"Yes; accustomed to the sea."
"No, but I have done a good deal of sailing, sometimes in rough weather, and I don't think I shall feel sea-sick."
"Your mess is the last on the right-hand side aft. Supper will be served in a few minutes, so you can take your kit down there. I don't think anyone will be likely to touch it there--in the first place, because it is rather a dark corner, and in the second place, because we have got sentries posted at each hatchway, and no one is allowed to bring anything up on deck; so I think you will be safe in leaving anything there.
"Thank you, sergeant! I will go down at once, and put my kit there and look round."
"I will bet that he has run away from home," the sergeant said, as Arthur disappeared down the gangway. "I wish we had got a few more of that sort. I will put a tick against his name. He is young--not above seventeen, I should say--but he has the makings of an officer about him. There is one cavalry officer aft. If I get a chance, I will say a good word for him. He is just the lad for the cavalry, not too much weight, active and cheery. He seems to have all his wits about him, which is more than I can say for most of the officers, as far as I have seen of them. Still, they will lick into shape presently, though I foresee that the officers will be our weak point. They may be the right stuff, but they don't know their duty at all. There is a captain among them who doesn't know his drill, and one doesn't expect that in a captain. It is the same with many of the others; they are nearly all raw. However, I hope that the majors know their duty, and will be able to get them into shape soon. It was the same with the great war. Whole regiments were ordered on service who were fresh to it, but they soon learned to take their place with the best of them. It is astonishing how quickly men pick up their work when there is an enemy in front of them."
Arthur groped his way below. It was already growing dusk, and only two or three ports were open. Picking his way along, to avoid tripping over men lying hopelessly drunk on the floor, he reached the spot that the sergeant had indicated to him, and placed his kit in the corner. In a few minutes the men began to pour down, some of them descending to the deck below. Lamps were lighted and hung up to the beams, and under the orders of the old soldiers they took their places at the tables.
Arthur was not hungry, as he had had a good meal before coming off, but sat down and looked round at the five men who were to be his associates during the voyage. Two of them he put down as clerks. One of these was a pleasant-faced young fellow who had evidently just thrown up his situation to take to a life of adventure; the other was thin and pale, and he guessed him to be a man who had for some reason or other lost his employment and had enlisted as a last resource; the other three were respectable men of the small trader class.
The meal, which was the first that had been served since mid-day, consisted of a bowl of soup each and a large hunch of bread. After the first spoonful or two they began to talk.
"Well," the young man facing Arthur said, "this is not so bad as being quite starved, for I came on board just after dinner was served. I suppose we are going to be together for the voyage. My name is Roper, Jack Roper. I hated the desk, and so here I am."
"I got into a row at school and am going to see a bit of the world," Arthur said. "My name is Arthur Hallett."