“May I ask, sir, whether that remark has any reference to me?” I inquired.
“Certainly, Courtenay, certainly; there cannot be any possible objection to your asking, but I am not bound to answer, am I?” replied the skipper, with a laugh. “No,” he continued, “I must not tell you anything, except that I have reason to believe that the admiral is very much pleased with your behaviour, and that he contemplates marking his approval in a manner which, I am sure, will be very pleasing to yourself.”
And that was all I could get out of the gallant captain; but it was sufficient to cause me to pass a sleepless night of pleasurable speculation.
Prompt to the second I presented myself at the admiral’s office next morning, and was at once shown into the great man’s presence.
“Morning, Mr Courtenay!” exclaimed he, as I entered. “Bring yourself to an anchor for a minute or two, will ye, until I have signed these papers; then I shall be free to have a talk to you. Jenkins, clear away a chair for Mr Courtenay.”
The orderly sergeant reverently removed a pile of books and papers from a chair, dusted it, and placed it near an open window, and I amused myself by looking out upon the busy scene in the harbour, while the admiral proceeded to scrawl his signature upon document after document.
“There!” he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief, as he signed the last one and pushed it away from him, “thank goodness that job is finished! Now, Mr Courtenay—by the way, Captain Harrison told me last night that he believed you would soon be eligible for your examination. Is that so?”
“Yes, sir,” answered I; “I shall have served my full time in three days more.”
“Three days!” exclaimed the admiral. “Is that all?”
I replied that it was.