"Never mind, hand him up—hand him up—let us see him." And poor little Dicky Phantom was straightway transferred from the stern-sheets of the boat to the frigate's deck, amidst a buzz of laughter from officers and men.
The poor child was frightened, and ran crying to me, when Sir Oliver, with his innate right feeling and kindliness of heart, asked me to bring him down into the cabin, which I did, where the little fellow soon became quite at home, and began to amuse himself with some books of plates, and little Chinese figures that the commodore took out of a locker for his entertainment.
I related the particulars of my interview with his parents and kinsfolk on board the ship, which moved the kind old man exceedingly; but dinner was now announced, and Dicky was handed over to Lennox, who had come on board in the novel capacity of dry-nurse. I could see the whole crew clustered on the main-deck, in expectation of his coming out of the cabin; and the moment he made his appearance,—"Lennox, pass him forward."—"I say, Jack, Jack Lennox, lend him to me, man."—"Oh! d—n my eyes, man, do give us a spell of the piccaniny."—"No, no—hand him to me first—here to me, man—I bespoke him, Jack, before Bill, there," resounded on all hands; and the two monkeys and hog in armour were as dust in the balance compared with Dicky Phantom. We sat down to dinner. Mr Lanyard, and old Sprawl, along with one of the mates, were present, and every thing went on very much as usual.
"We must endeavour," said Sir Oliver, "to find out that poor little fellow's family and relations when we get to England; but what are we to do with him until we get there?"
I cheerfully offered to take care of him on board the Midge.
"You are very good, Mr Brail—but in so small a hooker it would be inconvenient, so I shall make shift the best way I can here."
Lanyard laughed, and said, "That next to a round-robin had been signed by the Midges, petitioning you would let them have the boy for the cruise, sir, in consequence of their having lost the ship's monkey and parrot." I noticed Sir Oliver's servant prick up his ears at this; and that same evening, before we got away from Gazelle, a deputation waited on Sprawl to offer both monkeys and the kangaroo, and the hog in armour, to the Midges, in fee simple, in exchange for Dicky Phantom. The commodore had recovered his looks and spirits greatly since I last saw him, and in the course of the evening gave us some of his old stories, more than one of which I had certainly heard before. They were chiefly relating to the countries on the borders of the Mediterranean, and the following tickled me a good deal at the time:—
Sir Oliver had been one of old Sir J. D——'s lieutenants on that station, and it was his watch on deck on a certain forenoon—"a fine fresh breezy day, clear and sunshiny, and the old T—— was cracking along on the starboard tack, with the island of Malta broad on the lee bow, ten miles distant, or thereabouts. She was going nine knots, as near as could be, and the admiral was walking backwards and forwards with me on the weather-side of the quarterdeck. It happened that the captain's servant was an inveterate stutterer, although a steady good man, and we had not continued our perambulations above a quarter of an hour, when this functionary rushed up the ladder in a deuced quandary, and thus addressed, or rather attempted to address the admiral:—
"'Sir—sir—sir—Jo—Jo—Jo'——
"'What does he mean?' said the admiral, startled by the energy of the man's gestures.