"Do you command a ship?" asked his majesty, surveying the young officer from head to foot, with a pleasant smile on his face.
"I command the Josephine, your majesty; she is not a ship, but a topsail schooner of one hundred and sixty tons," replied Paul, satisfied that kings speak just like other men.
"You are very young to command a vessel of that size," added the king.
Paul bowed, but made no reply, as no question was asked.
"Can you manage her in a gale?" asked his majesty.
"I think I can, your majesty; at least I have done so within a week on the coast of your majesty's dominions."
The king actually laughed at this confident reply. As he bowed slightly, Paul, for the first time in his life, backed out, and continued to back till he reached his station at the head of the Josephines. The king then bowed to the whole line, and retired. As he did so, Flag-officer Gordon called for three more cheers. The king turned and bowed again. This time the snapper, in the form of the tiger, was applied, which so astonished the royal personage that he turned once more, laughed, and bowed.
Professor Hamblin looked very nervous and discontented. "That boy" had been presented to the king, and he, who had compiled a Greek Grammar, a Greek Reader, and edited the Anabasis, had been "left out in the cold." If it was possible for a great mind like that of the savant to harbor such a vicious feeling as envy, he certainly envied Paul Kendall his brief interview with the King of the Belgians.
The party retired from the garden, and returned to the carriages. It appeared in explanation of this unexpected honor, that the governor of Antwerp had waited on the king that day, and informed him casually of the presence of the students of the academy squadron in the capital, and he had expressed a desire to see them in a very informal manner. Mr. Lowington was no "flunky," and never sought admission to the presence of royalty, for himself or his pupils.
As the procession of omnibuses and fiacres moved down to the lower town, they were thrown into great excitement by seeing many of the streets and houses dressed with flags and other devices. On inquiring at the hotel, Mr. Molenschot informed Paul that it was a saint's day, and that a religious procession would march through some of the principal streets.