 wondered if he were coming to inflict some injury 
 upon him. 
 
 No ; he was moving along a line of hammocks 
 some distance from that in which his hung, but all 
 the time coming nearer. Every instant he would 
 stop and look in on the face of a sleeping boy. In 
 a moment he stood at the head of the hammock 
 next his own, occupied by a little fellow named 
 Charlie Smith. Before Joe could leap from his 
 hammock to prevent it, Herdicks drew a knife 
 across the clews, and poor Smith fell to the deck 
 with a heavy thud. 
 
 Such an act was too much for Master Joe. While 
 he would only take his own part by being driven into 
 a corner, in defense of a younger boy like Charlie 
 Smith, he would at any time have taken up arms.
 
 TIP AND JOE COLLIDE. 85 
 
 When he sprang to the deck, Herdicks caught 
 sight of him and evidently not wishing a collision 
 started forward for the deck above. Joe threw 
 himself into the pursuit with every energy, and, 
 being the nimbler of the two, gained on the coward 
 so that they reached the foot of the companion 
 ladder about the same instant. Finding that his 
 antagonist was closing upon him, and that it was 
 useless to run, Herdicks suddenly turned and tried 
 to surprise Joe by clinching in, and throwing him 
 to the deck. But the litheness and muscular vigor of 
 our hero, he had not connfe^ on. Quick as thought 
 r< was himseii on ms back giruvgnng in via co 
 relieA himself of the avenging; Joe. whose grip w?s 
 like steel, and whose bioocl wnen aroused like tire. 
 
 "You coward," exciaimed Joe, and he dealt him 
 a smart blow "to spill a little boy, " and he 
 gave him another. " Why didn t you take a boy of 
 your own size?" still pounding him. "it s a 
 wonder you didn t try it on me alter what you ve 
 done to day. You re a cowardly sneak " contin 
 uing to pelt him with no abatement of violence. 
 
 He would have pursued his ejaculations, -v-th 
 their very effective and appropriate gestures, had 
 not rough hands been laid upon him. He was 
 presently jerked to his feet with as little ceremony 
 as he had taken Herdicks from his. 
 
 " What s all this about ? " ang*ly demanded the 
 officer-of-the-deck. " Fighting the first night you 
 are on board ship. A tine heginmnff ror a new ooy.
 
 86 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 I must say. I have a mind to send in to the cap 
 tain and have both of you put in irons." 
 
 Joe looked up and saw that it was the master-at- 
 arms who had handled him so roughly. One of 
 the sentries had seized Tip who stood glaring upon 
 him, and using a variety of threatening epithets. 
 Men and boys awakened by the uproar had jumped 
 from their hammocks and stood around most inter 
 ested spectators. 
 
 As soon as he could get breath, Joe told the 
 officer of the deck that he had seen Herdicks spill 
 a little boy named Charlie Smith, which he re 
 garded as so mean an act that he took it up for him. 
 
 " Come here, Smith," called the officer of the 
 deck, but Smith did not appear. "Where is the 
 boy? Master-at-arms, go hunt him up." 
 
 The master-at-arms released Joe, and went over 
 to Smith s hammock, which was slung on the outer 
 row of hooks, and found the poor boy lying insen 
 sible on the deck. Rushing back he said, "Boy 
 Smith is either dead or fainted." 
 
 " You and Corporal Glin take him to the sick bay 
 immediately. Haley, run for the surgeon. Ser 
 geant Gorman, place Herdicks under the sentry s 
 charge. Get into your hammocks, every one of you. 
 Bently, turn in," said the officer of the deck, in a 
 quick succession of orders. 
 
 Joe could hear the boys whisper all around after 
 he was again in his hammock, " Didn t that new 
 boy wallop Herdicks, though ? "
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 JOE PERFORMS A DARING FEAT. 
 
 loud beating of the drum at reveille, the 
 A bugle call succeeding, together with the 
 hoarse voices of the boatswain s mates shouting 
 "All hands ! Up all hammocks," blowing their shrill 
 whistles between calls and winding up in a perfect 
 diapason of whistles brought Master Joe to a sitting 
 posture with a great start. 
 
 And this was not all. The master-at-arms accom 
 panied by the ship s corporals hurried through the 
 ship shouting in very energetic measures, " Break 
 out ! break out ! " and stirring up the sleepy heads 
 in a way that would be very trying to young tempers 
 at home, but here, should any ill-nature be shown, 
 would result in calling in the assistance of four hands 
 instead of two in the exercise of " breaking out." 
 
 It was some little time before Joe was fully con 
 scious of where he was. It was very late when he 
 fell asleep and he had slept so soundly that his 
 senses were thoroughly benumbed. A little rubbing 
 of the eyes and stretching of the limbs brought 
 back his fugitive knowledge and elasticity and he 
 broke out with the rest. 
 
 87
 
 88 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Suddenly his memory awoke to the events of the 
 past night and he wondered whether Charlie Smith 
 were seriously hurt. He could see his hammock 
 still lying with one end upon the deck, just as it 
 did when Herdicks cut it down. As he thought 
 of his assault upon Herdicks, he was not sorry to 
 realize that it had taken place to avenge a cow 
 ardly injury to a smaller boy. Yet he was obliged 
 to admit that his own grievance had imparted 
 pungency to his blows. Then he began to wonder 
 if the affair would get him into trouble. 
 
 It was evident that many of the boys were 
 already making a lion of him. He could detect 
 looks of newly awakened interest, and he could not 
 help overhearing many little remarks, complimen 
 tary to his muscular activities. Just then the mas- 
 ter-at-arms came along and contrary to his usual 
 custom, bade him "Good morning." 
 
 Joe inquired after Smith, and learned that it took 
 some time to restore him to consciousness, but with 
 the exception of a bad cut on his head, he was 
 believed to be not much hurt. " Spilling that 
 poor little fellow," the master-at-arms went on, 
 "was a most dastardly thing." 
 
 " Do you think what I did will get me into a 
 scrape ? " gravely propounded Joe. 
 
 " No, I guess not. They re very strict about 
 fighting. You might have told the sentry who it 
 was that spilled Smith, and he could have taken 
 him to the mast. You took the law into your own
 
 JOE PERFORMS A DARING FEAT. 89 
 
 hands, but if ever a boy was spoiling for a licking 
 Herdicks was, and I m glad, for one, that you gave 
 him what he s never had before on this ship, what 
 he deserved. I should like to skylark a little with 
 him myself, down on the orlop." 
 
 Joe hurried through his toilet. He appeared on 
 deck to stow his hammock with a shining counte 
 nance. Though in view of an investigation at the 
 mast, and, perhaps, a court-martial growing out of 
 the affair, this facial radiance was due more to the 
 application of soap than to any exhilaration of spirits. 
 
 The bugle call to breakfast formation broke up 
 some very pleasant thoughts of home, awakened by 
 a vision of the old steamer Katahdin coming up the 
 bay on her trip from Bangor. With his appetite 
 whetted by the bracing morning air he was prepared 
 to attack the oatmeal and scouse with a vigor equal 
 to that he had often displayed in similar sieges in 
 the great lumber camps of the Upper Penobscot 
 
 The boys, too, were very friendly and sociable. 
 By the time the hands were turned to, Joe had 
 made more acquaintances among them than under 
 ordinary circumstances he would have done in a 
 month. They gathered around him as though he 
 were a bulletin board, giving in big letters, the 
 results of the latest walking-match, or base ball 
 game. He had attained the sudden and enviable 
 distinction of having "licked" the bully of the 
 ship, and, for the moment, he was an object of the 
 most admiring interest.
 
 9O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Presently Doughty came to his relief by bringing 
 him a letter with a message from the executive 
 officer for him to come to his office immediately 
 after quarters. 
 
 Wondering, while he looked at the strange super 
 scription, who could have written him a letter so 
 soon, he tore open the seal and read the following 
 concise note : * 
 
 MASTER JOE BENTLY : 
 
 My wife and daughter have told me all about you. I shall be in 
 Boston on Thursday of next week and shall come to see the boy 
 who saved my daughter Katie s life. 
 
 Gratefully and cordially, 
 
 FRANKLIN ASTON. 
 
 Just then the drum beat loudly to quarters. 
 Thrusting the note into his shirt pocket, he started 
 for the primary division, which consisted of some 
 fifty recruits like himself assembled on the port 
 side of the spar deck. He had been told that he 
 would remain in this division just long enough to 
 see that his outfit was complete and to learn to stow 
 his bag. Then he would be transferred to one of 
 the working divisions of the ship. 
 
 As much care was bestowed in showing the boys 
 how to dispose of each piece of clothing as would be 
 displayed in exercising them in their various gun s 
 crews. Nothing on board a man-of-war belonging 
 to order or cleanliness is considered too trifling to 
 demand the most careful oversight. Even the ar-
 
 OFF DUTY ON THE SPAR DECK
 
 JOE PERFORMS A DARING FEAT. 9! 
 
 rangement of a necktie or the blacking of a pair of 
 shoes must be according to rules as fixed as the 
 steering of a ship, or the taking of an observation. 
 
 " Bently," said the executive, when Joe finally 
 appeared at his office with many misgivings, " any 
 time to-day you may go to the ship s writer, and 
 tell him to show you your place on the watch, 
 quarters and station bill. You will be in the third 
 division and in the port watch. At fire and gen 
 eral quarters you will soon learn your stations and 
 duties. Tell Schoolmaster Bell to spend the morn 
 ing with you around the ship. This afternoon you 
 and Doughty may have the dinghy and you can 
 take your first pulling lesson. Be all ready Monday 
 morning to begin work. That will do." 
 
 Joe started to hunt up Schoolmaster Bell, sur 
 prised that the executive had made no allusion to 
 the fight with Herdicks. He found him painting 
 an immense compass on a huge blackboard. He 
 seemed very willing to go about with Joe, and 
 proved a most affable and intelligent instructor. 
 Dropping little bits of personal history as they 
 went around, Joe gathered that he was an old man- 
 of-war s-man, having entered the Navy as an appren 
 tice in 1840. Many a flogging he had got before 
 it was abolished in the Navy, and he expressed 
 himself as rather sorry that it had been done away 
 with. " If we could only use the cat or a rope s- 
 end on that young scoundrel you pommeled last 
 night, he wouldn t spill any more boys. But
 
 92 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 he ll get it. I ve seen that boy Smith. He s a 
 very delicate boy, anyway ; I shouldn t bo surprised 
 if he doesn t get well. He told me that he had a 
 very queer feeling in his head." 
 
 So engrossed with his thoughts about poor Smith 
 was Joe that he found it hard work to give the least 
 attention to what Bell was trying to explain to him 
 as they passed along. 
 
 Bower anchor, sheet anchor, booms, gaffs, try 
 sail-masts, chain pipes, compressors, capstans ar d 
 fife rails passed through his mind in bewildering 
 confusion as Bill pointed out each one and explained 
 its uses. When they came to different kinds of 
 shot and shell, However, Joe s perceptive faculties 
 grew clearer. 
 
 "That one painted red," said Bell, " is a schrap- 
 nel. I have reason to remember that style of pro 
 jectile." 
 
 " How s that ? " inquired Joe. 
 
 " Well, one time during the war a party of us 
 was sent out in a torpedo boat to see if we couldn t 
 blow up a Confederate gunboat. She lay almost 
 completely hidden behind a high point of land. We 
 were going to work up to the point without being 
 seen, then by a few smart strokes come round 
 near enough to plant our torpedo. We thought we 
 might then make a run back under shelter of the 
 land, before the enemy should recover from his 
 surprise, if we didn t succeed in blowing him up. 
 Unfortunately we were discovered too soon, and
 
 JOE PERFORMS A DARING FEAT. 93 
 
 one of these shells, fired at short range, struck us 
 amid-ships, and all but myself and two others were 
 lost." 
 
 " How were you saved ? " interrupted Joe. 
 
 " We swam to the shore, and though the marines 
 kept peppering at us from the mizzen rigging of 
 the gunboat, we got ashore all right, crawled cau 
 tiously through the woods till we arrived opposite 
 our own ship, where we signalled for a boat and 
 were taken off." 
 
 " The captain wishes to see Schoolmaster Bell on 
 the poop-deck," said the orderly, stepping forward 
 just as Bell finished his story. 
 
 Left to himself Joe went to the spar deck. It 
 being Saturday the boys were allowed to go into 
 the rigging whenever they chose. Hundreds were 
 aloft, many of them performing feats of considerable 
 daring. The captains of the different tops were 
 calling out from below for some of them to come 
 down to do work in their parts of the ship. But 
 man-of-war boys when they get into the rigging on 
 a lark are a good deal like pet canaries which have 
 escaped from their cages to the nearest trees. 
 
 There was one very slender boy in the rigging, 
 whose feats of agility and daring drew all eyes 
 upon him. Sharp, who was standing near, told Joe 
 that he was the envy of all the boys because he had 
 once belonged to a circus troop, but having been 
 very cruelly treated, he had been taken out by the 
 S .ate authorities and had been allowed to enlist in
 
 94 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 the Navy. His name was Henniman and he went 
 by the name of Little Sol. Little Sol was at that 
 instant on the tip of a yard arm standing on his 
 head. Then he went through a series of trapeze 
 performances startling to behold. Finally in a 
 grand leap, as he used to do in the circus, he laid 
 hold of a halyard and descended gracefully to the 
 deck. 
 
 Joe watched Little Sol with delight, and when he 
 struck the deck, he started off himself to take a run 
 up the rigging to the mizzen top. When he reached 
 it, and was quietly taking breath, a shout from be 
 low attracted his attention. Looking down, he saw 
 the officer of the deck, pointing aloft, and at the 
 same time, he heard an order to hurry up to the miz 
 zen top-sail yard. Glancing upward, he saw a sight 
 which made his blood run cold. 
 
 With one of his feet caught mysteriously in the 
 foot rope of the mizzen top-sail yard, hung, head 
 foremost, at the very end of the yard, a boy who 
 had been overcome by sudden dizziness or epilepsy, 
 and by his struggles was in imminent danger of 
 breaking his hold and falling to the deck, seventy- 
 five feet below. 
 
 Quicker than it could be described Joe s nimble 
 feet brought him to the yard. Once there his old 
 presence of mind did not forsake him. He crept 
 out very cautiously lest the added weight should 
 cause the yard to dip or sway. His ready wit stood 
 him in hand now suggesting a remedy, which in
 
 JOE PERFORMS A DARING FEAT. 95 
 
 this critical state of affairs doubtless saved the 
 boy s life. 
 
 Dangling some two feet out from the yard was a 
 rope which had been left carelessly hanging. It 
 caught our hero s eye just in time to solve the prob 
 lem. Clinging firmly to the yard with his left 
 hand he stretched out the other, and barely suc 
 ceeded in working it in with his middle finger to a 
 point where he could grasp it. Quickly seizing it, 
 he cut it off with the knife which was suspended by 
 a lanyard from his neck, and with the piece thus 
 obtained he took several turns around the poor boy s 
 ankle and lashed him securely to the yard. A mo 
 ment later and the boy broke his hold upon the foot 
 rope, and swung convulsively back and forth. 
 
 By this time, Burrows, the captain of the mizzen- 
 top, and Little Sol, had come to his assistance. By 
 means of their united strength, the boy was lifted 
 up and held in a comfortable position over the yard 
 until a sling was rigged below and hauled up to the 
 yard. With some difficulty it was adjusted to the 
 still insensible boy and he was lowered safely to 
 the deck. When Joe descended he saw that the 
 whole ship s company were spectators of the scene.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 JOE S FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR. 
 
 WE must confess that Joe seems a vastly dif 
 ferent boy as he stands in his division 
 summoned to Sunday morning quarters and inspec 
 tion, from what he appeared in his backwoods cos 
 tume a few days ago. Had Katie Aston seen him 
 now, her sense of the ludicrous in his person would 
 not have stimulated her artistic propensities. He 
 looks quite commanding for a boy of fifteen in his 
 neat-fitting, handsome uniform. Tall, straight as 
 an arrow, finely proportioned, and, when, not self- 
 conscious, without the slightest awkwardness in 
 his movements, with an honest, manly face, he is 
 a boy who would excite favorable attention and 
 comment anywhere. . 
 
 His eyes stood out with wonder at the military 
 display of this morning. The quarters of the day 
 before had impressed him as something ver^y grand, 
 but the proceeding this* morning exceeded all his 
 ideas of military show. 
 
 In the first place it seemed to him that if the ship 
 had been made of wax, and every boy and officer had 
 been figures of the same material, there could not 
 
 96
 
 JOE S FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR. 97 
 
 have been a greater appearance of neatness, or a 
 more orderly and perfect arrangement of things. 
 
 Each gun was a mirror, so highly was it polished, 
 and the deck was so absolutely spotless that Joe 
 looked to see if the dainty paws of the ship s kitten 
 had not soiled it as with perfect indifference to the 
 austerity of the occasion she skimmed over it in a 
 series of antics in front of his division. 
 
 Just aft of his division, drawn up across the deck, 
 was the marine guard with the captain of marines 
 in charge in full regimentals leaning lightly upon 
 his sword whose glittering point rested upon the 
 deck. 
 
 The executive officer splendid in his gold lace 
 and epaulettes paced up and down the quarter 
 deck. Everything bright about him from the brass 
 tip of his sword-sheath to th.e gold tassel of his 
 cocked hat fairly dazzled Joe s eyes. Had Joe only 
 known how the executive, at that very moment, was 
 chafing to have the whole business over with, he 
 would not have looked so grand. The navigating 
 officer, no less dignified, stood upon the bridge an 
 image of golden splendor. Forward a succession 
 of cocked hats loomed into view, each one as rigidly 
 set as though its wearer were made of bronze and 
 was waiting to be stood upon an army and navy 
 monument. 
 
 The only thing that at all tended to convince Joe 
 that all about him were mortal creatures was a 
 slight encounter between Gabriel Butts and a very
 
 98 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 mischievous boy, who, in an endeavor to pull Ga 
 briel s hair was promptly detected and sent below 
 in charge of a corporal. 
 
 The cabin door opened and the captain stepped 
 out upon the deck. The marine guard came to a 
 present arms, the executive saluted and all abaft 
 the mainmast raised their hands to their caps in 
 a prolonged salute. The chief engineer, the pay 
 master and the surgeon now appeared from be 
 low, each reporting his department to the executive, 
 who, after the lieutenants and junior lieutenants 
 had done the same by their divisions, transmitted 
 the reports as a whole to the captain. 
 
 General inspection succeeded. A signal was 
 given to the band-master and the band struck up an 
 appropriate selection. The captain accompanied 
 by the executive then started on his tour of in 
 spection. Each boy was scrutinized to see that his 
 clothing was in proper condition and his bearing 
 military. Any shabbiness or untidiness was care 
 fully observed and the luckless boy and the officer 
 in charge of his division were each likely to receive 
 a cutting rebuke. At the same time the whole 
 ship was kept under review from bridge to keelson. 
 Any disorderly arrangement of even a pennant s 
 halyards, or the slightest negligence in the care of 
 any part of the ship, invoked the captain s serious 
 displeasure. His aim was to have a model ship, 
 and no detail however trifling was passed over. 
 
 Inspection at last being over with the drum beat
 
 JOE S FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR. 99 
 
 retreat. " All boys belonging to the choir will 
 report to Schoolmaster Bell on the port side of the 
 gun-deck," rang along the different decks, called 
 out by the boatswain s mates. 
 
 Joe went down for a half-hour s practice before 
 church. While on the way he was met by the apoth 
 ecary who said that some of the boys in the sick bay 
 had told Smith of the way in which Joe had retal 
 iated upon Herdicks for cutting him down, and 
 Smith wanted to see him. " Come to the sick bay 
 this afternoon, and I will get the surgeon s per 
 mission for you to see Smith," he said. 
 
 Drawn up in a line by Schoolmaster Bell Joe 
 sang with the other boys under the direction of Pro 
 fessor Hilton, numerous selections from the Hymnal. 
 Two of them were finally chosen for the hymns of 
 the morning. The chants Joe thought very beau 
 tiful, he never having heard them before. Just as 
 they finished the second one in the order of service 
 the bugle sounded "formation" and the boys all 
 fell in in their accustomed order. 
 
 Joe had been so engaged with the singing that 
 he had not observed the hasty transformation the 
 deck was undergoing. A place had been prepared 
 on the same side of the deck that had been used 
 for singing school. It was partially screened off 
 by means of flags and ensigns and contained room 
 for the whole ship s company. A neat pulpit stood 
 near the organ covered with a handsome flag, and 
 supported vases of beautiful flowers, which the
 
 IOO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 ladies of one of the city churches had sent on board 
 that morning. Near by was the lectern draped in 
 bunting. Resting upon it were a beautiful Bible 
 and a prayer book which had been presented to the 
 ship by the ladies of St. Paul s Church, Brooklyn. 
 Back of the pulpit and lectern was a semicircle of 
 chairs for the officers, while in front ranged long 
 rows of benches for the boys. A very pretty chapel 
 had been thus improvised, much more picturesque 
 and attractive indeed than any ordinary place of 
 worship ashore. 
 
 The crews were all mustered as at other forma 
 tions. The captains returned to the ranks, the 
 band struck up a sacred march, and the order was 
 given, " March to church ! " The boys marched by 
 gun s crews. Each crew was led by its captain, 
 and proceeded a few steps in advance of the one 
 following. As the column began to move, the bell 
 began to toll. The effect was very fine; military 
 order combining with religious solemnity to render 
 the services doubly impressive. 
 
 On the spar-deck the colors had been lowered 
 and the church pennant, a large ensign of white 
 bunting, containing an immense blue cross in the 
 Greek form, had been run up to the mizzen peak, 
 and the colors were hauled back to a point just 
 underneath. Arranged in this manner the church 
 flag streamed out, the only ensign ever allowed to 
 float above the stars and stripes. The utmost 
 silence prevailed. No boat was permitted to come
 
 JOE S FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR. IOI 
 
 sufficiently near so that the dip of oars or the sound 
 of conversation could disturb the solemnity of divine 
 worship. 
 
 When all were seated the chaplain, who had 
 doffed his uniform for a neat clerical suit, came for 
 ward and in a deeply reverential tone at once began 
 the service after the Episcopal form. A prayer 
 book was provided for each boy, and with the as 
 sistance of Doughty, who sat at his side, Joe was 
 able to follow the chaplain quite well. He was 
 surprised to hear the boys respond heartily and to 
 join in reading those portions set apart for the con 
 gregation to read responsively with the minister. 
 The singing of the Venite, and the Jubilate by the 
 whole four hundred boys was grandly inspiring. In 
 fact Professor Hilton after service said he had never 
 known the boys to sing so well before. While the 
 hymns were being sung Joe could see through the 
 open ports people passing in boats resting upon 
 their oars listening with the greatest apparent at 
 tention, and a few with considerable reverence. 
 
 Joe was well prepared for the sermon which fol 
 lowed. So deep was his interest in it that he 
 reported it to his mother in his first letter home 
 which he wrote that afternoon. We should be 
 negligent of a very important duty in Master Joe s 
 estimation should we omit to give an abstract of it. 
 We hope it made no deeper impression on Joe 
 than it will upon you, my dear boys and girls, 
 though he heard it under very novel circumstances.
 
 IO2 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 The text was the twelfth verse of the second 
 chapter of Revelation: "And they heard a great 
 voice from Heaven saying unto them, Come up 
 higher. " 
 
 " Without stopping to explain the meaning of 
 these words in the connection in which they stand," 
 began the chaplain, " it is clear that they summon 
 the persons addressed to a loftier level. It is 
 above the world that everybody is to rise its low 
 aims its vitiated air its contracted horizon. 
 
 "What sailor among you has not felt the charm 
 of being aloft ? I do not mean of course at night 
 when the winds are howling, the ship pitching and 
 rolling and the rain or sleet is driving, and wet 
 flapping sails are to be furled or reefed. But to be 
 aloft in the clearness of the early morning, or the 
 softness of the day s decline, when there is only 
 some light work to be done in the tops, or a lookout 
 to be kept. What sailor has not been sensible of 
 the joy of being up uplifted above the noises and 
 drudgery of the ship, of breathing a more bracing, 
 life-giving air and of being for a while in a wider 
 range of view? Now it is the characteristic of 
 religion, the religion which our Lord came to teach 
 and for which he died that it elevates a man 
 above his worldly surroundings; uplifts him to a 
 freer, larger sphere of existence in other words, 
 takes him aloft. 
 
 " In the first place it gives him a wider view. 
 On the deck you know your view is coniracted.
 
 JOE 5 FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR. IO3 
 
 You can see forward ; you can see aft ; you can see 
 a few miles over the rail upon the water, but if you 
 would enlarge the circle of your sight you go aloft. 
 It is the man at the mast-head who reports the dis 
 tant sail, or gets the first glimpse of land. Now 
 religion fulfils a similar office. It broadens the 
 view of a man. The Christian has a vastly wider 
 outlook than the worldly man. His horizon is not 
 bounded by time. What a tall mast-head that 
 would be from which a sailor in mid ocean could 
 look east and west and see both shores the shores 
 of America and those of Europe ! And what a 
 piercing vision yes, with a range of nearly two 
 thousand miles ! But religion lifts a man to a pin 
 nacle from which he can see two worlds, the world 
 that now is and the world that is to come. No 
 wonder with such a land ahead, with such a celes 
 tial commonwealth in view, Saint Paul should say : 
 Our conversation is in Heaven. 
 
 "Then again, by elevating him religion gives a 
 man a purer air. The air below is heavy and stag 
 nant. One of the great problems now is how to 
 keep this vital fluid pure. Our recently repaired 
 men-of-war have been fitted with an apparatus by 
 which the air between decks can be kept pure and 
 healthy. There is no odor of the bilge at the mast 
 head. And so with religion ; it lifts a man above the 
 pestilential odors of the corrupt moral atmosphere 
 of this world into a region where every breath vital 
 izes and invigorates.
 
 IO4 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " How delightful to feel one s self lifted above the 
 engrossing pursuits of merely worldly objects ! to 
 dwell above selfishness and sensuality, to ascend 
 from surroundings which tend to suffocate and sti 
 fle the good that is in us, to that realm of purer air 
 where we are braced and exhilarated by every in 
 spiration. 
 
 "The air aloft is also more transparent. Our 
 astronomers begin to see the importance of build 
 ing their observatories on hilltops or high table 
 lands. There the stars have a wonderfully in 
 creased brilliancy. Religion by elevating a man 
 gives him a standpoint from which he can see 
 things above and bejow in their proper relations and 
 comparative importance. It not only broadens and 
 clarifies his view, but rectifies his judgment. You 
 might wander the streets of yonder city a life time 
 and not have so correct an idea of the city as you 
 would gain in a few moments from the State House 
 dome or the top of the Monument. What a splen 
 did vantage ground religion gives from which to 
 behold truth in its wide reaching beauty and power. 
 
 "But religion says to us constantly, Come up 
 higher. She knows earthly things look large to 
 us because we are down upon their level. They 
 get hold of us because they are present with us and 
 close at hand. Our calls, our duties, our pleasures 
 are all immediate and pressing. They claim our 
 attention, they occupy our time, they fill our per 
 spective. Going aloft we get into the clearer air
 
 JOE S FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR. IO5 
 
 of truth where reason and judgment can have full 
 play and we see the end of what charms us most 
 below. We behold the shame, degradation, defile 
 ment, the loss of God s favor which a life of sensual 
 indulgence brings. We see from our moral pinna 
 cle the movements of the world, its multiplied 
 plans and schemes, its sharp competitions, its un 
 healthy excitements, its eager concern for what 
 is external,. material and perishable ; and weigh all 
 this against those imperishable things which fire 
 cannot destroy, nor floods sweep away nor death 
 even endanger ; weigh the treasures which men 
 heap up but to leave against the treasures laid up 
 in Heaven. As we look out upon the framework 
 of the globe itself, we are reminded that the day 
 cometh when the elements shall melt with fervent 
 heat, the earth also and the works that are therein 
 shall be burned up. Oh, it is an invaluable privi 
 lege this which religion gives us, this standpoint, 
 this watch tower where we can get away from the 
 disturbing influence of time, and rectify our judg 
 ments by calling to our aid the standards of eter 
 nity. 
 
 " A party of tourists on a remote mountain side 
 once came across a lonely man in a hut of poverty. 
 He seemed utterly without the conveniences or 
 even the necessities of life, but he had the Book of 
 God. They attempted to console him for his hard 
 lot but he listened in strange silence. When they 
 ceased he simply said with a glow in his cheek and
 
 IO6 DOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 a look of rapture in his face which they did not soon 
 forget: Sirs, I am the son of a king, I am an heir 
 of glory, and when I die angels will carry me from 
 this mean hut to my father s mansion. Their sym 
 pathy had been wasted on him. He lived on the 
 heights. It is our privilege as it was his to obey 
 the summons of the High and Lofty One that in- 
 habiteth eternity. Come up higher. 
 
 This sermon was delivered with so much tender 
 ness and fervor that it riveted the attention of 
 every man and boy present. So earnestly had its 
 truths been urged upon the minds of the young 
 auditors that it was several seconds after the chap 
 lain sat down before there was the slightest move 
 ment among them ; then at a signal from Professor 
 Hilton, they all arose and sang the doxology with 
 ringing voices. 
 
 Joe wrote his first letter home. He gave a vivid 
 account of the experiences with which we are 
 already familiar, not omitting for the delectation of 
 Mollie and Sadie, a description of Katie Aston in 
 whom he was daily growing more interested, like 
 the old knights in the ladies who often owed their 
 lives to their gallantry and heroism. He was quite 
 a rapid penman, and he was surprised to see what 
 he had written after an hour of hard work. Then 
 he started on his visit to Charlie Smith. 
 
 He found poor Smith in a cot in one corner of 
 the sick bay, which had been screened off for his 
 better accommodation. He was very pale and fee-
 
 JOE S FIRST SUNDAY ON A MAN-OF-WAR. IO/ 
 
 ble, but a glad look came into his eyes as Joe s 
 kind face and gentle manner confirmed him in the 
 opinion he had already formed of his hero. Joe 
 was no less pleased with the young sufferer, whose 
 helpless condition deeply touched his sympathy, 
 and whose delicate features and slight frame, added 
 to a very refined way of speaking for a boy, indica 
 ted better fortune and gentler blood than belong 
 to the average naval apprentice. Joe told Smith at 
 his request of his encounter with Herdicks, then, 
 as their mutual confidence increased, Joe read a 
 letter from the boy s mother, and, to keep her from 
 worrying, he wrote a short letter which Charlie dic 
 tated, giving a brief and cheerful account of the 
 accident. 
 
 It was two bells when Joe left the sick bay for 
 supper formation. He promised Smith that he 
 would come in often to see him, and that he would 
 be his amanuensis while he was sick. " I ll cheer 
 you up by reading some nice book to you," he said 
 as he shook hands with him and went out. 
 
 But none of his promises, as we shall see, were 
 destined to be fulfilled.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 JOE IS INVITED TO MAKE A VISIT. 
 
 * I ""HE day of Mr. Aston s promised visit came at 
 JL last. Joe had been thinking about it all the 
 week dreading it with the natural timidity of a 
 bashful boy. Yet he had looked forward to it with 
 unmistakable pleasure on account of the young girl 
 whose life he was the instrument of saving. To 
 redeem his promise he had already begun a rather 
 shy letter to Katie, and the saloon had been picked 
 out, upon the enthusiastic recommendation of some 
 of the boys, where he was going to have his picture 
 taken the next week. 
 
 Meanwhile he had applied himself with great 
 energy to his duties on board ship. He had be 
 come quite an expert aloft, had lowered topmasts, 
 loosed, reefed and furled sails. He had studied 
 the sectional map framed on the gun-deck, and 
 knew the different decks with nearly everything 
 on them, from the spar deck to the orlops. The 
 holds had been explored and the location of the 
 bagrooms and storerooms of various kinds had 
 been noted. The ship s tailor, shoemaker, printer, 
 armorer, cook and baker had each been inter- 
 
 108
 
 JOE IS INVITED TO MAKE A VISIT. KX) 
 
 viewed, and the gunner had given him a peep into 
 the magazine and shell rooms. As he had been 
 put into the signal corps he had made firm friends 
 with the signal quartermaster. Nor had he for 
 gotten Jack-of-the-dust whose odd appellation had 
 thrown an air of comical mystery around its wearer 
 to Master Joe. 
 
 Resuming our story, Sharp is now fulfilling his 
 promise. He has taken Joe once more into custody 
 to see the brig, or ship s prison, which is nothing 
 more than a number of cells in the forward part of 
 the berth deck, and Joe is much amused at Sharp s 
 recital of his experiences while a prisoner in its 
 gloomy quarters. 
 
 " I suppose they think I don t get anything but 
 bread and water, when I m in here," he goes on, 
 "but I get as good as there is on board this ship, 
 you bet, and the old man furnishes the grub." 
 
 "How s that? " inquired Joe. 
 
 " Oh, the captain s cook and I are good friends." 
 
 " Does the captain know that his cook sends you 
 things ? " 
 
 "Well, you are innocent, ain t you! Oh, yes, 
 the captain comes himself, ever} day, with a white 
 apron on, and a waiter, and hands the stuff in to 
 me through the bars." 
 
 Joe would have got very angry had not a morti 
 fying sense of his simplicity quenched his rising 
 wrath. 
 
 " But he won t get me in here any more. I m
 
 HO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 going to skip the first time I go ashore, that is, 
 I .think I shall," Sharp went on. " I ve been quar 
 antined now for a month, and it interferes with my 
 business." 
 
 " Business, what business ? " Joe ventured to ask. 
 
 " I ll introduce you to my partners some day, 
 when we re on liberty," and he gave Joe a signifi 
 cant glance. " But there s Herdicks in that last 
 cell," said he, quickly changing the subject as the 
 sentry came along. 
 
 Sure enough there was Herdicks looking straight 
 at Joe from behind the bars. We may be sure 
 there was no look of friendliness in the bold, defiant 
 gaze he fixed upon him. Neither was there a per 
 ceptible blink in Joe s organs of vision as he quietly 
 fixed them on the resentful Herdicks in return. 
 
 We must not forget to mention that Joe had seen 
 this boy once before since the night of the encoun 
 ter. There had been an investigation at the mast 
 and Joe s fear that his act might be considered as 
 " assault and battery," under the strict military con 
 struction of the law, which had haunted him several 
 days, was set at rest. His testimony was very 
 damaging to Herdicks, and Doughty had overheard 
 the captain remark, after the investigation, that he 
 should report the matter to the Department, and a 
 General Court Martial would be ordered to try Her 
 dicks for his crime, " for," said he, " endangering 
 the life of a sleeping boy, as Herdicks has done, can 
 not be regarded as less than a crime."
 
 JOE IS INVITED TO MAKE A VISIT. Ill 
 
 The only allusion made to the right or wrong of 
 the affair on Joe s part, was contained in a kind re 
 buke from the captain administered to him one side. 
 
 " Bently," said he, " another time don t be so 
 impetuous, but report the case immediately to the 
 proper authorities, and let justice be done in the 
 usual way. Besides there is danger that such a 
 boy as Herdicks might use his knife in a worse 
 way than cutting the clews of a hammock." 
 
 Joe didn t feel very bad over this as he knew the 
 captain said it in the interest of discipline, which 
 must be maintained at any sacrifice. 
 
 " You mustn t spake wid the prisoners," said 
 Corporal Shay in true Irish brogue, as Joe addressed 
 a boy named Parker, who for impertinence to his 
 division officer had been placed under the sentry s 
 charge. " It s not permitted. An what are you 
 here for, Sharp, at all, at all ? Ain t ye familiar 
 enough wid the place to give it a wide bairth, when 
 ye re out of it, an that s very little ? What s come 
 over ye the last week that ye hav n t been in onct? 
 Git out o here now, an don t let me see ye agin 
 widin the lingth o forty bayonets, till ye come wid 
 the captain s approval, an that won t be long." 
 
 Sharp evidently didn t relish this little monologue 
 and he retorted, What s the matter with you, 
 Paddy ? You d better hold your clumsy tongue." 
 
 The next Joe saw of Sharp, Corporal Shay was 
 helping him, with astonishing celerity, along the 
 deck at the point of his bayonet.
 
 112 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 "Take rny advice, and have nothing to do wid 
 that young scoundrel," the corporal vociferated with 
 a very red face, as Joe quickly passed him to rejoin 
 Sharp. 
 
 Joe had already received so much advice of this 
 sort that in the present instance it had no visible 
 effect. The feeling was fast growing on him that he 
 was abundantly able to take care of himself a pe 
 culiarity of naval apprentices after they have been 
 on board ship a week. 
 
 " What have you been put in the brig so much 
 for?" inquired Joe, after he had listened to some 
 very pointed and not flattering observations re 
 specting Corporal Shay. 
 
 " Well, sometimes when I go ashore, I come 
 back with a little too much beer on board, and it 
 makes me declamatory. Then I m a firm believer 
 in freedom of speech, since I had to learn the Con 
 stitution, and I sarse the officers. You may have 
 discerned my fondness for work, and they have to 
 put me in here to keep me from killing myself." 
 
 Joe opened his eyes to hear Sharp talk in this 
 half-mystical, and, in his way of putting it, very 
 droll manner. Sharp was, indeed, the brightest and 
 best educated boy on board ship. He was a great 
 mystery, and nobody knew anything about his early 
 life. A man calling himself an uncle had repre 
 sented himself as the boy s guardian, and signed 
 the necessary papers. This, with Sharp s shrewd 
 answers, upon his examination, and his excellent
 
 JOE IS INVITED TO MAKE A VISIT. 113 
 
 education, had secured him easy admission into the 
 Navy. He was, however, quite worthless. He 
 regarded all manual exertion on board ship as 
 drudgery, and he instilled this sentiment into the 
 minds of as many boys as he could influence. He 
 had a remarkable talent for learning, and could ac 
 quire knowledge in the shortest possible time, but he 
 did it without the slightest conviction of duty, or 
 anything else other than the mere gratification of 
 personal vanity; for he liked to be thought very 
 clever. He knew the ship thoroughly because he 
 had such quick perceptive faculties that he couldn t 
 help knowing it. 
 
 But he was naturally lawless and fearless, with 
 out any feeling of responsibility, and he gave the 
 ship s authorities endless trouble ; so much so, that 
 the captain had about determined to apply to the 
 Navy Department for his dismissal from the ser 
 vice. A few things had happened, also, which led 
 him to suspect that Sharp was an accomplice of 
 certain parties ashore, whose connection with ship 
 ping interests boded no good to the boys. How 
 nearly right he was we shall see farther on. 
 
 Joe knew that Sharp was a bad boy, and we may 
 wonder that he permitted such intimacy ; but 
 he had thought all along from Sharp s comical and 
 free way of speaking that a good deal of it was put 
 on. Besides, Joe cherished a secret desire that 
 Sharp would try some game on him to see if he 
 could be taken in as easily as he had been in the
 
 I 14 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 railway car. Whenever he thought of that epi 
 sode he felt deeply chagrined, and he was deter 
 mined to redeem himself, in his own estimation, at 
 least, if ever the opportunity came. The many 
 hints he had received placed Sharp very much 
 in the same category with his elegant friend of 
 unpleasant memory, though Sharp s method was 
 entirely different. Joe, from pure New England 
 persistency and grit, had resolved to let Sharp have 
 a tiy on him. 
 
 As they walked toward the forecastle, Sharp 
 turned suddenly upon him and said, " I m going 
 ashore next Sunday, don t you want to go with 
 me?" 
 
 " No ; I guess not," replied Joe. 
 
 "Why not?" demanded Sharp. 
 
 " Well," said Joe slowly, " I promised the chap 
 lain I d come to Sabbath school. He s taken me 
 into his class, and " 
 
 "Look here, Bently," interrupted Sharp, with 
 a half sneer, "don t tell that to anybody else. 
 You ve got a mighty good reputation aboard this 
 ship for pluck, and I don t want the whole crew 
 laughing at you. Sunday school be hanged ! So 
 Holy Joe s nabbed you ; you are a ripe one ! I 
 never went to Sunday school only in the Reform " 
 
 Here Sharp stopped so abruptly that Joe looked 
 at him in surprise. "Never mind, Bently," he 
 continued, looking somewhat confused, "put your 
 name on the liberty list, Saturday. If you want
 
 JOE IS INVITED TO MAKE A VISIT. 11$ 
 
 to, you can go to church in the afternoon, and then 
 we ll go round. You don t want to be cooped up 
 here another week when you can go ashore as well 
 as not." 
 
 While Joe, debating in his mind whether his be 
 ing obliged to remain on board another week (for 
 he was growing very curious to see more of the big 
 city) would be any reason for breaking his promise 
 to the chaplain, he looked aft and saw a gentle 
 man standing with the captain just outside the 
 cabin door. Something told him that it was Mr. 
 Aston, and he turned crimson. 
 
 While he was meditating a nice little speech, 
 which, as it turned out, as it usually does, went out 
 of his mind as though shot from an air-gun, the 
 captain called his orderly and sent him after Joe. 
 
 The orderly had already caught sight of the boys 
 as they stood conversing leaning against the bows 
 of a great launch which had been hoisted in-board, 
 and in a minute Joe was his most reluctant pris 
 oner. Like most of things, the dread was all in 
 the anticipation. The meeting turned out to be 
 no ordeal at all to Master Joe. 
 
 Mr. Aston s manner set him at ease (too much 
 at ease, he feared) the instant he took his hand. 
 The visitor had a jolly face, mild blue eyes, and a 
 smile, and a laugh which set everybody around him 
 smiling and laughing too, though it was often im 
 possible to tell what they were smiling and laugh 
 ing at. When Joe came up, the captain himself
 
 I l6 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 was on a broad grin, and the officer of the deck, 
 and a quartermaster standing near, had caught 
 the contagion and were almost chuckling aloud. 
 Joe himself was thrown into such a merry mood, 
 that, as he stood with his cap in his hand, he felt 
 that he was almost outraging the proprieties of the 
 occasion by his feelings and expressions of mirth- 
 fulness. He had come aft just in time to hear 
 the conclusion of a most comical incident that 
 Mr. Aston was relating, which happened on board 
 a Savannah steamer where he was a passenger, 
 and it threw everybody into such convulsions that 
 when Mr. Aston grasped his hand, Joe was shak 
 ing from head to foot. 
 
 When equilibrium was restored, Mr. Aston 
 kindly inquired how Joe liked the ship, and how 
 he thought he should like the Navy, and if he 
 intended to rise ? " For," said he, " I understand 
 that it is also the purpose of the Government to 
 have the boys enter the merchant service if they 
 wish, at the completion of their naval apprentice 
 ship. If you incline to a seafaring life after you have 
 served the term of your enlistment, as I am a large 
 ship owner, I may be of service to you. But there 
 will be plenty of time to talk about that, as we don t 
 propose to lose the run of you." 
 
 Turning to the captain, he said, "I should be 
 very happy, sir, if you would allow this boy to come 
 to Portland for a day or two before you sail to make 
 us a short visit. If he is in debt to the Govern-
 
 JOE IS INVITED TO MAKE A VISIT. I I/ 
 
 ment, knowing your rules, I will become responsible 
 for his obligation." 
 
 " He can go, if he wishes, next week," returned 
 the captain. 
 
 Joe was horrified at the tnougnt of becoming a 
 guest at Mr. Aston s house, and he stammered that 
 he didn t think that he should be able to go. 
 
 " You can do anything in the Navy," laughed 
 Mr. Aston, " if you only have the captain s permis 
 sion. Here s a return ticket. Our carriage will 
 be at the Eastern Depot next Wednesday evening. 
 Don t fail to come." 
 
 " I don t need any ticket, sir," said Joe, giving 
 in to what seemed to be the inevitable ; " I ve got a 
 pass." 
 
 "Very good, keep it, you may have a friend. 
 Feel perfectly free to bring him along with you." 
 
 Joe thought of Doughty and what a relief it 
 would be to take him along. 
 
 "By the way, keep your eye out for a box which 
 Mrs. Aston and Katie have sent on by express," 
 said Mr. Aston. " No disappointment, Wednesday 
 night. Good-by ! " and Joe received another hearty 
 handshake,
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GABRIEL BUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS. 
 
 ALL hands to muster! " 
 "What s that for?" inquired Joe of Little 
 Sol, who sat at his side in the navigation class tak 
 ing a lesson on the compass, under the instruction 
 of Schoolmaster Bell. 
 
 "Hawkeye s going to be drummed out, I guess." 
 
 " Who s Hawkeye ? " 
 
 "That boy that s been round the scuttle butt all 
 the week with the big letters on his back." 
 
 Joe had seen the boy referred to every time he 
 had gone to the scuttle butt after a drink. The 
 boy had carried a great placard on his back on 
 which was written in large letters, THIEF. Joe 
 would have pitied him very much had he not 
 seemed indifferent to any feeling of compassion 
 that might be cherished toward him ! 
 
 " On deck there, on deck ! " roared the boatswain s 
 mate at the boys who were hanging back to see the 
 master-at-arms bring the prisoner from below. 
 
 This sent them scampering up the hatchway, 
 especially as the prisoner just then went up too. 
 Little Sol and Joe took their position at the near- 
 
 118
 
 GABRIEL DUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS. 
 
 est point of observation the capstan. The port 
 side of the quarter deck was a solid mass of men 
 and boys, while the starboard side was reserved for 
 the officers who were coming up in " sword and 
 helmet," as they say. 
 
 " Keep out of the hammock netting. Come 
 down out of that," sternly ordered the officer of the 
 deck to some new boys who were seeking the loft 
 iest perch like youngsters at a trotting park. 
 
 Presently a midshipman came up from below and 
 reported to the officer of the deck that the officers 
 were all up and aft. That gentleman informed the 
 executive officer, who reported to the captain that 
 all was in readiness. 
 
 Meanwhile the prisoner at whose expense this 
 assemblage had been called, was brought to the 
 mast by the master-at-arms. Every boy elongated 
 his neck like a crane to get a glimpse of the young 
 culprit who was endeavoring with poor success to 
 return their looks with glances of stolid defiance. 
 He had been caught in the act of stealing twenty 
 dollars from a midshipman s hammock, where it was 
 concealed between the covering and the mattress. 
 He had also been previously guilty of petty thefts. 
 His case had been referred to the Navy Department 
 and an order had come for his dishonorable dis 
 missal from the service. 
 
 " Have Boy Hawkins " (the boys called him 
 Hawkeye) " brought aft, sir," said the captain. 
 
 Hawkins was marched where he was in full view
 
 I2O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVV. 
 
 of the whole ship s company, and the captain said, 
 " I hold in my hand a letter from the Navy Depart 
 ment which I will read : 
 
 NAVY DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., 
 
 September, iS 
 
 SIR: 
 
 Upon your recommendation, Third Class Boy Hawkins is hereby 
 dishonorably dismissed from the Naval Service of the United 
 States. Vou will muster him out with the usual ceremonies in 
 such cases. 
 
 Very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Chief of Bureau of Recruiting and Equipment. 
 
 CAPTAIN , U. S. Mny, 
 
 Commanding U. S. S. , BOSTON, MASS. 
 
 " My lads," continued the captain, " it is very 
 painful to me to be obliged to deal in this summary 
 manner with this boy. But you are aware that the 
 dignity and safety of the service require that no 
 dishonorable character be allowed to remain in it. 
 Boy Hawkins has forfeited every claim to stay 
 among you, and I send him away regretting only 
 the grief and mortification of his parents, and the 
 bad propensity to which he has so frequently yielded 
 on board this ship, and which can only bring him 
 sorrow and shame. You will proceed, sir," he 
 added, turning to the executive. 
 
 The utmost silence prevailed while the ship s 
 tailor with his great shears began cutting away the 
 trimmings from Hawkins s uniform. The cap-rib-
 
 GABRIEL BUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS. 121 
 
 bon containing in beautiful gilt letters the name of 
 his ship first disappeared ; the shirt collar with its 
 neat stripes of white braid was clipped off at the 
 seam ; the wristbands, also, containing stripes ot 
 the same material, came off next, and the boy stood 
 bereft of every honorable and distinguishing mark. 
 As he realized his degradation he burst into tears. 
 But the most humiliating of all was the concluding 
 part. He was taken farther aft, where the drummer 
 and fifer stood in waiting, and, at a signal from the 
 executive, he was marched between the master-at- 
 arms and the sergeant of the guard to the port 
 gangway, followed by the satirical music of " The 
 Rogue s March," rendered with great spirit ; for 
 sailors are delighted to run a thief out of a ship. 
 A boat lay at the port gangway into which he was 
 hustled, and quickly pulled to India Wharf where 
 he was landed and allowed to go whither his incli 
 nation might lead him. 
 
 " Bently," said the corporal as they piped down, 
 " there s a big box come for you. You ll find it 
 just forward of the library." 
 
 " Come on, Doughty," exclaimed Joe to his friend, 
 "let s see what s in it." 
 
 Joe had already seen several boxes opened, and 
 he anticipated the nature of the contents ; so did 
 Doughty. In a few moments the box lay with its 
 profuse stores spread out just aft of the starboard 
 bag-room. Pies, cake, raspberry jam, a chicken, 
 candy, a basket of peaches, a few volumes of Miss
 
 122 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Yonge s Histories, and carefully wrapped in several 
 thicknesses of paper a fine prayer book with JOE 
 BENTLY printed in beautiful gilt letters upon the 
 cover comprised a general list of the articles. Ly 
 ing among them was a dainty note in which Mrs. 
 Aston begged that he would accept the few things 
 she had sent as a slight token of the gratitude they 
 cherished towards him. 
 
 Joe and Doughty attacked one of the pies. Joe 
 halved it with the knife hanging to his lanyard 
 after the manner of a sailor boy, and they sat on a 
 mess chest devouring it with all the enterprise and 
 equanimity of a pair of squirrels lunching on beach- 
 nuts. The deck was clear and Joe was explaining 
 in a low tone how the box happened to be sent to 
 him, when their attention was attracted the second 
 time by Gabriel Butts who was letting himself down 
 the forward companion ladder with as much appar 
 ent caution as he would have descended a thorn-tree. 
 
 "There s Butts again," whispered Doughty. 
 " What do you suppose he s up to now? " 
 
 Butts carried something in his hand that looked 
 like a wooden spout, or as Joe thought, a case such 
 as he had seen in country stores filled with whips. 
 His stealthy movements excited the boys suspicions 
 at once. 
 
 "What do you suppose he s going to do with 
 that thing ? " whispered Doughty. " Keep perfectly 
 still and perhaps he won t see us." 
 
 Gabriel descended without observing them, and
 
 GABRIEL BUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS. 123 
 
 turning his back toward them peered fore and aft. 
 He was evidently satisfied that the coast was clear, 
 and stepping over the hatch combing of the forward 
 hold, he slipped quickly from view. 
 
 " Now s our time," urged Joe, and the boys crept 
 toward the hold. They had to duck their heads a 
 good deal at first while they stole glimpses at Ga 
 briel. He kept looking at his spout as if in great 
 deliberation and occasionally glanced uneasily up 
 the hatchway. Finally he got back to the boys 
 and stood in the dim light looking more like a big 
 shadow than anything else. He remained station 
 ary another moment apparently in great perplexity, 
 then, diving his hand into the bosom of his shirt, 
 he pulled out a candle which he at once lit by ignit 
 ing a match on the rough surface of his trousers. 
 
 Climbing over a heap of stores he reached down 
 between some boxes lying against the ship s side and 
 fished out what looked to Joe like an enormous cat 
 tail. He looked at it from end to end in a sort of 
 delighted wonder. Pulling out his knife, he cut 
 into jt. He even put the big end into his mouth 
 and bit it. The longer he looked at it the more 
 pleased he seemed. He made such comical gest 
 ures and laughed in such a ludicrous way that Joe 
 and Doughty had to hold their hands over their 
 mouths to keep from exploding. 
 
 "That s a rocket, I ll bet!" said Doughty in a 
 very faint whisper. " He s going to fire it off, too, 
 sure as you re alive," and Doughty fairly shook as
 
 124 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Gabriel s purpose flashed upon him ; " only lookout 
 that he doesn t point it this way." 
 
 " Won t it set the ship afire ? " seriously returned 
 Joe. 
 
 " I guess not ; it s too good to not let him do it, 
 any way." 
 
 Just in time the boys ducked to escape Gabriel s 
 vision as he advanced to the place where he had 
 left the rocket, for such it proved to be, and one of 
 the slow burning kind. 
 
 He placed his rude receptacle between two pork 
 barrels where the overhang of the deck would pre 
 vent the rocket from shooting out through the 
 hatchway, and inserted the innocent-looking mis 
 sile. There was a look of comical bewilderment 
 in his face as he regarded his arrangements. He 
 passed his candle all around as if hunting for the 
 vent of his strange piece, and, finally, with an 
 intensely curious look, he held the candle close to 
 the fuse and the rocket shot off with a tremen 
 dous hiss. 
 
 If Gabriel had been in doubt before as to.what 
 the rocket would do there was no uncertainty now. 
 
 The look of astonishment and fright which came 
 into his face cannot be described. He had evi 
 dently fancied that the rocket would go off with as 
 little noise as an air-gun and do as little mischief. 
 He was taken aback as much as a boy would be 
 who should jerk at a door bell and pull down the 
 door. He didn t make any noise ; his fear seemed
 
 GABRIEL BUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS. 125 
 
 to have paralyzed him ; he stood as motionless as a 
 statue. 
 
 Joe and Doughty at this point gave a fortunate 
 laugh which Butts heard above the rocket, an4 it 
 restored him to his senses. 
 
 Meanwhile the rocket was having things its own 
 way. It flew against bulkheads and the ship s side 
 would strike the deck above and glance down, and 
 skim over barrels of beef and pork. It acted like 
 a raving June bug trying to break through a cham 
 ber window. 
 
 " Catch it by the tail, Butts," sang out Doughty, 
 and, sure enough, he started after it. As it passed 
 him he made a violent lunge and fell flat upon a 
 box of canned tomatoes. He jumped up and at 
 tempted to repeat the operation, but this time it 
 changed its tactics and undertook to catch him. 
 
 It seemed to have a grudge against him, or an 
 affection for him. It flew all around him ; it 
 jammed up against him ; he threw himself down 
 and it ran over him ; it set his clothes on fire ; it 
 did everything but run plump into him. 
 
 Butts didn t mean to be caught by the rocket. 
 He dodged it, ran from it, and at length jumped 
 behind a barricade of barrels singing out " Fire /" 
 at the top of his voice and shouting, " I shall be 
 killed, I know I shall." 
 
 Presently the rocket exploded in a shower of stars, 
 and it was discovered that the hold was on fire in 
 S2veral places.
 
 126 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Some of the spectators, for there were a good 
 many now, had mSfle the discovery before the 
 rocket exploded, and had rushed to the galley to 
 tell the ship s cook, who was now sounding the 
 alarm on the bell. It is generally the cook s right 
 to ring the fire-bell on board a man-of-war, and he 
 now did it as though destruction was at hand. 
 
 The executive officer had rushed for his sword 
 and shouted as he ran along the deck, " Fire in the 
 forward hold ! " Every officer and man jumped 
 for his station. The marines sprang for their belts 
 and rifles and hurried to the spar-deck to stand 
 guard over the boats so that in case of a panic no 
 body could cut them from the davits. The nav 
 igating officer took the deck and ordered his men 
 aloft to lower windsails, furl sail and relieve the 
 tops and rigging as much as possible of combusti 
 ble gear. 
 
 The gunner and his gang hastened to the 
 flood-cocks of the magazines and shell-rooms to 
 be ready at an instant s notice to flood them. 
 Hatchways were covered over with gratings which 
 with tarpaulins made them air tight. Every port 
 was closed, every passage and aperture which could 
 lot the air below was made tight, and in an incredi- 
 tyy short time the whole ship was put in readiness 
 for fighting the most dangerous fire. 
 
 In less than a minute from the first stroke of the 
 bell a flood of water was streaming into the hold. 
 Joe s station was just after the pipeman to dra^
 
 GABRIEL BUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS. I2/ 
 
 along hose. He could see poor Gabriel flying around 
 in the smoke trying to put out the fire. The pipe- 
 man, shaking with laughter, turned the stream full 
 upon him, and he shot out of the hold like a porpoise 
 from the hollow of a sea. 
 
 " Git to your station," roared the master-at-arms, 
 and Butts jerked himself along the deck with an 
 unusual and most ludicrous agility. 
 
 It took but a moment to extinguish the fire. 
 The executive officer descended into the hold and 
 finding that the last spark had been drowned out 
 he at once returned to the quarter-deck and re 
 ported to the captain. 
 
 If Joe was surprised to see the wonderful expedi 
 tion in getting ready, he was equally astonished at 
 the quick transformation when the order was given 
 to " secure." In a few minutes the ship was com 
 pletely restored to her accustomed order. The ex 
 ercise had shown the splendid discipline of the 
 boys in the case of an actual fire. 
 
 " Let s hang around the mast," said Doughty to 
 Joe, when order was fully restored, "and see how 
 this thing will end." 
 
 In a few moments, as Doughty anticipated, the 
 captain came out of the cabin, and ordered Butts to 
 be brought to the mast. 
 
 " Boy Butts," roared the boatswain s mate ; " Boy 
 Butts," repeated the other mates on the gun and 
 berth-decks and Butts still dripping from his duck 
 ing, and very much wilted, worked his way through
 
 128 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY.. 
 
 a dense crowd of boys to the ship s tribunal. 
 
 " What s this story I hear about your firing off a 
 rocket in the forward hold ? " began the captain. 
 
 " I didn t know it was a rocket, sir, I never seen 
 one afore." 
 
 " How did you know, then, how to touch it off ? " 
 
 " A feller told me." 
 
 " Tell me all that he said." 
 
 " He said it was a thing they called a night sig 
 nal, and if you sot it in a sluice, and touched it with 
 a candle, it would shoot off little stars in purty col 
 ors." 
 
 " Didn t you know it would go off and set the 
 ship on fire ? " 
 
 " No, sir. He said the stars wouldn t come sol- 
 montanous or suthin , but would bust open like 
 fire-crackers, and there wouldn t be no blaze." 
 
 " What boy told you all this ?" 
 
 "Boy Hanson, sir." 
 
 "That s a lie, sir," spoke up the boy accused. 
 
 " Silence," ordered the executive officer. " How 
 dare you speak before the captain calls for you ? " 
 
 " Where did you get the rocket ? " 
 
 " I took it out of a chist." 
 
 " Signal Quartermaster, how did the signal 
 chest happen to be unlocked ?" 
 
 " I forgot it one day, sir." 
 
 "Quarantine him for a month, sir, for his careless 
 ness," said the captain, turning to the executive. 
 " The next time you wish to experiment take a
 
 GABRIEL BUTTS AND FIRE QUARTERS. 129 
 
 shell or a torpedo, will you ? " he said again address 
 ing Gabriel. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," replied the unsophisticated 
 Butts. 
 
 "You may take him away from his playthings, 
 sir. Sinerle irons and the forward cell till further 
 orders," tne captain concluded to the executive.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 JOE GETS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE. 
 
 JOE S curiosity to see more of Boston as the week 
 wore away became on Saturday absolute impa 
 tience. His good resolution of remaining on board 
 ship all day Sunday deserted him when the boys 
 went to have their names put on the liberty list, and 
 his name went down with the rest. He went to the 
 chaplain, however, and asked if he might not be 
 excused from Sunday school. The chaplain kindly 
 advised him to remain on board, but seeing that he 
 was bent on going told him that he would like for 
 him to attend church at Tremont Temple, and Joe 
 promised that he would. 
 
 Sunday afternoon Sharp and Joe perched upon 
 the starboard gunwale of the third cutter, looking 
 as spick and span as naval apprentices always do on 
 Sunday, were towed to India Wharf and found their 
 way with a large battalion of boys to the Common, 
 where they respectively dispersed like a bunch of 
 steel shavings drawn apart by a ring of magnets. 
 
 Doughty had also come ashore, and had taken a 
 car for the Highlands to spend the afternoon with 
 his friends. He had courteously invited Joe to ac-
 
 JOE GETS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE. 13! 
 
 company him, but Joe thought he had better de 
 cline. Presently Joe found that all the boys had 
 scattered, leaving Sharp and himself alone by the 
 large fountain just below the State House. 
 
 " Let s sit down here where we can see what s 
 going on," proposed Sharp, and they dropped upon 
 a seat in the shade of an old elm, which was very 
 grateful to them, for the day was quite warm. 
 
 " Isn t this a good deal better than to be shut up 
 all day in an old ballyhoo?" began Sharp. " I ll 
 tell you what it is, Bently, if it wasn t for one thing 
 I d skin out to-day." 
 
 " What s that ? " asked Joe. 
 
 " It s rather important to a boy who doesn t like 
 to work board and lodging. But I know one 
 thing I could do I could go to sea in a merchant 
 man. Look here, Bently," continued he, bringing 
 his hand hard down upon Joe s shoulder as though 
 it were a tiller, " I know a captain who wants two 
 boys. If you ll go with me we ll ship this after 
 noon. He sails for Barcelona next week. Barce 
 lona, you know, is in Spain. We ll see bullfights, 
 and have lots of fun. I ve been there, and Spain s 
 a gay country. It would take me all day to tell you 
 what we d see." 
 
 Joe looked up in amazement. He was very in 
 dignant that Sharp should make such a proposition 
 to him, and he wondered what he had done which 
 in any way had led to such a proposal. Then he 
 thought with his usual charity that it might be be-
 
 132 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 cause Sharp had taken a liking to him, and wanted 
 his companionship. 
 
 " I ve got a good many boys to go into the mer 
 chant service," Sharp resumed, " but the business 
 been dull lately. The old man s got his eye on 
 me, and I ve a good mind to go myself now. But I 
 want some smart boy to keep me company," dwell 
 ing on smart with flattering emphasis. 
 
 " You can t have me," returned Joe with a posi- 
 tiveness which made Sharp start from his seat. " I 
 don t want to go, and if I did I wouldn t go with 
 you " 
 
 " What do you mean ? "demanded Sharp, growing 
 very red in the face. 
 
 " I mean just what I say. If that s your business 
 you ve been talking about, you must be a very bad 
 boy, and I ll tell the captain." 
 
 " If you say any more, I ll lick you," angrily de 
 clared Sharp, striking a menacing attitude before 
 Joe. 
 
 " All right," exclaimed Joe, springing to his feet, 
 and forgetting all about Sunday. 
 
 Sharp knew better than to attempt the execu 
 tion of his threat. Joe s recent encounter with Tip 
 Herdicks had had its due effect upon Sharp, and 
 just as he was cogitating some shrewd way of get 
 ting out of the present difficulty, without appearing 
 cowardly to Joe, a lady teacher of the Park Street 
 Sunday school came along. Observing the hostile 
 attitude of the boys, and knowing they were young
 
 JOE GETS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE. 133 
 
 apprentices, from their uniform, but taking no ap 
 parent notice of their demeanor, she spoke very 
 pleasantly to them and invited them to go to Sun 
 day school with her. Joe politely removed his cap, 
 and begged her pardon for being found in such an 
 unbecoming situation, and told her that he would be 
 pleased to accompany her, only he had promised the 
 chaplain of the ship that he would attend church at 
 Tremont Temple. The lady having succeeded in 
 quelling hostilities passed on. 
 
 No sooner was she out of the way than Sharp 
 with an unaccountable change of manner, stretched 
 out his hand to Joe and said, " I beg your pardon, 
 Bently. You re the kind of a boy I like. To tell 
 you the truth, I have got discouraged in the Navy, 
 and that s what made me ask you to run away with 
 me. As for the boys I spoke of, they would have 
 "jumped" anyway, and I got them chances through 
 my uncle. He s a shipping master, and you can t 
 blame a fellow for turning business into his own 
 family." 
 
 Sharp s instantaneous change of manner threw 
 Joe off his guard, for he did not appreciate the cha 
 meleon-like power in Sharp s charac ^r to change 
 as circumstances might require. He i-iher reluct 
 antly took Sharp s hand, and thought that perhaps 
 he had been a little hasty. And Sharp s apologies 
 became so warm and excessive that it was not long 
 before Joe began to feel that he had wronged him. 
 While they strolled down the Beacon street mall,
 
 134 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 he so amused Joe with his quaint observations on 
 people and things as they passed along, that by the 
 time they had returned to join the great crowd 
 thronging into Tremont Temple, Joe had been 
 brought round to the best of feeling, and had quite 
 forgotten the little episode on the Common. 
 
 Not so with Sharp. He felt that he had imper 
 illed his plans and also his person by exciting Joe s 
 suspicion and enmity. He had every reason to be 
 lieve that Joe had a very decided character, and 
 also that being a country boy he could be very easily 
 taken in. Not daring to trust himself on board 
 ship again with Joe he rapidly conceived a plan 
 which, in fact, had been taking shape for some 
 time in his mind, of disposing of Joe to his own 
 pecuniary advantage. While Joe sat listening with 
 delight to music from a fine quartette, Sharp was 
 perfecting his arrangements to dispose of Joe as he 
 had of several other boys who were, on that very 
 day, bound on long voyages with tyrannical captains 
 and savage mates, repenting their acquaintance and 
 familiarity with Israel Sharp. 
 
 While the collection was being taken, Sharp 
 whispered to Joe that he wanted to run down to 
 his uncle s before they went on board, and asked 
 him if he would not like to go with him. Joe will 
 ingly assented, simply remarking that they would 
 not have but a few moments to stay. He then 
 turned to listen to the speakers. 
 
 The meeting proved to be a very stirring one.
 
 JOE GETS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE. 1 35 
 
 It was a Temperance mass meeting, and Joe with 
 out knowing who the speakers were, listened with 
 delight to Gough, Mrs. Livermore, Wendell Phillips 
 and others. He was also greatly awed by the vast 
 audience, and the music which rolled out from the 
 immense organ upon the platform. Finally a charm 
 ing Christian Temperance song from the quartette 
 concluded the service, and Joe went out feeling 
 that he would be the strongest kind of a temperance 
 boy. 
 
 As they passed along Tremont Row into Court 
 Street, making their way into rather disreputable 
 localities, Joe was surprised to see little shops open 
 where all kinds of liquors were freely passed over 
 the bars. Faint clicks, and occasionally a pro 
 longed roll, catching his ear, he inquired of Sharp 
 what the noises were. 
 
 "Bowling alleys and billiard halls," was the la 
 conic answer. " Wouldn t you like to see one of 
 the billiard halls ? I know a very handsome one. 
 I guess we can get in." 
 
 Joe demurred against visiting such a place on Sun 
 day, but Sharp persisted and he so far yielded as to 
 say he would go to the head of the stairs. Sharp 
 led him through several short streets, and at length 
 came to a small door, which was unlocked, and 
 opened by a back way into a large billiard saloon. 
 At the head of the stairs which the boys had to 
 climb, Sharp opened another small door, and Joe 
 looked into a hall the most sumptuous and elegant
 
 136 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY 
 
 of any place he had ever seen. The ceiling was 
 covered with pictures, and the walls to Joe s in 
 artistic eye seemed richly frescoed. Chandeliers 
 containing great numbers of crystal pendants threw 
 a dazzling splendor over the table, for, though it 
 was in the daytime, the blinds were all closed and 
 the gas lighted. At one end was a bar covered 
 with glasses of many different shades, at which 
 men and boys were drinking. 
 
 " I m going," said Joe with emphasis, his con 
 science getting the better of his curiosity. 
 
 Without a word of remonstrance Sharp followed 
 him down stairs. As they walked along Sharp 
 made himself unusually agreeable. He seemed to 
 be well acquainted too. He nodded to rough-look 
 ing men, winked at stable boys, and seemed to be 
 in the neighborhood where he had lived all his life. 
 Threading their way along by a circuitous route 
 which Joe did not notice (who could, in Boston ?) 
 they came at length to a dark-looking street near 
 the water. Down this street Sharp turned and 
 presently began to climb a stairway followed by the 
 unsuspecting Joe. 
 
 A sharp knock which had to be repeated sev 
 eral times brought a rough-looking man dressed 
 in sailor coat and trousers very tarry to the door. 
 Sharp introduced him to Joe as his Uncle Peters. 
 "They say we look a good deal alike," he said with 
 a grin, which meant, the way he said it, that they 
 looked as unlike as possible. This remark caused
 
 JOE GETS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE. 137 
 
 Joe to notice Sharp s uncle more particularly. He 
 was struck with the enormous size of his nose, 
 especially at the end, and its extreme fiery appear 
 ance. He would have known what all this meant 
 had he been accustomed to the sight of those habit 
 uated to the use of intoxicating drinks. But he 
 thought the enlargement due to nature, or that its 
 owner had met with some accident. His eyes were 
 as red as his nose, and in nowise benevolent. He 
 wore large brass earrings, which Joe, never having 
 seen in masculine ears before, thought to be ex 
 tremely comical. 
 
 However, Uncle Peters gave the boys a cordial 
 invitation to enter, and was particularly civil and 
 attentive to Joe. They passed in through a long, 
 narrow entry very much worn, though not with the 
 scrubbing brush, and with walls appearing as though 
 they had been frequently "slushed down." At the 
 farther end of the entry a dirty door was opened, 
 and Joe was led into the family kitchen, bedroom 
 and sitting-room, all in one. Sharp s Aunt Peters 
 sat near the one window of this apartment mending 
 a sock very much in ruins. 
 
 If Sharp s Uncle Peters was unprepossessing his 
 Aunt Peters- was much more so. There was the 
 same look of general inebriety and dilapidation that 
 her husband had. But while he seemed to have 
 increased in size under it, she seemed to have 
 dwindled. She was very small, very much wrinkled 
 and very yellow. One of her eyes drooped while
 
 138 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 the other appeared to be looking upward. Whm 
 she arose to shake hands with Joe it was with 
 the suddenness of a jumping-jack, while her eyes 
 seemed to rake him fore and aft. She gave him 
 the only rocking-chair in the room, which shrieked 
 when he sat in it as though it had an exposed nerve 
 and that tender filament had been brought in vio 
 lent collision with a piece of bone. From the ap 
 pearance of her garments, and the looks of the 
 room, any one familiar with city occupations would 
 have pronounced her a ragpicker. Whatever work 
 she did it was evidently not in the line of house 
 keeping. The bed standing in one corner, the old- 
 fashioned dresser with its fragments of crockery, 
 and the broken stove, all showed the negligence of 
 many years. 
 
 Hanging against the wall were several old suits, 
 and among them an apprentice boy s uniform. 
 How in the world that could have come there was 
 a poser to Joe. Sharp noticed his perplexed look, 
 and explained that it belonged to him. He had left 
 it some time previous for his Aunt Peters to mend. 
 
 Joe thought they all three looked a little strange 
 as Sharp said this, still his suspicions were not ex 
 cited. He only thought Israel was very unfortu 
 nate in his relatives, and felt if they had belonged 
 to him he would not have invited any of his friends 
 to pay them a visit. They engaged Joe in conver 
 sation, apologizing for the appearance of things, 
 saying that they hadn t expected Israel off at that
 
 JOE GETS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE. 139 
 
 time or they would have been brushed up. How 
 any amount of brushing could have made any im 
 provement Joe s inventive mind could not discover. 
 He sat listening impatiently to the talk they were 
 trying to keep up, longing for a breath of fresh air, 
 when Sharp s aunt told Peters to bring in some 
 beer. 
 
 " Do you like lager ? " she said, fixing her uneven 
 eyes on Joe. 
 
 " No, I thank you," returned Joe, " I don t drink 
 beer." 
 
 "I ll take lager," said Sharp, " and Bently will 
 have some ginger-pop. 
 
 Joe declined again, but Peters went to the dresser 
 and took out a waiter which looked as if it might 
 have served for a stove hearth before it became 
 a tray. With this waiter he took down four very 
 dirty glasses. He fumbled about a moment after a 
 corkscrew with which he proceeded to open bottles 
 which were stored at the bottom of the dresser. 
 The corks came out with an expulsive force that 
 made Aunt Peters s eyes snap. The stopper to the 
 ginger-pop having a more active if less powerful 
 agent behind it flew across the room grazing the 
 cheek of Aunt Peters, which created a smile all 
 round. 
 
 Sharp asked Joe to look at the picture of an old 
 man-of-war hanging in a dark corner, on which his 
 uncle had once served as a boatswain s mate. While 
 Joe was tracing out the lines of a very dumpish-
 
 I4O BOY J.IFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 looking craft, could he have glanced toward the 
 dresser he would have seen Peters hastily turn 
 something into the glass intended for him which 
 would have thoroughly excited his fears. 
 
 Presently returning to their seats Peters came up 
 with the waiter. Joe had been allowed to drink gin 
 ger-pop on the Fourth of July in the Aroostook, but 
 he decidedly objected to drinking it under the pres 
 ent circumstances. However, he excused himself 
 for drinking it now on the ground of politeness 
 very poor ground indeed for a temperance boy to 
 take when associated with those addicted to drink 
 ing. Against his better judgment, as well as his 
 conscience, Joe drank his ginger-pop, while the 
 others tossed off the lager with great relish. He 
 thought it had a very different flavor from any he 
 had ever tasted before, but it was only a passing 
 thought. 
 
 He saw by the appearance of the sky that it was 
 within a half-hour of sunset, and the orders were 
 for all the boys to be at the wharf at sundown. 
 He looked at Sharp impatiently, who appeared in 
 no hurry to start. It was not more than ten min 
 utes after he drank the beer before he began to 
 experience a strange feeling creeping over him, ac 
 companied by drowsiness. His eyes began to blink, 
 and he felt an unusual disinclination to talk or make 
 any exertion. He tried, without being observed, 
 to rouse himself, but his lethargy kept increasing 
 and he grew more and more bewildered. He saw
 
 JOE GETS INTO SERIOUS TROUBLE. 14! 
 
 Peters and Sharp smiling at each other, and could 
 faintly distinguish the purport of a conversation 
 going on between them. 
 
 " We ve got him safe," Peters remarked with a 
 chuckle. " Don t be so long in gittin the next one 
 here. You haven t done much lately." 
 
 " I ve been afraid," returned Sharp. " The old 
 man s got wind of something. You ll get a good deal 
 for him. Mighty smart boy, and plucky, too. It 
 you don t look out, when he wakes up you ll have 
 your hands full. I m rather sorry for him, but busi 
 ness is business." 
 
 " I ve got a ship all picked out," said Peters ; 
 " she sails to-morrow for Tangier. I ll go round 
 after Bill and we ll take him on board to-night." 
 
 These were the last words our hero had the faint 
 est appreciation of as he sank under the influence 
 of a powerful opiate into a heavy slumber.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 SHARP IN DOUBLE IRONS. 
 
 A SHARP ring from the cabin sent the orderly 
 post-haste in to the captain. 
 
 "Orderly," said he, "ask the officer of the deck 
 if the boys have all returned from liberty." 
 
 Presently the orderly came back and reported 
 that the boys had all returned with the exception 
 of Bently. 
 
 " Tell the executive officer I wish to see him im 
 mediately in the cabin." 
 
 " Do you know any reason, sir," said the captain 
 when the executive had reported, " why Boy Bently 
 should be out of the ship at this hour ? you could not 
 have given him permission to stay away over night." 
 
 " I told him distinctly to be at the wharf for the 
 sundown boat. He may have been left. We can 
 find out from some of the boys. Shall I send for 
 Doughty, sir? I think he and Bently are the most 
 together." 
 
 The captain assented, and in a few minutes 
 Doughty appeared, cap in hand. 
 
 " Were you with Boy Bently this afternoon, 
 Doughty ? " inquired the captain. 
 
 142
 
 SHARP IN DOURLE IRONS. 143 
 
 " Only a s we walked up to the Common, sir. I 
 went out to the Highlands to see my aunt. I left 
 Bently standing with Hanson and Sharp on Park 
 Street corner." 
 
 Hanson confirmed Doughty s statement, and 
 added that the last he saw of Bently he was walk 
 ing with Sharp up the Common in the direction o{ 
 the State House. 
 
 Doughty and Hanson being dismissed, Sharp 
 was next summoned. A slight uneasiness was ob 
 servable in Sharp s manner as he entered the cabin s 
 but when he confronted the executive and the cap< 
 tain he was quite self-possessed. 
 
 " Were you with Boy Bently this afternoon ? " 
 began the captain, fixing his eye upon Sharp. 
 
 " Yes, sir; the first part of the afternoon." 
 
 "Where did you leave him ? " 
 
 " I left him on the Beacon street mall." 
 
 " Say sir, when you address tjjie captain," in 
 terrupted the executive officer. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," returned Sharp, with illy concealed 
 resentment. 
 
 " Tell me what you did with Boy Bently," de 
 manded the captain in a very decided tone. 
 
 " I didn t do anything with him, sir," Sharp re 
 plied, slightly quailing under the captain s piercing 
 eye. " The last I saw of him he was going up Joy 
 street." 
 
 " You just said you left him on the Beacon street 
 mall."
 
 144 BOV LIFE IN TI1E UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " So I did, sir, but he started up Joy "street as 1 
 came away ; he said he was going somewhere to get 
 a glass of beer. I wouldn t go with him because I 
 don t drink now." 
 
 Sharp just saved himself by the use of this little 
 adverb now; for the captain and the executive 
 smiled as they thought of the times Sharp had 
 been put in the brig on account of his having re 
 turned to the ship in a partially intoxicated state. 
 Sharp smiled, too, as he saw the ludicrous situation 
 in which his allusion to his temperance principles 
 had placed him. 
 
 "I shall hold Sharp responsible for Bently s ab 
 sence, sir," said the captain to his executive. " You 
 may place him under the sentry s charge;" and 
 Sharp found himself in the most unenviable posi 
 tion he had ever before occupied on board ship. 
 
 " I thought ye wouldn t be long out o yer cage," 
 said Corporal Shay as Sharp was handed over to 
 him. " Sich animils as you be shouldn t be al 
 lowed to be loose long at a time." 
 
 It being early in the evening the master-at-arms 
 was landed to see if he could learn anything of Joe. 
 After having visited many places which Sharp was 
 known to frequent, at ten o clock he was obliged to 
 return to the ship having discovered but one trace 
 of Joe. He had met an acquaintance of Sharp s 
 who had seen him with a boy answering Joe s de 
 scription passing down the lower part of Hanover 
 street. Nt> other clue could he gain, though he
 
 SHARP IN DOUBLE IRONS. 145 
 
 visited more than a dozen places in that part of the 
 city. Upon his return it was decided that a de 
 tective must be piit upon Joe s track, and the affair 
 was to be placed in the hands of the Chief of Police 
 early next morning. It was agreed on all sides 
 that some ill-fortune had happened Joe, and the 
 greatest promptness would be necessary in unrav 
 elling the mystery. 
 
 We left Joe in a heavy sleep, under the influence 
 of the opiate, in Aunt Peters s rocking-chair. Before 
 becoming oblivious of things around him he faintly 
 realized the treachery of Sharp. He made a des 
 perate struggle to rise from the chair and get out 
 on to the street, but Peters promptly pushed him 
 back. As Joe sank into sleep he became in the 
 least sense aware that Sharp was divesting him of 
 his knife lanyard, his cap ribbon, and several other 
 articles which would command a ready sale on board 
 ship. 
 
 No sooner had Sharp disappeared with his booty 
 than Peters and his wife jerked Joe roughly out of 
 the chair and proceeded to remove his uniform, and 
 even the underclothing which his mother had made 
 for him. His shoes and socks as well became the 
 objects of their avarice. When Joe lay robbed of 
 everythinglike a poor stripped soldier on the field of 
 battle, a suit of clothes was pulled out from under 
 the bed, ragged and soiled, and much too small. 
 The clothes looked as if they had been last worn by 
 a beggar, as, no doubt, they had been ; and these
 
 146 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 were made to take the place of Joe s clean, hand 
 some uniform. After these loathsome garments had 
 been pulled on to him, he was dragged to a dark 
 closet opening out of the room and thrown into it 
 so violently that in striking against an old chair he 
 received a deep cut in the back of his head. Then 
 Peters started off after Bill, whoever that worthy 
 might be, who was to assist him in conveying Joe 
 on board the vessel. 
 
 About midnight Peters, having found Bill, re 
 turned. They shook Joe very roughly, but not 
 succeeding in waking him, they proceeded to kick 
 him into a half-wakeful state. He was first dragged 
 out of the closet and after the shakes and kicks had 
 been administered with an oath, he was jerked to 
 his feet as suddenly as though he had been picked 
 up by a flying sheet in a gale of wind. 
 
 The conversation of Peters and Bill should not 
 be repeated as they endeavored in a very cruel 
 manner to arouse Joe s drugged senses sufficiently 
 for him to be able to accompany them to the wharves. 
 In a few minutes, forced to repeated trials, he was 
 able to stand with difficulty. His limbs felt almost 
 paralyzed, and he had the greatest disinclination to 
 exert himself. His head felt so heavy and ached 
 so violently that he could scarcely distinguish any 
 object around him. He barely realized what was 
 going on, and had not yet discovered that he was 
 clothed in rags. 
 
 Peters now drew a miserable slouched hat, with
 
 SHARP IN DOUBLE IRONS. 147 
 
 the crown half gone, over Joe s head, and with Bill 
 on one side and himself on the other, the trio set 
 out for the street. The house from which they 
 started stood very near the water, and not far from 
 the wharf where the vessel designed for Joe lay 
 taking in her cargo. It was therefore only a short 
 walk and over ground not frequented by policemen, 
 otherwise Peters would have employed a carriage. 
 When Joe reached the cool night air, in custody of 
 Peters and Bill, he began to revive so far indeed as 
 to realize something of the situation. He saw by 
 the gaslight how he was dressed, and the conversa 
 tion between Peters and Sharp came slowly back 
 to him. He conjectured rightly that he was now 
 being taken on board some vessel. He had not 
 sufficient command of his limbs to run, even if he 
 could succeed in breaking away. He felt as much 
 as he could feel in a half-stupefied state, that the 
 present was the most critical situation he had ever 
 been in, and he offered a short prayer, as he was 
 accustomed to do, for divine help. 
 
 One or two persons passed them, who supposed 
 from Joe s gait that he was intoxicated, and that 
 Bill and Peters were taking him home. They had 
 just turned a corner to pass down by a short way 
 to Commercial street, thence to cross over to the 
 wharf where the vessel lay, when Joe caught sight 
 of two men, which, stupefied as he was, caused his 
 heart to give a great bound. Coming up on the 
 opposite side he discovered Commodore Duff and
 
 148 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Sergeant Gorman, two of his best friends on board 
 ship. The state of Joe s nerves was such that for 
 a moment he feared he could not speak, and he 
 knew they would fail to recognize him in his old 
 clothes. They, too, would think that he was some 
 drunken sailor, whose shipmates were carrying him 
 back to his vessel. 
 
 His custodians noticed his excited condition, 
 and looked at each other significantly. Peters put 
 his hand into his pocket and drew out a dirty hand 
 kerchief which he attempted to dexterously crowd 
 into Joe s mouth, but he was too late. Discovering 
 his intention, Joe gave a desperate plunge and broke 
 away, shouting as he did so, " Commodore ! Ser 
 geant! help, help! I m Joe Bently." 
 
 Peters and Bill sprang for him and jammed the 
 handkerchief into his mouth so that for an instant 
 poor Joe was nearly choked. Commodore Duff and 
 Sergeant Gorman distinguishing their names in his 
 cries, and having heard of his sudden disappearance 
 apprehended the situation instantly, and rushed to 
 Joe s rescue. The master-at-arms had met the com 
 modore ashore, when he came to hunt up Joe, and 
 had told him that foul play was suspected. So he 
 and Sergeant Gorman were prepared for this strange 
 coincidence. 
 
 Both Peters and Bill were powerful men and 
 determined to hold on to their prisoner. Gorman 
 was rather slight, while the commodore was corpu 
 lent and very clumsy. The sergeant, however, had
 
 SHARP IN DOUBLE IRONS. 149 
 
 the advantage of being a fine boxer. The plan 
 quickly devised by the rascals was for Peters to 
 drag Joe off, while Bill was left to engage the two 
 men whom he thought he could handle with ease. 
 Peters started to drag Joe into a darker street, hold 
 ing one hand over his mouth so the gag couldn t 
 get out, and Bill dealt the commodore a heavy blow 
 which brought him to the sidewalk. With all the 
 expedition of a practised boxer the sergeant laid Bill 
 insensible on the pavement and started for Peters. 
 
 Joe was hanging back with all his might when 
 Sergeant Gorman put a blow behind Peters s ear 
 which sent him staggering. The commodore who 
 had come puffing up gave him another, being bound 
 to get in one stroke for Joe s benefit at least. 
 
 Nearly black in the face Joe drew the gag from 
 his mouth and stood ready to assist the sergeant 
 as much as he could in his weak condition, should 
 it become necessary. Peters, however, concluded 
 to rejoin Bill, who by this time had regained his feet. 
 There seemed to be no disposition to renew hostil 
 ities, as the men evidently feared that the commo 
 dore, who had a tremendous voice as they had already 
 discovered, might raise the police. They therefore 
 started off muttering imprecations on the heads of 
 the whole party. 
 
 In a few words Joe told his story. 
 
 " Wasn t it lucky I was round ? " exclaimed the 
 commodore with pompous egotism. " Them shang- 
 haiers would have put you where you d been glad to
 
 I5O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 swap with the prodigal son, and throw them clothes 
 into the bargain." 
 
 " I didn t belave I should have a chance to save 
 you from that young villian Sharp so soon," kindly 
 interposed Sergeant Gorman. " But you look pale 
 and toired loike, and we must send you on board." 
 
 Joe was escorted to the nearest boat landing, 
 where the commodore staid with him while Gorman 
 went to arouse the boatman. In a short time Joe 
 was pulled alongside the ship. 
 
 " Boat ahoy ! " shouted the sentry at the port 
 gangway, in a voice sufficient to wake the whole 
 ship s company. 
 
 " Hullo," answered the boatman, the reply when 
 a member of a ship s company not an officer is 
 coming to the vessel. 
 
 A lantern was sent to the foot of the gangway in 
 the light of which Joe was barely able to crawl out 
 of the boat and make his way on deck. He was so 
 overcome at getting back that when the officer of 
 the deck asked him to explain his absence and for 
 lorn appearance, he burst into tears, unable for sev 
 eral minutes to say a word. While telling his story 
 in a broken manner he looked so ill that the officer- 
 of-the-deck sent to call the surgeon, and Joe was 
 taken to the sick bay where his clothes were re 
 moved, and some others contained in his bag sub 
 stituted. After taking an antidote to the dose 
 Peters had given him, the effect of which he had 
 described to the surgeon as nearly as he could, he
 
 SHARP IN DOUBLE IRONS. !$! 
 
 soon sank into a sound sleep in a cot swinging very 
 near to that of Charlie Smith. 
 
 As Sharp lay down upon the deck just outside 
 the cells which properly constitute the ship s brig, 
 where the eye of the sentry could rest upon him, 
 he felt that his complicity with Peters was more 
 than suspected. He knew that every stone would 
 be turned to find out the facts in the case of Bently. 
 " But he s safe on board the Mokaivk by this 
 time," he said to himself, "and I guess I m all 
 right." 
 
 With this he tried to go to sleep, but found it im 
 possible, as his thoughts were busy, in spite of his 
 efforts to quiet his fears, devising some method of 
 escape. For months he had done quite a thriving 
 business in persuading boys to desert and ship on 
 board merchant vessels, for which he received quite 
 a liberal commission. Only in the case of one other 
 boy whose uniform Joe had seen in Peters s house 
 had he been an accomplice to the extent of employ 
 ing drugs, and he felt that the experiment was ex 
 ceedingly dangerous. But he experienced a vicious 
 pleasure in getting boys out of the service, and he 
 had become reckless in the practice of this busi 
 ness, assuring himself all the while that if he were 
 caught he was clever enough to make his escape. 
 
 The time had come for him to make an attempt 
 to leave the ship. Upon this he was now fully de 
 termined. From his position on the berth deck he 
 heard the boat pull up to the gangway which took
 
 152 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 the master-at-arms ashore, and his quick ear caught 
 its distant strokes as it returned. Late in the night 
 he also heard the boat which brought Joe alongside, 
 and he knew from the excited movements on the 
 spar deck that something unusual had taken place. 
 Finally he heard the noise of several people coming 
 down the forward companion ladder, and he was 
 completely dumfounded as he beheld the surgeon 
 helping Joe into the sick bay which opened from 
 the starboard side of the deck where he was a pris 
 oner. He could scarcely believe his senses, but 
 Joe had certainly slipped from Peters s hands, for 
 there he was in one of Aunt Peters s suits, which 
 Sharp instantly recognized, even in the dim light. 
 Meantime Corporal Shay had been relieved, and 
 a less vigilant sentry took his place. The corporal 
 passed the orders to him, which were to keep a 
 strict watch over Sharp. These orders were rigidly 
 carried out for about an hour, when Sharp noticed 
 that his guard was leaning against a vacant ham 
 mock, giving an occasional nod. He waited a few 
 minutes to assure himself that such was the case ; 
 then he glided stealthily across the deck, and crept 
 up the forward companion ladder. He slowly raised 
 his head above the hatch-combing to ascertain the 
 position of the sentry of the gun deck, and seeing 
 him far aft with his back turned, he softly sped up 
 the next hatchway and stood on the spar deck. 
 The anchor watch was sitting on the starboard side 
 under cover of the launch, conversing in a low
 
 SHARP IN DOUBLE IRONS. 153 
 
 tone. Aft the officer on duty, was quietly pacing 
 the quarter deck. 
 
 Sharp was thoroughly familiar with his ground, 
 and the darkness of the night aided him in his 
 movements. Without a sound he climbed to the 
 cathead, and let himself down to the boom along 
 which he crawled, until he reached the Jacob s 
 ladder very near the end. Down this he quickly 
 passed to the dinghy moored below. It was but 
 the work of an instant to unfasten the -boat, and to 
 pull her in to the side of the ship, that he might 
 push her around the bows and thus escape detec 
 tion from the sentries at either gangway. Once 
 before the ship, which pointed seaward, Sharp felt 
 the coast was clear, and he softly adjusted the oars 
 to the rowlocks, and proceeded to pull noiselessly 
 toward the East Boston shore. 
 
 Unluckily for him one of his oars slipped in the 
 rowlock, drawing the attention of one of the anchor 
 watch, who immediately reported that there was a 
 small boat off the port bow. Just then the sentry 
 who had been placed in charge of Sharp rushed on 
 deck and reported in great consternation that Sharp 
 had escaped. 
 
 "Quartermaster," shouted the officer of the deck, 
 "see if the dinghy is at the boom." 
 
 " The dinghy s gone, sir," reported the quarter 
 master as he took a quick look over the side. 
 
 " See if you can pick up that boat on the port 
 bow. Lay aft anchor watch ! Lower second whale-
 
 154 BOY LIFE IN THE "NITED STATES NAVY 
 
 boat ! Quartermaster, turn out the coxswain vt iho 
 second whaleboat and two more hands ; look alive 
 everybody ! " came from the officer-of-lhe-deck like 
 shots from a Catling gun. 
 
 It was but a few minutes before the whaleboat 
 was giving chase to Sharp with the odds of five 
 against one. Sharp had heard the commotion on 
 deck, and bent himself to the oars with all his might, 
 making for a fleet of schooners anchored not a great 
 distance away. But the sharp eyes of the coxswain 
 caught sight of the dinghy as she stole in behind 
 the black hull of the one lying farthest out in the 
 stream. In less than twenty minutes from the time 
 Sharp dropped into the dinghy he was a prisoner on 
 deck, and in a few moments more, by order of the 
 captain, to whom everything had been promptly 
 reported, he was lying in double irons, in the 
 gloomiest cell on board ship.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE DEATH OF CHARLIE SMITH. 
 
 THE first thing Joe thought of next morning 
 was his engagement with Mr. Aston. He 
 did not wake till the loud beating of the drum for 
 quarters aroused him, then to his surprise he felt a 
 keen pang of disappointment as he began to real 
 ize that it would be impossible for him to go to 
 Portland as agreed. When the surgeon had re 
 ported on deck he returned immediately to the sick 
 bay, and finding Joe awake proceeded to feel of his 
 pulse and to make special and kind inquiry touch 
 ing his feelings. Joe explained his embarrassment 
 in respect to the promised visit to the surgeon, who 
 told him that he would write Mr. Aston, and tell 
 him that his patient was too ill to leave the ship. 
 
 " You won t say anything about the scrape I got 
 into, will you ? " anxiously inquired Joe. 
 
 The surgeon assured him that he would do noth 
 ing but mention his illness and tender his regrets. 
 
 Joe s story had gone around the ship like wild 
 fire. Sergeant Gorman and Commodore Duff had 
 come off in the early market boat, and the sergeant 
 \va.s telling it modestly and the commodore with
 
 156 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 great pomposity to scores of excited boys who be 
 sieged them with a heavy musketry of questions. 
 
 The commodore made it the occasion for recit 
 ing the many gallantries of which he had been the 
 lonely hero, and he concluded with a brilliant pero 
 ration to the effect that the United States Navy, 
 in these days, furnished the only outlet to the 
 heroism of human nature, especially his own. 
 
 When Joe decided that he would try to get out 
 of his cot he found a neat suit lying upon a stool 
 alongside. Doughty had heard that he was robbed 
 of his uniform, and had gone around the ship to see 
 if he could not raise one among the boys, and re 
 ceived offers of fifty in less than five minutes. He 
 stole in while Bently was asleep and laid out the 
 one selected, so that Joe could find himself once 
 more clothed and in his right mind when he should 
 awake and again don a sailor boy s uniform. Aunt 
 Peters s suit was at that instant two miles down the 
 bay, putting to sea on an ebb tide. 
 
 Joe was very dizzy while dressing, and he was 
 obliged to accept the assistance of one of the nurses. 
 After he had moved around a little, he began to feel 
 slightly better, and it was not long before the ver 
 tigo that had seized him was nearly all gone. He 
 observed that the sick bay was very quiet. The 
 apothecaries, the nurses, and the surgeons passed 
 around noiselessly, and the boys who were on the 
 binnacle list were permitted to converse only in 
 the lowest tones. All this was done on account of
 
 THE DEATH OF CHARLIE SMITH. 157 
 
 Charlie Smith. A great change had come over 
 him that morning, and it was whispered about that 
 he could not live but a few hours. His cot had 
 been screened off and the poor little fellow lay in a 
 delirious state occasionally moaning for his mother. 
 By direction of the captain the surgeon had sent her 
 a telegram, urging her if she wished to see her boy 
 alive to start without delay for Boston. -All visit 
 ing to the sick bay had been strictly forbidden, and 
 all unnecessary noise on board the ship was ordered 
 to be discontinued. 
 
 There was intense sympathy among the boys for 
 Charlie. Joe glanced through a small aperture in 
 the door and saw a large number of them waiting 
 outside with very sober faces, anxious to hear any 
 word from the little sufferer. They were also very 
 curious to get a glimpse of Joe, who was now a hero 
 of more than literary or mythical significance. 
 
 During the day the captain, who never thought 
 it beneath his dignity to visit a sick sailor boy, 
 came down to see Joe. The captain listened to 
 Joe s account of his misadventure, and congratu 
 lated him on his escape. He told him that all sorts 
 of methods were used to get boys on board low mer 
 chantmen; that drugging was quite frequent ; that 
 he had met with a remarkable deliverance. "Don t 
 have anything more to do with sharpers, my boy," 
 said he. " They know much more of the world than 
 you know, or than an honest, well-bred boy like you 
 ever will know."
 
 158 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Then the captain took a look at Charlie Smith, 
 who partially recognized him and seemed to appre 
 ciate, to some extent, his kind look, and his few 
 words of sympathy. 
 
 No further change took place in Charlie till about 
 five in the afternoon ; then he began to sink rap 
 idly. Meanwhile his mother had arrived, and sat 
 weeping- beside his cot. The chaplain came in and 
 read a short selection of Scriptural passages ar 
 ranged with reference to Life s last hour. A deep 
 hush fell upon all the ship while the chaplain prayed, 
 for all instinctively knew that the shadows of death 
 were falling. Most loving and tender was the prayer, 
 its burden being, that the poor boy who had been 
 called so young to walk through the dark valley, 
 might as he passed on be met by some shining one 
 who would show him the door of Heaven. 
 
 On and on the little fellow travelled in the valley, 
 it being to his struggling imagination no valley at 
 all, but a beach on which his life seemed like a 
 stranded boat. There were bursting hearts around 
 him as he lamented in pathetic tones that the little 
 boat in which he had pulled ashore was left farther 
 and farther up the beach by the ebbing of the tide. 
 " Oh ! " he said, " I can t push off the boat alone. 
 What will they say if I m not back at sundown ? 
 They ll call me a deserter, and what will mother 
 think ?" 
 
 Then he struggled to push off the boat, using 
 what he thought was an oar, tugging all the harder
 
 THE DEATH OF CHARLIE SMITH. 159 
 
 as he seemed to hear the keel grating on the sand. 
 When the grating ceased, then he moaned and called 
 for help, repeating, " If I m not back at sundown 
 they ll call me a deserter." 
 
 With deep emotion the surgeon, a most kind- 
 hearted man, watched the poor boy s struggles. 
 Suddenly he was seized with a bright thought. 
 Going up to the little fellow s cot, he said in a 
 gentle tone : " Give me the oar, Charlie, and Bently 
 and I will shove off the boat." 
 
 He made as though he were taking an oar from 
 the dying boy s hands, and told Bently to push hard 
 at the stern, while he would use the oar. Charlie 
 seemed to again hear the grating of the boat as it 
 sped by means of the surgeon s and Joe s united 
 strength to the water s edge. Then he sank into 
 perfect peace as he felt the little shell bearing him 
 over a smooth surface, each oarstroke seeming to 
 make glad music to his ear. 
 
 The boat had indeed reached the current of that 
 stream which glides noiselessly on, bearing such 
 precious freightage upon its bosom to the still port 
 of Death. The sun s last ray shone through the 
 port and fell tenderly upon Charlie s brow as his 
 little boat, in truth, grated upon the golden sands 
 of Heaven. 
 
 Had Charlie Smith died far off at sea his ham 
 mock would have been his casket, and the ocean 
 his grave. Now military honors were to be ac 
 corded him. From admiral to man or boy in the
 
 I6O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Navy, of most inferior raling,_nothing is wanting in 
 medical skill and attendance in time of sickness, 
 and, in case of death, in respect and honor to the 
 dead. The Government pays a grateful and fitting 
 tribute to its servants from highest officer to hum 
 blest sailor lad. It was, therefore, decided that 
 Charlie Smith should have the full benefit of the 
 Government s kindly provision. 
 
 Early next morning the boys sent a petition to 
 the executive officer to permit them to contribute 
 toward the purchase of a handsome casket. The 
 request was readily granted, and that evening all 
 that was mortal of Boy Smith, in a bright new uni 
 form, rested in a beautiful casket the tribute of 
 the boys affection for their little shipmate. Every 
 boy was in tears as he took a last look at Charlie as 
 he lay in state upon the gun deck, and never did a 
 sadder ship s company go to its hammocks when 
 the drum that night beat tattoo. 
 
 The funeral was appointed to take place the 
 next afternoon. The early part of the morning was 
 spent in making out details. Every boy and man 
 who could be spared was to be in attendance. The 
 executive sent down to see if Joe was well enough 
 to act as a pall-bearer, but the surgeon reported 
 him as unable to go on the detail, greatly to Joe s 
 disappointment. All work but necessary ship labor 
 was suspended ; the boys moved about with muffled 
 steps, and spoke with hushed voices. Dinner for 
 mation came much earlier, and after dinner all boys
 
 THE DEATH OF CHARLIE SMITH. l6l 
 
 
 
 were piped up from below. Removing their work 
 ing suits they put on their best uniforms, complet 
 ing their dress by attaching a piece of crape to the 
 left sleeve. At one bell the whole ship s company 
 was ready for the solemn service. 
 
 Two bells struck and the boatswain s mates blew 
 their whistles, and called solemnly along the decks, 
 "All hands to bury the dead! " 
 
 Silently the crew mustered on the starboard side 
 of the gun deck. The chaplain taking his position 
 at the head of the casket, when the order was given 
 to " uncover," proceeded to read a portion of the 
 impressive burial service of the Church of England. 
 Not a sound could be heard but a distant oar-dip in 
 the harbor as the chaplain s tones, in a touching 
 tremolo, passed through the ship. 
 
 The boats had all been lowered, and each one 
 with its crew resting on their oars lay off a little dis 
 tance from the ship. The bugler sounded the call 
 for each separate boat, and one by one they pulled 
 up to the gangway to receive the detachments of 
 men and boys. The colors of each boat were half- 
 masted, in imitation of the ship s flag which flew 
 midway between taffrail and peak. As a mark of 
 respect, the colors of surrounding merchantmen 
 were half-masted. The first boat received the mu 
 sic and the firing party, and pulled off to head the 
 procession ; the chaplain, all by himself, took posi 
 tion directly after ; next came the steam cutter 
 with the casket, followed by the boat containing 
 the pall-bearers. Other boats fell into line accord-
 
 162 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 ing to the rank of the officers in charge. The 
 procession of boats fully formed stretched a long 
 distance across the harbor. It was a sad but im 
 pressive sight as, at the order of the executive offi 
 cer who commanded the escort, the long line of boats 
 slowly started for the shore. 
 
 Many people on board schooners, yachts and 
 feteamers came out on deck to view the procession. 
 Hundreds gathered on the wharves attracted by 
 the unusual sight. With muffled strokes the boats, 
 each in its order, pulled up to the landing, and dis 
 charged all their hands with the exception of boat- 
 keeper. A few evolutions took place upon the wharf, 
 and then the procession formed. The band and fir 
 ing party led off; the chaplain followed carrying in 
 his hand the Ritual ; next came the hearse with six 
 pall-bearers as near to Charlie s age and size as 
 could be selected ; after these came men and boys 
 in squads, each squad commanded by an officer. 
 The colors were draped and the drums were muffled. 
 
 "Forward! march !" rang along the line. The 
 band struck up a funeral march, and the cdrtcge 
 moved slowly on. The arrangement had been so 
 perfect that the several hundred boys gave the ap 
 pearance of a large regiment. As they marched 
 along Commercial street and up into State street, 
 the way was respectfully and kindly opened for 
 them. Thousands paused amid the hurry and press 
 of business to give the little fellow borne on before 
 them a reverent, sympathetic thought. The eyes 
 of richly dressed ladies filled with tears as they
 
 THE DEATH OF CHARLIE SMITH. 163 
 
 stopped on Washington street to view the pro 
 cession. Each passer-by along the whole route to 
 Chelsea, where Charlie was to be laid in the Naval 
 Cemetery, seemed to feel by intuition that some 
 tragedy was connected with the boy lying in the 
 handsome casket. One lady, overcome by grief 
 probably from tender memories of some boy she 
 had lost, sent her driver with a beautiful bouquet 
 which he laid upon the casket. 
 
 At the cemetery the military formation was broken, 
 and the boys without order were permitted to gather 
 around the grave. The chaplain committed the body 
 to the dust, and read the beautiful prayers of the 
 Church service. Ladies brought flowers from the 
 hospital and strewed them upon the casket. The 
 marines fired three volleys over the open grave, and 
 all that was mortal of Charlie Smith was laid to rest, 
 to await the sounding of that trumpet which, louder 
 than earth s cannonading and all the blasts of war, 
 shall "pierce the dull cold ear of death." 
 
 The gloom was only broken by lively strains of 
 the band as the boys marched back to the boats ; 
 the military method of passing from Death s shadow 
 into the sunny places of our ordinary life.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON. 
 
 JOE was not to be cheated out of his visit to 
 Portland, after all. Katie Aston obtained her 
 mother s permission to invite him to the launch of 
 a new vessel from her father s yard, bearing her 
 own name. This vessel was to be a gift to Katie 
 from her father, and none but Mrs. Aston had been 
 taken into the secret. The launch was to be a 
 grand affair, and as it has a vital connection with 
 this story, though very indirectly, and only as the 
 sequel will show, its incidents must be recorded. 
 
 Three weeks succeeding the events of the last few 
 chapters, Joe took the three P. M. train one day, and 
 early in the evening alighted in a very confused 
 state of mind and awkward state of body, in the 
 Eastern Depot at that attractive city. It is not 
 to be wondered at that his uneasiness along the 
 way resolved itself into absolute dread as the train 
 neared its destination. Moral and physical courage 
 are forms of that quality, of which we have found as 
 yet no lack in Joe s character. But what we may 
 term social courage is so entirely different that it 
 seems to derive no strength or growth whatever 
 164
 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON l$ 
 
 from the other forms. Joe had plenty of the former 
 kind of courage, but scarcely any of the latter. 
 
 As he stepped from the train, could he have had 
 his preference, it is a matter of uncertainty whether 
 he would have met the Astons or been shot for 
 desertion. What was mounting to the main truck, 
 or encountering the ship s bully, to this ? He would 
 rather risk his life in a burning car a dozen times so 
 he thought now, when no burning car was near, than 
 meet Katie Aston at her own home. He could not 
 reconcile his feelings, now that he was here, in any 
 possible way with his desire to come. 
 
 All, however, to no purpose. No sooner had his 
 foot touched the platform than his hand was warmly 
 grasped by Mr. Aston. His face was scarlet when 
 Katie, who had accompanied her father to the depot, 
 stepped forward, and, in a very pretty manner, gave 
 him a cordial welcome. As they walked out to the 
 carriage Joe felt as tall as the Chinese giant, and 
 his hands felt as if they were weighted down with 
 dumb-bells. The dim light of the depot, however, 
 helped him to recover a little of his self-possession. 
 
 He did not appear half so awkward as he felt. 
 Katie s quick eye instantly noted his external im 
 provements. His pretty uniform did certainly en 
 hance his attractiveness in her artistic judgment. 
 Unconsciously he had been picking up sailor airs 
 and manners. Before leaving the car he had given 
 the smallest perceptible tip to his cap, and the faint 
 est elongation to his tie. These small offices, to-
 
 166 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 gather with the slight roll in his gait, which he had 
 partly inherited, were not lost on Katie, who, in 
 common with nearly all very young ladies, was eas 
 ily brought under the spell of the sea. 
 
 On the way to the house, in spite of all his ef 
 forts to do otherwise, Joe could not converse with 
 any freedom. His tongue felt thick and clumsy, 
 and he was heartily ashamed of the feeble little 
 monosyllables he was all the time getting off. 
 
 He attempted something off-hand and sailor-like, 
 but it was a miserable failure. 
 
 Mr. Aston saw his embarrassment and told one 
 of his most amusing stories, at which Joe laughed 
 heartily. A good laugh steadies a diffident boy or 
 girl as a mainsail does a rolling ship in a gale of 
 wind, and by the time the carriage rounded up to 
 Mr. Aston s door, Joe was rather surprised at his 
 composure. 
 
 Mr. Aston s house was one of the finest, though 
 by no means the most ostentatious, in the city. It 
 stood by itself, having what is quite unusual in 
 large cities several acres of ground around it. 
 This small estate was laid out after the most ap 
 proved methods of landscape gardening. Oak and 
 maple trees abounded, which were now aflame with 
 the richest autumnal colors. Leading from the 
 house was a large conservatory, and far in the 
 rear, at the end of a pretty carriage way, was a 
 brick stable whose front wall was literally covered 
 with vines. Enclosing all was a high stone wall,
 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON. l6? 
 
 the top bristling with pieces of old junk bottles to 
 keep poachers away from the very choice fruit 
 within. Perched high up at each corner of the 
 gateway was a bronze owl, whose eyes, by means 
 of internal gas fixtures, burned like coals. 
 
 The interior of the house was even more splen 
 did than the one in which Joe had spent his first 
 night in Boston. A servant answered the ring, and 
 they entered the hall, from which they passed into 
 a sumptuous drawing-room where Mrs. Aston was 
 waiting to receive them. She greeted Joe very 
 pleasantly, and, turning, introduced him to a very 
 pretty, roguish-looking Miss, who was on a visit to 
 Katie from Boston. Her name was Maud Edger- 
 ton. She was about Katie s age, had dancing hazel 
 eyes and a very jolly face, whose mischievous look 
 shot terror into Joe s soul at the outset. 
 
 Very red in the face he extended his big brown 
 hand (how very tarry it looked to him now), which 
 he thought the polite thing to do, and Maud took it 
 with a comical expression, which made Joe think 
 he had done something extremely awkward. But 
 Miss Maud could not help being pleased with Joe. 
 He was very manly-looking, in spite of his diffi 
 dence. She was very fond of the Navy, being ac 
 quainted with several midshipmen, though Joe was 
 the first apprentice boy she had ever met. Her 
 father owned a yacht, and her brother was a mem 
 ber of the Harvard Boat Club, and as she ran her 
 eye over Joe, she thought what a jolly yachtsman
 
 1 68 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 he would make, and what an oar he must pull. 
 
 Dinner was waiting, and Mrs. Aston said they 
 would go down without further delay. In the most 
 matter-of-fact way she laid hold of Joe s arm, leav 
 ing the young ladies to Mr. Aston. Escorting a 
 lady to dinner, and such a fine lady as Mrs. Aston, 
 too, made Joe s knees almost knock together. He 
 felt as unsteady as he would have been with a hun 
 dred pound weight upon his shoulder. But he got 
 to the dining-hall with no more serious experience 
 than a little pitching and rolling. 
 
 He was given a seat at the extreme end of the 
 table, which left a very narrow space intervening 
 between him and the wall. He was glad of this, 
 for it removed him some distance from Miss Maud, 
 whose love of fun, he intuitively felt, would find 
 some means of gratifying itself at his expense. 
 
 He got through the early part of the dinner very 
 well, and was beginning to get over his shyness, 
 when he observed Miss Maud eying him rather comi 
 cally. Eating as a fine art, we know, would not be 
 likely to be much cultivated in the Aroostook, where 
 the farmers work from daylight till dark, and a mess 
 of sailor boys would be the last ones in the world, 
 except the Esquimaux, to learn table manners from. 
 Is it any wonder then that Joe was " shoveling " his 
 dinner in the good old-fashioned way when he caught 
 Miss Maud s amused look ? 
 
 It so disconcerted him that, in the nervous agi 
 tation which followed, some mashed potato, which
 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON. 169 
 
 he was in the act of raising to his mouth, fell from 
 the end of his knife. This was succeeded by the 
 loss of the knife itself. Worse still, in his attempt 
 to recover the knife, he upset his glass of water, 
 flooding his plate and soaking both himself and the 
 tablecloth. Maud and Katie had all they could do 
 to keep straight faces, while poor Joe s face was as 
 red as a powder flag. 
 
 But this was nothing compared with the final 
 catastrophe. The servant, a very green Irish girl, 
 came in, mopped up the water, spread a fresh nap 
 kin over the damp place, and started to return to 
 the sideboard after a clean plate. She thought 
 she could economize time and labor by passing be 
 hind Joe s chair. It would have been impossible 
 for a much smaller person to crowd through, but she 
 made the attempt, and got caught like a salmon in 
 the wickerwork of a fish weir ; and. there she hung, 
 floundering. Joe was jammed against the table 
 so tightly that he could scarcely breathe. He at 
 tempted to rise, and succeeded in barely raising 
 himself from the chair. This was just the thing 
 he ought not to have done, for no sooner was the 
 chair relieved of its weight than, owing to the pres 
 sure from behind, it shot from under him. Joe s 
 centre of gravity, from the position he was in, lay 
 about a foot under the table, and, being unable to re 
 cover it, he sat down heavily upon the floor. 
 
 If the house that instant had been shaking to 
 pieces from an earthquake or a tornado, with poor
 
 I7O HOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Joe in such an attitude, they would have been un 
 able to help themselves from laughter. 
 
 " Steady there," cried Mr. Aston. " You can t ex 
 pect an old salt like Bently to keep on his sea legs 
 in a dead calm." 
 
 " O papa ! " piped up Katie between the inter 
 vals of stuffing her napkin into her mouth, " do you 
 remember that time the yacht gave such a dreadful 
 lurch in Frenchman s Bay, and we were all thrown 
 in a heap against the wall " 
 
 "Bulkhead," interrupted her father. 
 
 " Yes, bulkhead, and two plates of soup went all 
 over me and spoilt my new yachting suit. The 
 dishes were all broken, and the steward had to come 
 in with a swab and mop up the soup." 
 
 Joe wished that a swab might be run over him, 
 and lamented that he had ever been so silly as to 
 come on this visit. But the most contagious thing 
 in this world is good humor, and after Joe got 
 seated again, he had to join in with the rest. In 
 a few moments he was laughing so heartily that the 
 tears streamed down his face. 
 
 When they returned to the drawing-room, Joe 
 was in a much more cheerful mood. The ice had 
 been so thoroughly broken that, notwithstanding 
 the occasional sense of mortification he experienced, 
 when he would upbraid himself for his awkwardness 
 and stupidity, he felt that the catastrophe at the 
 table had established more sympathetic relations 
 between him and his friends. And he found that he
 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON. I /I 
 
 could laugh and converse much more easily than 
 before. 
 
 He played authors with Maud and Katie, and 
 told them of many of his experiences on the train 
 ing ship, even going so far, which he afterwards 
 greatly regretted, as to tell them of his betrayal 
 into Uncle Peters s hands, and of his singular es 
 cape. Very quickly and pleasantly the evening 
 passed away, and when the clock struck ten he 
 was surprised to have bedtime come so soon. 
 
 At breakfast, next morning, he began a sly ap 
 prenticeship to the use of the fork. Miss Maud 
 detected it, and gave him a comical look, which 
 brought back some of his old confusion, but not 
 enough to cause any more accidents. At ten the 
 carriage arrived to take them to the shipyard where 
 the Katie Aston was to be launched. 
 
 A crowd of men and boys had assembled in the 
 yard, and as the carriage drove in, it was preceded 
 and followed by a large number of carriages con 
 taining invited guests. Quite a number of vessels 
 were on the stocks, some of them nearly finished. 
 The Katie Aston occupied the most conspicuous 
 position of all, as she ought to do, being queen of 
 the yard. The young ladies jumped from the car 
 riage, and telling Joe to follow, started to take a 
 look at this beautiful craft before going on board. 
 
 The new vessel was a five-hundred-ton brig, and 
 looked very proud as she hung poised like an im 
 mense diver ready for her first plunge into the sea.
 
 1/2 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 She was certainly one of the handsomest models 
 that could be found. Her cutwater curved grace 
 fully, her bows were clean and sharp, and there was 
 just swell enough of the sides to give her, as the 
 young ladies exclaimed, " lovely lines!" There 
 was some beautiful gilt tracing around the name on 
 the stern which was put on in heavy gilt letters 
 artistically carved. The figurehead was exceed 
 ingly pretty. It was the form of a maiden, who 
 stood as on some high, jutting point, hat in hand, 
 the light breeze playing with her golden hair, while 
 she looked with longing eyes far off to sea. An 
 artist had been employed to design this figure. It 
 was so natural, rind in possession of so much grace, 
 that it was very much admired by all beholders. 
 The brig was painted black, with a white streak run 
 ning all around, and looked, in her bran-new dress 
 as if she had been carved out of ebony. 
 
 Only privileged ones were allowed to go on board. 
 There were a great number of these, for Mr. Aston 
 had sent out several hundred invitations. Many of 
 Katie s schoolmates were present with their parents 
 and friends. Joe helped Maud and Katie up the 
 step-ladder over the side, and a swarm of misses 
 gathered about them. There were many curious 
 glances at Joe, everybody wondering who the young 
 blue jacket could be. Katie gave him an introduc 
 tion all around as her friend Joe Bently, an appren 
 tice boy in the United States Navy. Joe s eyes 
 blinked a good deal, and his face was very red at
 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON. 
 
 having to meet so many people, but he got on very 
 well. 
 
 There was one lady present who had a son that 
 had just entered the Naval Academy as a midship 
 man ; and she was very anxious to learn something 
 about life on board ship. She plied Joe with ques 
 tions which he answered to the best of his ability, 
 and then she asked him what he hoped to become. 
 " You surely don t expect to be a common sailor ? " 
 she concluded. 
 
 Joe told her that he could not be an officer, if he 
 wanted to be ever so much. His plan was to make 
 himself as thorough a seaman as possible, and let 
 the future take care of itself. " I d like to be an 
 officer very much, and if ever the country gets into 
 a war, perhaps I may work myself up to such a po 
 sition," he observed, just as he had to go through 
 with several more introductions. 
 
 Mr. Aston had overheard the latter part of this 
 conversation. He seemed particularly interested 
 in that portion which related to the impracticability 
 of an apprentice boy ever becoming an officer ; and 
 had anybody been sharp enough to observe it, it 
 would have been discovered, that at that particular 
 point he became possessed of a new idea in refer 
 ence to Master Joe. Whatever it was, however, he 
 kept it to himself. 
 
 At precisely half-past eleven there was the pro- 
 foundest silence among the spectators as the ship 
 wrights relieved the brig of her fastenings, and she
 
 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STA ES NAVY. 
 
 shot into the stream as gracefully as a seabird down 
 the side of a mountain billow. A loud shout rent 
 the air as she touched the water, and the band 
 stationed in the forecastle struck up a very lively 
 air. For a few minutes it was uncertain which 
 would get the better, the music or the cheering. 
 
 No sooner had the brig s way been checked by 
 letting go an anchor, than a steam tug hauled along 
 side, and a caterer in white gloves and swallow-tail 
 bustled around superintending the getting of a 
 grand lunch on board. He ordered about his half- 
 dozen colored waiters as though he were taking in 
 sail in a squall. 
 
 The cabin, though not quite completed, was made 
 very attractive by an artistic display of all the brig s 
 bunting which was finished and of course bran-new. 
 Temporary seats and tables had been erected, huge 
 quantities of flowers had been sent on board, and 
 Joe was surprised at the beautiful effect of every 
 thing when the caterer with his squad had arranged 
 the tables. The lunch was a superb affair. Course 
 after course came on in a profusion that joe had 
 never seen imitated, and the caterer looked as if he 
 would be thrown into a fit of sickness should any 
 thing be a failure. One or two table articles created 
 a good deal of fun. For example, instead of the 
 cruets full of black and white pepper usually passed 
 around, there was a tiny silver mill containing pep 
 per corns. Two or three turns of a small crank 
 threw out a cloud of pepper. The most amusing
 
 LAUNCH OF THE KATIE ASTON. 1/5 
 
 was a small silver Indian boy holding a bow and ar 
 row, who, by pressing a spring in his back, threw 
 out sprays of salt fr- m the point of his cunning 
 arrow. 
 
 After the lunch had been disposed of Mr. Aston 
 observed that a little ceremony was due the occa 
 sion. " I therefore," he s/tid, rising to his feet, "pre 
 sent this brig to my daughter Katie. It is a birth 
 day gift, and is also to commemorate the saving of 
 her life in the recent disaster, about which you have 
 all heard. It also gives me great pleasure to have 
 present to-day the lad who was instrumental in sav 
 ing her life." 
 
 Katie could hardly believe her senses when her 
 fatherannounced that the Katie Asfo\ was an actual 
 gift to her. She had learned to love every timber 
 in the beautiful vessel, and received the congratu 
 lations of her friends with much joyous effusion. 
 Poor Joe was confounded by Mr. Aston s allusion 
 to himself and wished he were a thousar.d miles 
 away. 
 
 That afternoon, being summoned by tele jram to 
 appear as a witness in a court martial, he bade a 
 hearty good-by to his young friends, and \f V cut 
 from the home, but not from the memory " t ;1 "*s 
 Astons.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 COURT MARTIAL. 
 
 FOR weeks Sharp and Herdicks had been brood 
 ing over their crimes in solitary confinement. 
 In view of the developments in each case their 
 meditations were not of a nature to relieve the irk- 
 someness of their detention in the brig. The only 
 thing which in the least brightened their prospects 
 was the determination of each one to stoutly main 
 tain his innocence ; or, if that failed, to plead youth- 
 fulness in extenuation of the several crimes for 
 which they were now sure they would be indicted. 
 Meanwhile they were well cared for. The sur 
 geon inspected them daily ; and three times a day 
 Commodore Duff served out to them a full ration, 
 though he did so under compulsion. Every night a 
 mattress was placed in each cell with plenty of blan 
 kets, and, barring the deprivation of liberty, they 
 fared even better than they would have done per 
 forming the ordinary tasks of blacklisters about the 
 decks. After a long time the necessary instruc 
 tions and papers arrived from Washington, order 
 ing a General Court Martial, the highest tribunal in 
 Army or Navy. 
 
 176
 
 COURT MARTIAL. I// 
 
 Both cases had been carefully worked up by the 
 captain, and reported to the Secretary of the Navy. 
 The information had been minute and specific, and 
 created a good deal of interest at the Navy Depart 
 ment. The Secretary of the Navy, whose duty it is 
 next to the President, to order all General Court s 
 Martial, made a careful detail of the officers who 
 were to serve. A commander from the Brooklyn 
 Navy Yard was to be presiding officer ; the judge 
 advocate was a marine officer of distinction in mili 
 tary trials ; a very bright ensign, with much talent 
 for journalism, and very quick in taking down pro 
 ceedings assisted the judge advocate ; the other mem 
 bers, a lieutenant commander, several lieutenants, a 
 paymaster and a surgeon, were each thoroughly fa 
 miliar with court martial duties. It was generally 
 agreed that no better detail could have been made. 
 
 The chief witnesses, upon whose testimony the 
 captain had arranged the charges and specifications, 
 were the surgeon, Sergeant Gorman, Commodore 
 Duff, Doughty and Joe ; Joe s testimony, of course, 
 being the most important of all. It got round the 
 ship that there was other evidence, especially in 
 the case of Sharp, which would be more damaging, 
 if possible, to him than that of Bently. The cap 
 tain was determined to have examples made of these 
 unusual cases, which should protect the apprentices 
 from any further exposure to the designs of bad 
 characters who, by perjury had worked or should 
 thereafter work, their way into the Navy.
 
 178 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 None of the boys knew the time for the conven 
 ing of the court martial, till one day, the next after 
 Joe s return from Portland, a number of officers 
 came on board ship in frock coats and epaulettes, 
 with swords, and an order was immediately given to 
 prepare the starboard steerage as a sitting place 
 for the court. The captain of the afterguard raised 
 a crew of boys with Joe as one of the number, and 
 under direction from an officer, the court room was 
 speedily " rigged." The arrangement for such an 
 august body Joe thought marvelously simple. A 
 large extension table was drawn out, a small table 
 ivith eleven chairs brought in from the wardroom, 
 a Bible procured, and the place stood ready for the 
 trials. 
 
 Joe and Doughty thought they would stay in the 
 court room until they were ordered out, to see how 
 things, went on. The court martial excited the in- 
 tensest interest among the boys, and they stood in 
 all the open spaces about the steerage, watching 
 proceedings with eyes wide open, and whispering 
 their various comments. A marine had been sta 
 tioned at the door, and another had been detailed 
 as messenger of the court. 
 
 Presently ten officers filed in. They conversed 
 a moment concerning the arrangements, noticed 
 the omission of stationery from the table, and when 
 a quantity had been brought in and distributed, 
 without further delay, the court was declared open 
 by the judge advocate, who, at the same time, or-
 
 COURT MARTIAL. 1/9 
 
 dcrcd the first prisoner to be tried to be introduced. 
 
 A corporal came in with Herdicks in custody, 
 free from all bonds. The captain had deemed it 
 necessary to keep him in single irons a part of 
 the time, but, here as in a civil court, no fetters 
 were allowed. 
 
 The prisoner was permitted to seat himself in 
 the chair standing alongside the small table. The 
 judge advocate then in a clear voice proceeded to 
 read the names of the members of the court accord 
 ing to seniority, and each member took his place at 
 the table. The president of the court seated him 
 self at the centre, the lieutenant commander took 
 the first seat on his right, the paymaster, the next 
 in rank, the first seat on his left ; and in this man 
 ner, from right to left, according to the respective 
 rank of the officers, the seating went on till the last 
 member was in his place. The judge advocate sat 
 at the centre of the table, opposite the president. 
 
 It is not necessary to give the words of the pre 
 cept for convening the court, or his warrant for of 
 ficiating, which the judge advocate now read. This 
 done, he ordered the prisoner to stand, and said, 
 " Tippington Herdicks, third class boy, United 
 States Navy, have you any objection to any officer 
 sitting on this court ? " 
 
 Tip made no objection, and the court proceeded, 
 The president of the court, whose place it is simply 
 to preside and preserve order, having nothing what 
 ever to do with the prosecution, or the conduct of
 
 ISO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 the trial, now swore the judge advocate. The judge 
 advocate thereupon read the oath slowly and audi 
 bly, and the members placed their right hands upon 
 the Bible which he presented ; after which, begin 
 ning with the president, they successively kissed 
 the book in token of assent, as they did so passing 
 it from one to the other in order of rank. 
 
 Everything was now ready for the trial. A copy 
 of the charge had been previously given to Her- 
 dicks, and he was not in ignorance of the grave 
 nature of the accusation. The charge read before 
 the court by the judge advocate was, " Manslaugh 
 ter." The specification ran : 
 
 "That on, or about, September , 18 , while 
 
 the United States Steamship lay at anchor in 
 
 Boston harbor, after tattoo, when all hands had 
 turned in for the night, among them being Tipping- 
 ton Herdicks, third class apprentice boy, United 
 States Navy, and Charles A. Smith, late third class 
 boy, United States Navy, the said Tippington Her 
 dicks did willfully and unlawfully cut, and cause to 
 sever, the clews of Charles A. Smith s hammock, 
 thereby causing the said Charles A. Smith to fall 
 to the deck in such manner as to fatally injure the 
 
 said Smith, by reason whereof he died on the 
 
 day of September, 18 ." 
 
 To the specification and the charge Herdicks 
 pleaded "Not guilty," and asked that he be allowed 
 counsel. This request being granted, he selected 
 Lieutenant , who, in view of the fact that Her-
 
 COURT MARTIAL. l8l 
 
 dicks was a member of his division, consented to 
 serve. Giving notice to all persons present, who 
 had been summoned as witnesses, that they must 
 retire and not appear in court again until called for, 
 the judge advocate proceeded, on behalf of the Gov 
 ernment, to produce witnesses to establish the 
 charge. 
 The master-at-arms was first brought in and sworn. 
 
 " Were you on duty the night of the day of 
 
 September?" asked the judge advocate. 
 
 " I was." 
 
 " Was there any disturbance on the berth deck 
 that night ? " 
 
 "There was." 
 
 " State what occurred as nearly as you can recall 
 it." 
 
 "I had just turned in, but was got asleep, when 
 I heard a noise like some one falling from a ham 
 mock. Immediately after, some distance forward of 
 the place from which the first sound proceeded, I 
 heard a scuffle. I jumped out of my hammock and 
 ran forward, where I found Bently with Herdicks 
 under him, pounding him, and singing out some 
 thing about spilling a little boy, and calling Her 
 dicks a coward and a sneak, as near as I can recol 
 lect. I separated them, just as the officer of the 
 deck ran forward and wanted to know what it was 
 all about. When Bently got his breath, he said that 
 he had seen Herdicks spill a little boy named Smith, 
 and that was why he had tackled HerdicWs. The
 
 1 82 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 officer of the deck then called Smith, and as he 
 didn t come, he sent me to hunt him up. It was 
 then I found him unconscious on the deck." 
 
 " How did you know that the hammock was cut 
 down ? " 
 
 " I examined the clews after Smith was taken 
 away and found they had been cut with a sharp 
 knife, and all severed but one strand. It was the 
 breaking of that that let Smith down." 
 
 " Do you recognize the accused as the boy with 
 whom Bently had the altercation ? " 
 
 " I do." 
 
 The next witness of any importance was a lad 
 named Hiram Waters. He was sworn, and pre 
 liminary questions were put to him, the same in 
 purport as those addressed to the master-at-arms. 
 He was then asked : " Have you ever noticed any 
 hazing of recruits on board this ship ? " 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " Have you ever known Tippington Herdicks to 
 be engaged in that practice ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he seemed to be the leader of what 
 hazing there was." 
 
 "State all you know about his connection with 
 hazing." 
 
 "The last three months he seemed to take it into 
 his head to haze all the little fellows; and when 
 Smith came on board, he pitched upon him at once ; 
 I don t know for what reason, unless it was because 
 he was so little. The first thing he did was to fix
 
 COURT MARTIAL. 183 
 
 his hammock one night so that when Smith jumped 
 into it it would go by the run. I felt kind of bad 
 for Smith, and fixed his hammock all right for him 
 before he turned in and saved him that time. Once 
 he rigged a hook at the end of a long line and fast 
 ened it to Smith s blanket. When Smith tried to 
 pull it- the blanket over him, Herdicks gave it 
 a jerk, and obliged Smith to run after it all around 
 the deck, making the boys all laugh at him. The 
 night he spilled Smith, he told me while a lot of us 
 were skylarking in the forecastle, that he was going 
 to spill Bently that night. I told him that he 
 didn t dare to, because Bently looked as if he could 
 lick any boy on board ship. He said he d had 
 trouble with Bently, and he was going to take it 
 out of him, and that he d hated him from the first 
 time he d laid his eyes on him. I suppose he meant 
 to cut down Bently, and got the wrong hammock. 
 That s all I know." 
 
 Joe, the next witness, told a straightforward story, 
 giving the particulars minutely, as already related. 
 His testimony was the most damaging, as he was 
 the only witness who had seen the actual cutting 
 down of the hammock. The court spent a long 
 time examining him, and the prisoner was given 
 opportunity to cross-question, but by the advice of 
 his counsel he declined. From Waters and Joe s 
 testimony, it came out that hazing had nothing to 
 do with the affair, and Herdicks conduct seemed 
 altogether inexplicable from the very slight provo-
 
 184 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 cation he had received in being merely knocked 
 out of the ranks, and that by accident. It was evi 
 dently one of those mysterious and stony cases of 
 depravity which are occasionally met with in all 
 departments of life. 
 
 The surgeon s testimony was to the effect that 
 Smith came to his death by falling from his ham 
 mock. A post-mortem examination had shown that 
 there was concussion of the brain, and a severe in- 
 jury to the spine, from which causes the poor boy 
 had died. 
 
 Here the counsel for the accused asked leave to 
 withdraw the plea "Not guilty," and enter the plea 
 " Guilty," asking the court s clemency for the pris 
 oner on the ground that he had no intention of do 
 ing any more than had been done in a hundred other 
 cases on board ships to which he himself had been 
 attached, and from which no bad consequences 
 came, and that he had no malice whatever toward 
 Smith. 
 
 The proceedings then closed, and the room was 
 cleared for deliberation. The court found the ac 
 cused, of the charge, "Guilty ; " and they therefore 
 sentenced the said Tippington Herdicks, to be con 
 fined, at hard labor, in such place as the Honorable 
 Secretary of the Navy should designate, for a pe 
 riod of ten years ; to lose all pay and allowances 
 that should become due him during the term of his 
 imprisonment, amounting in all to one thousand 
 and eighty dollars, excepting two dollars per month
 
 COURT MARTIAL. 185 
 
 for necessary prison expenses, and a further sum of 
 twenty-five dollars to be paid him at the expiration 
 of his sentence ; and then to be dishonorably dis 
 charged from the United States Navy. That he 
 cut down the wrong boy \vas no mitigation what 
 ever of the offence. 
 
 While this sentence waited the approval of the 
 captain of the ship, and the Secretary of the Navy, 
 the trial of Sharp took place before the same court. 
 
 The charges and specifications against Sharp 
 were framed with the greatest care. The total lack 
 of principle which he exhibited, together with his 
 very grave and numerous offences, and, farther, 
 the opportunities he had had to change his life, had 
 he been prompted by a single true motive, called 
 for severe punishment. Even a greater interest 
 was felt in this trial than in that of Herdicks. 
 
 There were three charges against Sharp. The 
 first one, which the judge advocate read, when the 
 prisoner was brought into court, was, " Conduct to 
 the prejudice of good order and discipline in the 
 Navy." The specification stated minutely all the 
 circumstances of the visit ashore, beginning with 
 Sharp s proposition on the Common to Joe, to ship 
 on board the vessel bound to Barcelona, and con 
 cluding with the incidents at Uncle Peters s house. 
 
 Charge second read : " Enticing others to de 
 sert." 
 
 It was specified that Sharp had enticed and as 
 sisted a third class boy named Seward to desert, by
 
 1 86 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 holding out to him assurance s of better employ 
 ment. That he had, further, hired a boat to come 
 alongside in the night, and helped Seward to steal 
 away from the ship by first letting him over the 
 bows by a line into the boat, and, secondly, lower 
 ing his clothes after him. 
 
 The third charge was " Conspiracy." 
 
 The specification ran that the said Sharp was in 
 complicity with parties on shore to get naval ap 
 prentices into merchant vessels whether by fair or 
 by foul means, and that the said Sharp received 
 fees for the same. 
 
 To these specifications and charges Sharp pleaded, 
 " Not guilty," and chose the head schoolmaster for 
 counsel. 
 
 The witnesses were legion. As one after an 
 other they were called in, Sharp looked bewildered. 
 Commodore Duff was in his element. His ac 
 count of the attack upon Uncle Peters and Bill 
 was quite a marvel of pompous word painting. Joe 
 while giving his testimony could see by the looks of 
 the officers that the treatment he received at Peters 
 house raised a good deal of indignation against 
 Sharp. The surgeon testified to the nature of the 
 drugging ; and much circumstantial evidence was 
 given, confirming Joe s story in many particulars. 
 Then the testimony seemed to be all in. 
 
 But no ; the Government was not yet satisfied. 
 The father of Boy Seward who, it has been seen, 
 was one of Sharp s victims, now presented a letter
 
 COURT MARTIAL. 187 
 
 to the court, just received from his son in Havana. 
 It explained how Sharp had enticed him to desert, 
 and how he had taken care to secure the advance 
 money. The boatman, already referred to, was also 
 brought in, and sworn. It was only after he was 
 assured by the court that no harm would come to him 
 for giving the facts, that he told how the affair of 
 getting the boy off in the night had been managed. 
 
 The last witness called was a stranger who had 
 come on board in the morning and had apparently 
 been wanderingaimlessly around the ship. After 
 giving his name, he stated that his occupation was 
 that of superintending the State Reform School 
 of Connecticut. When he appeared, Sharp s head 
 went down. He first stated that Sharp s name was 
 an alias ; that his true name was Clarence Bar 
 ton. He had run away from the Reform School 
 two years before, of which he was then a member 
 on account of a strange propensity for swindling, 
 which began to develop in him when he was quite a 
 small boy. Many incidents came out in the ques 
 tioning not at all complimentary to Sharp, and the 
 testimony for the prosecution closed. 
 
 The usual privileges were offered Sharp, but he 
 considered his case hopeless. The room was then 
 cleared. After deliberation the court found the said 
 Clarence Barton, alias Israel Sharp, of all the 
 charges, " guilty." They thereupon sentenced him 
 to be confined in such place as the Honorable Sec 
 retary of the Navy should designate for a period of
 
 1 88 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 five years ; to lose all pay and allowances that should 
 become due him during that period, amounting to 
 five hundred and forty dollars, excepting two dol 
 lars per month for necessary prison expenses, and 
 twenty-five dollars, to be paid him at the expiration 
 of his term of confinement, and then to be dishon 
 orably discharged from the service of the United 
 States. 
 
 Two weeks after, the papers of the court re 
 turned to the ship, signed and approved by the 
 Secretary of the Navy. The next^morning, at ten 
 o clock, all hands were called to muster ; and, the 
 prisoners being brought to the mast, amid a still 
 ness which could be almost heard, the executive 
 officer read the sentences of the court with the ap 
 proval of the Honorable Secretary and the Com 
 manding Officer of the Ship. Herdicks burst into 
 tears, but Sharp looked but little disturbed. That 
 afternoon the boys were sent to Wethersfield, Ct., 
 and the next morning appeared in uniforms of which 
 they were not so proud as they had been of the blue 
 jackets they had forever lost.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER. 
 
 LAY aft here, Bently," sung out Commodore 
 Duff to Joe, shortly after breakfast one morn 
 ing, " I ve got a galley yarn for you." 
 
 " What is it ? " inquired Joe, all interest. Like all 
 sailors, he was beginning to attach vast importance 
 to the fiction, for the most part, manufactured in 
 that loquacious part of a ship termed the "galley." 
 
 " Fifty of the best boys are going on a draft, and 
 they say you and Doughty are down." 
 
 " Where we going ? " pursued Joe. 
 
 "To a new ship, of course a regular cruiser. 
 You ve been boobies long enough, and they re go 
 ing to make men of you. Call this sailorizing ? " 
 continued the commodore, looking around him 
 with contempt. " You might as well ship on a 
 canal boat, or that dredging machine," pointing to 
 the last-named piece of flotilla just beginning its 
 day s work on a shallow place in the harbor. 
 
 This news was hailed with delight, though the 
 untrustworthiness of its source created a strong 
 doubt in our hero s mind of its veracity. He was 
 not tired of the schoolship ; he only wished to make 
 
 189
 
 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 a practical use of the knowledge he had been 
 acquiring, and see something of the world. He 
 wanted to reef and furl sail in an actual gale of 
 wind. Instead of telling a board of officers on an 
 examination how he would put the wheel should a 
 green light suddenly heave in view on the starboard 
 bow, he desired to grasp an actual wheel, and to see 
 an actual green light bearing down upon him. In 
 gunnery he wished to sight a real target, and send 
 a real shell through it over a thousand yards of 
 water. His temperament was of that active, ardent 
 nature which made him intensely practical in all he 
 did. 
 
 Joe made but slight parley with the commodore. 
 With two jumps he landed in the forecastle to find 
 Doughty. Learning that he was doing some work 
 in the maintop, he rushed up the rigging and tum 
 bled in almost on top of Doughty, and nearly re 
 turned to the deck by pitching through the lubber 
 hole. 
 
 " What in the world s the matter ! " exclaimed 
 Doughty as he grabbed Joe and helped him to re 
 gain his feet. 
 
 "The commodore says you and I are drafted to 
 go in a cruiser ; I hope it is so, don t you ? " gasped 
 Joe all out of breath. 
 
 " I don t know but I do," thoughtfully replied 
 Doughty. " I haven t been expecting anything of 
 the kind. The captain said the other day that they 
 weren t going to touch the boys on the schoolships
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER. IQI 
 
 for a year; but we ll find out;" and they started 
 pell-mell for the deck. 
 
 Dropping from the rigging, they hastened to the 
 ship s writer s office, and Doughty, generally spokes 
 man, asked the ship s writer if it was true that a 
 draft had been ordered. 
 
 "Sorry to say there has been," replied the ship s 
 writer. "There s the list just completed. Your 
 name and Bently s are the last down. The execu 
 tive officer hesitated to put you two in the detail, 
 but he said he could not get round the Depart 
 ment s order, and you had to go down. You d 
 better be off looking after your traps. You ve got 
 to leave by the Fall River Line for New York to 
 night." 
 
 Just then, unexpectedly, came a call for all the 
 boys to muster on the starboard side of the gun- 
 deck. By this time the news had gone all through 
 the ship. The superior alertness of a galley yarn 
 would mortify the telegraph, to say nothing of the 
 burning chagrin it would bring to the telephone, 
 and when, as in this instance, the truth gives it 
 wings, its speed is beyond all computation. 
 
 As the boys came pouring aft there were many 
 anxious as well as pleased looking faces among 
 them. A few seemed in mortal dread lest their 
 names should be called out. There are always 
 some who have a horror of the sea, and the sur 
 prise is that they should ever trust their feet upon 
 a treacherous deck, even in harbor. But by far the
 
 IQ2 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 greater number appeared delighted at the prospect 
 of having their names on the list. 
 
 All gathered, the captain made a little speech, in 
 which he expressed his regret that the needs of 
 the service required such frequent drafts of appren 
 tices, and of the very best boys. He told them 
 that the best boys had been called for in this draft, 
 as the ship to which they were detailed was to join 
 the Mediterranean squadron. " Those of you who 
 are to go, my lads," he said, personally addressing 
 the detachment, " must remember the high ideal 
 and the advanced knowledge of the service you 
 have entered which it has been our constant aim to 
 inculcate. The best wishes of your commanding 
 officer will go with you." 
 
 Joe and Doughty were much pleased to hear the 
 names of their best friends among the boys then 
 read off. Little Sol, Hanson, Walker, Joe s most 
 intimate friend next to Doughty, and many others 
 with whom he had been much thrown since the 
 court martial. Joe had exercised great caution in 
 the choice of associates since his betrayal by Sharp. 
 But he was in truth in no farther danger, as with 
 the departure of Herdicks and Sharp the rogues 
 were weeded out. The most disappointed boy at 
 being left behind was Gabriel Butts. He went 
 around the ship with a most lugubrious counte 
 nance, and at last bolted in front of Joe who was 
 neatly stowing his clothing in his bag, waiting the 
 inspection of the lieutenant of his division.
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER. 
 
 " I s pose they wouldn t have me," Butts began, 
 " because they re afear d o me. I low they think 
 I d bust a gun, or fire off rockets, or sarse the offi 
 cers. But I wouldn t do nothin of the kind." 
 
 Recently Butts had hung around Joe a good deal, 
 and Joe had befriended him among the boys. In 
 fact, Butts had become quite a favorite on account 
 of the absurd things his insatiable curiosity and 
 not very discerning intellect led him to do. Many 
 a laugh was there at his expense from cabin to 
 forecastle, and as he seemed incurable, the ordinary 
 means of discipline, in his case, had measurably 
 abated. When he therefore appeared to Joe with 
 such a woe-begone face, Joe thought that he would 
 be actually glad to have Butts continued as a ship 
 mate. A few moments before he had heard a boy 
 named Huxy, bemoaning his luck in being put in 
 the draft. 
 
 " There s Huxy," he said, seized with a bright 
 idea, " who doesn t want to go. See if you can t 
 get on in his place." 
 
 " S pose I could?" eagerly returned Butts, bright 
 ening up very much. 
 
 " You can bear a hand and try," answered Joe. 
 
 Butts hastened to Huxy, and was overjoyed to 
 find that brave young seaman in tears, talking to 
 some boys standing by in a most melancholy strain. 
 He evidently had no relish for salt water, though 
 he had been a most gallant young tar ashore. 
 When Butts blundered out his proposition, Huxy s
 
 IQ4 BOV LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 look was like the sun breaking through the middle 
 of a black cloud. 
 
 " If we only could swap! " Huxy exclaimed, per 
 fectly willing to sacrifice Butts to old Neptune, 
 who filled his heroic soul with such dread. 
 
 After canvassing the matter they instinctively 
 fixed upon Schoolmaster Bell as their intermediary. 
 Huxy had been a kind of assistant to Bell, getting 
 up his blackboards, and taking down seats for his 
 classes in navigation ; and it so happened that this 
 office would fall to Gabriel after Huxy s departure. 
 Bell was well aware that Butts would not do the 
 work, and he was turning the matter over in his 
 mind at that very time greatly to the disparage 
 ment of Butts. When, therefore, the boys laid 
 their plan before him, he quickly assented, and 
 urged his need of Huxy so strongly that the exec 
 utive officer to whom he appealed made the change 
 at once. When Butts was made acquainted with 
 the result he ran forward in great elation, singing 
 out as he ducked below after the boy, " I m goin , 
 I m goin ! " 
 
 When the tug shoved off that afternoon which 
 was to take the boys to the nearest point to the 
 depot, the cheering was tremendous. Their old 
 shipmates from the hammock nettings and the rig 
 ging cheered the boys lustily, which they returned 
 with compound interest. The ship, the captain, 
 the officers, the crew, and last of all Commodore 
 Duff and Sergeant Gorman who stood upon the
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER. 195 
 
 top-gallant forecastle, were cheered vociferously. 
 The commodore at this distinction gained several 
 inches in height. " Them young land-lubbers," he 
 observed, " won t be so lively when they git green 
 water under em. They ll git brine enough cross 
 ing the Atlantic this season. They ll wish they 
 was alligators in Florida before they git to Lisbon. 
 I m sorry to lose that Bently, though. I ve had a 
 big interest in him ever since I saved him from 
 them Shanghaiers." 
 
 The ship to which the boys were sent was a new 
 vessel just fitted out for sea. She was the finest 
 model as well as the fastest cruiser in the Navy. 
 She had every improvement in the way of rifled 
 guns mounted on carriages worked by cranks instead 
 of ropes and the old-fashioned hand-spikes, electri 
 cal apparatus, a steam windlass and steam steering 
 gear, etc., and was the only vessel in the Navy from 
 which much could be expected in case of war. Her 
 officers had all joined her, her crew had been trans 
 ferred from the different guard ships, and the day 
 the boys reached her she was to be put in commis 
 sion, and drop down from the Navy Yard to the 
 Battery to take in her powder. 
 
 The boys were hustled on board their new ship, 
 the roll was hastily called to see that none were 
 missing, and they had just time to stow their bags 
 and hammocks when all hands were called to mus 
 ter on the spar deck. Joe and Doughty got a good 
 position just aft of the wardroom skylights where
 
 196 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 they could get a good view of all that was to take 
 place. 
 
 Their new shipmates stood a solid mass forward 
 as far as the mainmast. While they waited for the 
 ceremony to take place which was to put the ship 
 in commission (for this was the occasion of the 
 general muster) the boys got a good look at the 
 crew, and on the whole were quite well pleased 
 with them. 
 
 To a new recruit the crew of a man-of-war has a 
 fascinating interest. They have all the freshness 
 and novelty that would he attached to the inhabi 
 tants of a new world, if by some strange chance he 
 should be set down in their midst. A man-of-war 
 is indeed a little world in itself. Lying at anchor, 
 or slipping noiselessly along under the stars, there 
 is a silence and mystery about it that seem to be 
 long to a far-off world. 
 
 But how much of real life is hidden within the 
 bulwarks ! A few sad histories are there ; some 
 records which would not bear the light ; a few 
 careers which began in the sunniest places of this 
 life are ending here in shadows impenetrable. Vari 
 ous are the motives which have driven and lured 
 men here the tyrannies of unhappy homes ; the 
 hope of deliverance from the thraldom of bad hab 
 its by means of the stern discipline of military laws 
 and rule; the evasion of justice; love of romance 
 and adventure ; and occasionally motives of patriot 
 ism. But it would be slandering a noble class of
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER. 197 
 
 men to say that there is not the same average re 
 spectability among them that working men ashore 
 possess. The wonder is that amid peculiar and 
 constant temptations they are so loyal to moral 
 principle and duty. 
 
 But we have well-nigh forgotten our story. Joe 
 and Doughty had no more than finished scrutiniz 
 ing their new shipmates when the captain and his 
 executive appeared on deck. Taking his position 
 just forward of the mizzen mast, the captain pro 
 ceeded to read, amid the profoundest silence, the 
 order from the Secretary of the Navy assigning him 
 to the command of that ship. The executive then 
 made a sign to the signal quartermaster who broke 
 the stops at the peak which held the ensign, and in 
 an instant it was fluttering over the newly com 
 missioned ship. Joe looked up and saw that the 
 colors were flying union down. He heard the men 
 in back of him break out : " Bad luck, union 
 down ! " 
 
 " Haul down, and right that flag," came from 
 the executive in a very energetic order. 
 
 "That s a very stupid thing," Joe overheard the 
 captain remark, as the colors were hauled from the 
 peak and properly adjusted. 
 
 This ceremony over, the captain and executive 
 took the bridge, and all hands were called to get the 
 ship under way. The lines and chains were quickly 
 cast off, and by the aid of a powerful tug, in a short 
 time she was safely anchored off the Battery ready
 
 198 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVV. 
 
 to take in her supplies of ammunition. For two 
 days a red flag flew at the main, the signal that the 
 ship was receiving her powder. All the boats en 
 gaged in the work of transportation carried each a 
 red flag in the bow ; no fires were allowed in the 
 galley, and no open lights in any part of the ship, a 
 fact much deprecated at the galley, in the various 
 messes and among the smokers. 
 
 Meanwhile those officers not in charge of boats 
 were busy organizing the ship s company. Each 
 boy was severely catechised to see how much sea 
 manship and gunnery he knew. Butts afforded a 
 great deal of amusement by some of his answers. 
 For instance, he knew that the bowsprit was not in 
 the stern of the ship, but he had to have his organs 
 of vision fixed upon it to be able to acquaint others 
 of the fact. He had already distinguished himself 
 somewhat to the disgust and mortification of Joe 
 and Doughty. During the absence of the captain s 
 orderly from the cabin door on a message, Butts 
 had unshipped a fine barometer which hung in 
 front of the cabin, which he held upside down to 
 see if the mercury would move. He never could 
 conceive how atmospheric changes could cause the 
 elevation or depression of such a solid-looking mass. 
 He said " he knew better they couldn t fool him 
 the stuff didn t move." 
 
 Butts moved toward the forecastle a good deal 
 faster than mercury was ever known to rise. He 
 had also fallen into disgrace with the ship s cook.
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER. 199 
 
 Owing to the confused state of everything, the 
 boys first dinner was very meagre, and Butts took 
 it very much to heart. The next forenoon he dis 
 covered a very large piece of beef lying near the 
 galley, and the cook being absent for a moment, he 
 shouldered it and dumped it into a boiler of soup. 
 The cook just got sight of the beef sliding in from 
 Butts shoulder. 
 
 " What you doing, you red-headed lubber you," 
 bawled the cook as he jumped for the boiler. With 
 one foot upon a ringbolt in the deck and the other 
 upon a mess bucket, he hooked violently after the 
 beef and hauled it out all covered with little pieces 
 of vegetables, not much the worse for its immer 
 sion. 
 
 "We didn t git dinner -enough yisterday, and 
 we re goin to have our rations " 
 
 " What business have you to meddle with my cook- 
 in anyway," pursued the angry cook. " You ve got 
 the cheek of a highwayman. You ll be taking com 
 mand of the ship yet," and he made a fierce pass 
 at Butts, who, to parry, covered his ears with his 
 elbows. This was quite needless, as no officer or 
 man is allowed to strike another in the service. 
 
 " Why don t you report him, old man, for destroy 
 ing Government stores ? " spoke up a lounger round 
 the galley. 
 
 " Report him," exclaimed another, " you never 
 gits no satisfaction for reportin one of them little 
 villins from the trainin ships. They has no busi-
 
 2OO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 ness here, anyway. They s only sent here to be 
 babied. They gits all the good billets away from 
 we old men-of-warsmen who went though the war 
 and done somethin for the country. The scoolin 
 they s gittin in the trainin ships only sets em up, 
 and they comes here to sarse us, and make us clean 
 up after em." 
 
 " You re always jawin and growlin , Billy, about 
 the apprentices," spoke up the chief boatswain s 
 mate who was friendly to the boys. * They s as 
 good a right here as you has. If. the Government 
 gives em a better show nor it did us, they can t 
 help it. Their smarter n we be, an they ll make 
 better sea birds than us old gulls. The trouble is 
 your gittin water-logged, an you don t like to see 
 these new crafts a passm on yer , Billy." 
 
 44 You be blowed, Sam," said Billy as he turned 
 on his heel and walked away. 
 
 All day long the men laughed over Butts audac 
 ity. It was the richest thing in the world for men 
 used to the most rigid surveillance and discipline to 
 see orders and customs utterly ignored as in the 
 case of Butts, who had already done a great deal 
 more than to invert the barometer and offend the 
 cook. 
 
 Joe was obliged to listen to a great many uncom 
 plimentary remarks about the apprentice boys, and 
 was glad to occasionally find a sturdy defender like 
 the chief boatswain s mate whom he thanked for 
 his kindly interference. While thinking over the
 
 JOE IS SENT TO A CRUISER. 2OI 
 
 complaints he had been listening to and indig 
 nantly resenting them in his own mind, he caught 
 the sound of other voices, which introduced an en 
 tirely different subject to his thoughts. 
 
 "I don t want to go to sea in this ship," an old 
 line-of-battle man began. "Whenever you sees a 
 ship go into commission union down, she ll never 
 be heard from when she onc t gits to sea." 
 
 " On Friday too," chimed in another old croaker. 
 
 " Yes, on Friday too. There s them navy brigs 
 as was lost. Jimmy Jawlin told me he seed the same 
 thing happen to one of them. He jumped the first 
 boat that went ashore. I m too old a rat to be 
 caught in a. ship like this, if I could git ashore. 
 You d better go, boy," he said, turning to Joe, "if 
 you have to swim for it." 
 
 " They says there s all kinds of yarns in New 
 York about this ship," observed Dumpy Stubbs, 
 as his shipmates called him. " I seen a piece in 
 the papers myself that said as the carpenters had 
 made such a botch with her that she wouldn t live 
 through the first gale of wind." 
 
 " I can tell ye one thing I don t like," joined in 
 Bobby Lanyard. "They say as there isn t a rat 
 on board this ship exceptin old Hay s tame one in 
 the cage. Rats has the best reasons for not ship- 
 pin . The ship was launched on Friday as well as 
 goin into commission, an two men was killed. All 
 her accidents has happened on Friday, an I dare 
 say she ll sail on Friday."
 
 2O2 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " You d better pack ye Rooshia leather bag, put 
 ye gloves on and bundle ashore in the pilot boat if 
 they s no other," broke in Dicky Davvson, who 
 had been tugging away at a short-stemmed pipe, 
 trying to make a spark catch which had shirked 
 its duty in an unaccountable manner. " I s been 
 in ships as was unlucky on other days nor Friday. 
 I was wrecked onc t on a merchantman as was full 
 o rats. They came swimmin round a raft we was 
 on and clim up, so many on em, that we had to 
 kick em off; I don t take no stock in no croakin . 
 When I ships, I ships as I gits married, for better 
 or for worse." 
 
 " Hooray for you, Dicky," cried a dozen voices. 
 
 Just then the hands were piped to spread mess 
 gear, and as this was Joe s duty for the week, he 
 had to go.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ROUGH BUT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCES. OP Hi S 
 
 THE ship lay at Sandy Hook several days. 
 The captain would not put to sea, with a 
 new ship and a green crew, without first having 
 things shaken down a little. When finally Joe 
 heard the call, "All hands up anchor," his heart 
 gave a big bound. Under the gigantic clutches of 
 the steam windlass, the great cable was not long 
 coming in, and while, to the quick music of fife and 
 drum, the anchor was being catted, the ship slowly 
 forged ahead under one bell. 
 
 The weather had come off very fine. The sea 
 was sheeted with silver. Everything that had busi 
 ness out of port was under way, from fishing smack 
 to steamer. It was sailing day for many of the 
 great lines of .ocean steamships, and a huge fleet 
 of them were now passing the lightship. When they 
 had gained a good offing, they separated like the 
 scouts of an army, each one taking its own track 
 less course through the perils of the ocean wilder 
 ness. Soon they appeared mere puffs and patches t 
 of smoke against the horizon. These steamships, 
 with all manner of sailing craft sweeping into view 
 
 203
 
 2O4 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 as the ship gained the open sea, though a common 
 place ocean sight, formed a charming picture to 
 a young enthusiast like Joe, to whom it was all 
 poetry. 
 
 The signal tor a pilot boat was quickly sighted, 
 and the pilot was hurried over the side. Orders 
 had been given to haul fires, and to make sail. 
 The ship was heading south by east, which meant, 
 as the old sailors said, that the captain had decided 
 to take the middle passage. Doughty, Little Sol, 
 Butts .and Joe had been, singularly enough, put in 
 the same watch, in the same division, in the same 
 gun s crew and in the same mess. They were in 
 the starboard watch, but with the exception of Lit 
 tle Sol and Joe, who were maintop men, in differ 
 ent parts of the ship. Butts, whose nautical accom 
 plishments would warrant nothing better, was put 
 in the waist of the ship among the landsmen, whose 
 duty it was to haul on ropes and attend to work on 
 deck. 
 
 Little Sol and Joe had been the smartest top- 
 men among the boys, and when they heard the or 
 der to make sail, they were of course anxious to do 
 themselves credit. Joe had become an expert aloft 
 under the tuition of Little Sol, and they sprang 
 into the rigging as though the safety of the ship 
 depended on their promptitude. They were the 
 first to reach the top, and the first to lay out on 
 the top-gallant yard, their station aloft. 
 
 Every inch of shroud and rope seemed to have a
 
 ROUGH BUT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCES. 2O$ 
 
 friendly touch to Joe s hands and feet. He could 
 not tell why it was, but everything about the ship 
 seemed to be an old acquaintance ; there seemed 
 to be as much sympathy between him and his work 
 as there is between the air and a bird s wing. 
 
 The surprisingly expeditious movements of th 
 boys did not pass unobserved from the deck. The 
 captain expressed his pleasure to his executive, and 
 some of the able-bodied seamen looked askance 
 at one another. Dicky Dawson remarked as he 
 squinted his eyes at them, "Them college bred 
 sailors is shaips aloft. They ll do, mebbe." 
 
 What a beautiful sight the ship was with nearly 
 all her sails set ! Everything that would draw 
 had been shaken out. As she dipped to the swell, 
 her acres of canvas gently pulling her along, Joe s 
 sensations were of the liveliest character. Now he 
 would gaze over the side at the swirling water, 
 which came rushing from the bows in a million 
 little eddies, then his eyes would wander aloft over 
 the huge clouds of canvas, or out upon the wide 
 reach of water flecked here and there with shin 
 ing sails. So mysterious and grand did it all seem 
 that the pleasure it gave him rose to exhilaration. 
 Though he was but a common sailor, lost among 
 the great crew of a large ship of war, still, boy as 
 he was, he felt almost willing to have his identity 
 swallowed up, if this strange, delicious harmony 
 between him and everything around could continue. 
 
 This, more than anything else, is indeed the ro-
 
 2O6 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 mance of the sea ; the illusion may be rudely dis 
 pelled a thousand times, yet it perpetually recurs 
 when we behold a noble ship under full press of 
 canvas cutting her beautiful swarth through a shin 
 ing sea. 
 
 This, however, is no time for idle dreaming ; 
 there is stern work before Master Joe. It would 
 take weeks to get the ship into a proper condition 
 for a man-of-war, and for days every spare moment 
 from working the vessel was abundantly occupied. 
 The boys were kept scraping spots of grease and 
 tar out of the deck, or scraping the sides on boat 
 swain s chairs preparatory to a fresh coat of paint, 
 which the captain had decided to give her if the 
 good weather continued. This latter was the most 
 amusing work of all as every now and then a shark 
 would turn up his white form, and show his fright 
 ful jaws. They tolled him along by throwing bits 
 of meat and hardtack out. Once Hanson, who was 
 beside Joe, nearly sent both of them, by his care 
 lessness, to furnish the shark with a square meal. 
 Joe shirked his work a little, it must be confessed, 
 in order to fish for this monster. He secured a 
 codhook, and with pork for bait and ropeyarn for 
 a line, he cast out. In an instant his clumsy tack 
 ling was jerked from his hand, a second time nearly 
 dislodging him from the boatswain s chair. 
 
 " What you doing over there ? " sung out the 
 second boatswain s mate of the watch, in time to 
 prevent further sport and probable accident.
 
 ROUGH BUT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCES. 2C/ 
 
 "We ain t doing anything," answered Joe. 
 
 " I guess you ain t, you lazy lubbers ! " 
 
 " We ain t lazy lubbers." 
 
 "Don t you answer me back, you young scamp. 
 I ll report you for disrespect." 
 
 " I ll report you for using reproachful lan 
 guage, " promptly returned Joe. 
 
 There was a big laugh all round at Joe s quota 
 tion from the articles of war. The boatswain s 
 mate went away muttering something about " them 
 little blackguards from the training ships. I ll git 
 even with em." 
 
 The mild weather in the gulf stream slackened 
 the rigging, which had forthwith to be set up. 
 The boats had to be fitted with canvas covers, and 
 cushions, the oars leathered, and a hundred little 
 things done which kept everybody irritated all day. 
 The only rest was at night ; so steady was the wind 
 that the braces did not have to be manned more 
 than twice in a watch, and the " second dog," as it 
 is termed, from six to eight, and the first watch 
 from eight to twelve were delightful. Joe always 
 remembered these days and nights as in his young 
 enthusiasm he at the time regarded them, the most 
 glorious of his life. 
 
 The day s work over, universal cheerfulness pre 
 vailed among the crew. They were doing their best 
 to make a good impression upon the officers, and 
 upon one another. The story tellers were nightly 
 bringing forward their best yarns ; the musicians
 
 2O8 HOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 formed in orchestra, and gave evening concerts in 
 the forecastle; the jig-dancers and the dramatic 
 characters, by fits and starts, made known their 
 gifts ; the sea lawyers were busy in telling novices 
 what they must do should complications arise be 
 tween them and the paymaster or any other officer ; 
 in which event, according to these salt-water attor 
 neys, the men would be always right and the officer 
 always wrong. 
 
 When not diverted by these attractions, Joe 
 would watch the great shadow of the ship upon 
 the moonlit water, or take a peep at the compass, 
 or with Doughty and Little Sol scan the horizon 
 for lights of steamers and sailing vessels. The 
 calls of the lookouts, and of the men stationed at 
 the buoys ; together with the cries of the men at the 
 gangways ; the eight o clock reports to the executive 
 from every part of the ship, of which he had to in 
 form the captain immediately, had as much fascina 
 tion for the boys as though the vessel had been a 
 boyship, and they were playing at man-of-war. 
 
 The best discipline in the world is aboard a 
 man-of-war. At night every boat, every gun, every 
 sail, all machinery and gear must be in readiness 
 for the remotest contingency. No matter what the 
 emergency, should it be Old Neptune himself com 
 ing round in command of a fleet of Roman galleys, 
 everything must be in proper trim to receive him. 
 
 The ship was to follow the Gulf Stream a thousand 
 miles to secure the advantage of the current. The
 
 ROUGH BUT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCES. 2OQ 
 
 captain upon consulting with the navigator deter 
 mined to abandon his first plan of taking the mid 
 dle passage, which would have enabled him to call 
 at Madeira. Possibly he might pick up the Azores, 
 those beautiful little gems of the Atlantic, but he 
 was now intent on making a quick passage to Lis 
 bon. Day and night the ship carried every stitch 
 of canvas that would draw, and her log showed a 
 wonderful record. Never had such a passage, un 
 der sail, been promised ; there was all the interest 
 in the ship s speed among the officers and crew 
 that would be seen at the Derby races. 
 
 One afternoon while Joe was taking his " trick " 
 at the wheel, he heard the orderly report to the 
 officer of the deck that the barometer was fall 
 ing very rapidly. It was evident that a change of 
 weather was about to take place. A heavy swell 
 from the eastward kept the ship wallowing like a 
 log, and sudden lulls in the wind caused the sails to 
 flap against the masts at every pitch and roll of the 
 vessel with the noise of thunder. Soon the wind 
 freshened ; it came on in little puffs and sighs, as if 
 very reluctant to interfere with the ship s arrange 
 ments, and not forgetting to put in that minor note 
 of warning, so quickly understood, to make every 
 thing snug before the storm should burst. 
 
 Orders were soon given to take in the royals and 
 top-gallant sails, and to take a reef in the topsails. 
 This work done, the wind was rising so fast that all 
 the head sails were taken in, with the exception of 
 the foretop staysail and the foretopsail.
 
 JIO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 The wind soon hauled aft so that the ship was 
 flung about without anything to steady her. She 
 seemed to be trying to cut a huge figure eight in the 
 water at every clip. This had its clue effect upon 
 Butts, who rushed forward from his station in the 
 afterguard, saying as he was ordered back, "I won t 
 stay here ; somethin s the matter with me." 
 
 Joe could see poor Doughty curled up abaft the 
 mizzen mast. Something was the matter with him 
 too. Butts s peculiar feelings seemed to strike all 
 the boys on deck, excepting Joe and Little Sol, 
 simultaneously. Little Sol as he came aft to man 
 the main brace asked Joe in a very low voice, though 
 he knew it was against orders to speak to the men 
 at the wheel, if he felt // coming on. Joe under 
 stood perfectly what he meant by "it," and replied, 
 "Not a bit." 
 
 He feared, however, that he would have to take 
 his turn. The men at the wheel with him quietly 
 chaffed him, but the more the ship tumbled about 
 the better he felt. It happened that he was one of 
 those fortunate few in whom all the fury of the sea 
 cannot produce a qualm ; who, from causes as mys 
 terious as the circulation of the blood, feel only ex 
 hilaration while others experience depression and 
 torment. 
 
 A strong gale was blowing at eight bells. The 
 ship had been made snug for the night ; the only sails 
 she carried were the foretop-mast staysail, and the 
 main topsail, close reefed. Lofty seas came rolling 
 clown upon her, over which she plunged and tumbled
 
 ROUGH BUT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCES. 211 
 
 like some great sporting monster. Little Sol and 
 Joe, and finally Doughty, who had braced up wonder 
 fully the last hour, stood in the forecastle watching 
 the stately march of the huge combers over which 
 the ship careened at a speed of thirteeen knots. 
 Groups of men were seeking to make themselves 
 comfortable under the break of the lee hammock 
 nettings. 
 
 " If we don t git enough of this afore morning, 
 then my name isn t Jack Robinson," observed that 
 old tar as he tried to steady himself to have out his 
 smoke. 
 
 " I guess them accounts in the papers will come 
 true," spoke up some one else. "I ve jest come 
 from aft ; the captain s ordered up the storm sails; 
 they say the bottom has fell out of the barometer, 
 it s gone down so the last hour. Wouldn t this be 
 a nice night for a fire," he continued, as an extra 
 heavy blast flung a shower of spray clear into the 
 tops. 
 
 " I don t like them guns worryin so on their car 
 riages. Hear that big feller rub and grind now," 
 another speaker observed of a gun just aft of Joe. 
 
 This was only a knot of croakers ; every ship has 
 such. Others were quite cheerful. Sheltered from 
 the wind and spray they told stories and sang songs. 
 Old Stevens, the signal quartermaster, full of wis 
 dom on all sea subjects, as well as everything else, 
 was holding forth on the wonders of the gulf stream. 
 He was aware, he said, that many of his ideas did
 
 212 ROY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 not agree with the highest authorities, but why 
 should not he be right ; he d sailed and sounded in it 
 for forty years. 
 
 Joe and Little Sol lashed about twenty hammocks 
 at one bell for the boys too sick to help themselves. 
 By much persuasion they got Butts into his ham 
 mock. He was curled up like a porcupine behind 
 a gun, and was quite as irritable when Joe roused 
 him. He called Joe a " fool," and used several 
 other epithets peculiar to Yankee dialect. 
 
 Soon the watch below was quiet, but not asleep. 
 Occasionally a heavy roll would start up a medley 
 of sounds that can only be likened to the crash of 
 a thunderstorm in the Rocky Mountains. Bulk 
 heads groaned, doors banged, dishes smashed, some 
 loose lumber was in a perfect rage with itself, the 
 great guns worked and grumbled. In all his born 
 days Joe had never heard such a babel of sounds. 
 
 Under other circumstances he would have been 
 amused at what he saw. His hammock swung in 
 the last tier aft, and whenever the wardroom door 
 flew open, he had a full view of the wardroom coun 
 try. The navigating officer was the only one who 
 had not turned in. He had braced himself com 
 fortably on the sofa, which immediately carried 
 away, landing its occupant squarely in the middle 
 of the chaplain s room. Then a keg of molasses 
 broke adrift from the pantry and came waltzing for 
 ward distributing its contents over the deck. The 
 navigating officer started after it, but the keg had
 
 ROUGH BUT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCES. 213 
 
 the advantage of the race as it was reckless of all 
 bruises it might receive. Finally the door slammed 
 to just as the officer s feet slipped in a pool of mo 
 lasses, and he sat down on the keg, as Joe had 
 often done on a rolling barrel. 
 
 All hands were called to heave the ship to a half- 
 hour later. How the boys lamented the miserable 
 fate which had sent them there, as they scrambled 
 round under their hammocks after their shoes ! 
 Joe heard Butts tell the petty officer who was turn 
 ing out the delinquents that he would not turn out. 
 
 " You won t, eh ! " and Joe got a glimpse of poor 
 Butts standing so nearly on his head that it would 
 take a plumb-line to tell the difference. 
 
 They crawled, or rather climbed, up the hatch 
 ways, which were now being battened down. Every 
 thing was in a grand whirl. The orders were being 
 rapidly given to get the ship ready to come round, 
 the order " Hard a starboard ! " was shouted through 
 the speaking trumpet, and the vessel swung into 
 the trough of the sea. Unluckily she failed from 
 some cause to come quickly up into the wind, and 
 in a moment a huge sea came tearing over her bul 
 warks. Boats were stove in, gratings, halyard racks, 
 all loose gear with men and boys were swept pro 
 miscuously aft. Joe saw the white top of the comber 
 glimmering far above the railing, and its monstrous 
 height caused him instinctively to lay hold of a 
 rope which was fast to a belaying-pin. As he did 
 so, the water came surging and bubbling about him.
 
 214 BOY LIFE IN TIIE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 His feet swept out, and he felt somebody clutch 
 them with a spasmodic movement which nearly 
 broke his hold. The ship instantly lifted as she 
 came into the wind, and the water rushed aft carry 
 ing away one man at the wheel, and smashing in 
 the cabin bulkhead. When Joe got righted, he saw 
 in the dim outline that it was the lieutenant of 
 his division who had laid hold of him with so little 
 ceremony. " Good for you, my boy, you did me a 
 good turn this time," he said, as he rushed away to 
 look after his men. 
 
 As if the sea which had just come aboard had 
 not made sufficient havoc, just then came the cry 
 of fire from the gun deck. This sent consternation 
 through the ship, but did not create a panic, except 
 among the younger boys. Every man of the watch 
 below, and all who could be spared from the watch 
 on deck, jumped for their stations. At first no 
 body knew where the fire was, and the smoke was 
 quite dense before it was found to fssue from the 
 sail room. 
 
 Joe s station was at the forward berth deck pump 
 where the smoke was almost suffocating. From 
 the sounds which came from the sail room, he knew 
 that it must be a very bad fire, and he wondered, 
 should they be obliged to take to the boats, if they 
 could live in such an awful night. Every moment 
 messengers were running with reports to the cap 
 tain, who amid all the hubbub had kept his station 
 on the bridge. The executive officer was as near
 
 ROUGH AND WHOLESOME EXPERIENCES. 21$ 
 
 the sail room as he could get, giving orders, and 
 fighting the advancing fire. 
 
 " That s the wickedest-looking fire I ever saw in 
 a ship," one of the men sung out as he ran aft 
 after a bucket. 
 
 | " I m almost scared to death," said a little chap, 
 who was pumping at Joe s side, or pretending to. 
 
 " The ship will flounder, I know she will," Ga 
 briel got off between his jerks at the pump. 
 
 " They ve got round it," called out another mes 
 senger as he zigzagged past on his way to report to 
 the captain. 
 
 Just as this news passed forward a great crash 
 in the forecastle indicated that something very un 
 usual had happened there. The ship had fallen 
 off a little and was thrown almost on her beam 
 ends. As a result, one of the forecastle guns car 
 ried away. Here was a nice mess. A big fire 
 raging in the sail room, and only half conquered, 
 the deck littered with wrecked gear, and now a 
 great gun gone adrift almost the worst accident 
 that can happen on board a man-of-war.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A FORECASTLE SCARE. 
 
 A MIDSHIPMAN came rushing forward on the 
 berth deck. He delivered a hurried message 
 to the executive, stating that the captain desired him 
 to come immediately on deck, leaving a lieutenant 
 in charge of the fire. 
 
 No sooner had the executive and the midshipman 
 disappeared than a loud call came ringing down the 
 hatches for one half of the pump s crew to hasten 
 on deck, bringing their hammocks with them. The 
 boys who were working at the pumps were greatly 
 alarmed at this order, having got it into their heads 
 that a terrible collision had taken place. For a few 
 moments a panic seemed inevitable among them, 
 but the older hands kept a sharp eye on them, not 
 allowing one of them for an instant to leave his sta 
 tion. 
 
 The master-at-arms detailed one half the men and 
 boys, leaving the pumps sufficiently manned for the 
 present. Those ordered on deck made a grand 
 rush for their hammocks, utterly mystified as to the 
 meaning of such an order. Joe happened to be in 
 the detail, and he struggled through the mass of 
 
 216
 
 A FORECASTLE SCARE. 2I/ 
 
 men and toys who blocked the hatchways to where 
 his hammock swung. Several of the most fright 
 ened among the boys besought him to tell them if 
 he thought the ship was going to be lost, and if he 
 thought they d have to use their hammocks as life 
 preservers. 
 
 " No, I don t," Joe answered, tugging at the hard 
 knot which had formed on his hammock hook. " If 
 she was going to be lost this is no time for us to get 
 scared. Don t be babies." 
 
 The knot proved unyielding and Joe quickly set 
 tled the matter with his knife. The boys, consid 
 erably reassured by his tone and pluck, followed 
 him on deck/ not knowing but the next minute 
 they would be ordered to jump overboard with their 
 hammocks. 
 
 " This way, all hammocks," called several voices 
 from the forecastle. By persistent holding on and 
 climbing, for the deck was a mass of wrecked gear, 
 the boys got into the forecastle. Several lanterns 
 were glancing back and forth, in whose dim light 
 some hundred or more of the crew could be seen, 
 keeping a respectful distance from a black space 
 just forward, each man poising his hammock about 
 as an old whaler would his harpoon. 
 
 Getting far enough forward, Joe quickly ascer 
 tained the cause of all this confusion. The vacant 
 space, of which everybody seemed so distrustful, 
 was occupied by a monster gun, which had broken 
 away from its carriage and attachments. It had
 
 2l8 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 gone ploughing up the deck in a frightful manner, 
 being kept from going overboard by the heavy bul 
 warks, and from working its way through the deck 
 by the solid oak framework beneath. Like a bull 
 just entering a Spanish ring, for the moment it was 
 complete master of the forecastle. 
 
 " Lively there, men ! " shouted the executive. 
 " Fling your hammocks in on both sides of it." 
 
 A shower of hammocks followed this order, to 
 which the gun seemed to pay no more heed than a 
 rolling horse would to prairie grass. The object 
 was to stow so many hammocks around the refrac 
 tory gun that it would be thoroughly smothered and 
 imbedded in them ; an expedient always the most 
 successful in such an urgent case. The ship from 
 some cause had fallen off and was rolling at a fear 
 ful rate, in which the gun seemed to take a wild de 
 light. The mad evolutions of the gun kept the men 
 at long range, so that many of the hammocks went 
 wide of the mark. By this time too, many square 
 yards of deck lay a mass of splinters, the huge 
 trunnions of the gun breaking up the wood like a 
 crushing machine. 
 
 " Get up to it, and stuff them in," said the exec 
 utive. 
 
 Joe was the first to obey this order. He plumped 
 his hammock down squarely at right angles with 
 the gun as it turned over, and sprang back in time 
 for Little Sol to repeat the act. The boys, encour 
 aged by Joe and Little Sol, jumped nimbly forward,
 
 A FORECASTLE SCARE. 
 
 and deposited their hammocks in the same manner. 
 Meanwhile the ship had been somewhat steadied by 
 coming up into the wind again so that after this suc 
 cessful sally on the part of the boys, it was an easy 
 matter to build such a wall of hammocks around the 
 gun that by rolling upon the ends of the bottom lay 
 ers, and holding them firmly by its own immense 
 weight, a foundation was secured, which in a little 
 while formed of the great pile an effectual barrier. 
 There was a feeling of great relief visible upon the 
 countenances of all as the gun lay as quiet as a 
 sleeping giant, and promised as humble submission 
 as that same giant would weighted down with heavy 
 chains. 
 
 The fire had been well nigh forgotten in the 
 greater anxiety excited by the last accident, and it 
 was not yet subdued. A strong watch was quickly 
 stationed over the gun, and all who could be spared 
 from the deck were ordered to relieve the men at 
 the pumps. They were very glad of their relief, 
 for in addition to the suspense they had been in, 
 the smoke was almost insufferable. Under the 
 sturdy strokes of the fresh pumpmen, and the ex 
 cellent management of the officer in charge, the 
 fire was soon brought under perfect control. Huge . 
 rolls of smoking canvas and steaming chests of 
 small stores were thrown out of the sail room when 
 the men were able to go inside, and surrounding 
 bulkheads were cut away so that the smallest hid 
 ing place for the fire was shut off. An hour more
 
 22O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 the pumping was belayed, and the place of the fire 
 left in charge of a responsible watch. 
 
 Things were now tolerably secure, but the ship 
 was very uncomfortable. Whenever she rolled 
 streams of water poured down her lower hatch 
 ways, which sounded as if the whole sea were del 
 uging the vessel. Everybody stood in water over 
 his ankles, and was thoroughly soaked by the cata 
 racts falling through every open place from above. 
 Not a man among them all really growled. Sailors 
 always do their growling when there is nothing to 
 growl about. Bobby Lanyard was the only re 
 monstrant, if such indeed he could be called. He 
 perched himself upon a messchest to let the water 
 run out of his shoes, and sung out, " Hooray for 
 farmin ! When this cruise is up, I m goin to the 
 Roostik where Bently lives." 
 
 Joe was kept below on watch until morning ; 
 then being relieved by Butts, who had spent two 
 dismal hours off trying to make himself comforta 
 ble on top of a chest, he went on deck. It was a 
 sight to behold. Several boats that were inboard 
 had been carried away from their cradles and were 
 jammed in athwart ships. Pieces of broken railing, 
 halyard racks, gratings, chests, oars, torpedo booms, 
 and an endless variety of articles which had been 
 left on deck waiting to be stored below were twisted 
 together in the oddest confusion. The closest re 
 semblance Joe had ever seen was an immense 
 junk establishment he had peeped into in Boston.
 
 A FORECASTLE SCARE. 221 
 
 The mountain of hammocks in the forecastle looked 
 like a volcanic upheaval, with the gun at the bot 
 tom of the crater like a great mass of cold black 
 lava. 
 
 By dint of a good deal of climbing Joe worked 
 his way over to where Dicky Dawson was viewing 
 the wreckage. Dicky stood looking it over a good 
 deal as a merchant would scan the ruins of his 
 warehouse which had gone down uninsured the 
 night before. Dicky was sorrowing, however, over 
 the loss it would be to him in work, rather than 
 over the destruction of the property. Approaching 
 him Joe asked if such things were common in the 
 Navy. 
 
 "They is and they isn t. I can t say nor I ever 
 seen a much worse night, nor a worse-lookin deck," 
 replied Dicky, looking ruefully around him ; an old 
 man-of-wars-man like Dicky always keeps things in 
 order by never allowing them to get into disorder. 
 " One time last night I didn t know but we d have 
 to abandon ship ; but if we d a tried I don t believe 
 we could ave got away." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 " Because the boats are all stove but one. If 
 they hadn t been we never could ave lowered. 
 
 " Which boat wasn t stove ? " 
 
 " The one as I m coxswain of, the second cutter." 
 
 "Why, I ve been put in that boat s crew." 
 
 "You ave, eh !" and Dicky frowned upon poor 
 Joe. " I m sorry for it," he frankly added.
 
 222 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " Why ? " inquired our hero in a crestfallen tone, 
 for he had conceived a strong liking for Dicky Daw- 
 son. 
 
 "Because I don t want no boys." 
 
 " But Doughty and I are the only boys you ve 
 got, and we pulled the best oar of any one in the 
 training ship," Joe responded, with a flush of con 
 scious pride. 
 
 " Boys is very onsart in. The best on em is 
 lazy and tricky. If I had ye in the merchant ser 
 vice, I d ave hopes on ye." 
 
 " How s that ? " 
 
 " O, I could encourage ye in the performance of 
 yer dootys ! " 
 
 " Can t you do that here ? " innocently pursued 
 Joe. 
 
 " No ; our little privileges is cut off in the Navy," 
 and Dicky looked wistfully at the sole of his shoe, 
 while he thrust his fist into the foreground. 
 
 Joe would have felt outraged if Dicky hadn t 
 grinned as he made this last observation. He saw 
 that it was chiefly bluster on Dicky s part, and his 
 ears had been so deluged with that since he came 
 to the ship that he didn t mind it much. 
 
 " If ye belongs to me, I ve got a job for you in 
 the boat," Dicky resumed; "if anything should 
 happen, that boat s the only one fiten to lower." 
 
 " You don t think anything more s going to hap 
 pen, do you?" inquired Joe, as they climbed with 
 some difficulty cut over the davits into the boat.
 
 A FORECASTLE SCARE. 223 
 
 " How do ye spose I know ? You must learn 
 not to ask green questions, so s nobody ll make fun 
 on ye. It s our bisniss to be ready for anythin . 
 A man might fall overboard, or we might have to 
 lower to go aboard a ship in distress. Strange 
 things is allers happenin at sea." 
 
 Things were lively all the morning. The decks 
 had to be cleared of their litter, and the gun se 
 cured with a solid framework as heavily packed 
 with dead-wood as a ship s stern. By means of a 
 heavy tackle attached to the yard arm, the boats 
 were hoisted back to their places beside the smoke 
 stack ; it was wonderful to see how quickly nearly 
 every vestige 1 of the night s disaster was cleared 
 away. This done the ship was again put on her 
 course and bounded over the still high seas like a 
 perfect water-witch. The water surged and boiled 
 and flew in sheets of spray as she breasted the great 
 billows, breaking over the bulwarks and gurgling 
 through the scuppers, flooding the decks so that 
 everybody stood in water over his shoes. 
 
 Never in all his life had Joe felt so exhilarated. 
 He stood in the forecastle in his oilskins and rub 
 ber boots letting the spray fly over him while he 
 watched the foaming seas, or hauled on sheets or 
 halyards or braces just enough to bring the blood 
 tingling to his cheeks. He felt glad of the dan 
 gerous experiences of the night before, for he 
 wished to know all about this wild life of the sea 
 upon which he hud entered with so much enthu
 
 224 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 siasm and resolution. As it proved he was des 
 tined to pass through several of the most thrilling 
 experiences that come in a sailor s life ; the events 
 of years being compressed into the history of a few 
 days. 
 
 He was engaged in turning over in his mind lit 
 tle reminiscences of the past night, wondering what 
 would happen next, when a loud cry of " Sail ho ! " 
 from the lookout at the masthead sent him to the 
 railing. It was the first sail that had been sighted 
 in many days. 
 
 " Where away ? " called the officer of the deck. 
 
 " Two points on the weather bow, sir." 
 
 " Can you make her out ? " * 
 
 . u Looks like a bark under bare poles, sir." 
 
 The quartermaster swept the horizon with his 
 glass, and all hands strained their eyes, but the 
 vessel could only be seen from the masthead. As 
 the ship was logging eleven knots it was not long 
 before she picked up the bark s spars, and shortly 
 after her hull hove in view. As reported, she was 
 under bare poles, but a faint speck was visible at 
 her mizzen. 
 
 " Quartermaster, can you make out that signal 
 at the mizzen ? " called the captain from the bridge. 
 
 " It s her colors, union down, sir, I can t just 
 make them out." 
 
 " She s in distress," the captain was heard to say; 
 "we ll bear down upon her and see what she wants." 
 
 In about half an hour the ship was hove to
 
 A FORECASTLE SCARE. 22$ 
 
 within a mile or so of the bark, and an international 
 signal ran up. The bark was flying the Italian 
 merchant colors, which was the captain s reason 
 for using the international signal code. The inter 
 rogative which had been hauled to the peak, read, 
 " Can we assist you ? " 
 
 An answer, after a long time, was run up to the 
 bark s rnizzen, reading, " Out of water." 
 
 It seemed an impossible task to get water to the 
 bark in such a raging sea, and the captain appeared 
 in a dilemma. He was a very brave, but exceedingly 
 careful man. Should he accede to the bark s re 
 quest, he would imperil the lives of the bravest of 
 his crew ; yet he could not endure the thought 
 that he had abandoned a vessel in distress at sea. 
 He concluded to wait and see if the wind and sea 
 would not fall. 
 
 It appeared very strange to him also that the 
 bark should lie wallowing about, with every stitch of 
 canvas taken in, begging for water, when twenty- 
 four hours run would bring her in the track of 
 Spanish and Portuguese fruiters from the Azores, 
 and most probably into smooth water. But she was 
 in distress, and that was sufficient. 
 
 Meanwhile he ordered up two casks of water 
 from below, and directed the carpenter to construct 
 a raft upon which the casks were firmly lashed and 
 thrown over the stern. A long line kept the raft 
 in tow. There being no perceptible change in the 
 wind, and the day fast wearing away, the captain at
 
 226 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 last decided to send a boat, and called for volun 
 teers. 
 
 The midshipman of Joe s watch promptly offered 
 himself as officer of the boat. He was an athletic, 
 manly fellow. He had been in many dangers, and 
 had the reputation in the Navy of being one of the 
 most daring as well as one of the coolest-headed 
 young officers in it. Dicky Dawson, one of the 
 best coxswains, and bravest seamen in the ship, 
 followed at the midshipman s heels. Several strap 
 ping young seamen came next, and after them Joe 
 and Doughty. 
 
 " Do you think it best to let those boys go, sir ? " 
 said the executive to the captain. 
 
 I beg pardon, sir," respectfully remarked Dicky 
 Dawson, " them boys can t pull no oar." 
 
 " We belong to the boat s crew, sir," modestly 
 spoke up Joe, "and would like very much to go in 
 her. We pulled the best oar in the training ship. 
 We d like to stand by our boat, sir." 
 
 The captain looked at Doughty s sturdy physique 
 and at Joe s lithe form, and pondering a moment, 
 said, " Yes, they may go ; I believe in giving boys 
 responsibility."
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION. 
 
 IT took but a few moments to fit out the boat. 
 Dicky Dawson had anticipated just such an 
 emergency as this in having all the ordinary be 
 longings of the boat in her. It was only necessary 
 to add a breaker of fresh water, a bag of sea biscuit, 
 medical stores, and a few navigation instruments 
 to give her an admirable equipment. As an extra 
 precaution, however, the captain ordered that a lan 
 tern with a box of safety matches, and a few blue- 
 lights and hand rockets be put in, for it was now 
 getting on in the afternoon, and they might not get 
 back to the ship before evening. 
 
 All ready for lowering, her officers and crew 
 boarded her at the davits. We neglected to men 
 tion that the assistant surgeon, a gallant and in 
 trepid young fellow, had also offered himself as a 
 member of the party. A line from the fore part of 
 the ship was made fast to the cutter s bows to steady 
 her, or to prevent her from going adrift if her tackles 
 should be prematurely unhooked, or should be car 
 ried away. Dicky Dawson kept his hand firmly on 
 the rudder head, so that when the boat struck the 
 
 227
 
 228 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 water the rudder could not be unshipped. Joe, and 
 an ordinary seaman named Finburn, were armed 
 with boathooks to keep the cutter from swaying 
 against the ship s side. 
 
 It was very nice work lowering a boat upon seas 
 that came well-nigh to the railing. By unhooking 
 the falls at either end of the boat too soon, a roll of 
 the ship might leave the cutter dangling in the air, 
 thus spilling her crew into the sea ; or, what would 
 be worse, swing the boat round under the ship as 
 she swept to leeward in a heavy roll, to be instantly 
 engulfed. The many dangers could be averted 
 only by the steadiest nerves and the sharpest atten 
 tion. 
 
 The cutter struck the water on the declivity of 
 a sea, and began those jerks which can only be 
 compared to an express train at full speed off the 
 rails. Joe was in the bow of the boat, and never 
 had he had such a scrabble to keep his feet. Sev 
 eral of the crew went plump into the bottom, and 
 Doughty was knocked over so that he fell across 
 the thwarts, and was saved from pitching overboard 
 by a timely grasp of the assistant surgeon. " Keep 
 her off there," the officer of the boat shouted as the 
 slings were unhooked, and Joe and Finburn planted 
 their boathooks against the ship s side. A mo 
 ment more the line was cast off, and she rose and 
 fell to the waves with the freedom of a seabird. It 
 had been an unusually successful performance, and 
 the boat was cheered from the ship.
 
 A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION. 22Q 
 
 Dicky Dawson was a tried old seaman who 
 knew how to handle a boat in any sea, from a 
 Jersey surf to a mid -Atlantic comber. Many a gale 
 had he ridden out in an open boat to leeward of a 
 raft which broke the sea, thus creating a little 
 haven in the ocean s bosom. Boats had been 
 swamped all around him, while he had lived to 
 tell the story of shipwrecks, which, but for him, 
 would never have been told. He had made two 
 cruises with the present captain, who. felt perfectly 
 safe in trusting his young officers and seamen in a 
 boat of which Dicky Dawson was coxswain. 
 
 Dicky brought the boat round upon her course. 
 The line of the water raft was cast off and made 
 fast to her stern. The ship had been hove to, so 
 that it brought the bark to leeward, otherwise a 
 crew of giants could not have reached her with the 
 raft. The last orders shouted over the ship s stern 
 were, " You are not to attempt to board the bark 
 unless you consider it absolutely necessary," and 
 the perilous pull began. 
 
 It seemed a grand, though almost terrible thing 
 to Joe to be down among the seas, where he could 
 reach out his hand and seize their white manes ; 
 to slide down their sides into the deep hollows, 
 from which not a thing could be seen of the ship, 
 and where the vast hills of water on either side 
 threatened to tumble over upon each other, mak 
 ing the valley in which the boat struggled her 
 grave. Looking out upon the sea from the deck
 
 23O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 of a ship was very different from being lost among 
 the great billows like a traveller in the heart of the 
 Alps. 
 
 The boat rode the- seas grandly. The great dan 
 ger now lay in not keeping an equable strain upon 
 the line. A too sudden tightening would check 
 the progress of the boat and bring a sea tumbling 
 in astern or break the line, in which case the raft, 
 as in the other case the boat, would be lost. A 
 steady, even stroke with an occasional " Give way 
 strong, my hearties," from Dicky Dawson as he 
 saw too much slack coming in the line, sent them 
 over the seas as if every stroke were timed to the 
 regular march of the waves. An hour s pull and 
 the bark was within hailing distance. 
 
 Her captain stood upon the poop, while some 
 half-dozen men clung to her mizzen rigging. They 
 were there apparently for the purpose of watching 
 the progress of the boat. As the cutter rounded 
 to, to leeward of the bark, a line was thrown to her 
 with which she was made fast ; and wilh the force 
 of the sea broken by the vessel she rode quite com 
 fortably with her tow. Everybody in the bark 
 looked at the raft in bewilderment, evidently 
 thinking, as after events showed, that it had been 
 brought to take on board any of the crew in excess 
 of the number the boat could carry. They must 
 have been amused as well as alarmed at the pros 
 pect of being towed alongside the American ship 
 bestride two barrels.
 
 A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION. 231 
 
 " Stand by to give us another line," shouted the 
 midshipman, a little nettled at the inactivity and 
 stupidity on board the bark. 
 
 " Me no speak English," returned the captain ; 
 " Italian," and he pointed to the colors. 
 
 Addressing him in French, the midshipman asked 
 him if he could speak that language, and received 
 the answer, " Oui, Monsieur." 
 
 "We ve brought you some water; throw us an 
 other line." 
 
 The captain looking dazed, the midshipman con 
 tinued, " Didn t you signal for water ? " 
 
 "No, no, Monsieur! we signalled, Too much 
 water. The bark is foundering." 
 
 On account of the extreme caution that had 
 been necessary in managing the boat nobody had 
 given special attention to the bark. When the 
 midshipman interpreted the captain s reply to his 
 last question, a glance sufficed to reveal the true 
 condition of distress. The bark lay almost com 
 pletely waterlogged. Not that the midshipman 
 and Dicky Dawson had not noticed this some dis 
 tance off, but they had attributed the vessel s low 
 position in the water to the cargo, it being no un 
 common thing at sea to meet vessels loaded almost 
 to the water s edge. The bark had lost all her boats, 
 her starboard bow above the water line had been 
 stove in as by a collision, and much of her top gear 
 had been carried away. Waterlogged as she was, 
 she was lifted by the great seas and tossed about as if
 
 232 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 she had been a feather ; they indeed seemed mak 
 ing her their sport previous to swallowing her up 
 forever. 
 
 " We must be taken off very soon," suggested the 
 captain ; " she s settling every minute." 
 
 " Do you think we can get alongside, Dawson ? " 
 said the midshipman. 
 
 "I ll put her there if you says so, sir. If the 
 bark happens to flop over with us at her railin , sir, 
 we ll go to Davy Jones with them Dagoes." 
 
 " How shall we take them off, then ?" 
 
 " Let em jump overboard, sir, and we ll fish for 
 em. Their hair s as long as a Chinese cow." 
 
 Dicky probably meant cue, but there was no time 
 for explanation. 
 
 " We can t come alongside, sir," the midshipman 
 called, as a result of his conference with Dicky ; " or 
 der your men to swim for us." 
 
 The captain quickly saw that this was the most 
 feasible method of getting from the foundering bark, 
 and he gave the nearest man an order to throw him 
 self into the sea. The man would not stir. He 
 evidently thought he would have to get on to the 
 raft. The captain gave each of the six men the or 
 der ; not one would obey it. The captain expostu 
 lated and acted as if he would shortly drive them 
 overboard with a belay ing-pin, that common and 
 powerful instrument for enforcing obedience on 
 board merchantmen, but the men held on to the 
 rigging.
 
 A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION. 233 
 
 "Perhaps if you d jump in yourself, sir," called 
 the boat officer, " they d follow your example." 
 
 The captain shook his head, which was attributed 
 to cowardice on his part, by the boat s crew, though 
 unwarrantably so. 
 
 Doughty could see by Joe s eyes that he was 
 struggling with the matter, and was not surprised 
 to hear him presently ask the midshipman to let 
 him swim to the bark and return to the boat to 
 show them how it could be done. "I m a first- 
 class swimmer, sir," he boastfully urged. 
 
 "No; you ll stay in the boat," said the midship 
 man. " The captain s either a coward or can t swim. 
 Something s got to be done. Who s the man to go ? 
 I ll go myself," he quickly added. 
 
 Hastily divesting himself, he plunged into the 
 sea. He struck out with the utmost coolness, as 
 though he were in nothing more than a surf at 
 Coney Island. He was a magnificent swimmer, 
 and flung himself like a dolphin over the crests of 
 the seas. Joe s eyes fairly flashed as he watched 
 his progress, while at the same time there was a 
 look of sincere regret in his face that he had not 
 been allowed to go. The midshipman prospected 
 a little to find a good place for boarding, and pres 
 ently shot over the railing at the summit of a foam 
 ing sea, just as the bark gave a tremendous lurch 
 to windward. It was a very clever exploit, and the 
 midshipman cannot to this day explain how it was 
 done.
 
 234 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 He stood a moment in consultation with the cap 
 tain, who then addressed his men. He told them 
 that the young Americana had come to the bark to 
 inspire them with courage, and he their captain 
 did not wish to be further mortified by their cow 
 ardice. The midshipman then learned that the 
 captain, like a true officer, would not leave his ves 
 sel until the last man had been rescued. The men 
 then explained the real cause of their holding back, 
 which was fear of the raft. They would rather 
 take their chances on the bark than on the raft. 
 The captain and midshipman could not help smil 
 ing at this, and quickly explained the true purpose 
 of the raft. 
 
 Finally, the second mate the first mate with sev 
 eral men had been washed overboard leaped into 
 the sea, and struck out gallantly for the boat. He 
 was hauled in uninjured, but badly frightened, as 
 he nearly went under in the swirl of a big sea. 
 His example was followed by the other men, who 
 were all swimmers, in rapid succession. The cap 
 tain and the midshipman were the last to strike 
 out, and in a few minutes they were safely on board 
 the cutter, and the boat prepared for her return. 
 
 Not a minute could now be spared. The boat 
 was heavily laden, and it was getting late in the 
 afternoon. The midshipman looked at his watch, 
 and was startled to find that he had scarcely an 
 hour left before dark. Carefully adjusting the 
 weights in the boat, and consulting a moment with
 
 A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION. 235 
 
 the doctor and the coxswain, he gave the order to 
 cut away the line by which the raft was still at 
 tached to the boat, and to cast off the line from the 
 bark. 
 
 The ship bore from the bark east by north 
 half north, which brought wind and sea dead ahead. 
 The only thing in their favor was a slight fall in 
 the wind ; but it had made no perceptible differ- 
 ence as yet in the height or confusion of the seas. 
 
 A strong, slow stroke lifted them to the combers 
 whose snowy tops swept over them in clouds of 
 spray. Little did the oarsmen care for this as 
 shielded by their oilskin suits and tarpaulins they 
 bent their backs to the stroke. But the occupants 
 of the stern sheets were nearly blinded by the 
 watery pellets which the wind now and again drove 
 into their faces with a carnival-like license. 
 
 Joe could see that Dicky Dawson was very un 
 easy about something besides the surf. He kept 
 turning his head to windward, and looking off to 
 the horizon with that peering gaze which recog 
 nizes some special danger. Then he would cast 
 his eyes on the ship as if mentally calculating the 
 number of strokes which would be necessary to 
 bring them alongside. The boat was in truth mak 
 ing but little headway. Joe was astonished to see 
 the bark receding so slowly, when the cutter ap 
 peared to be fairly leaping over the seas. Pres 
 ently Dicky called the attention of the boat officer 
 to his observations.
 
 236 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " I don t like the looks o that low line, sir, com 
 ing up to port. It has the pearance o one o them 
 fog banks they has round here." 
 
 " It can t be," said the doctor. " We re out of 
 the latitude of fogs." 
 
 "There are very few latitudes in the North At 
 lantic where there are no fogs," the midshipman 
 remarked. "That s a fog bank, sure enough, and 
 it s moving very rapidly, too." 
 
 He had not much more than looked at the ship 
 and at the compass when down came the fog, shut 
 ting them completely in. It was not one of those 
 ocean mists, but one of those great cloaks which 
 the Atlantic is so fond of throwing over its shoul 
 ders as if to protect itself from the chills. 
 
 " It s lucky we ve got a compass, Doughty," said 
 Joe, leaning far forward, and speaking in Doughty s 
 ear; "and provisions and water enough to last 
 twenty-four hours, in case we lose the. ship. I 
 heard the coxswain say so." 
 
 " It will be terrible if we have to spend the night 
 in this open boat. There s no telling what may hap 
 pen," returned Doughty with considerable alarm. 
 
 The shriek of a fog whistle, way off to starboard, 
 almost caused the crew to rest on their oars. 
 
 " Surely that can t be our ship," said the officer 
 of the boat. " It must be a big steamer. Keep a 
 sharp lookout for her; she may cut us down." 
 
 " That s no steamer, sir. I knows the sound of 
 a man-o -war whistle," observed Dicky.
 
 A HAZARDOUS EXPEDITION. 
 
 " But the ship doesn t bear from that direction 
 at all." 
 
 The sharp detonation of a saluting piece, from 
 about th*e same quarter, convinced the boat officer 
 that the sounds emanated from the ship, but he 
 seemed utterly bewildered. 
 
 "Do you think the compass can be out, doctor, 
 or is it a deflection of the sound ? " 
 
 " It may be something of both. I don t have 
 much confidence in boat s compasses. They re 
 generally old and quite worthless." 
 
 " What do you think, Dawson ; had we better 
 change our course in the direction of the sound, or 
 follow the compass ? " 
 
 " I d trust my ears quicker n I would my eyes, 
 sir. I believes in sich things as ocoler delusions; 
 my compass in a fog is allers my sense o hearin , 
 sir." 
 
 But the officer of the boat knew, and the doctor 
 agreed with him, that in case the cutter lost the 
 ship, should her course be changed to the quarter 
 from which the firing seemed to come, he would be 
 held responsible for not standing by his compass. 
 He therefore said, "Keep her on her course, Daw- 
 son east by north half north." 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir ! " said Dicky.
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER. 
 
 THE fog had been observed from the ship with 
 considerable alarm. Every glass had been 
 in requisition, and from the time the boat set out 
 until the fog lowered, her every movement had 
 been closely watched. 
 
 The interest was intense as she started to re 
 turn ; it was questioned whether she could live 
 with such a load, in such a sea. Every time she 
 shot into the hollow of the great seas the spec 
 tators waited in breathless suspense to see her 
 white prow thrown into view again as she rose to 
 the tops of the waves scarcely to be distinguished 
 from the yeasty mass in which she struggled. But 
 on she came, a perfect water sprite, tossing the 
 foam about in a kind of wild ecstasy. 
 
 " Don t you think we had better drop down and 
 pick her up, sir ? " said the executive to the cap 
 tain. " She has a very dangerous load. I can t 
 comprehend why he took off that crew." 
 
 "I hardly think it best. The ship is making 
 considerable leeway, and If we get much nearer 
 we may run afoul of the bark." 
 
 238
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER. 239 
 
 " There s a heavy fog bank to starboard, sir ; it 
 seems to be coming up quite rapidly," replied the 
 quartermaster. 
 
 " In that case we ll have to change our position," 
 said the captain, seizing a glass and quickly satisfy 
 ing himself of the correctness of the quartermas 
 ter s observation. " Have up a dozen rounds, sir, 
 and get the saluting pieces ready. See also if the 
 fog whistle can be used." 
 
 A quick order from the officer of the deck, who 
 stood by the captain, trumpet in hand, sent every 
 body to the halyards and braces ; in a few moments 
 the ship swung round to her new course, her can 
 vas filling just as the fog came rolling, a kind of 
 white darkness, down upon them. 
 
 The action of the captain was necessary. Ves 
 sels near each other at sea in the relative positions 
 of the bark and frigate, like two adjacent pieces of 
 driftwood upon a pond, have a strong tendency to 
 approach each other. No good captain would allow 
 himself to windward of a wreck, in a dense fog, 
 with half a gale of wind blowing, and currents, he 
 knows not how many, sweeping him down to a pos 
 sible collision. 
 
 The movements on board the frigate failed to 
 attract the attention of the boat s crew, the fog 
 enveloping them just as the vessel filled away. 
 Their surprise may be conceived when the firing 
 was heard many points from the course they were 
 steering, and their conclusion, that the sounds were
 
 240 COY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 deflected, by contact with different strata of air, 
 from their true course, is not to be wondered at. 
 
 Night fell upon the bewildered and baffled crew. 
 The whistling had ceased, but every few minutes 
 a heavy report rolled over the water in a series of 
 reverberations from what direction nobody could 
 exactly tell. No doubt the fog, together with the 
 peculiar atmospheric conditions, dissipated the 
 sound waves so that the reports might have come 
 from any point of the compass. 
 
 As darkness shut in, the little boat had reached 
 the point where the ship should have been found, 
 but she seemed farther away than ever. The gal 
 lant crew were thoroughly exhausted, and in conse 
 quence, considerably dispirited. Ordering the oars 
 all in except the two bow oars, which were neces 
 sary to keep the cutter head on to the sea, the offi 
 cer of the boat proceeded to serve out a ration. 
 He was surprised to find stores in the boat whose 
 existence there he had not the slightest reason to 
 suspect. 
 
 " Where did all these provisions come from ? " 
 he asked of Dawson. 
 
 " I allers keeps my boats full o grub, sir, at sea. 
 There s no tellin what s goin to happen. There s 
 somethin more delicit under the seat, for you and 
 the doctor, sir, if you d like it." 
 
 " No, thank you, Dawson. We all fare alike on 
 an expedition like this." 
 
 While the crew munched their hardtack, drink-
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER. 24! 
 
 ing from their own breaker, having meanwhile found 
 another for the Italians, whose appearance corre 
 sponded so wel 1 with that of the ragpickers and or 
 gan-grinders among their more unfortunate country 
 men, that the boat s crew were obliged to forego 
 their usual freedom of hospitality, the midshipman 
 had to listen to the account of the loss of the bark. 
 It appeared that she was bound up the Clyde after 
 a cargo of steel armor for a new Italian iron-clad, 
 which was building at Spezia, when she was cut 
 down in the night, probably by a coasting steamer. 
 The bark s lights were all up and well trimmed, 
 but the. night was dark and foggy. Nothing was 
 seen but the faintest outline of the great steamer, 
 as for an instant she loomed alongside ; then the 
 terrible crash came. Had the steamer struck but 
 a few feet farther amidships, the bark must have in 
 stantly gone to the bottom ; a strotig compartment 
 in the bows saved her. The worst of all was the 
 heartlessness of the steamer s captain. Without 
 making an inquiry, or even slowing down, having 
 struck the bark a glancing blow, he kept on his 
 course. " Many a steamship," concluded the cap 
 tain with flashing eyes, "is sailing the seas red 
 with the blood of murdered sailors." 
 
 " Them Dagoes is snatchin from one another, 
 sir," burst out Dicky. "That boss robber there is 
 heelin the boat over." 
 
 Dicky s rough perceptions had discovered, by day 
 light, in the external economy of the one to whom
 
 242 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 he referred as a bandit all the requisites of that 
 profession. The man had risen up and was strug 
 gling with one of his comrades to get away his hard 
 tack. 
 
 " Get down in the boat, you beggar," shouted the 
 midshipman, very angry, as the starboard gunwale 
 went under, dipping in several gallons of water. 
 
 A sharp Italian reprimand from the man s captain 
 had more effect than the midshipman s vigorous 
 English. The Italians were indeed very hungry, 
 having had but little to eat for several days, and no 
 water at all to drink. If left to themselves, they 
 would have swamped the boat in their struggles to 
 get one another s rations. Joe, observing the vo 
 racity of the one nearest him jammed in between 
 the seats, out of the kindness of his heart, shared 
 his portion with him. 
 
 The brief respite from the heavy pulling, to 
 gether with the hardtack and water, had a some 
 what cheering effect upon the whole boat s company. 
 The firing now seemed exactly off the starboard 
 beam, if anywhere at all. It had, indeed, been 
 growing somewhat indistinct, and everybody was 
 now satisfied that the ship had changed her posi 
 tion, and they had been getting farther and farther 
 away from her. If the fog would only lift, they 
 could burn their blue lights and send up their 
 rockets, thus signaling their position ; or, the ship s 
 lights might be seen ; and if not her lights, the 
 rockets she would be sure to send up. Of course
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER. 243 
 
 any attempt to signal in the fog would be futile. 
 
 " I ve given the compass a fair show,"said the mid 
 shipman when the crew had finished their meagre 
 supper. " I ll run for the signals now. Sorry I 
 didn t follow your advice in the first place, Dawson. 
 How do you think it would do to get up the fore 
 mast and put her under sail ?" 
 
 " I don t think it ud do, sir, in this breeze. She 
 couldn t carry a rag bigger n your hand. We d ave 
 to run close hauled, or afore it, an we d lose more 
 time in tackin nor we d gain in runnin . Oars and 
 propellers is the best sails, sir, in thick weather like 
 this is." 
 
 Dicky s long experience entitled his judgment 
 to the profoundest respect, and the midshipman 
 decided not to experiment with the sails. He re 
 lieved Joe and Doughty at the oars by putting two 
 of the stoutest of the Italians in their places, and 
 assigned them to duty as lookouts, Joe in the bows 
 and Doughty in the after part of the boat. They 
 were cautioned to keep a sharp eye out, and ad 
 monished of the great importance of the strictest 
 vigilance. The warning was needless as they com 
 prehended the perils of the situation as well as any 
 one in the gallant little company. 
 
 Never had a darker night settled on the Atlantic. 
 Joe s sharp eyes, as he peered from the bows, 
 could not pierce the gloom a yard ahead. He 
 could only distinguish the fleecy tops of the seas 
 as the boat glided through them. Each wave hoi-
 
 244 BOY L1FE IN TIIE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 low was a watery dungeon, and each headlong 
 plunge seemed to his active imagination like a dive 
 into a bottomless abyss. The boat now made bet 
 ter headway. Her course lay several points from 
 the wind, which had considerably abated, and the 
 sea had also perceptibly fallen. 
 
 "This is a good deal like a loon-chase," the doc 
 tor remarked. " When you think he s coming up, 
 he breaks the water a full gunshot astern, or an 
 equal distance in some other quarter." 
 
 " If we don t gain on her this time we ll heave 
 to and wait till the fog lifts. We ve only lost 
 ground so far. I m very sorry I didn t take your 
 advice and run for the sound, Dawson," repeated 
 the boat officer. 
 
 " I only follers my trainin , sir, as you rollers 
 yourn. But I ve seen a worse scrape nor this is, 
 sir. We ll come out all right, if you ll only keep 
 that highwayman feller still in the boat." 
 
 In" the very dim light which shone from an aper 
 ture in a canvas cover which had been drawn over 
 the lantern, upon the round face of the compass, 
 the Italian brigand, as Dicky designated him, could 
 be seen making very wild gestures. 
 
 "There s a case of insanity for you, doctor/ 
 ejaculated the midshipman, half in jest. 
 
 No sooner had he said it than the Italian was on 
 his feet, acting as if he were going to plunge over 
 board. 
 
 " Hold him, men," and two sturdy fellows brought
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER. 245 
 
 him to the seat with a crash. He was naturally 
 very powerful, and he began to struggle in a way 
 that threatened to capsize the boat. 
 
 "Is there a line in this boat?" sung out the 
 midshipman. 
 
 "Three on em, sir," said Dicky, as he fished 
 one out from the stern sheets and flung it forward. 
 
 "Tie him up, quick !" exclaimed the doctor as 
 he crept forward to render assistance. 
 
 In a shorter time than it could be described, they 
 had the Italian securely bound, so that he could do 
 no injury to himself, nor turn the boat over, thus 
 averting the greatest danger to which they had 
 thus far been exposed. The Italian captain told 
 the midshipman that the man s mind had been un 
 settled for some time, and he presumed the priva 
 tions of the last few days had dethroned his reason 
 altogether. 
 
 No sooner was everything quiet again, and the 
 boat slowly feeling her way along, than something 
 else occurred showing how dangers, like birds, are 
 fond of flocking together; and how the supremest 
 vigilance is at all times essential in a life at sea. 
 Not more than a dozen strokes had been made 
 when Joe s quick ear caught the faintest sound 
 dead ahead. It could scarcely be distinguished 
 from the swash of the waves. 
 
 " There s a steamer, sir, dead ahead. I can just 
 hear her propeller." 
 
 " Oars," was the quick order.
 
 246 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 In about a minute the churning of a great pro 
 peller was plainly heard, exactly in a line with the 
 boat. 
 
 "Port your helm, Dawson. Give way strong, 
 men," fairly exploded in orders from the midship 
 man and the boat shot away from her course. 
 
 The order came not an instant too soon. Pres 
 ently a red light appeared on the cutter s bow, and 
 an immense steamer, as they could tell by the 
 lights shining through the ports, rushed past at a 
 distance of not more than a dozen yards. 
 
 " Shall we give em a cheer, sir ? Perhaps they 
 feel lonesome like out here all alone by theirselves," 
 asked Dicky, bent on making the very best of 
 things. 
 
 The boat officer smiled at Dicky s attempt at 
 wit, and a loud cheer rang out into the wilclness 
 of the night Whether it was heard by those in 
 whose honor it was given will never be known. If 
 it were distinguished by any acute ear, it was doubt 
 less attributed, by those to whom it may have been 
 disclosed, to the vagrant fancy of the listener, which 
 could make anything out of the break of billows. 
 or the many voices of the wind on a black ocean 
 night. 
 
 " We ve lost the firing altogether," said the 
 boat officer. " Wonder if the steamer has heard 
 it ? " 
 
 "A* most likely, sir; but she ll think it s night 
 quarters. Our captain s a sharp on night exercises.
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER. 247 
 
 It s a wonder he hasn t had em afore this. The 
 wind s haulin into the west, sir," concluded Dicky, 
 taking a look at the compass. 
 
 Sure enough the wind had hauled, and to the 
 northwest too. Presently it came booming down 
 with that peculiar sound so well-known on board 
 ship when she is caught with sails half in and most 
 likely laid over nearly on her beam ends. In five 
 minutes the sea was a mass of yeast. Here was a 
 new peril, or rather an old one repeated from a 
 different quarter, and with a more threatening 
 aspect. A genuine nor wester is by no means a 
 sailor s delight, as Dicky Dawson had very fre 
 quently verified. 
 
 " It s my mind, sir, we d better rig a sea anchor, 
 to ride out this gale to. There ll be a heavy sea 
 runnin when the ole one gits knocked down." 
 
 Acting on the coxswain s suggestion, the mid 
 shipman took the tiller and Dicky proceeded to 
 hastily prepare his sea anchor. With the help of 
 the crew, he lashed two small spars together firmly 
 at one end, and spread the other ends apart so as to 
 form a triangular raft, making the base by means 
 of a spare tiller, which he securely fastened with 
 pieces of ropeyarn found in the cuddy. Tilting it 
 on its side, he partially covered it with the mainsail, 
 which he secured by the reef-points and additional 
 stops of ropeyarn. When this was done, and the 
 boat s painter attached, it was cast overboard. 
 
 The cutter felt the relief at once. The raft
 
 248 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVV. 
 
 shielded her from the full force of the sea, and kept 
 her head on. But the wind had only begun to blow. 
 What they had passed through in the afternoon 
 and the early part of the night, seemed tame to 
 their experiences now. It was a surprise how the 
 little cutter lived. For a time the roar of the wind 
 was so great that the midshipman s orders could 
 scarcely be heard, and the air was full of driving 
 spray. They eased the painter by pulling toward 
 the raft with all their might ; and, in spite of this, 
 it seemed at times that the rope would part. Had 
 it done so, they must have instantly broached to, 
 and been left helplessly clinging to their boat bot 
 tom up, or been as quickly buried beneath a thou 
 sand tons of water. 
 
 Joe kept his post as lookout, though of what use 
 was a lookout now He could not help thinking 
 of that night when his sisters seemed to have a vis 
 ion of what he was then passing through. For the 
 first time, he actually repented having left his 
 home ; and, in his heart he said " good-by " to his 
 mother and sisters, and we must not forget it, to 
 Katie Aston too. There was not a man in the boat, 
 not excluding Dicky Dawson, who did not feel for 
 above an hour that the boat was doomed. 
 
 But there came a lull. The wind fell almost as 
 quickly as it rose. Never was a lull in a tempest 
 more joyfully hailed. Sea and sky had been cleared. 
 The stars were all out, and it now being toward 
 morning, the moon had risen. The waves were
 
 LOST IN THE CUTTER. 249 
 
 beautiful as they tossed up their still huge forms 
 polished with phosphorescent light. A grand sight 
 was seen in the sky. A vast aerolite suddenly 
 flashed out, and mingling its radiance for a moment 
 with the splendor of the night, exploded with a tre 
 mendous crash within a half-mile of the boat. 
 
 The midshipman swept the horizon with his glass, 
 but no ship was in sight. He burnt his blue lights, 
 and sent up the rockets ; but no answering signal 
 could be discerned. 
 
 " They ll cruise for us to-morrer ; we needn t be 
 afeared," said Dicky, as he attacked the first piece 
 of hardtack he had touched since leaving the 
 frigate.
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON. 
 
 A SALUTE of heavy guns from the river, with 
 a prompt answer from Belem Castle, indi 
 cated that a large man-of-war was standing up the 
 Tagus. Shortly after she dropped anchor before 
 the city of marble palaces. What a vision of beauty 
 spread out from the shores of the noble river ! Its 
 emerald banks, crowned with ancient windmills and 
 quaint castles, have been for centuries the delight 
 of poets and travellers, and after a passage across 
 the stormy Atlantic, they fall upon the eye with an 
 indescribable charm. And the great city of marble, 
 resting like Rome upon seven hills, is also a vision 
 of exquisite beauty from the sea. 
 
 But where are our hero and his brave comrades ! 
 We look for them in vain around the great decks. 
 A paragraph in the ship s log discloses all that is 
 known of their fate. After giving the circum 
 stances of sighting the bark and sending the boat, 
 it reads : 
 
 " As the boat left the bark, having on board the 
 vessel s crew, a dense fog shut us in. We blew the 
 fog whistle incessantly, and kept up an occasional 
 
 250
 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON. 251 
 
 firing. Probably from the deflection of the sound, 
 or the bad state of the compass, the boat got off her 
 course. At midnight the wind increased to a gale 
 from north-northwest, and the fog lifted. Rockets 
 were sent up every fifteen minutes, and the firing 
 continued. For two days we cruised under steam 
 for the missing boat. Without doubt, being over 
 loaded, she was swamped in the gale that came on 
 to blow at midnight." 
 
 The messmates of the midshipman in charge 
 asked the captain if they might cable the loss of 
 the boat to his friends. 
 
 " No, gentlemen ; not for a fortnight yet. She 
 may turn up all right," said the captain. 
 
 "That Dicky Dawson s Old Neptune himself. 
 He s been in more shipwrecks than any other sailor 
 in the Navy. You can t drown him," the men re 
 marked, with full faith in Dicky s wizard-like power 
 over the sea. 
 
 The day following a little Portuguese fruiter 
 crept up the river unobserved, and toward evening 
 dropped anchor two miles below the frigate. Shortly 
 after a large boat well-manned shoved off, and pulled 
 with steady stroke for the American ship. The 
 stars and stripes fluttered at her stern. 
 
 " There s a strange boat under American colors, 
 sir, coming up the river," the quartermaster re 
 ported to the officer of the deck. 
 
 The officer of the deck seized the glass, and at 
 once recognized the uniforms of two United States
 
 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 naval officers in the stern sheets. The truth flashed 
 upon him, and he at once reported to the captain 
 that the lost boat was coming rapidly up the river. 
 
 Never were louder cheers given a returning 
 boat s crew than greeted the cutter as she drew 
 alongside. It was better than being winners of the 
 most famous race. 
 
 The story was briefly told. The rockets which 
 had failed to attract the ship, drew the attention of 
 the fruiter, which had been driven off her course, 
 and in a short time the party was surprised to see 
 her white hull bearing down upon them like an 
 apparition in the silvery light. Bringing the boat 
 to leeward it was not long before the sea became 
 calm enough for them to be taken on board. The 
 captain having a cargo of perishable fruit could 
 make no further delay. The midshipman endea 
 vored to persuade him to lay to until morning, 
 when the ship would probably be sighted, but he 
 decided to make all sail for Lisbon. Had they not 
 experienced head winds, she would have beaten the 
 frigate into port. A boat was immediately sent 
 after the Italian captain and his crew, and the next 
 day they were delivered up to the consul of their 
 country, the insane man going to the hospital. 
 
 For a week nothing was talked about, among 
 the boys, but the adventures of the boat. Joe and 
 Doughty repeated the story to them until they them 
 selves were heartily tired of it. Joe also spent hours 
 in writing about it to his mother and sisters. lie
 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON. 2$ 3 
 
 furthermore wrote a very long letter to Katie As 
 ton, working harder over its composition than he 
 would have done at heaving in the heaviest anchor. 
 When this letter was finished, he hesitated a long 
 time about sending it ; but at last, one day as the 
 mail orderly was going over the side, he thrust it 
 into the bag, and then it was too late to recall 
 what he had done. 
 
 Three weeks of the roughest kind of sea life, in 
 termingled with adventures, as we have seen, of 
 the most thrilling character, gave our hero a relish 
 for the novelties of a great port like Lisbon. He 
 and Doughty were granted frequent liberty, as they 
 always succeeded in maintaining their classifica 
 tion as "good conduct boys." The great aque 
 duct, the various monuments, the king s palace, 
 the beautiful chapel of Saint John the Baptist, in 
 the church of Saint Roch, had all been visited, and 
 the boys were waiting impatiently for one of Lis 
 bon s most characteristic sights. 
 
 A man had come on board ship with the flaming 
 advertisement of a bull fight, which he endeavored 
 to explain in very broken, laughable English. It 
 was to take place the following Friday. The wild-- 
 est bulls had been brought from Andalusia, a large 
 number of horses were to be present from the 
 royal stables, and the queen herself would preside 
 and distribute the favors. In short, it was to be 
 the grandest bull fight seen in Portugal in many 
 years.
 
 254 BOY LIFE 1N THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Joe and Doughty decided at once to see this 
 fight, if it were possible to get liberty on that day. 
 They made inquiry of Dicky Dawson, with whom 
 they had become great favorites, about the bull 
 fights of Portugal, and were somewhat disappointed 
 with Dicky s representation. 
 
 " They re hardly worth goin to," said he. " The 
 bulls ain t allowed to kill the bosses as they be in 
 Spain. They pads their horns or puts brasses on 
 em, and when the bull gits tired the beggars all 
 rush on him with a kind of Injin whoop, push him 
 over and yank him outen the ring. There s no ex 
 citement to it, an I seldom ever goes to em." 
 
 When the day arrived Joe, Doughty, Little Sol, 
 Butts and about twenty other boys were permitted 
 to go on shore in charge of the schoolmaster. 
 Long before the hour of the bull fight they walked 
 impatiently about the city, and got to the ring so 
 early that they thought they would have no trouble 
 in getting seats. 
 
 It was a great day in Lisbon. Thousands be 
 decked in gay colors thronged the streets and 
 highways. Carriages, bearing the coat-of-arms of 
 noble families, rolled along, drawn by horses in 
 richly ornamented harness, followed by postilions 
 in livery of many hues. Had the boys not known 
 that all this display was over a bull fight, they 
 would have thought that it was coronation day, or 
 that a foreign king was coming to visit the country, 
 and the people were going out to welcome him.
 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON. 255 
 
 At the ring they had to wait long, with a densely 
 packed, impatient crowd, for admission. Finally 
 the gates were thrown open, and there was a 
 grand rush for seats. Joe and Doughty, with Butts 
 crowding in after , got a good position. Whoever 
 knew American boys abroad to fail in getting 
 good seats in any public place, if left to their own 
 activity and ingenuity ? 
 
 The place where they sat commanded a full view 
 of every part of the pavilion. "All Lisbon must 
 be here," remarked Doughty. Everybody seemed 
 to be there, from the barefooted Gallegos, or water 
 carriers, to the royal family. Everybody seemed 
 waiting in suspense for the queen to enter the 
 royal box. Presently she appeared, and was 
 greeted by the vast audience with prolonged ap 
 plause. As she waved her handkerchief there was 
 a grand burst of music, and an officer of the king s 
 household galloped into the ring, followed by a 
 troop of riders mounted on horses in rich housings, 
 and dressed in the most brilliant and fantastic cos 
 tumes. After a graceful salute to the court, and 
 the public, they dashed with a great flourish of 
 lances to their several stations. A large number 
 of campinos, or bull-fighters, similarly dressed, but 
 unmounted, followed them into the ring, each bear 
 ing a gaudy banner or mantle. 
 
 The public imagination was highly wrought up 
 by this display. The boys now saw a man step for 
 ward and quickly pull open a little door. Standing
 
 256 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 one side, he shook a red flag violently in the aper 
 ture, and instantly a noble bull bounded into the 
 ring. For a moment he stood regarding the vast 
 audience with astonishment and anger. He was 
 indeed a beautiful animal, and as he stood, lithe 
 and graceful as a deer, pawing the ground and lash 
 ing his sides furiously with his tail, the boys burst 
 into an enthusiastic shout. The bull s dtbut had 
 been so handsomely made that the audience cheered 
 him lustily. 
 
 Already the campinos had begun their feats of 
 agility and daring. The air was aglow with their 
 waving mantles and flags. They were endeavoring, 
 not only to exhibit their own bravery, but also to 
 excite the bull to an attack upon the mounted men, 
 who as yet remained inactive. So violently did 
 the bull charge upon them that in a few minutes 
 every one of them had vaulted over the palings, 
 leaving the bull master of the ring. 
 
 Joe was getting excited. His sympathy up to 
 the present moment was with the bull. He wished 
 that he were bestride one of those magnificent 
 horses, or that he was even on foot in the ring ; he 
 would show the audience some sport. 
 
 Led by an officer of the royal guard, the knight- 
 errant of the occasion, each rider now put spurs to 
 his horse, and they were all exercising in a series 
 of quick evolutions, preparatory to a direct attack 
 upon the bull. So admirably trained were horses 
 and riders that even the bull looked as if he were
 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON. 257 
 
 charmed by the exhibition. The riders now began 
 severally to confront the bull, and to provoke his 
 anger by the sharp thrusts of their lances into his 
 shoulders and neck. Thus wounded and insulted 
 he sprang at his tormentors with such force that 
 they were barely able to evade his strokes by the 
 utmost dexterity and promptness. One noble horse 
 was struck with such violence that, in rearing, he 
 lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground. 
 Both the horse and his rider lay stunned for a mo 
 ment, when they were assisted out of the ring. 
 Meanwhile another fine animal being struck, the 
 king gave orders for the horsemen to withdraw, as 
 the royal horses were too valuable to be injured in 
 this manner. 
 
 The programme with the first bull was nearly 
 completed ; the band struck up a lively air, and sev 
 eral men rushed in to compete in single combats 
 for the honors of the day. One of them wrapped 
 himself in a crimson mantle and sat with extreme 
 indifference in a chair ; he barely saved himself 
 from a toss as the bull threw the chair a dozen feet 
 into the air. Another man stood on his hands, 
 shaking a bright cloth in his teeth. He escaped by 
 turning a very expeditious, but graceful handspring. 
 The applause over this was immense. 
 
 The most perilous feat of the ring was now at 
 tempted. An athletic and sprightly young man 
 covered with silver lace, and hung all over with lit 
 tle bells, undertook to throw himself between the
 
 258 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 bull s horns and cling to them until the bull should 
 become exhausted, when the campinos would rush 
 in and drag him in triumph from the ring. Cour 
 ageously making the attempt, he unhappily missed 
 his aim and fell directly in front of the infuriated 
 animal. 
 
 At this moment of terrible suspense, moreover, 
 Joe suddenly discovered what had not been seen by 
 anybody else that the bull had lost the padding 
 from one of his horns. He stood over the young 
 man, his eyes glaring and his whole attitude one of 
 furious anger. He refused to be diverted by the 
 colors glancing all around him, apparently consid 
 ering whether he should trample on his victim or 
 pierce him with his naked horn. The young man 
 did not dare to move, for he was aware that the 
 bull possessed every advantage. The excitement 
 of the audience was at its highest pitch. 
 
 Dicky Dawson sat in the audience not more than 
 half-conscious of what had been going on in the 
 ring. Poor Dicky had been yielding to his one 
 bad habit, and, we regret to record it, was about 
 half-intoxicated. This last act in the ring had 
 worked its way into his bewildered brain as a col 
 lision between two vessels, and he seemed to feel 
 that he was needed at the scene of disaster. Act 
 ing upon this impulse, he jumped into the ring, and 
 having very good command of himself, marched 
 straight forward and seized the bull by the horn. 
 Only an instant, and Dicky had exchanged places
 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON. 259 
 
 with the young man, and the bull was glaring over 
 him. 
 
 Joe s admiration of Dicky s sailor like qualities 
 was unbounded, and since the perils through which 
 they had passed together, a very warm friendship 
 had sprung up between them. He could not en 
 dure to see Dawson in a situation of such great 
 danger, and with the sprightliness of a sailor lad he 
 leaped the paling to be his rescuer if possible. 
 Everybody was astonished at his temerity. An 
 Englishman present cried out for him to come 
 back and not risk his life for a drunken sailor. 
 Several American travellers shouted their remon 
 strances, but Joe felt that he had entered the ring 
 on a good errand, and he would not be frightened 
 back. On the farm at home he had conquered 
 many a steer, quite as wild and powerful as this 
 maddened bull. 
 
 Conscious that thousands of eyes were watching 
 him with eager interest, without the slightest hesi 
 tation he advanced coolly toward the bull, and placed 
 himself so that with one hand he could grasp his 
 horn, while with the other he could seize his shaggy 
 mane. Laying hold of the bull he told Dawson to 
 get up and leave the ring instantly, which Dicky, 
 realizing now that he had mistaken the kind of 
 craft he had been dealing with, proceeded to do, 
 but with no great celerity. 
 
 Never before had Joe s mode of attack been seen 
 in Portugal, and it appeared the height of folly. A
 
 2(X> BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 murmur of remonstrance ran through the audience ; 
 and there were many cries for the campinos to rush 
 in and rescue the reckless sailor boy. Strangely 
 the bull and Joe for a moment were the only quiet 
 pnes in the pavilion. Presently a strange silence 
 settled upon the vast audience. It was a thrilling 
 scene the brave sailor boy apparently at the 
 mercy of the furious animal, and thousands of spec 
 tators looking on with breathless interest. 
 
 Suddenly the bull recovered himself, and with 
 an angry flaunt of his head renewed hostilities. 
 Joe quickly found it more difficult to cling to a 
 bull s slippery horn than to the yardarm of a man- 
 of-war in a tempest, but he was determined to be 
 captain of this lively craft. 
 
 As a good seaman favors a ship in a hurricane, so 
 Joe resolved to humor the bull ; he realized that he 
 must take care of his strength, for he would need it 
 all before he finished with his antagonist. The bull 
 writhed and hooked and stamped. One instant 
 the audience expected to see Joe dangling from the 
 bull s horns, or the next trampled beneath his feet ; 
 but he clung as he would cling to a lifeline in a 
 fearful surf. During the intervals of the bull s 
 violence, as in a breaker on its ebb, he gallantly 
 struck upon his feet. 
 
 Each time he did so "Bravo! bravo!" rent the 
 air. Continuing to put forth still greater power, the 
 bull plunged and tore around the ring. Alternately 
 Joe was jerked and swung from his feet and fairly
 
 JOE RESCUES DICKY DAWSON. 26 1 
 
 spun through the air. Round and round flew the 
 bull as in a race for life ; the pavilion tossed and 
 reeled and whirled before Joe s giddy sight. In 
 this manner the bull completed several circuits of 
 the ring, the dust rising and hanging over it like 
 wreaths of smoke. 
 
 How Joe held on ! He feared that he could not 
 endure the strain a minute longer, but he dreaded 
 to let go. He lamented his rashness in seizing the 
 bull by the horn, when all at once the animal s speed 
 began to slacken. Joe experienced a thrill of grat 
 itude as his feet once more touched the ground. 
 He was tired of flying, and was very glad to run. 
 
 Finding that he could not free his horn from 
 Joe s grip, the bull at last came to a halt, and be 
 gan to paw the ground in disappointed anger. 
 This was just the advantage Joe was seeking, and 
 which a bull seldom gives till towards the close of 
 a fight. No sooner had the bull began to throw 
 his foot into the air, with its little cloud of dust, 
 than Joe jumped in front of him and grasped both 
 his horns. 
 
 "Bravo! bravo!" again rent the air, and there 
 was another call for the campinos. Not waiting 
 this time to see what Joe would do, they rushed 
 upon the bull and by their united strength threw 
 him from his feet. Binding him securely with 
 cords they alternately rolled and dragged him from 
 the ring. 
 
 Joe had intended to cast the bull himself, or at
 
 262 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 least to make the attempt, by twisting his head so 
 suddenly to one side that the bull would fall. For 
 tunately he had been saved the experiment, and as 
 well as rescuing Dawson, had been rescued himself. 
 He was much abashed by the applause of the 
 audience as he made his way awkwardly back to 
 his seat. That evening he told Doughty that if he 
 had not gone into the ring for so good a purpose, 
 he should be heartily ashamed of the whole affair.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 CLEARED FOR ACTION. 
 
 A LIFE at sea is at all times full of surprises. 
 The transition from a bull fight to a great 
 war need not therefore disturb the natural se 
 quence. We next find our friend Joe in a great 
 Eastern port, almost within hearing of the sound 
 of terrible battles, and longing with ignorant en 
 thusiasm to see, and even to participate in, the fight 
 ing. 
 
 Suddenly the great bay of Smyrna had been 
 covered with a forest of spars, the growth almost 
 of a single day. The war raging between Russia 
 and Turkey had caused this massing of squadrons. 
 Hidden away among the great iron-clads was the 
 little United States fleet, inferior to all as respects 
 vessels and armament, superipr to all in highly 
 trained officers and able-bodied, intelligent seamen. 
 
 The passage up the Mediterranean had been a 
 glorious one to Joe. The weather had been crisp 
 and beautiful, and the navigating officer, who had 
 become quite friendly to him, and whom he often 
 assisted, pointed out many of the most famous 
 sights, and told him something of their history. 
 
 263
 
 264 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Besides, as lookout, be had been the hrst to report 
 Stromboli. The navigator had told him to be on 
 the watch for it, and he easily distinguished its far- 
 off glow from the stars that burned on the horizon 
 all around it. From the masthead he also caught 
 the first faint outline of Mount Etna; and how 
 proud he felt, on the same duty, to be the first to 
 pick up the royal masts of the English fleet lying 
 in Vonrla bay waiting in hourly expectation of 
 steaming up the Dardanelles for the defense of 
 Constantinople against the Russian army. 
 
 What an event it was in the life of a boy to see 
 so many of the great navies of the world ! No 
 other such formidable gathering had been wit 
 nessed during the century. Every day something 
 took place either of a very exciting or interesting 
 nature. Functions and drills were incessant. The 
 ports of each newly arriving ship fairly blazed with 
 the great number of salutes, which, from interna 
 tional courtesy, were obliged to be fired ; and the 
 harbor resounded everyday with cannonading from 
 colors, at eight bells, to sunset at four. 
 
 Joe and Doughty applied themselves to the 
 greater variety of duties belonging to a man-of-war 
 in active service. They were made signal boys, 
 and, for a time, stood watch and watch with the sig 
 nal quartermaster on the poop. Joe s arms fairly 
 ached from signalling messages which the pres 
 ence of so many American ships daily necessitated. 
 However, it kept him wide awake, and gave him a
 
 CLEARED FOR ACTION. 265 
 
 fine insight into points of naval etiquette and the 
 meaning of different evolutions. 
 
 Occasionally on boat duty the boys would go 
 alongside the foreign ships, and get a good look at 
 their heavily plated sides, their vast decks with 
 their huge guns, and think how little it would take 
 to set all their ports ablaze with the thunder and 
 lightning of war. Doughty was a good historian 
 for a boy, and he told Joe a great deal about the 
 different countries represented by those great na 
 vies. What a grand sight it would be, they often 
 remarked to each other, to see those ships in actual 
 battle ! And how glorious it would be to partici 
 pate in an actual sea fight ! There is nothing 
 easier in the world than fighting battles on the 
 quiet decks of armed ships ; or while gazing over 
 the thwarts of a cutter into the depths of a placid 
 sea. 
 
 " I haven t got the hang of all these functions 
 and ceremonies," said Joe to Dicky Dawson, one 
 morning, after a spirited drill at small arms. " I 
 don t see how the officers keep the run of them all." 
 
 Dicky was seated in the forecastle, trimming his 
 boat cushions in a highly ornamental manner. 
 
 " You ll soon learn em. They re as simple as 
 lickin a boy when you once understands em. As 
 for the officers, they has books to keep theirselves 
 posted." 
 
 " Do you know what the time s going to be this 
 afternoon ? Their getting man-ropes out on all the
 
 266 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 yards, and I helped the quartermaster to fish out 
 the German flag." 
 
 "The German Prince as come in last week s 
 goin round callin on the flagships. They mans 
 yards for him jest as they does for a king." 
 
 Would they do the same by one of our Presi 
 dents ? " 
 
 "Jest the same ; but I fancies they don t like to. 
 These here kings is jealous of ev ry form of guv- 
 ernment cept their own, but we ve got so big that 
 they re obliged to respect us. I seen what come 
 near bein a big row over a mistake about mannin 
 yards for Gen ral Grant." 
 
 "Tell me about it," pressed Joe eagerly. 
 
 " When he come to Athens he made official 
 visits as you ll see the Prussian prince do. All the 
 ships manned yards but the Prussians, an that 
 night ashore in a Greek caf6 at the Piraeus^ us 
 sailors took it up with their men. One of our fel 
 lers spoke German, and wanted to know if a Presi 
 dent of these United States warn t as good as any 
 Dutchman they could trot out for a king. They 
 up and sassed us, an just as we was gittin ready 
 to sail into em, somebody says, The yards warn t 
 manned for a very good reason. The ship didn t 
 have no yards to man. We looked out the winder 
 at her in the harbor an sure enough she didn t 
 have a stick in her that warn t straight up and 
 down." 
 
 " What did you do then ? "
 
 JLEARED FOR ACTION. 267 
 
 " Of course as gentlemen we pologized, and 
 begged their pardons." 
 
 "Have you ever been in Smyrna before?" 
 
 " Many s a time. I ve rode over that big hill 
 there, Mount Pagus, they calls it, a dozen times on 
 a donkey. I mgoin ag in soon. But they says as 
 it s dangerous now this war s started up the ban 
 dits." 
 
 " May I go with you ? " asked Joe. He had not 
 been ashore on liberty yet, and his curiosity was 
 much excited by the bumboatmen, and the donkeys 
 he could see trotting along the quay, appearing in 
 the distance not much larger than mice. 
 
 " Yes ; I ll take ye along to keep ye out o mis 
 chief." 
 
 " You ll be going to another bull fight when you 
 get a chance, won t you, Dawson ? " spoke up a 
 clumsy-looking marine, in a badgering tone. 
 
 " You tend to yer own business, an I ll look 
 arter mine. I never knew no marine as had pluck 
 enough to go into a calf-pen." 
 
 Dicky s retort raised a shout of laughter among the 
 listeners which caused the marine to drop him much 
 more quickly than he had picked him up. Dicky 
 was in truth very sore over the spectacle he had 
 made of himself in the bull ring, and the slightest 
 reference to it made him very angry. He had, how 
 ever, .not forgotten to privately thank Joe for com 
 ing to his rescue, and Joe was secretly his particu 
 lar favorite.
 
 268 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Here Doughty and Hanson came along, consid 
 erably excited over a galley yarn. They asked 
 Davvson if he had heard the rumor that the ship 
 was going to sail to exercise the crew at sea. 
 
 "Them kind o rumors allers grows in heavy 
 crops aboard ship. I d like to go. I m gittin 
 tired of all this fussin and foolin . The ar-cJiip-i- 
 lagos a beautiful place," answered Dawson. 
 
 The boys were very much amused at Dicky s 
 pronunciation of archipelago, but they did not let 
 him see it. 
 
 "You ll learn a good deal o history among them 
 islands. The ancient Pershuns used to inhabit 
 em." 
 
 " Greeks, you mean," said Doughty. 
 
 " No, I don t, mean Greeks. I don t stand no 
 correctin* from no boy, in no history," returned 
 Dicky with emphasis. 
 
 Joe winked at Doughty to say no more. They 
 accepted Dicky s authority in seamanship, and on 
 a variety of nautical subjects, and were willing to 
 let him think there were but few things which he 
 did not know all about. 
 
 A month of constant drills and exercises wore 
 away a little of the gilt from this splendid life, 
 showing the stern stuff underneath of which it was 
 in reality made. The daily sight of the vast fleet 
 had become an almost commonplace view, as no 
 doubt the attractions of a king s palace do to those 
 who see but little else.
 
 CLEARED FOR ACTION. 269 
 
 For some reason the ship did not put to sea until 
 a month later than it was rumored she would go. 
 One fine afternoon she got under way to spend a 
 week at sea in exercising the crew. As she steamed 
 out of port her departure was honored by all the 
 bands in the fleet playing the " Star-Spangled Ban 
 ner." It was such a beautiful afternoon that every 
 body was on deck watching the glow upon the hills 
 and the varying tints in the sky and upon the sea. 
 Evening came on remarkable for its loveliness. 
 The ship seemed alternately ploughing through 
 plains of silver and gold. The walls of the Turkish 
 fort at the mouth of the harbor looked like bur 
 nished metal. 
 
 Presently the sun dipped behind the western 
 hills, the sunset guns all around rumbled a parting 
 salute, and the twilight came on in all that mystery 
 of loveliness which poets and painters are always 
 seeking but are never able to unfold. 
 
 As the ship neared the fort the last rays of the 
 sun were gilding it, and strange movements were 
 observed from the deck all along the ramparts. 
 As the ship came still nearer a soldier ran along 
 the outer wall with a lighted torch, and climbing to 
 the top of a turret, proceeded to wave it with all 
 his might. This was certainly a signal for heaving 
 to ; but for what purpose nobody could conjecture. 
 It was thought for a moment that they might be 
 about to try their battery upon torpedoes with 
 which the channel was thickly planted, but this was
 
 27O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 quite improbable, as there were small boats and 
 schooners all around. 
 
 Joe and Doughty stood near the starboard gang 
 way, holding in full view the admiral and captain 
 who stood upon the bridge. The boys could see by 
 their puzzled air that they did not take in the mean 
 ing of the signal. Presently, however, they saw a 
 frown overshadow their faces as they beheld the 
 flash of a gun fired across the frigate s bows. 
 There was no further doubt, the ship had been per 
 emptorily ordered to heave to. This was an exi 
 gency as wholly unexpected as an attack from a 
 fleet composed of a thousand ancient galleys. It 
 was also very high-handed. For an armed ship of 
 a nation at peace to be summarily arrested like this 
 could be regarded as scarcely less than an insult. 
 Some of the officers went so far as to think that 
 complications had suddenly arisen between Turkey 
 and the United States, and that despatches warn 
 ing the ships from Turkish waters had been inter 
 cepted. 
 
 The boys watched the admiral with intense in 
 terest. No sooner was the gun fired, than in a 
 clear, ringing tone he commanded, " Beat to quar 
 ters, sir ! " 
 
 The captain gave the order to his executive, and 
 in an instant the drummer was rolling off the call. 
 Many times had Joe seen the ship cleared for action, 
 but nothing like this had he ever before witnessed. 
 Suddenly the magazines flew open, the decks be-
 
 CLEARED FOR ACTION. 2/1 
 
 came alive with men, railings fell away and ports 
 sprang open as by magic, and in a shorter time than 
 it could be told, fifteen great guns turned their muz 
 zles in deadly aim upon the fort. As many gun 
 captains stood with lockstrings in hand, waiting 
 the fatal word, " Fire ! " 
 
 The officers of the fort could see everything that 
 was being done on board the ship, and could not 
 mistake its meaning. They knew that any further 
 demonstration would bring a broadside of eleven- 
 inch shell tearing through them, and they were by 
 no means certain, as it was afterwards ascertained, 
 that they would not be shelled as it was. The fort 
 could not stand against the ship. It had been 
 built a century, and was out of repair; the guns 
 were old-fashioned, and could not throw one shot 
 in twenty into the ship. Should there be a fight, 
 their only hope would be to successfully explode a 
 torpedo under the frigate; and it was quite gener 
 ally known that the Greeks, who were the secret 
 allies of Russia, had raised most of the torpedoes 
 on dark nights and disconnected them from the 
 battery ashore by cutting the wires. The fort, 
 therefore, from this or other causes, forebore any 
 further act of hostility ; or if there was an attempt 
 to explode torpedoes, it was a dead failure. 
 
 There was not a member of the crew who was 
 not anxious to hear the order to fire on the fort. 
 They all knew the man who held the fort in the 
 shadow of his guns. He carried the scars of battle,
 
 2/2 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 and we may say for this is all true that he was 
 the famous admiral who, while a lieutenant, sent the 
 Merrimac back to Norfolk with his cheese box mon 
 itor. All were aware that he would resent an in 
 sult to the flag, though the next minute a dozen 
 torpedoes were exploded under him. 
 
 It was a thrilling picture, the great ship all ready 
 for action waiting for the fort to open fire upon her ; 
 everybody as silent as death, and as fixed in his 
 station as though ship and crew had suddenly turned 
 into stone. In this manner the frigate defied the 
 fort, not slackening her speed in the least, and hold 
 ing the enemy, as the garrison was now regarded, 
 under cover of her guns. 
 
 At this point there was another sensation. Fires 
 began to appear along the shores. The first was a 
 large bonfire near the fort, kindled immediately 
 after the firing of the gun. It was not long before 
 there were great fires burning everywhere, even 
 upon the hillsides miles away. The admiral swept 
 the whole country with his glass, and Joe, who was 
 doing messenger duty, heard him say to the captain 
 that he had some little idea of the cause of seeking 
 the detention of the ship, but he was completely 
 nonplused by the springing up of so many fires. 
 However, nothing more occurring, the ship soon 
 put many miles between herself and the fort. 
 
 Arriving in a broad, open space about midnight, 
 the fires were banked, and there was a grand exer 
 cise at general quarters. Three rounds were fired,
 
 CLEARED FOR ACTION. 2/3 
 
 and the excited crew could not have done more 
 credit to themselves had they been in training for 
 years instead of but a few months. They only re 
 gretted that so much powder was wasted upon an 
 imaginary foe, when but a few hours before they 
 had an actual fort which they were within an ace 
 of bombarding. Firequarters and boatdrill kept 
 them active till daylight, when the admiral, indig 
 nant at the treatment of the fort authorities, gave 
 orders to put back into port. 
 
 He ordered a charge to be put in each gun, and 
 several spare charges to be kept by the battery. 
 He seemed to have fully made up his mind that if 
 anything of the kind occurred again that he would 
 shell the fort. 
 
 As they were nearing the entrance to the har 
 bor, a very suspicious-looking craft was sighted, 
 apparently lying in wait. It was shortly ascer 
 tained that she flew Turkish colors. The hostile 
 attitude of the fort, the fires springing up all over 
 the country simultaneously with its action, and now 
 the presence of a Turkish iron-clad, combined to 
 give matters a very serious look. 
 
 The officers of the guns crews were quietly in 
 structed to have everything ready for going to 
 quarters, four bells were sounded, and she was put 
 under full pressure of steam. Everybody was in 
 suspense, waiting to spring at the first tap of the 
 drum to his gun. The Turkish ship was watched 
 for the slightest hostile demonstration.
 
 2/4 BOY LIp E IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Had there been a sufficient cause for detaining 
 the ship, her defiance of Turkish authority might 
 justify an attack upon her. The outlook was very 
 suspicious, the iron-clad on one side and the fort on 
 the other. 
 
 Joe saw a few white faces around him, and in 
 truth things looked very differently from what 
 they did the night before, when they had been 
 taken by surprise. 
 
 The vessel was reached. There was scarcely any 
 sign of life upon her deck. She even dipped her 
 colors to the American frigate. The fort was 
 reached. A man was seen at the flagstaff who also 
 dipped. This was a singular turn of affairs, but a 
 few breathed more easily. Joe fancied the admiral 
 looked a little disappointed, but he could not quite 
 tell. 
 
 The ship sped on. When she let go her an 
 chor, a boat was in waiting containing the highest 
 Turkish official of the city. With much obsequi 
 ousness he apologized for a great mistake made by 
 the commanding officer of the fort. The order 
 had been to allow no incoming vessel to pass the 
 fort after sunset ; but by some peculiar wording it 
 was interpreted to mean that no vessel should be 
 allowed to pass either way. The commandant 
 had the presence of mind to look at the order after 
 the gun was fired, and found out his error. Other 
 wise it would have been his duty to have fired into 
 the ship.
 
 CLEARED FOR ACTION. 2/5 
 
 The fires which had been seen springing up 
 simultaneously all over the country were in honor 
 of a Turkish religious festival, and the Turkish 
 man-of-war was lying in wait for a rakish-looking 
 craft which had been cruising among the islands, 
 and was suspected of being a Russian gunboat 
 about to make a swoop down upon Smyrna.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS. 
 
 ECOLLECT that you are under Dawson s 
 -i-\. orders to-day." 
 
 This was the last injunction of the officer of the 
 deck to Joe, Doughty, Hanson, Butts and Little Sol 
 who were drawn up at the port gangway for in 
 spection previous to their departure for a day s 
 sightseeing in Smyrna. 
 
 " Ay, ay, sir," the boys replied, as they started 
 over the side for the boat waiting below. 
 
 It being the custom to send apprentice boys on 
 liberty from the cruising ships of the Navy in 
 charge of a petty offi er, the unsettled state of 
 Turkey in this instance made the custom doubly 
 imperative The boys had begged that Dicky 
 Davvson might have charge of them, and he had 
 been detailed for this duty, though with not much 
 grace on his part. 
 
 " Tumble in there, my hearties," said Davvson 
 as they reached the boat ; " we want to get there 
 afore night." 
 
 They jumped into the stern sheets, the boat 
 shoved off and was rapidly pulled to the landing. 
 276
 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS. 
 
 As they mounted the stone steps to the quay, 
 Dawson observed: "I m capen of this expedition 
 to-day, an I want ye all to understand it. I ve 
 been obliged to give my time to you boys, an I m 
 goin to be boss." 
 
 " I guess we se big enough to look out for our 
 selves," said Butts. 
 
 " If you don t want ter come under the regela- 
 tions ye can go back in the boat ; I won t have no 
 boy as won t mind." 
 
 " Fall in and behave yourself, Butts," said Joe. 
 
 After mumbling that there was too much "bossin 
 aboard ship to come ashore and be bossed," he 
 yielded, and the party started for a donkey stable 
 in the environs of the city. They thought it would 
 be an easy matter to employ half a dozen donkeys, 
 but the proprietor had raised the hire to an exorbi 
 tant sum, and they dickered and bickered, through 
 an interpreter, till in a fit of disgust they filed out 
 of the stable. 
 
 "That s the way they does ; they allers thinks 
 they can cheat Americans, but they didn t do it 
 this time," said Dicky, as they started for another 
 establishment. 
 
 A loud call from the stable, signifying that 
 Dicky s price would be accepted, sent them back, 
 and in almost no time six donkeys stood saddled 
 and bridled. There was quite a little scuffle to see 
 who should get the best-looking one, and the party 
 mounted and set out.
 
 278 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Dawson s plan was to ride through the city, vis 
 iting the docks, the bazars, the Pacha s palace, the 
 four great quarters of the city, each occupied by a 
 different race or nationality, and then to ride sev 
 eral miles outside where they would get dinner at 
 a little Turkish restaurant, on the banks of the 
 classical river Meles. The classical part, however, 
 had not occurred to Dicky. This programme 
 would prolong the ride, and, like all sailors, he had 
 a weakness for long excursions bestride a horse or 
 donkey, he did not care which. 
 
 41 What a queer old city this is," Doughty re 
 marked to Joe. " It s the same Smyrna we read 
 about in the book of Revelation. I suppose these 
 old ruins were fine buildings in the time of the 
 Bible. They say there are the ruins of two very 
 beautiful temples somewhere round here. One 
 was built in honor of Homer, and the other was 
 erected to yEsculapius. The teacher in the Boston 
 Latin School used to tell us that Smyrna was one 
 of the seven cities which claimed to be the birth 
 place of Homer. They ve got a cave out here, too, 
 that they call Homer s Cave." 
 
 A long line of camels suddenly interrupted this 
 classical conversation. It was a Persian train just 
 starting on its long journey heavily laden with mer 
 chandize. In some unaccountable way the whole 
 party found themselves mixed up in this caravan, 
 and several of the camels were disposed to resent 
 the intrusion. One huge one made a bite at Han-
 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS. 2/9 
 
 son s head, and he barely escaped by throwing him 
 self forward on his donkey. As it was, the camel 
 got his cap and began grinding it up when his 
 driver by a solid blow made him drop it. 
 
 " Whip up yer donkeys, an git out o this. These 
 camels is gittin mad," cried the leader. 
 
 The whips were applied, but they had no more 
 effect than the lighting of flies would have upon 
 the tough hides of the donkeys. 
 
 " I ve found a way to git em along," cried Butts. 
 " Put the end of a stick under the saddle, and lift 
 up. It s new to "em." 
 
 Butts s discovery was employed, and it had the 
 effect to send the donkeys scampering from among 
 the camels, to the great relief of their riders. 
 
 "What d ye s pose all that howlin s for," said 
 Dawson abruptly, stopping to listen. " If we was 
 in any other country, I should think we was near 
 a lunitik asylum. They don t have no sich insti- 
 tooshuns here. The Turks is barbarious." 
 
 They had come to a court from which strange 
 sounds proceeded. A good many people stood at 
 the farther end of the enclosure, listening intently 
 and stretching their necks to get a sight through 
 a large window of the originating cause of these 
 really startling noises. They turned the donkeys 
 into the court, and leaving Little Sol in charge of 
 them, the rest of the party jammed themselves in 
 among the spectators. Joe was taking his first 
 look through the window when he felt the small
 
 28O BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 end of a cane jabbed into him so violently that it 
 would not have hurt him much worse had it made 
 actual incisions. He turned indignantly and saw 
 that a very stout woman was taking this method to 
 make him understand that he was obstructing her 
 view. He worked his way one side, and Butts 
 crowded into his place. Butts got the end of the 
 cane driven with still greater force into him. He 
 sung out "Don t !" with such a prolongation and 
 swelling of the vowel that everybody looked at him 
 in surprise, and the boys all laughed. 
 
 They found that the noise came from a company 
 of howling and dancing dervishes, who were per 
 forming their peculiar rites. They were howling and 
 whirling in a remarkable manner. After sitting 
 crosslegged on the floor, howling out their devo 
 tions at the very top of their voices, meanwhile 
 swinging their bodies violently back and forth, they 
 would spring to their feet and spin around until 
 they would fall swooning into the arms of attend 
 ants. To add to the ludicrousness of the scene, a 
 number of pretty little children had toddled into 
 the sacred space and were imitating the motions 
 and sounds made by the dervishes in the practice 
 of their strange rites. 
 
 " Come along," said Dawson. "I don t want to 
 hear no more sich nonsense. When I want to see 
 monkey shines, I ll go somewhere else." 
 
 The donkey brigade struck a lively canter which 
 soon brought them to a railroad crossing. Butts
 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS. 28 1 
 
 had been using his new method for the production 
 of speed with such persistency that he led the cav 
 aliers. Had he been more familiar wilh donkey 
 character he would have been more temperate in 
 the application of his invention. However, he 
 reached the crossing first, and gave his donkey an 
 extra lift under the saddle, when the animal as 
 if the whole thing had been cunningly planned, 
 planted his feet in front of the first rail and sent his 
 rider sprawling across the track. At that instant 
 a train came thundering round a curve. Hanson 
 and Doughty were nearest the track, and realizing 
 Butts s peril jumped for the prostrate knight, and 
 jerked him from the rails just as the train swept 
 by. Butts had not seen the train or he could have 
 saved himself. The donkey stood with the cars 
 almost rubbing his nose, and looked as if he were 
 waiting to view Butts s remains, which no doubt he 
 would have done with utmost complacency but for 
 the timely interference of Doughty and Hanson. 
 
 "There s something worth lookin at," exclaimed 
 Dawson, as they reached the commercial part of 
 the city. " Them fellers carries on their backs 
 a most a thousand pounds. Their legs is padded 
 to keep the veins from bursting." 
 
 A group of porters were going along, bearing im 
 mense loads. The exhibition of strength was really 
 wonderful. 
 
 " The consul told me all about them the other 
 day," remarked Doughty. " He said they are one
 
 2S2 
 
 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 of the curiosities of Smyrna. The profession de 
 scends from father to son, and they are so jealous 
 of anyone going into the business that they combine 
 against him, and run him out." 
 
 " I should as soon think of bein* jealous of a 
 man carryin a hod," observed Dicky. 
 
 The lading of a transport with the horses of a 
 cavalry regiment called away their attention. By 
 means of a derrick the horses were slung up in 
 broad bands and let down through a wide hatchway 
 to the transport s main deck. Many of them kicked 
 and struggled in the air, but to no purpose. The 
 riders were very odd-looking soldiers. They wore 
 the costume of the interior, which gave each one 
 the appearance of aBashi-bazouk ; in fact they were 
 a regiment of Bashi-bazouks, as the boys ascertained 
 from the remarks of an Englishman standing by. 
 
 Thousands of refugees also, with rags tied about 
 their feet for shoes, and dressed in other rags of 
 every color, walking aimlessly about, mingled a very 
 fantastic element in the picture. Before Dawson 
 got them away Joe had put out most of his spare 
 change upon a poor woman who had a family of 
 most beautiful little children whom she was trying 
 to keep from wandering away. Purchasing a lot of 
 oranges and cakes for them, he patted the little 
 heads, thinking that all the chilrlren of the world, 
 no matter to what nation belonging, are of the same 
 nation. He heard them giving the same shouts, 
 and saw them engaged in the same games that **
 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS. 283 
 
 had been accustomed to in his far-away Aroostook 
 home. 
 
 For some reason Davvson was in a great hurry. 
 They were obliged to hasten through the bazars, 
 were allowed but a few minutes at the barracks and 
 the palace, were permitted but a glimpse of the 
 Greek, Armenian, Turkish and Jewish quarters of 
 the city when Dawson headed them for Mount 
 Pagus, lying just without the town. 
 
 " Isn t this a grand sight ? " exclaimed Doughty, 
 as they stopped to rest the donkeys almost at the 
 mountain s summit. 
 
 The city lay directly beneath them. Whatever 
 might be said of its streets and buildings, from this 
 vantage ground it presented a most beautiful sight. 
 The minarets, the domes of the mosques, the gar 
 dens full of orange, lemon and fig-trees, the vine 
 yards, and, fronting all, the fine harbor with the 
 clusters of merchant shipping at the wharves, and 
 the noble fleet lying anchored on its bosom, owing 
 to a singular grouping of the most conspicuous ob 
 jects, made a picture such as a traveller will not be 
 likely to see more than once in a circuit of the 
 globe. But most of the party did not appreciate 
 the view. They had seen photographs of it on the 
 way up exposed for sale, and they would be much 
 more pleasing than the reality. 
 
 " Won t you give us permission to turn in here, 
 Dawson ? " asked Doughty as they came to the arch 
 of an ancient amphitheatre.
 
 284 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Davvson assented and they rode in. It had been 
 a splendid structure, horseshoe in form, and con 
 tained seats for the accommodation of many thou 
 sands. The arches and abutments, together with 
 much of the external walls, remained as smooth as 
 they were two thousand years ago. 
 
 " Was the top all open like this ? " inquired Joe. 
 
 "Yes; no places of amusement anciently had 
 roofs ; and some think the temples were uncovered. 
 They were jolly places to get rid of accidents in. 
 People wern t burnt up then in theatres as they are 
 nowdays." 
 
 " What did they do here ? " pursued Joe. 
 
 "They did all sorts of things. They had gladi 
 atorial fights, combats between wild beasts, and 
 sometimes great naval engagements." 
 
 " I suppose like the big one we had the other 
 night off the fort," spoke up Hanson. 
 
 " No ; they had actual battles. They had a deep 
 trench running through the widest part of the 
 arena which was flooded, and galleys rammed each 
 other, and sailors fought with swords. Men were 
 often killed, and galleys sunk." 
 
 " Where did you get all your information, 
 Doughty ? " asked Hanson. 
 
 " Ain t you seen him goin round the last week or 
 two with a red-covered book, a-readin on it when 
 he ought to been mendin his close ?" asked Davv 
 son. " This guide-book knowledge s showy, but 
 it s very shaller."
 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS. 285 
 
 " Knowledge is knowledge wherever you find it," 
 said Doughty warmly. " But my father is a minister 
 and has been all over Asia Minor. I heard him 
 deliver a lecture on the * Seven Churches of Asia. 
 One of them was here, you know. That one with 
 the big dome over there must be the church he 
 spoke of. And that must be the tomb of St. Poly- 
 carp after whom the church was named," he quickly 
 added as he pointed to a tomb in the distance. 
 
 "Never mind Pollycarp," said Dawson. "Tell 
 us something about this old castle." They were 
 now approaching an ancient fortification which 
 crowned the whole summit of the hill. 
 
 "This old castle was first built by Alexander the 
 Great, and many ages after re-built by the Sara 
 cens." 
 
 "D ye mean to say that Alexander the Great laid 
 all them bottom rocks with his own ban s? You 
 can t make me believe any such stuff. I ve laid 
 too much stonewall myself for that," said Butts. 
 
 A general laugh greeted Butts s literal interpre 
 tation of Doughty s remarks. 
 
 " It s gettin along in the forenoon an we mustn t 
 make no more stops," said Dawson. 
 
 They whipped up the donkeys and began a rapid 
 descent of the mountain on the other side. Below 
 them for miles stretched the valley with the beau 
 tiful river Meles winding through. For the most 
 part the country was unsettled. The few houses 
 there were were very secluded on account of the
 
 286 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 high walls surrounding them, and the vines which 
 seemed to cover them completely over. The boys 
 observed that each house had iron bars across all 
 the windows, and that each one was a fortified cas 
 tle as well as being a residence. Occasionally a 
 proprietor was discovered, looking out rather 
 fiercely on the party, as though he considered them 
 intruders. 
 
 A mile away from any habitation they came upon 
 quite a deep gorge. As they issued from the 
 farther end, a loud barking of dogs and a shout 
 from Butts, whose donkey had been experimented 
 on so much that a part of the time he would not go 
 at all, and, in consequence, kept his rider con 
 stantly in the rear, caused them to quickly turn 
 about. They beheld three ferocious brutes snarl 
 ing and snapping and growling at Butts as if they 
 had caught him stealing grapes from their master s 
 vineyard. Butts was whacking his donkey with his 
 heels and laying on with his whip as if he were 
 surrounded by a pack of wolves. He might as well 
 have kicked a tugboat to make her move faster 
 when there was barely steam enough to turn over 
 the propeller. 
 
 " Them dogs acts kind o* wild. They must be 
 some o them brutes from the city as nobody owns ; 
 we must go and help Butts," quickly observed 
 Dawson. 
 
 They forced the donkeys down pell-mell, and 
 were not an instant too soon. One dog had the
 
 SAILOR BOY CLASSICS. 28/ 
 
 toe of Butts s shoe in his mouth, and another had 
 put his fore feet upon the saddle, and had a mouth 
 ful of the loose part of Butts s shirtsleeve. Dawson 
 brought his heavy stick upon the head of this fero 
 cious animal with a tremendous thump, and the 
 dog let go his hold. But he sprang at Dawson 
 furiously, and in an instant had his ankle in his 
 mouth, biting away as if he would chew it off. For 
 tunately Dawson had on a pair of lace-up shoes with 
 very heavy tops, but he could feel the dog s teeth 
 gradually working their way through. Hanson and 
 Joe turned the butts of their whips upon the dog, 
 but he would not let go. 
 
 " Git out o the way, all on yer. I ll fix him," 
 said Dawson, in a very energetic tone. 
 
 He quietly drew from his breast pocket a little 
 silver-mounted revolver, and, coolly taking aim, 
 sent the dog howling and writhing over the grass. 
 Presently the dog lay stretched out dead. The 
 other dogs, which had been getting the worst of it, 
 from the whips and sticks of the boys, when they 
 saw their comrade dead, started off yelping as 
 though their lives depended on every bound they 
 made. 
 
 "I allers carries this little jewel in a savage or 
 barbarian country," said Dicky, looking affection 
 ately at his beautiful little weapon. " It was a pres 
 ent from a lady as lost her husband in a shipwreck, 
 for helping to save her and the baby." 
 
 The boys looked at the wonderful little revolver
 
 288 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 and at the dog now stiff upon the grass, and wished 
 they were each armed with one of the same kind. 
 " Who knows," remarked Hanson, "but we may 
 all need revolvers before we get back to the ship ? " 
 
 " I don t want no revolvers in the hands of boys. 
 They never knows how to use em. If any o you 
 had fired at that dog you d shot one o yerselves, 
 or a donkey, which would ave been the same 
 thing," observed Dicky. 
 
 " I only hope that dog didn t belong to anybody," 
 said Doughty. "A Turk would never forgive any 
 body for killing his dog. Look up there now ! " he 
 suddenly exclaimed in conclusion. 
 
 The party looked up to a jutting point overlook 
 ing the hollow, and they beheld a man dressed in 
 the garb of a shepherd looking down at the clog. 
 He was scowling and shaking his hands. Sud 
 denly he ground the end of his staff into the earth, 
 gave the party a menacing gesture, and turned 
 quickly away. 
 
 " I don t quite like the looks o that," said Daw- 
 son. " But we can take care o that feller."
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE. 
 
 JOE had got a little in advance of the party. As 
 he rounded a point bringing their place of 
 destination in view, he was much struck with its 
 beauty. It lay just inside the boundary line of the 
 region outside of Smyrna, whose Turkish name 
 signifies, " Garden of Eden." 
 
 " I ve been in many a country," exclaimed Dicky 
 Dawson as he joined him, " but I never seen nothin 
 like this. It s worth a month s pay to come here. 
 Look at that light, shinin through them trees, and 
 that there river. Looks like it flowed right out o 
 the heart of a silver mount in." 
 
 The place certainly had one marked resemblance 
 to Paradise of old ; it was very sparsely populated. 
 Nobody could be seen anywhere, excepting an old 
 Turk. He doubtless had an Eve, or several of 
 them, in his beautiful garden ; but when anybody 
 was around he kept them shut up where their curi 
 osity regarding new-comers could only be gratified 
 by peeps through thick latticework. Certain little 
 sounds, feminine in their import, coming from the 
 interior of the only house the place contained con- 
 
 289
 
 290 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVV. 
 
 firmed the party in the conviction that the Turk 
 had several wives. 
 
 The Turk was quite an old man, and looked very 
 venerable with his long white beard, and his tur 
 ban of three different colors, one above the other. 
 When the party rode up under the trees this an 
 cient Mahommedan was at the river s edge, reli 
 giously attending to the ablution of his feet. When 
 he had done, he came forward and in a very digni 
 fied manner bowed to the party, and motioned for 
 them to alight and hitch their donkeys. He then 
 led them into a pretty bower formed by interlacing 
 branches and thickly twining vines, containing sev 
 eral rough tables and rustic seats. When they 
 were seated, he waited their orders. 
 
 " He seems to be proprietor, cook and waiter, all 
 in one," said Doughty. "How shall we make him 
 understand ? " 
 
 " Name yer orders," said Dicky. " I knows a 
 language as is understood in every country." 
 
 " I ll have chicken," said Joe. 
 
 "That s a crow," ejaculated Dawson. 
 
 "I ll take mutton chop," said Little Sol. 
 
 "That s a baa." 
 
 " I ll have corn beef," said Butts. 
 
 " Don t you know better n to ask for corn beef 
 in Turkey ? Don t ye git salt hoss enough aboard 
 ship ? If he had it, I couldn t make him understand. 
 The beef would be a beller, but I couldn t make 
 him understand corn," mused Dicky.
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE. 
 
 When they had each settled on one of the three, 
 namely chicken, mutton chop, and beefsteak, which 
 latter is a great dish among the Turks, Dicky 
 proceeded to crow, to bleat, and to bellow, in ex 
 cellent imitation of those sounds in the animal 
 kingdom. The Turk, without the slightest per 
 ceptible change of countenance, thoroughly com 
 prehended the orders, and walked away with as 
 much dignity as he would show in entering the 
 mosque of Saint Sophia, to execute them. When 
 he had set the articles cooking, he stepped down to 
 the water again, looked up at the sun, prostrated 
 himself and then repeated his pedal ablution. 
 
 "I only hope he s as attentive to his hands as 
 he is to his feet," remarked Joe. 
 
 "That s a religious rite," said Doughty, "and I 
 must say that I have great respect for anybody who 
 attends to his religious duties, no matter what they 
 are. My father says there are some splendid 
 things in Mohammedanism and that Mohamme 
 dans have been greatly misrepresented." 
 
 " Less go in swimming," proposed Butts, who 
 had been staring at Doughty as if he had been 
 talking Turkish. 
 
 This proposition met the general humor, and 
 they started for the river. Great trees grew on 
 either bank close to the water s edge, their wide 
 branches meeting overhead, letting the sun through 
 the leafy canopy in slanting beams and little 
 patches of light. It was a glorious place for swim-
 
 2Q2 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 ming, and in a few minutes the boys were disport 
 ing themselves in the clear water with all the ex 
 uberance of spirits belonging to their age. They 
 could swim without the least fear of sharks, and 
 felt great relief in having no cordon of boats to 
 watch their every movement lest they should drown 
 or seek to desert. It was the greatest fun they 
 had had since leaving their own native land. 
 
 They staid in the water until the Turk came 
 down and motioned to them that dinner was ready. 
 They found the dishes very palatable. Butts found 
 his beefsteak especially good. The Turk seemed 
 to have taken the gauge of his appetite, for the 
 steak was of enormous size. The waiter set on 
 mastic and absinthe, and went to bring some wine, 
 but Dawson shook his head at him. " I never lows 
 boys," he said, " to use any kind o liquor when I 
 has charge on em. Bring water, aqua, ole man." 
 Dicky had been very temperate since the bullfight. 
 
 The mastic and absinthe went off, and water 
 came on. The dinner was progressing with un 
 usual felicity, when Hanson, who sat at the end of 
 the table pointing up the river, suddenly looked up 
 and exclaimed, " See, coming down the river ! " 
 
 Quickly turning, they saw coming up the oppo 
 site bank four men, who, from their appearance, 
 might have belonged to the regiment of Bashi- 
 bazouks, which the boys had seen embarking in the 
 early part of the day. They were mounted on very 
 fine Turco-Arabian horses, were almost giants in
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE. 
 
 size, and carried an apron-like contrivance in front 
 of them, crowded full of small Oriental weapons of 
 every description. Each one bore an old-fashioned 
 carbine slung across his shoulders, and a small 
 Turkish sword, in shape like a new moon, dangled 
 from each rider s side. In addition to being so 
 profusely armed, they were men of quite ferocious 
 aspect. 
 
 Coming to a point on the shore that commanded 
 a full view of the restaurant, they abruptly halted, 
 and appeared to be holding a consultation. From 
 their frequent looks and gestures toward the party, 
 the boys easily inferred that they themselves were 
 the subjects of conversation. After a few moments 
 of animated debate, the troopers (we will call them 
 such for convenience s sake) turned their horses 
 down to the river and plunged in at the shallowest 
 place they could find. 
 
 "That looks like they re makin for us," remarked 
 Dicky. " It can t be about that dog ; they looks like 
 sogers." 
 
 " I wish you hadn t shot that dog, all the same," 
 said Doughty. " They may be mounted police 
 men." 
 
 " I ain t afeared on em," retorted Dicky. " I ve 
 done things worse nor shootin a dog in self-de 
 fense, an got out of it as slick as a whistle. If 
 they be policemen, I ll take my chances, as I allers 
 does." 
 
 The horses scrambled up the bank, the troopers
 
 294 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 quickly dismounted and hitched them among the 
 donkeys under the trees. They then unstrapped 
 their carbines, stood them against a tree, and, led 
 by the old Turk, who had gone down to receive 
 them, they presently appeared in the bower and 
 sat down at the table close by the one occupied by 
 Dicky and his party. They gave the old Turk a 
 hurried order, and he brought on wine and mastic, 
 after which he appeared with four tiny cups of cof 
 fee. 
 
 " I forgot all about that ! " exclaimed Dicky when 
 he saw the coffee coming. " Here, ole man, bring 
 us some. Coffee, cafe /" he called, pointing to the 
 cups on the troopers table, as the old Turk did not 
 seem to understand. 
 
 In a few minutes the boys were regaling them 
 selves with Turkish coffee, which was so thick that 
 they had to eat it with spoons. 
 
 All the while the troopers eyed them closely, and 
 kept asking questions of the restaurant keeper, 
 evidently about them. Something concerning the 
 boys was, without doubt, under grave considera 
 tion ; but what could it be ? Three of them seemed 
 bent on carrying out some scheme or other relating 
 to them, while the fourth appeared to be earnestly 
 expostulating. The judgment of the old Turk 
 was sought, and he seemed to agree with the remon- 
 strator, setting forth his views with profound grav 
 ity. Some financial advantage was evidently at the 
 bottom of the plan. They would look at the party,
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE. 
 
 and count on their fingers, as in an arithmetical 
 calculation, appearing to be estimating the exact 
 profit each boy would be to them. 
 
 " If I was a Hottentot jest landed from a slaver, 
 I should think they was goin to sell me," observed 
 Dicky. 
 
 " It looks to me," said Doughty, " that we ve got 
 to go into a Turkish police court about that dog." 
 
 "That dog be hanged ! This has got nothin to 
 do with that clog," answered Dicky quite fiercely. 
 
 "Less go," said Butts in a frightened whisper. 
 
 "We ll stand our ground," said Joe, showing 
 considerable spirit. " We ve got our uniforms 
 on, and a Government uniform is as good as the 
 flag to protect us ; I heard one of the officers say 
 so." 
 
 "If I was alone, I wouldn t let em take me 
 alive. But I wouldn t risk gettin any o you boys 
 shot. Ye see what a responsibility boys is," said 
 Dicky, in the tone, if not with the elegance, of an 
 old general. 
 
 " You can use your revolver," said Joe. " I m 
 sorry we didn t borrow a lot of navy revolvers from 
 the armorer. Then we wouldn t have to be cow 
 ards." 
 
 " I wouldn t resk lettin em see mine. Don t ye 
 see the handles o their pistles stickin out in front 
 on em ? I don t want my beauty in there among 
 em. Turks is covetous o firearms. They s real 
 estate to em."
 
 2Q6 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " But won t you use it at all if they attempt to 
 capture us ? " 
 
 " It wouldn t be no use. Besides I ve hid it in 
 my shoe." Unobserved, Dicky had crowded his 
 revolver into the ample top of his left shoe. 
 
 It was now certain, from the looks and gestures 
 of the troopers, that they regarded the party as 
 their prisoners. It was very galling to most of our 
 young men-of-warsmen to be obliged to pusillani- 
 mously yield to their enemies when they should 
 confront them for their capture or arrest ; but vio 
 lent resistance, unarmed as they were, would be 
 the sheerest folly. The troopers were evidently 
 mountaineers, agile and powerful, and had the ad 
 vantage of being armed to the teeth. Dicky Daw- 
 son saw from the beginning that the only policy 
 would be one of nonresistance and diplomacy, 
 and he would not listen to any other suggestion. 
 Joe, for instance, proposed that they make a grand 
 rush for the horses. Three of them could seize 
 upon two horses and Little Sol and Dicky could 
 each have a horse to himself. This was altogether 
 impracticable, as the troopers could overtake them 
 before they could mount and cut them down with 
 their swords, or remain in the bower and bring 
 some of them down with their pistols. Daughty s 
 proposition was that they spring for the carbines, 
 then each one could cover his man from behind a 
 tree and Dawson could reserve his revolver for a 
 hand-to-han. 1 encounter in case the carbines should
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE. 
 
 be unloaded or miss fire. But it was decided that 
 any move from the bower would bring the troopers 
 close after them. 
 
 Dawson motioned the old Turk to come forward 
 to receive his bill. While he was counting out the 
 sum, in French money, which the Turk had marked 
 upon a chip with a pencil, he observed that the 
 troopers were getting ready for a start. As the 
 party rose to leave the bower, the troopers jumped 
 to their feet and moved quickly to the entrance. 
 Each man grasped his sword hilt, indicating that 
 all they at present desired was a peaceable sur 
 render. This Dawson signified would be made. 
 The leader of the troopers then made signs for 
 them to deliver up any arms that might be con 
 cealed about their persons. Dawson shook his 
 head. Not satisfied with this, the man proceeded 
 to search the party. He pulled from their breast 
 pockets the great shipknives which they wore sus 
 pended from their necks by lanyards, felt of the hoe- 
 like edges, and returned them. 
 
 " If he only knew enough to look in your shoe, 
 Dawson, he d find somethin ," said Butts. 
 
 " You keep still, you lubber ! How do you know 
 but some on em understands a little English ! " 
 
 The search finished, the troopers marched them 
 to the donkeys and made signs for them to mount. 
 Vaulting into their own saddles, one of them sta 
 tioned himself as advance guard, leaving the other 
 three to bring up in the rear, and the whole com-
 
 298 DOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 pany set out. For a time the leader led them di 
 rectly up the river. The course then deflected to 
 the right, away from the river s bank into a ravine 
 wild and irregular. The party wondered if there 
 was a robber s cave anywhere in this dismal place 
 where they would be confined until a ransom should 
 be paid for them should it turn out, after all, that 
 their captors were brigands instead of troopers. 
 
 No. They soon came to the farther end of the 
 ravine, nothing like a cave having appeared, and 
 emerged into a barren, unsettled district, lying on 
 the southwestern slope of Mount Pagus. The only 
 habitation visible was one of the little castles already 
 described a long distance ahead. Pointing his horse 
 directly for this house, the leader indicated that 
 the march must be quickened. 
 
 " It s clear to me as these fellers isn t rob 
 bers," observed Dawson. " The mountains where 
 bandits resides is the other way." 
 
 "I think," said Doughty, "they ve simply ar 
 rested us on account of that " 
 
 "Don t say dog to me again. I m sick on it," 
 replied Dicky, changing his voice from a jocose 
 tone to a growl. 
 
 Their quickened pace brought them in a short 
 time to the house. It was enclosed by a lofty wall, 
 whose only opening was guarded by a solid door. 
 A heavy pounding on this door brought a strapping 
 young Turk, who looked out upon the company 
 with not the least surprise discernible in his vis-
 
 A MYSTERIOUS CAPTURE. 299 
 
 age. The instant the door swung open the leader 
 urged his horse through, and motioned Dicky to 
 follow. Presently all were inside the walls, and the 
 door was securely fastened. 
 
 The troopers dismounted, secured their horses, 
 and leaving one of their number on guard, entered 
 the house, where they were soon heard laughing 
 and chatting in great glee. Left comparatively 
 alone, the boys jumped from their donkeys and 
 took a look about the premises. 
 
 " I m goin to have some o these oranges," said 
 Butts, as he made a jump for a big one, suspended 
 from a large limb a foot above his head. 
 
 Butts s loss of courage had not dimmed his eye to 
 the splendid yellow fruit which hung thickly from a 
 great number of trees in the garden. Everybody 
 but Doughty seemed of the same mind, and Daw- 
 son seized hold of the trunk of a big tree and 
 brought down a perfect shower of the most lus 
 cious fruit. 
 
 " What will the owner say when he finds we ve 
 been helping ourselves?" asked Doughty. 
 
 " We s prisoners," said Dicky, "and the enemy s 
 bound to furnish our rations. It s the rule o war. 
 I wouldn t object to a few weeks o this," he con 
 tinued, scooping an enormous orange from the peel 
 ing ; " but I d want the run o the house." 
 
 It was all very nice and jolly until they became 
 surfeited with oranges, then the old perplexity re 
 turned as to what they had been captured for.
 
 3OO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 " What ran they do with us here, Dawson ? " 
 asked Joe. 
 
 "They won t keep us here. When night comes 
 they ll take us to the city. That part s clear to 
 me. If they was robbers they wouldn t use us so 
 well, and if they was policemen they wouldn t be 
 stoppin here. They s sogers, for they has a mili 
 tary bearin . But what they wants with us is the 
 biggest puzzle I ever worked on. This is the boss 
 scrape I ever got into ashore, but I ll get ye out all 
 right, or my name isn t Dicky Dawson." 
 
 True to Dicky s suspicion, night found them 
 again on the move, making, by a circuitous route, 
 their way quite rapidly into the city.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 JOE S CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED. 
 
 THAT boy has not returned, sir. He was 
 one of a party that went ashore in charge 
 of Dawson early this morning. They had strict 
 orders to be at the landing for the sundown boat." 
 
 " Do you know of any reason why he should 
 overstay his liberty, even if Dawson got to drink- 
 ing?" 
 
 " None whatever, sir. He has never been on 
 the report book, and he and Boy Doughty are the 
 best boys in the ship." 
 
 " I would like to have him all ready to take the 
 Messageries Impdriales steamer which clears for 
 Marseilles to-morrow evening. You may send the 
 master-at-arms ashore to hunt him up." 
 
 "Very good, sir." 
 
 This conversation took place about ten o clock 
 at night in the cabin of the flagship, between the 
 captain and his executive. The subject was no 
 other than our friend Joe. Very strange things 
 had been happening him on all sides, and now the 
 strangest of all had taken place. A letter had 
 reached the admiral that day from the Honorable 
 
 301
 
 3O2 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 Secretary of the Navy, directing him to detach 
 First Class Boy Bently (Joe had recently been ad 
 vanced to this rate), and order him home by the 
 first steamer that should leave for Marseilles. 
 Thence he was to proceed overland to Havre, 
 where he would take the French steamer Labrador 
 for New York. 
 
 In explanation of this, it was stated that the Con 
 gressman from Joe s district in Maine, had nomi 
 nated him as a candidate for appointment as a cadet 
 midshipman to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. 
 An official letter had also come from the same high 
 authority to Joe himself, formally granting him 
 permission to appear before the examining boards, 
 before whom all candidates must appear previous 
 to their admission to the academy. 
 
 The executive officer returned to the cabin, after 
 directing the officer of the deck to send a boat 
 ashore immediately with the master-at-arms, and 
 read the correspondence relating to Joe. 
 
 " I don t know of an apprentice boy whom I 
 would rather see get such an appointment, sir, than 
 Bently," said the executive, resuming the conver 
 sation. " He s very modest and quiet, but bright, 
 and as smart physically as steel. He is singularly 
 fearless, and doesn t seem to have any apprecia 
 tion of danger to himself in anything. I wouldn t 
 be sorry to see Boy Doughty, too, meet with the 
 same luck." 
 
 "It s a very unusual thing," replied the captain.
 
 JOE S CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED. 303 
 
 " I don t see, however, why an apprentice boy, with 
 the right stufifin him, shouldn t be appointed to the 
 Naval Academy as well as any other boy. A year s 
 training at sea is a splendid preliminary preparation. 
 I m very glad the boy has got the appointment." 
 
 The news of Joe s appointment had got quickly 
 around the ship. Long before sunset the top-gal 
 lant-forecastle was lined with boys watching for 
 his return. The sundown boat returning empty, 
 caused a feeling of general disappointment ; for the 
 boys had arranged to give Joe a sailor boy ovation. 
 When tattoo came, and the party was still missing, 
 many of the boys requested permission to remain 
 out of their hammocks another hour. At ten 
 o clock they stowed themselves reluctantly away, 
 feeling that some very strange thing must have 
 happened to keep Joe and Doughty out of the ship, 
 against orders, so late at night, and the officers felt 
 the same way. Before they turned in, the boys 
 belonging to the different anchor watches agreed 
 that if Joe should come off in either watch, they 
 would keep the news a profound secret, and in the 
 morning they could all congratulate him together. 
 But we may have already told too much about Mas 
 ter Joe s affairs before he is acquainted with them 
 himself, and we will hasten back to him, letting 
 them come in in their more natural order. 
 
 In the oldest and most tumble-down part of 
 Smyrna, stands, or rather leans, against innumera 
 ble props, an ancient caravansary. It is not much
 
 3O4 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 frequented, like the others of the city, by caravans, 
 but chiefly by a class of people who come from no 
 body knows where, and whose visits to the town 
 are usually regarded \vith suspicion. An occasional 
 Arab, Bashi-bazouks, and many others of indeter 
 minate race or nation may always be seen hanging 
 about this place. Travellers are curious to see 
 this khan because it gives them a sight of so many 
 strange men, and because it is one of the institu 
 tions of the country. 
 
 Up to this caravansary, late at night, having 
 skirted the city through dark streets and dismal 
 alleys, rode our party. Nobody was stirring about 
 the premises as they entered the court lighted only 
 by moonbeams ; but they could hear the sound of 
 heavy breathing issuing from the little apartments 
 opening all around from the enclosure, and the 
 many horses hitched on all sides kept up an inces 
 sant rattle by the nervous striking of their feet 
 against the pavement. Judging from the large 
 number of horses, it might be the temporary quar 
 ters of a cavalry regiment. 
 
 The troopers jumped from their horses and sig 
 nalled the boys to dismount. One of the men 
 then took charge of the horses, leaving the don 
 keys to look out for themselves, and the other 
 three started the prisoners through a narrow pas 
 sage which led to the rear of the great building 
 surrounding the court. Presently they came to a 
 massive oaken door crossed with iron bands sol-
 
 JOE S CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED. 305 
 
 idly riveted, and secured by a heavy iron bar and 
 staple from which depended an immense padlock. 
 Fumbling among his- weapons the leader of the 
 troopers now produced a rusty key which he in 
 serted in the lock, and after much turning and 
 numerous ejaculations which were undoubtedly ex 
 ecrations in Turkish, the lock yielded and an en 
 trance was effected. 
 
 The apartment into which the cloor swung was 
 unusually large, and was, no doubt, in the more 
 reputable days of the caravansary, used as a place 
 for the safe keeping of valuables. Now it seemed in 
 disuse, unless, indeed, as in the present instance, it 
 occasionally served for a prison. High up, in the 
 rear of the room, were two rectangular openings 
 in the wall which were the only windows of the 
 place. Through these apertures just moonlight 
 enough was straying to reveal the gloomy interior, 
 which was totally empty of everything but a heap 
 of rubbish, lying in dismal outline in a far corner. 
 
 Directed by his chief, one of the troopers now 
 disappeared, and in a few moments returned bring 
 ing several loaves of bread and a large carafe of 
 water, which he placed upon the floor. All three 
 then took their departure, the click of the rusty lock 
 sounding dismally enough in our hero s ears as 
 they securely fastened the door. 
 
 " They doesn t mean to starve us, anyway," said 
 Dawson as he broke one of the loaves in two, and 
 held it up for inspection by the moonlight. " Boys,
 
 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 we won t eat that stuff," he continued. " It s 
 blackern the ace o spades, an looks like it was 
 some o Noah s sea bread when he was admiral o 
 the ark." 
 
 " I d like to know what they re going to do with 
 us," said Doughty, who had sat down on the floor 
 in very low spirits. 
 
 " I ll never go nowhere with Dawson ag in," said 
 Butts. " I didn t want him to boss us this 
 mornin ." 
 
 "I ll tell ye what I think," spoke up Dicky. 
 " They s goin to cut off Butts s years in the 
 mornin , an send em off to claim a ransom. They s 
 sharp enough to see that Butts s years would be 
 known all around the ship." 
 
 " I don t see how you can make fun, when we 
 don t know that we ll ever see the ship again," 
 said Doughty, in a melancholy and reproachful 
 tone. 
 
 " It s jest the time to make fun. It s no good 
 when everything s bright an lovely. I s never 
 really cheerful till I needs to be. This s a good 
 deal bettern bein on a raft a thousand miles from 
 any land, an a big storm comin on. Wait till you s 
 been to sea as long as I has, an you won t growl 
 at this." 
 
 Whether he really felt so or not, Dicky s cheer 
 fulness had a very reassuring effect upon the boys. 
 No cloud was so black but that Dicky could put 
 a fringe on it that would greatly relieve it of its
 
 JOE S CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED. 3O/ 
 
 gloom. He had a wonderful knack at this kind of 
 embroidery. 
 
 All the boys but Joe had a little grumble over 
 what they thought had been a too-willing sur 
 render, but Joe stood loyally by his leader. A lit 
 tle thought convinced him that any resistance or 
 any attempted ruse, unarmed as they were, could 
 have resulted only in their defeat and probably 
 have left some of them dead, or maimed for life. 
 
 " Have you settled upon what they re going to 
 do with us, Dawson ? " he inquired. 
 
 " I thinks we s been kidnapped for sogers. But 
 Dicky Dawson ll never fight ag in no Rooshians, 
 for no Turks. Rooshy s the best friend we s got 
 among the powers. But we ll have no more talk 
 now. You can all turn in, an I ll stan watch." 
 
 The tired boys stretched themselves out on the 
 hard floor, and in a few minutes they were all 
 asleep. 
 
 A long time Dicky stood pondering. With all 
 his cheerfulness and serenity he felt the gravity 
 of the situation. If they had been kidnapped, as 
 he surmised, he was perplexed to know why they 
 had not been taken to a transport at once. The 
 only solution he could get to this was that the 
 steamer they had seen receiving troops in the 
 morning had doubtless sailed, and the captors were 
 waiting for another. The theory that they were 
 merely under arrest for having killed the dog, he 
 had dismissed. Seized with a new idea, he started
 
 3O8 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 up all at once and went to the heap of rubbish and 
 began to industriously search among the contents. 
 It was not long before he made a discovery which 
 greatly pleased him. Thrusting his hand deep 
 down in the pile, he drew forth a rusty iron bar, 
 which had without doubt once served to help pro 
 tect a Turkish window. Laying this carefully 
 down, he proceeded to examine the walls with the 
 greatest care. The moon now sent a flood of light 
 into the apartment which greatly facilitated his in 
 vestigations. Several times he went back and 
 forth along the rear wall, examining it as high up as 
 he could reach. The solid wall in the portion 
 examined afforded no place where an opening 
 could be effected, and Dawson turned his attention 
 higher up. As he did so a stone standing out 
 several inches from the wall caught his eye. 
 
 He stepped over to where Joe lay sleeping, and 
 shaking him gently, whispered to him that he de 
 sired his assistance. When Joe was fairly awake, 
 Dicky directed him .to climb on his shoulders, and 
 see if the projecting stone was loose. Though 
 some of the mortar had fallen away, Joe could not 
 move the stone. Letting him get down, Dawson 
 got his iron bar, and told him to try that. Re 
 mounting Dicky s shoulders, Joe got the end of the 
 bar under the stone, and by exerting all the strength 
 he could in his awkward position, he started the 
 stone from its place, and it fell down, nearly crush 
 ing Dawson s foot as it reached the floor.
 
 JOE S CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED. 309 
 
 For a few moments they were afraid that the 
 loud noise the stone made in striking the oaken 
 floor would start up the troopers. After listening 
 some little time, they were satisfied that it had not 
 been heard, and Dicky told Joe to wake up the 
 boys, cautioning him to do it gently, as everything 
 now must be done noiselessly. 
 
 Joe whispered to his companions that they were 
 about to try for their escape, and that their help 
 was needed. If Dicky s purpose had been to tun 
 nel under the Hudson, or to take down the walls of 
 Fort Monroe, he would have found the boys under 
 the present circumstances enthusiastic to under 
 take it. He told Little Sol to stand by the door 
 and to report the least noise he should hear ; then 
 he directed Joe to stand upon Doughty s and Han 
 son s shoulders, who were about the same size, 
 with Butts to steady him, and, from this scaffold 
 ing, to pry up the stones and hand them down to 
 him. 
 
 Thus organized they set to work. 
 
 Joe could see through the aperture made by the 
 removal of the stone that the outer part of the wall 
 had fallen down a number of feet, leaving but one 
 tier of stones down to a line that would strike 
 through at about the middle of the inner portion 
 of the wall. As the stones were not very heavy, 
 he found but little difficulty in loosening them. 
 With a frequent change of base on the part of the 
 three boys who were supporting him, in about an
 
 3IO BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 hour Joe had a breach in the wall large enough to 
 crawl through. 
 
 " That s big enough," whispered Dawson. " How 
 does it look out there ? " 
 
 Joe stuck his head out, and took a good look 
 around. The only living creatures he could see 
 were a litter of puppies, crawling over the fallen 
 portion of the wall, and a donkey, which stared up 
 at him as though he were a ghost. The place 
 looked something like the yard of a box-factory. 
 Lumber lay all around, and by means of the bright 
 moonlight shining into the only building the place 
 contained, Joe saw the gleam of several circular 
 saws. A high wall enclosed the place, but with 
 the lumber at hand they could easily surmount 
 that obstacle. 
 
 Reporting his observations to Dawson, Dicky 
 told him to let himself down, which he did to the 
 imminent peril of the puppies. The embrasure 
 had been brought to a point low enough for the 
 party to scramble up to it, and in a few minutes 
 they had all followed Joe and stood in a group in 
 the yard. Rummaging around a little, they found 
 a long plank which they raised to the wall, and up 
 this narrow pass they crawled and dropped nimbly 
 to the street on the other side. 
 
 " Things allers works out right," said Dicky. 
 " I s been in many a country, an in all kinds o 
 scrapes, an luck s never gone ag in me yet." 
 
 Joe and Doughty attributed their preservation
 
 JOES CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED. 31! 
 
 and escape to a much higher and more trustworthy 
 power than luck. They were very happy boys as 
 they made their way back to the quay, talking 
 about the fearful night in the cutter, as their great 
 sea adventure, and the one they had just passed 
 through as its thrilling counterpart on shore. 
 
 The first rays of the sun were just breaking over 
 the high eastern hills across the bay, when the 
 party pulled alongside in a caique. A rich flood of 
 light overspread ship and shore, a prophecy of the 
 good news Joe was about to hear, as Dicky led the 
 boys to the mast, and told the officer of the deck 
 the story of their capture and escape. The officer 
 of the deck agreed with Dawson that it was a case 
 of kidnapping for the Turkish army or navy. As 
 Dicky had surmised, the transport they had seen 
 the day before, sailed about noon. Forestalling 
 a little we may here add that the admiral looked 
 into the matter, but could get no satisfaction from 
 the Turkish authorities, who claimed that the kid 
 nappers were not soldiers, but robbers, and that 
 they were doing all they could to suppress brigand 
 age. The donkeys were found at the caravansary, 
 and returned to their owners, and the affair of 
 shooting the dog was never heard from. 
 
 The officer of the deck, knowing nothing of the 
 agreement of secrecy among the boys, informed 
 Joe of his appointment as cadet midshipman ; and 
 told him he could take his hammock from the net 
 ting and turn in for a couple of hours. This was
 
 312 BOY LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 
 
 so far beyond Joe s hopes and dreams, and so in 
 accord with his desires, that a man might as well 
 be told to go to sleep over the news that he had 
 become heir to an immense fortune, as for him to 
 be told that he might sleep now. Dropping below, 
 he found a number of letters awaiting him. One 
 was a very Tcind letter from the Congressman ; the 
 others were from home, from Mr. Aston and Katie. 
 They were full of congratulations and earnest hopes 
 for his success at the academy. It was very easy 
 for him to conjecture who it was that had secured 
 the appointment. He recalled vividly the look 
 which Mr. Aston gave him on board the brig, 
 when the lady asked him if it were possible for an 
 apprentice boy ever to become an officer in the 
 Navy-. 
 
 And now nothing remained but for Joe to take 
 his departure. This was a hard ordeal. As he 
 stood at the gangway while the cutter, which had 
 been manned with boys, with Doughty for cox 
 swain, in his honor, was coming round to the gang- 
 way, Dicky Dawson came up to him, and seizing 
 him by the hand, said, with the tears standing in 
 his eyes : " I allers took stock in you. When you 
 gits shoulder knots an a sword on, you musn t for- 
 git ole Dicky Dawson an the likes o him." 
 
 The boat which was to convey him to the steamer 
 was alongside. As she pushed off with our hero, 
 the boys were allowed to cheer him from the lower 
 rigging. There was an affecting leave-taking be-
 
 JOE S CRUISE AGREEABLY ENDED. 313 
 
 tween Joe and Doughty at the steamer, then they 
 separated forever as apprentice boys. 
 
 Several years have passed. By strange coinci 
 dences,. Doughty is first mate of the Katie Aston 
 with a fine prospect of soon becoming her master. 
 About Joe we shall again hear in his opening career 
 as an officer in the United States Navy.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
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 SEP 231953 
 
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 LOS ANGELES
 
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 3505 Boy life in the 
 C533b United States 
 navy. 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL UBRARYFAC 
 
 
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