The Marshall republican., 1909-02-26

and something in my countenance
showed II, for he linked his arm
through mine and began again:
Il know your great.aunt. too, Polly
Hawkshaw. Dreadful old girl. I hear
she can tack ship as we'll as the ad.
miral; knows to a shilling what his
mess bill is. aud teaches him trigo.
nometry when he Ia un leave"
This was. Of course. . utilization,
and Lady Hawkshaw's name was not
Polly, but Apollonia; but l blush to
Say | spoke not one word in defense
pf either her or her name. II occurred
ITO me that my new friend was a per-
son who could give me much informa-
I ton about my outfit and uniforms, and
l candidly stated my case to him.
Come on" he cried. There's q
rascal of a h~aberdasher here who
lives off his majesty's officers, and III
take you there and At you out; for
Sir Peters the nan to have his young
officers smart. A friend OF mine
poor fellow!-happened to be caught
In mutt in the Ajax the other day,
and Sir Peter had all hands turned up
for an execution. My unhappy friend
begged that he might be shot instead
OF hanged, and Sir Peter, III admit,
granted him the favor. The poor fell
low tied the handkerchief over his
eyes himself, forgave all his enemies,
and asked his friends to pay his
debts, POUNDS, twas the most at
fecting scene I ever Witnessed"
pIaIoIy naroaiyod that ~, ,a,n-
panion was talking to brighten me, and
showed IL by thrusting my tongue into
my cheek, which caused him to burst
out laughing. He presently became
grave, however, and assured me sol
emily that a sea-oficer had his choice
Of dressing handsomely, or being
court-martialed and shot. For" said
he, the one hundred and forty-fourth
regulation Of the service reads: All
Of his majesty's sea.officers are COM
manded to marry heiresses. and In
these cases, the usual penalties for
the abduction Of heiresses are re-
mitted.' Now, how can we abduct heir.
esses, or even get them to look at us,
without fine clothes? Women, my boy,
are caught by the eye alone-and l
know 'em, by Gad!"
This trifing speech remained in my
memory, and the day came when I
recalled the idle talk of us two laugh
Ing midshipmen as prophetic.
We went together to a shop, where,
under his direction and that of an
oily tongued shopman, | ordered one
of the handsomest outfits any mid
shipman could possibly have, includ-
ing two dozen Of silk stockings, as my
new-found friend informed me that
every man on board his majesty's
ships, from the admiral down to the
jack-o'the-dust, always wore silk
stockings, because in the event of
being struck by a ball or a pike or a
cutlass In action the danger from in.
fiammation was much less with silk
than with cotton or wool.
All went swimmingly, until II was
time to pay for the things. Then, |
acknowledge, l was at a loss. The
shopman, suddenly changing his tone,
cried out to my companions:
"Mr. Giles Vernon, | remember the
last REFER you brought here bought
hSo u uohtiodu anu llulh Will Nv lOlC'
sail, as you gentlemen of the sea call
II. I will not be done this time, / as.
sure you"
At this, Giles Vernon promptly drew
his sword, which did not disturb the
shopman In the least, as / found out
a%fterward; young gentlemen of Giles
age and rank, in Portsmouth, drew.
their swords whenever they could not
draw their purses. But ! was very
unhappy. not on Giles account, but on
that of the poor shopman, whom ! eX.
pected to see welterlng in his blood.
After a wordy war, Giles left the shop.
taking me with him, and m~enacing
the shopman, In case the purchases
had ordered did not come aboard the
Ajax that night.
l thought It wise to suggest that I
should now go aboard, as II was well
on to three o'clock. Giles agreed with
me, ! had forgotten to ask him what
ship he was attached to, but II sud
denly occurred to me that he, too,
might be in the Ajax, and | asked him.
Imagine my delight when he said yes.
But II the admiral does not be.
have himself better" he added, land
II the captain does not ask me to din
ner oftener than he has been doing
lately, I shall prefer charges against
both Of them, / have been assured
by the lord in admiralty that any re-
/ quest OF mine win be regarded a IN
order by them. and I shall request that
admiral Hawkshaw ana Capt. 0ini-
ford be relieved Of their commando"
BY that time We hAa reached TIE
water and there. stepping inso Q spien-
aid. eightoared barge. ! saw Dir Peter
Hawkshaw. He caugAt slsht Of ~ es
the same momsat. ana the change in
Giles vernon's manner was what
might have been sxpectsd. He was
even more modest and e~sfersnssal
than !. 80 w advanced.
sEYayN Won nr0i" p~IeaeantIy GrfeS& tn