Through the Sikh War: A Tale of the Conquest of the Punjaub

by G. A. Henty

"I can hold on very well. I had a cup of tea and something to eat before I left."

Percy followed Harcourt on deck again, and feeling now more settled as to his position, was able to look on with interest and pleasure at what was being done around him. The passengers had settled themselves a little; some had got out their chairs, and were seated chatting in groups, but the ladies for the most part were below arranging their cabins. Men in couples walked up and down the waist smoking, or leaned against the bulwarks discussing the voyage and their mutual acquaintances. Most of the sails had now been set, for the wind was favourable, and the great ship was running fast down the river and was just passing Woolwich. A sailor, bare-footed and with his trousers turned up to his knees, was sluicing the decks with water. Others were coiling up ropes. Others again, dressed more in accordance with Percy's ideas as to the neatness of a sailor's costume, were standing at the sheets and braces in readiness to trim the sails to port or starboard, as the sharp turns of the river brought the wind on one quarter or the other.

Percy was surprised at the silence that reigned among so many men, but he understood the reason when the sharp orders were shouted from the quarter-deck where the first officer was standing by the side of the pilot. Then there was a hauling of ropes and a creaking of blocks, and the towering pile of yards and sails swung over. Now and then the ship's course was suddenly changed to avoid some barge or smaller craft that got in her way, sometimes missing by the smallest margin running them down. On one or two of these occasions a mate shouted angrily down at those in charge of these craft, and these shouted as angrily back again. Once past Erith the river widened and the dangers of collision ceased, for the craft were all proceeding in the same direction; for the stream was now running too strongly for the barges to attempt to make their way against it, even by hugging the shore and keeping in back-waters. At twelve o'clock the luncheon bell rang, and the passengers disappeared from deck. But Percy was so absorbed in watching the shore that he was quite surprised when Harcourt touched him on the shoulder and said:

"There are two bells, youngster. You must keep your ears open or you will be missing your meals; for they do not ring for us, and anyone who does not turn up to his grub goes without it."

The voyage was a very pleasant one to Percy Groves. The captain did not allow him to act as a volunteer midshipman; but it was not long before he ceased to regret this decision, for he found among the four or five native servants returning to India with their masters one from the Punjaub. The man's duties on board occupied but a very small portion of his time, as he had little to do except wait on his master at meals; and he was very glad to arrange, for what seemed to Percy a ridiculously small sum, to spend five or six hours a day in conversation with him. Accordingly, after breakfast and dinner the two took seats up in the bow, Percy on a low stool, the native squatted beside him, and there spent hours, at first in learning the Punjaubi equivalents for Hindustani words, and then, as time went on, in conversation.

PERCY LEARNS THE PUNJAUBI LANGUAGE

The native knew a little Hindustani, and could get on fairly in English, so that they were able from the first to comprehend each other; and as Percy's former studies helped him materially, he picked up Punjaubi quickly, and by the end of the voyage was able to express himself in it with considerable freedom. He was always up early in the morning, and until breakfast-time chatted with any officers or midshipmen off duty, and sometimes with the early risers among the passengers—two or three of whom, when they found that the lad was a first-class passenger on his way out to India to join an uncle, became very friendly with him, being struck with the steady way in which he passed the greater portion of the day in preparing himself, as far as possible, for the life he was about to lead.

"Why don't you come aft, Groves?" one of them asked him.

"I should feel altogether strange, sir. The two officers and the midshipmen are all very kind and friendly, and we live very well there, and I feel much more at home than I should do with the ladies. I have not been accustomed to ladies. I do not remember my mother, and for years I lived altogether at school. After my father came back, and I lived at home with him, only gentlemen came to the house. I like it all very much, and should not like to change. Besides, if I got to know a good many passengers, I might not be able to spend so much time in work; and I do so want when I join my uncle to be able to be useful to him, which I could not be if I did not know anything of the language."