Home > Authors Index > George Manville Fenn > Middy and Ensign > This page
Middy and Ensign, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
||
Chapter 33. Private Gray Has His Orders |
||
| < Previous |
Table of content |
Next > |
|
________________________________________________
_ CHAPTER THIRTY THREE. PRIVATE GRAY HAS HIS ORDERS The men on the corvette, with those who rowed back the empty boats, gave a loud cheer, which was answered from the island, as the hunting-party moved off in procession. "Give them another, my lads," cried Bob Roberts excitedly; and the sailors, with whom he was a special favourite, responded heartily. "Just another, my lads, to show them we are not a bit envious," cried Bob; and then another prolonged "Hurrah!" went up in the morning skies, the middy shouting with the best of them; and it was amusing to see Bob's calm, consequential ways as he stood there, completely ignoring Lieutenant Johnson, and taking upon himself the full command of the ship. He glanced up aloft, and his look threatened an order to man the yards, when the lieutenant interfered. "I think that will do, Mr Roberts," he said quietly, and Bob was taken rather aback. "Yes, of course, sir," he said, "but the men are already loaded with a cheer, hadn't they better let it off?" Lieutenant Johnson gazed full in the lad's face, half sternly, half amused at his quaint idea, and then nodded. Then there was another stentorian cheer, and what seemed like its echo from the island, when Bob smiled his satisfaction, strutting about the quarter-deck as he exclaimed,--"We can beat the soldiers hollow at cheering, sir, can't we?" "Yes, Mr Roberts," said the lieutenant quietly; and then to the warrant officer near him, "Pipe down to breakfast, Mr Law; the men must want it." "I know one man who wants his," said Bob, half aloud; and then he stared wistfully after the tail of the departing expedition, as the sun glinted on the spears, and a very dismal sensation of disappointment came over him. "You'll make a good officer some day, Roberts," said the lieutenant, and Bob started, for he did not know he was so near. "Thank you, sir--for the compliment," said Bob. "But at present, my lad, you do imitate the bantam cock to such an extent that it irritates grown men." "Do I, sir?" said Bob. "You do indeed, my lad," said the lieutenant kindly. "But I don't want to, sir, for nothing worries me more than to see Ensign Long coming all that strut and show off." "Well, we won't quarrel about it, Roberts," said Lieutenant Johnson kindly. "You'll grow out of it in time. As it is, I'm captain for a few days, and you are my first lieutenant. So first lieutenant," he continued, clapping the lad on the shoulder, "come down and breakfast with me in the cabin, and we'll talk matters over." Bob flushed with pleasure, and if the lieutenant had asked him to jump overboard just then, or stand on his head on the main truck, Bob would have tried to oblige him. As it was, however, he followed his officer into the cabin, and made a hearty breakfast. "I tell you what," said the lieutenant, who was a very quiet stern young officer--and he stopped short. "Yes, captain," said Bob. Lieutenant Johnson smiled. "I tell you what," he said again, "nothing would give me greater pleasure than for Mr Rajah Gantang to bring down his prahus some time to-day, Lieutenant Roberts. I could blow that fellow out of the water with the greatest pleasure in life." "Captain Johnson," said Bob, solemnly, "I could blow him in again with greater pleasure, for I haven't forgotten my swim for life." "You feel quite a spite against him then, Roberts?" "Spite's nothing to it," said Bob. "Didn't he and his people force me, a harmless, unoffending young fellow--" "As ever contrived to board a prahu," said the lieutenant. "Ah, well, that wasn't my doing," said Bob. "I was ordered to do my duty, and tried to do it. That was no reason why those chicory-brown rascals should cause me to be pitched into the river to the tender mercies of the crocodiles, who, I believe, shed tears because they couldn't catch me." "Well, Roberts," said the lieutenant, "you need not make yourself uncomfortable, nor set up the bantam cock hackles round your neck, and you need not go to the grindstone to sharpen your spurs, for we shall not have the luck to see anything of the rajah, who by this time knows that it is his best policy to keep out of the way. Will you take any more breakfast?" "No, thank you, sir," said Bob, rising, for this was a hint to go about his business; and he went on deck. "Mornin', sir," said old Dick, pulling at his forelock, and giving one leg a kick out behind. "Morning, Dick. Don't you wish you were along with the hunting-party?" Old Dick walked to the side, sprinkled the water with a little tobacco juice, and came back. "That's the same colour as them Malay chaps, sir," he said, "nasty dirty beggars." "Dirty, Dick? Why they are always bathing and swimming." "Yes," said Dick in a tone of disgust, "but they never use no soap." "Well, what of that?" said Bob. "You don't suppose that makes any difference?" "Makes no difference?" said the old sailor; "why it makes all the difference, sir. When I was a young 'un, my old mother used to lather the yaller soap over my young head till it looked like a yeast tub in a baker's cellar. Lor' a mussy! the way she used to shove the soap in my eyes and ears and work her fingers round in 'em, was a startler. She'd wash, and scrub, and rasp away, and then swab me dry with a rough towel--and it was a rough 'un, mind yer--till I shone again. Why, I was as white as a lily where I wasn't pink; and a young lady as come to stay at the squire's, down in our parts, blessed if she didn't put me in a picter she was painting, and call me a village beauty. It's the soap as does it, and a rale love of cleanliness. Bah, look at 'em! They're just about the colour o' gingerbread; while look at me!" Bob looked at the old fellow searchingly, to see if he was joking, and then finding that he was perfectly sincere, the middy burst into a hearty roar of laughter. For long years of exposure to sun and storm had burned and stained Dick into a mahogany brown, warmed up with red of the richest crimson. In fact, a Malay had rather the advantage of him in point of colour. "Ah, you may laugh," he growled. "I dessay, sir, you thinks it's werry funny; but if you was to go and well soap a young Malay he'd come precious different, I can tell you." "But somebody did try to wash a blackamoor white," said Bob. "Tom Hood says so, in one of his books." "Well, and did they get him white, sir?" asked Dick. "No, I think not," said Bob. "I almost forget, but I think they gave him such a bad cold that he died." "That Tom Hood--was he any relation o' Admiral Hood, sir?" "No, I think not, Dick." "Then he wasn't much account being a landsman, I s'pose, and he didn't understand what he was about. He didn't use plenty o' soap." "Oh yes, he did, Dick; because I remember he says, a lady gave some:--
"And so you really believe you could wash these Malay chaps white?" "I do, sir. I'd holystone 'em till they was." "It would be a long job, Dick," said Bob laughing. "But I say, don't you wish you had gone with the hunting-party?" "Yah!" said Dick, assuming a look of great disgust and contempt, although he had been growling and acting, as his mates said, like a bear with a sore head, because he could not go. "Not I, sir, not I. Why, what have they gone to do? Shoot a big cat all brown stripes. I don't want to spend my time ketching cats. What's the good on 'em when they've got 'em? Only to take their skins. Now there is some sense in a bit of fishing." "Especially when your crew in the boat goes to sleep, and let's you be surprised by the Malays." "Ah, but don't you see, sir," said Dick, with his eyes twinkling, "that's a kind o' moral lesson for a young officer? Here was the case you see: the skipper goes to sleep, and don't look after his crew, who, nat'rally enough, thinks what the skipper does must be right, and they does the same." "Oh! all right, master Dick," said the middy. "I'll take the lesson to heart. Don't you ever let me catch you asleep, that's all." "No, sir," said the old sailor, grinning, "I won't. I've got too much of the weasel in me. But as I was saying, sir, there's some sense in a bit o' fishing, and I thought if so be you liked I'd get the lines ready." "No, Dick, no," said Bob, firmly, as he recalled Lieutenant Johnson's words over the breakfast-table. "I've no time for fishing to-day. And besides, I'm in charge of the ship." "Oh! indeed, sir," said Dick. "I beg pardon, sir." "Look here, Dick," said Bob sharply, "don't you sneer at your officer because he makes free with you sometimes." The middy turned and walked off, leaving Dick cutting himself a fresh plug of tobacco. "He'll make a smart 'un by-and-by, that he will," muttered the old fellow, nodding his head admiringly; "and I'm sorry I said what I did to the high-sperretted little chap, for he's made of the real stuff, after all." On the island, Tom Long was feeling quite as important as the middy. A keen sense of disappointment was troubling him, but he would not show it. He had several times over been looking at his gun, and thinking that it would carry a bullet as well as a rifle, and wishing that he could have game to try it. But soon afterwards he encountered pleasant Mrs Major Sandars. "Ah! Mr Long," she cried, "I've just been seeing Miss Linton and Miss Sinclair. Now you know you have these deserted ladies and the whole of the women under your charge, and I hope you'll protect us." "I shall do my utmost, madam," said Tom Long importantly. "You ladies needn't be under the smallest apprehension, for you will be as safe as if the major and Mr Linton were here." "I shall tell Miss Linton so," said Mrs Major, smiling; and she nodded and went away, leaving the young ensign uncomfortable, as he felt a kind of suspicion that he had been speaking very consequentially, and making himself absurd. "I wish I was either a man or a boy," he said to himself pettishly. "I feel just like a man, and yet people will treat me as if I were a boy. That Mrs Major was only talking to me patronisingly, and half-laughing at me. I can see it now. Oh! here's Smithers." Captain Smithers came up, looking rather careworn and sad, and nodded in a friendly way at his junior. "Well, Long," he said, "so we are commanders-in-chief just now. At least, I am. You'll have to be my colonel, major, and adjutant, all in one." "I shall do my best to help you, Captain Smithers," said Tom Long stiffly. "I know you will, my lad," was the reply; "but it will be no child's play, for we must be extra strict and watchful." "Do you think there is anything to fear, Captain Smithers," said the ensign eagerly. "To fear? No, Mr Long," said the captain. "We are English officers, and, as such, never mention such a thing; but there is a good deal to be anxious about--I mean the safety of all here." "But you have no suspicion, sir--of danger?" "Not the slightest. Still we will be as careful as if I felt sure that an enemy was close at hand." There was something about that _we_ that was very pleasant to the young ensign; and his heart warmed like a flower in sunshine. "Of course, sir," he said eagerly. "I'll do the best I can." "Thank you, Long, I am sure you will," said Captain Smithers. "By the way, you know, of course, that the ladies are coming to stay with Mrs Major, so that there will not be much cause for anxiety about the residency. Suppose we now take a quiet look round together; there is really no necessity, but we will go as a matter of duty." Tom Long's self-esteem was flattered, the more especially as he could see that Captain Smithers was perfectly sincere, and looked to him, in all confidence, for aid in a time when a great responsibility was thrown upon his shoulders. "If I don't let him see that I can act like a man, my name's not Long," he muttered to himself, as they walked on together. "There's only--" Captain Smithers, who was speaking, stopped short, and the ensign stared. "I do not want to offend you, Long," he said, "but all I say to you is in strict confidence now, and you must be careful what you repeat." "You may trust me, Captain Smithers," said the ensign quietly. "Yes, I am sure I may," was the reply. "Look here, then. I was going to say that the only weak point in our arrangements here seems to be that!" He nodded his head in the direction in which they were going, and the ensign stared. "I mean about allowing that Malay, Abdullah, to set up his tent among us. He has such freedom of communicating with the banks of the river on both sides. He is a man, too, whom I rather distrust." "Indeed?" said Long. "Yes, I don't know why. But unless for some good and sufficient reason it would, I think, be bad policy to attempt to oust him." "Yes," calmly said Long. "He is a violent fellow, too;" and he related the incident about their first meeting. "If the major had known of this," said Captain Smithers, "he would never have allowed the man to settle here. You did wrong in not speaking of it, Long." "He was so apologetic and gentlemanly afterwards," said the ensign, "that I did not care to speak about it, and upset the fellow's plans." "Well, it is too late to talk about it now," replied Captain Smithers; "but I shall have his actions quietly watched. Let me see, who will be the man?" "There's Private Gray yonder," suggested the ensign. "I hate Private Gray!" exclaimed Captain Smithers, with a sudden burst of rage, of which he seemed to be ashamed the next moment, for he said hastily,--"It is a foolish antipathy, for Gray is a good, staunch man;" and making an effort to master himself, he made a sign to Gray to come to them. "You are right, Long; Gray is the man. He is to be trusted." The private came up, and stiffly saluted his officers, standing at attention. "Gray," said Captain Smithers, "I want you to undertake a little task for me." "Yes, sir." "You will be off regular duty; another man will take your place. I want you, in a quiet, unostentatious manner, to keep an eye on Abdullah the fruit-seller. Don't let him suspect that you are watching him, for really there may be no cause; but he is the only native here who has free access to the island, and during the major's absence I wish to be especially strict." "Yes, sir." "You understand me? I trust entirely to your good sense and discrimination. You will do what you have to do in a quiet way, and report everything--even to the least suspicious proceeding--to me." "Yes, sir." "You shall be furnished with a permit, to pass you anywhere, and at all times." "Thank you, sir." "I'd go in undress uniform, and apparently without arms, but have a bayonet and a revolver under your jacket." "Do you think there is danger, sir?" exclaimed the private hastily, forgetting himself for the moment. "Private Gray, you have your orders." Gray drew himself up stiffly and saluted. "Begin at once, sir?" "At once," said Captain Smithers. "I trust to your silence. No one but Mr Long knows of your mission." Gray saluted again and went off, while the two officers continued their walk towards Dullah's hut. The Malay came out as they approached, and with a deprecating gesture invited them to take a seat beneath his verandah, and partake of fruit. This, however, they declined to do, contenting themselves with returning his salute, and passing on. There were two sampans moored close to Dullah's hut, each holding four Malays, but the boats themselves were filled with produce piled high, and the owners were evidently waiting to have dealings with their superior, the man who had been appointed to supply the English garrison of the island and the ship. There was nothing suspicious to be seen here, neither did anything attract their attention as they continued their walk right round the island, everything being as calm and still as the sleepy shore which lay baking beneath the ardent rays of the sun, while the various houses looked comparatively cool beneath the shade of the palms and durian trees, with here and there a great ragged-leaved banana showing a huge bunch of its strange fruit. Tired and hot, they were glad to return to their quarters, where Sergeant Lund was writing out a report, and occasionally frowning at Private Sim, who was lying under a tree fast asleep. _ |
||