“And what did she say?” I asked.
“She laughed more than ever, and inquired how long it was likely to be before I could get my promotion. When I said that it might be in five or six, or perhaps eight years, she remarked that that was a terrible long time to wait, and that though constancy was a very fine thing, it didn’t do to try it too much.”
Irishmen have susceptible hearts, I’ve heard, but I can’t say that I lost mine to any one in particular.
We had altogether a very jolly time of it, which we enjoyed all the more because we knew that it must soon come to an end.
Tom Pim and I, who were inseparable, were at a party one evening, when a good-natured looking gentleman came up to us. “I see that you have been dancing with my little daughter Lucy,” he said, addressing Tom. “May I ask your names, and the ship to which you belong?” We told him.
“She’s not likely, I understand, to sail for some days, and if you can obtain leave I shall be very happy to see you at my country house, some few miles away from this,” he said. “My name is Talboys, and as I’m well known to Captain Macnamara I’ll write a note, which you can take on board, asking him or his first lieutenant to give you leave for a couple or three days,—the longer the better,—and to allow any other midshipmen who can be spared to accompany you.”
“Thank you very much, sir,” I answered; “but we have to return on board to-morrow morning by daylight, and I’m afraid that Mr Saunders won’t be inclined to let us go ashore again.”
“There’s nothing like asking,” he observed; “and I think that he’ll not refuse my request, so you had better try.”
Taking us into an ante-room, he wrote the promised note, of which Tom Pim took charge. He told us, if we could obtain leave, to meet him at Mammy Custard’s boarding-house, an establishment much frequented by midshipmen and other junior officers of the service. We had hitherto not slept on shore, but we knew the house well.
The ball was kept up to a late hour. As soon as it was over we repaired to the quay, where several boats were waiting to take off those who had to return to their ships.