The Glenwood post., 1909-03-27
CHAPTER l.-Continued.

Vernon. nephew OF Sir Thomas Vernon.
became the boys pal.
CHAPTER l.-Continued.
Now, the peculiar circumstances of
my bringing-up had given me ri
diculous haughtiness-for Betty Green
had never ceased to implore me to re-
member my quality-so l replied to
this off-hand speech in kind.
"A ship of the line" said |. "Damme,
do you think I'd serve in a gun-brig?"
He came up a little closer to me-
looked at me attentively, and said:
IT'S an infant Rodney, sure. Was
not Americus Vespucius your grand
father? And was not your grand
mother in love with Noah when he
was oakum boy at the Portsmouth
docks?"
considered this very offensive, and,
drawing myself up, said:
My grandfather was baronet, and
my grand-uncle is Admiral Sir Peter
Hawkshaw, whose flagship, as you
may know, is the Ajax, "a
"I know him we'll" responded my
new acquaintance. We were drunk
together lHlS hight "tth ne lOl
arms Lots wife after she was turned
into pillar of salt, with this device:
I thirst"
This was an allusion to the dry
salter For | soon found that the
young gentlemen in the cockpit were
intimately acquainted with all of the
antecedents, glorious or otherwise, of
their superior officers.
The lie in the early part of this
sentence was patent to me, but SO
great was the power to charm Of this
squirting, wide-mouthed fellow, that
felt myself drawn to him irresistibly,
and something in my countenance
showed it, 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 well as the ad-
miral; knows to shilling what his
mess bill is, and teaches him trigo-
nometry when he is on leave"
This was, of course, vilification,
and Lady Hawkshaw's name was not
Polly. but Apollonia; but / blush to
say l spoke not one word in defense
Of either her or her name. 1t occurred
to me that my new friend was per
son who could give me much informa-
tion about my outfit and uniforms, and
i candidly stated my case to him.
Come on" he cried There's a
rascal of haberdasher here who
lives off his majesty's officers. and I'll
take you there and ft you out: for
Sir Peters the man to have his young
ofhcers smart. A friend OF mine
poor fellow!-happened to be caught
in multi 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, I'll admit
granted him the favor. The poor fel
low tied the handkerchief over his
eyes himself, forgave all his enemies
and asked his friends to pay his
debts. Zounds, twas the most af
fecting scene l ever witnessed"
plainly perceived that my com
panion was talking to frighten me, and
showed 1t by thrusting my tongue into
my cheek, which caused him to burst
out laughing. He presently became
grave, however, and assured me sol
emnly that sea-officer had his choice
OF dressing handsomely, or being
court-martialed and shot. For" sale
he, 1.-The one hundred and forty-fourtt
regulation OF the service reads: al
of his majesty's sea-officers are com
manded to marry heiresses, and il
these cases, the usual penalties fol
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
know 'em, by Gad!"
This trifling speech remained in my
memory, and the day came when
recalled the idle talk of us two laugh
ing midshipmen as prophetic.
We went together to shop, where
under his direction and that of al
oily tongued shopman, ! ordered one
of the handsomest outfits any mid
shipman could possibly have, inciud
ing two dozen of silk stockings, as m,
new-found friend informed me tha
every man on board his majesty's
ships, from the admiral down to the
tack-o-the-dust. always wore sill
stockings. because in the event o
being struck by ball or pike or {
cutlass in action, the danger from in
hammation was much less with sill
than with cotton or wool.
All went swimmingly, until 1t VA