"That"s too bad!" cried the commander, indignantly; "why did you not tell me of this before?"
"I was expecting the boat would come with the meat every minute, sir."
"Is there no beef at all on board?"
"Only the wardroom and gunroom supply."
"Then serve that out at once to the men--they sha"n"t go without their dinner if I can help it."
"But, sir, what will the officers do?"
"Ah, you must settle that as best as you can with the wardroom steward, sir! Let this, Mr Nipper, be a lesson to you in future not to put off things until the last moment! You may take the dinghy, if you like, by-and-by and go to Clarence yard yourself, to see what can be done for getting some more beef for the wardroom and gunroom mess; but, I cannot spare another officer or man. We"re much too short-handed already!"
This was true enough, for we had only about a couple of hundred men of our crew, including the seamen, gunners and petty officers, as yet aboard.
In those days only the marines and boys were drafted to ships when first commissioned, the compliment having to be made up as hands volunteered to join in response to the bills inviting enrolment that were stuck up in some selected public-house or tavern ash.o.r.e, which, as the master-at-arms told me, was called the "Randy-woo!"
The continuous service system now in vogue was not adopted until within a comparatively recent period, say some thirty years ago at the outside; prior to this all bluejackets on their discharge from a ship when she was paid off, instead of being merely granted leave according to the present custom, became absolutely free men and having the right to quit the service, if they so wished, for good and all.
Although, should they change their minds after their money was all spent and come forward to join another ship about to be commissioned, the different periods they might have previously served afloat counted towards the time required to qualify them for a pension.
When, therefore, the _Candahar_ was ordered to hoist the pennant and her captain and other officers appointed, she only received a certain percentage of trained gunnery hands from the _Excellent_, with a few boys and marines.
She had to go into the open market, as it were, for the rest of her crew, like any ordinary ship about to sail on a trading voyage.
Such being the case, following the usual practice at the time, the "Earl Saint Vincent," a tavern on Common Hard, was chosen for our rallying-place, or rendezvous.
A large broadsheet was exposed in the window of this tavern inviting able-bodied seamen and artificers to join the battleship; one of our lieutenants attending each day for a certain number of hours at the little shipping office which was established in the bar parlour of the tavern to inspect the discharge notices and certificates of any sailors or landsmen who might wish to join.
The officer relegated to this duty took care to satisfy himself that any candidates he selected should pa.s.s muster with the commander before sending them on board.
He knew well enough that if the men had previously served in the navy and their characters were marked "very good," or even "good," there was little doubt of their acceptance.
Up to the date of my going on board the ship, though, our recruiting agency had not been very successful.
Not half our required number of men, had, indeed, as yet volunteered for the _Candahar_; for, most of the old hands worth their salt fought shy of the station she was reported to be going to, on account less of its unhealthiness, which to Jack is of small account, than to the absence of any prize-money or extra pay, such as might be gained even on the deadly West Coast, with its malarial fever and pestiferous mangrove swamps that form the white man"s grave.
But, all of a sudden, public opinion, so far as the sailor world was concerned, veered round in our favour.
It had leaked out that there was a prospect of our having a scrimmage with the mandarins.
In this case, of course, there would be dollars and other sorts of "loot" knocking about.
So, that very day, volunteers began to come off to the ship; not by threes and fours as they had done before, but by twenties and more at a stretch.
Of these the launch brought off a large cargo alongside immediately after the commander"s interview with the purser; and I thus had the opportunity of seeing how the men were scrutinised and sorted for the "watch bill," which the chief of our executive made out himself--as indeed he seemed to do everything, looking after everybody else all the while.
The c.o.xswain of the launch, with a touch of his forelock, handed over the discharge notes and certificates of such of the motley group that came up the side that had these doc.u.ments, which the second lieutenant, a knowing fellow, who was in charge of our shipping office that morning, had pocketed when he engaged the men; doing this as a sort of preventative to their backing out of the bargain afterwards.
These greasy papers, which he did not open, were then pa.s.sed on to the midshipman on duty on the quarter-deck, with orders to take them to the purser"s office; and the commander then proceeded to muster the lot abaft the mainmast bitts.
"What were you aboard your last ship?" asked he of a smart-looking seaman on the right of the line as they stood across the deck facing him, who appeared neater and nattier than the rest. "What rating did you take up?"
"Cap"en of the foretop, sir."
"All right, you"re the very man I want!" said the commander. "You may go and do the duty, and if you are diligent and active you shall have the rate."
The next chap stated he had been an able seamen in his previous ship, so he was sent on to the forecastle to add to the long roll already there.
So was another and another, till Commander Nesbitt lighted on a man who said he had been a shipwright in the dockyard, whom he marked down to join the carpenter"s crew.
Several ordinary seamen followed, until the f.a.g end of the lot was reached, consisting of a number of greenhorns who had never been to sea previously; and these, on declaring their willingness to serve Her Gracious Majesty, were sent down into the steerage to join the after-guard.
"What are you?" inquired the commander of a sooty sort of gentleman, who, with another more morose personage, stood at the extreme rear of this group. "I mean, what did you do ash.o.r.e for a livelihood, my man?"
"Wot hev h"I been a-doin" of fur a lively-hood, sir?" repeated the sooty gentleman, who evidently was a wag, speaking, albeit with a comical expression on his countenance, with a native dignity that would have won the praise of Lord Chesterfield. "W"y, sir, h"I"m a "h"upright," sir, that"s wot h"I h"am!"
"An "upright"!" exclaimed Commander Nesbitt, with a smile. "I"ve heard of wheelwrights, and millwrights and shipwrights, of course, but never of such a calling as an "upright"--what"s that, eh?"
"I thought as "ow I"d puzzle you, sir," replied the man with a grin.
"I"m a chimbly-sweeper by trade."
"Oh, a chimney-sweeper? Then you ought to be good at climbing, and I cannot do better than send you aloft. You can go forrud now."
Saying this, the commander turned to the last man the morose one, questioning him in like fashion.
"And what have you been?"
"I"m a "downright," sir," said he, as grave as a judge. "Wot they calls a "downright," sir."
"Now, don"t you try on any of your jokes with me, my man, or you"ll find yourself in the wrong box, which is the strong box on board ship, and vulgarly called chokey!"
"I ain"t a-joking," replied the other, speaking as gravely as before and without even the shadow of a smile on his face. "I"m a "downright,"
that"s what I am."
"Pray, what profession is that," asked the commander, sarcastically. "I would not like to hurt your feelings by calling your avocation a trade!"
"You"re right, sir," returned the other, as calmly as possible, without turning a hair; "I"m a gravedigger."
This fairly made the commander collapse.
"You may muster with the after-guard," was the only reply he made, but we all could see that he had hard work to keep his gravity, as he turned towards the boatswain"s mate and ordered him to pipe the men to dinner in a sharp tone; and he said to Mr Cheffinch, the gunnery lieutenant, when he crossed over the deck to go on board the old _Blake_ to lunch, "He had me nicely there, like that other joker the chimney-sweeper. It must have been a planned thing between the two rascals!"
CHAPTER SEVEN.
WE GO OUT TO SPITHEAD.