“Good! I’m glad to hear it,” returned Mr. Graham heartily.
Collins saw he was marked in the “liberty book” as having returned “on time, C and S,” and then went forward, a very grateful man.
“You bet I was on time C and S,” he remarked to Hester, a few moments later. “If I hadn’t been on time clean and sober I’d have deserved thirty days double irons on bread and water in the brig. Now, Hester, how am I to make it up to young Mr. Osborn for all he has done for me? Just think what that fine young midshipman saved me from and of how good the captain and executive officer were to me. How am I to prove I appreciate it all, Hester?”
“Don’t worry about that, Collins. As far as the officers are concerned you need only to do your work well and obey the regulations. Now I think you can do something for Mr. Osborn. The midshipmen, you know, have lessons every day about boilers and engines. They have practical work to do in tracing up steam and water pipes, in pumping a boiler, in firing, and cleaning fires, and they get marked on the way they do these several things. Each midshipman is ambitious to stand as high as he can and it is a great honor to stand first. Mr. Osborn doesn’t know much, of course, but he is quick and ambitious, and quite handy with a shovel for a beginner. Now, Collins, I think you could do a great deal for him. You could show him the mechanism of pumps and valves and lots of other things. He’s down in the fire room now bothering how to pump up a boiler. Suppose you start right in. He’s interested in you and will be glad to see you.”
“Indeed I’ll be happy to help him if I only can,” cried Collins enthusiastically. “I’ll shift into dungarees and look him up right away.”
“Humph,” said an old-time boatswain’s mate who stood near. “If I’m ever in double irons and want a week’s leave I’ll jump the irons, knock down and kidnap the officer on watch, steal a boat and skip; two hours later I’ll come back, say I’m sorry; the captain will fall on my neck and weep and then send me off on a pleasure trip.”
“You old growler!” said Hester smiling. “Let me see, didn’t I see you try to force Collins into borrowing twenty-five dollars from you when he went? And here you are pretending to grumble at his good fortune.”
“There’s too much mollycoddling these days,” insisted the kind-hearted old faultfinder. “When I first went to sea in the old Lackawanna in eighteen hundred and——” but Hester, laughing at the old man, ran away to the fire room where he found Collins and Ralph Osborn and several other midshipmen. Ralph and Collins had greeted each other warmly. It seemed curious to the midshipmen standing about but that a few days before this fine-looking enlisted man had really committed the act of a desperate criminal and had treated with great violence the midshipman to whom he expressed such heartfelt gratitude.
“What is your lesson in engineering to-day, Mr. Osborn?” inquired Collins.
“It’s the worst we’ve had yet; we are required to get into the double bottom and draw a longitudinal intercostal staple-shaped angle iron.”