A register for thirty thousand seamen was established. They were to be in readiness at all times for supplying the Royal Navy, and were to receive a bounty of forty shillings yearly. On the 29th of January of that year, the “Royal Sovereign,” built in the reign of Charles the First, and at that time the largest ship ever built in England, was by accident burned at her moorings in Gillingham Reach, in the river Medway.
“Well, Deane, and how do you like a sea life?” asked Smedley, after Jack had been some time on board.
“I will tell you when I’ve been longer afloat,” answered Jack. “From what I have seen of it, I am ready to stick to it; that’s what I’ve got to say. And how do you like it?”
“To confess the truth, I am getting rather tired of it,” answered Smedley. “I thought it would be an easier life than I find it, but this cruising up and down the Channel and blockading the enemy’s ports is trying work, and often I wish myself on shore again, taking a stroll or galloping through Sherwood Forest.”
“That’s because you have not a right object in view,” answered Jack. “Now I have made up my mind to take the roughs and smooths as I find them. If I get shot or wounded, it is the fate of many a better man; and if I escape, I hope to fight my way up to wear a cocked hat and laced coat.”
“That’s very well for you, Deane, because you were born a gentleman,” said Smedley. “I came to sea because I could not help it: all about that poaching affair, and the burning of the houses.”
“I wish we had never engaged in it, I own,” said Jack. “It has cost me dear; and what I regret most is the injury it did my character in the place, and the annoyance it must have caused my family when it was found out.”
“What do you mean?” asked Smedley. “I do not understand you.”
“Why, that the man who met us on that night, and showed us how to spear the salmon, told me that a warrant was out against me for poaching and firing the huts, and that if I went back to Nottingham I should be sent to prison,” answered Jack.
“He told you a lie, then. Your name has never been mentioned in connexion with the affair; and to this day, unless you have told any body, I am very sure that no one in Nottingham knows any thing about it.”