“Ay, ay, sir. I have had many a youngster to look after in my time (some are now post-captains), and I know how to treat them,” he answered, glancing at me with as much indifference as if I were a lady’s poodle committed to his charge.
There was a sympathy between the lieutenant and the mate—the first might have been an admiral as far as age was concerned, the second a post-captain. Without speaking, he led me into the midshipman’s berth. There were a good many people seated round the table, of all ages—assistant-surgeons, and clerks, and master’s-assistants, besides midshipmen and master’s mates, as passed midshipmen were called.
“Let me introduce to your favourable notice, gentlemen, Mr Harry Nugent,” he said, leading me in by the hand with much ceremony, but speaking in a tone which sounded somewhat sarcastic. It struck me as odd at the time that he should have known my name, as the lieutenant had not told him. “I must go and look after his traps,” he added, as the rest of the party made room for me.
They treated me kindly enough, offering me dinner, which had just been placed on the table, but the food looked very coarse, and I was too sick to touch anything. They soon drew from me all the information I had to give about myself, and when they learned that I was an elder son, with large expectations, and was to have what seemed an unlimited supply of money, some of the older ones treated me with far more respect than at first.
“I wonder what could have induced you to come to sea, to be kicked and cuffed by your superiors, till you are big enough to kick and cuff others in return,” observed an oldster, John Pearson I found was his name. “If I had had a tenth of your tin, I’d have stayed on shore to the end of my days. The sea is only fit for poor beggars like you and me, Owen. Isn’t that the case?”
A curious expression passed over Owen’s countenance, and a frown settled on his brow, as, having disposed of my property and just retaken his seat, he answered:
“I suppose Nugent comes to sea to show us what a pleasant life it may prove to a man of fortune, eh!”
“No!” I answered, with simplicity. “I came to sea because I have read of Howe and Jervis and Nelson and Collingwood, and because I expected to find it a field of fame and glory, as they did.”
There was a general laugh, in which the youngsters joined the loudest.
“A sucking Collingwood!” cried one.