He tossed the order book across to Raxworthy, who caught the book dexterously, though without enthusiasm. The commander’s order book usually contained—when it mentioned him at all—some unpleasant reference to something also unpleasant that the midshipman was called upon to perform.
But soon Raxworthy’s eyes sparkled.
“Crickey!” he ejaculated. “This is a slice of luck!”
“What’s up, old son?” inquired Timpson. “Has the Bloke given you a double dose of duty steam-boat ‘cause you carved off a chunk of the accommodation ladder when you brought him alongside yesterday?”
“No,” replied Raxworthy. “I’m lent to Sandgrub. Up the Yang-tse!”
“Lucky dog!” commented Timpson. “Only, take my tip: don’t try mixed bathing in the Yang-tse. ‘Tisn’t like the Mediterranean. One mouthful and you won’t want another.”
“Initial the blessed thing, and don’t waste time kagging,” announced the sub, who wasn’t too pleased over the business. One midshipman short meant not only additional duties for those who remained, but increased work for him. “And don’t leave any of your gear knocking about. I don’t want the job of sending it after you. Anyway, what’s the bright idea of sending a snottie to a gunboat? I’ve never heard of it being done.”
It did not take Raxworthy long to make his preparations. Life in the Royal Navy teaches a man to be sharp off the mark even at short notice.
His sea chest was soon packed. It contained, amongst other articles, that ornamental but useless weapon, his dirk, and something that was not ornamental but certainly business like—his service revolver. Then, of course, he had to take his sextant. He wondered whether he would be called upon to “take sights” when miles up the Yang-tse. He hoped not. He didn’t shine at mathematics and “working out his sights” was a task he detested. That fact had been the cause of several of the many unpleasant “incidents” between him and the Bloke, although he guessed shrewdly that the commander at his mature time of life wouldn’t know how to use a sextant with any degree of accuracy.
At nine next morning Raxworthy, wearing plain clothes, boarded the S.S. Ah-Foo.