CHAPTER TEN.
About six months after I had blown up the school of Mr O'Gallagher, thecompany to which my father Ben belonged was ordered afloat again, andshortly afterwards sailed for the East Indies, in the Redoubtable, 74.That my mother was very much pleased at his departure, I do not scrupleto assert; but whether she ever analysed her feelings, I cannot pretendto say; I rather think that all she wished was, that the chapter ofaccidents would prevent Ben's reappearance, as she was ashamed of him asa husband, and felt that he was an obstacle to her sister's advancement.
So one fine day Ben wished us all good bye; my mother was very generousto him, as she could well afford to be. I rather think that Ben himselfwas not sorry to go, for, stupid as he was, he must have felt what acypher he had become, being treated, not only by my mother, but byeverybody else, even by me, as a sort of upper servant.
It so happened, that about a month after Ben's departure, Captain Delmarhad, through the interest of his uncle, Lord de Versely, been appointedto a ship which was lying in the Medway, and he came down to Chatham tojoin her. He had no idea that my mother was there, for he had lostsight of her altogether, and had it not been for me, might very probablyhave left the town without having made the discovery.
Among other amusements, I had a great partiality for a certain bull pup,mentioned by Lieutenant Flat in the former chapter, and which he hadmade me a present of; the pup was now grown up, and I had taught it manytricks; but the one which afforded me most amusement (of course, atother people's expense) was, that I had made out of oakum a shampigtail, about a foot and a half long, very strong and think, with aniron hook at the upper end of it.
The sham tail I could easily hook on to the collar of any one's coatfrom behind, without their perceiving it; and Bob had been instructed byme, whenever I told him to fetch it (and not before), to jump up at thetail wherever it might be, and hang on to it with all the tenacity ofthe race.
As it may be supposed, this was a great source of mirth in the barracks;it was considered a good joke, and was much applauded by CaptainBridgeman; but it was not considered a good joke out of the barracks;and many an old woman had I already frightened almost out of her senses,by affixing the tail to any portion of the back part of her dress.
It so happened, that one afternoon, as I was cruising about with Bob atmy heels, I perceived the newly-arrived Captain Delmar, in all the pompof pride of full uniform, parading down the street with a little middyat his heels; and I thought to myself, "Law! how I should like to hangmy tail to his fine coat, if I only dared;" the impulse had become sostrong, that I actually had pulled up my pinafore and disengaged thetail ready for any opportunity, but I was afraid that the middy wouldsee me.
Captain Delmar had passed close to me, the middy at his heels waspassing, and I thought all chance was gone, when, suddenly, CaptainDelmar turned short round and addressed the little officer, asking himwhether he had brought the order-book with him? The middy touched hishat, and said, "No;" upon which Captain Delmar began to inflict a mostserious lecture upon the lad for forgetting what he had forgottenhimself, and I again passed by.
This was an opportunity I could not resist; while the captain and middywere so well employed giving and receiving I fixed my oakum tail to thecollar of the Captain's gold-laced coat, and then walked over to theother side of the street with Bob at my heels.
The middy being duly admonished, Captain Delmar turned round again andresumed his way; upon which I called Bob, who was quite as ready for thefun as I was, and pointing to the captain, said, "Fetch it, Bob." Mycompanion cleared the street in three or four bounds, and in a fewseconds afterwards made a spring up the back of Captain Delmar, andseizing the tail, hung by it with his teeth, shaking it with all hismight as he hung in the air.
Captain Delmar was, to use a sailor's term, completely taken aback;indeed he was nearly capsized by the unexpected assault. For a shorttime he could not discover what it was; at last, by turning his headover his shoulder and putting his hand behind him, he discovered who hisassailant was.
Just at that time, I called out "Mad dog! mad dog!" and Captain Delmar,hearing those alarming words, became dreadfully frightened; his cockedhat dropped from his head, and he took to his heels as fast as he could,running down the street, with Bob clinging behind him.
The first open door he perceived was that of my mother's library; heburst in, nearly upsetting Captain Bridgeman, who was seated at thecounter, talking to Aunt Milly, crying out "Help! help!" As he turnedround, his sword became entangled between his legs, tripped him up, andhe fell on the floor. This unhooked the tail, and Bob galloped out ofthe shop, bearing his prize to me, who, with the little middy, remainedin the street convulsed with laughter. Bob delivered up the tail, whichI again concealed under my pinafore, and then with a demure faceventured to walk towards my mother's house, and, going in at the backdoor, put Master Bob in the wash-house out of the way; the little middywho had picked up the captain's hat, giving me a wink as I passed him,as much as to say, I won't inform against you.
In the meantime Captain Delmar had been assisted to his legs by CaptainBridgeman, who well knew who had played the trick, and who, as well asAunt Milly, had great difficulty in controlling his mirth.
"Merciful heaven! what was it? Was the animal mad? Has it bitten me?"exclaimed Captain Delmar, falling back in his chair, in which he hadbeen seated by Captain Bridgeman.
"I really do not know," replied Captain Bridgeman; "but you are nothurt, sir, apparently, nor indeed is your coat torn."
"What dog--whose dog can it be?--it must be shot immediately--I shallgive orders--I shall report the case to the admiral. May I ask for aglass of water? Oh, Mr Dott! you're there, sir; how came you to allowthat dog to fasten himself on my back in that way?"
"If you please," said the middy, presenting his cocked hat to thecaptain, "I did draw my dirk to kill him, but you ran away so fast thatI couldn't catch you."
"Very well, sir, you may go down to the boat and wait for orders,"replied the captain.
At this moment my mother, who had been dressing herself, made her firstappearance, coming out of the back parlour with a glass of water, whichaunt Milly had gone in for. Perceiving a gold-laced captain, sheadvanced all smiles and courtesies, until she looked in his face, andthen she gave a scream, and dropped the tumbler on the floor, much tothe surprise of Captain Bridgeman, and also of aunt Milly, who, nothaving been at the Hall, was not acquainted with the person of CaptainDelmar.
Just at this moment in came I, looking as demure as if, as the sayingis, "butter would not melt in my mouth," and certainly as muchastonished as the rest at my mother's embarrassment; but she soonrecovered herself, and asked Captain Delmar if he would condescend torepose himself a little in the back parlour. When my mother let thetumbler fall, the captain had looked her full in the face and recognisedher, and, in a low voice, said, "Excessively strange,--so veryunexpected!" He then rose up from the chair and followed my mother intothe back room.
"Who can it be?" said Aunt Milly to Captain Bridgeman, in a low tone.
"I suppose it must be the new captain appointed to the Calliope. I readhis name in the papers,--the Honourable Captain Delmar."
"It must be him," replied Milly; "for my sister was brought up by hisaunt, Mrs Delmar; no wonder she was surprised at meeting him sosuddenly. Percival, you naughty boy," continued Milly, shaking herfinger at me, "it was all your doing."
"Oh, Aunt Milly! you should have seen him run," replied I, laughing atthe thought.
"I'd recommend you not to play with post captains," said CaptainBridgeman, "or you may get worse than you give. Mercy on us!" exclaimedhe, looking at me full in the face.
"What's the matter?" said aunt Milly.
Captain Bridgeman leant over the counter, and I heard him whisper, "Didyou ever see such a likeness as between the lad and Captain Delmar?"
Milly blushed a little, nodded her head, and smiled, as she turned away.Captain Bridgeman appeared to be afterwards
in a brown study; he tappedhis boot with his cane, and did not speak.
About a quarter of an hour passed, during which Captain Delmar remainedwith my mother in the parlour, when she opened the door, and beckoned meto come in. I did so not without some degree of anxiety, for I wasafraid that I had been discovered: but this doubt was soon removed;Captain Delmar did me the honour to shake hands with me, and then pattedmy head saying, he hoped I was a good boy, which, being compelled to bemy own trumpeter, I very modestly declared that I was. My mother, whowas standing up behind, lifted up her eyes at my barefaced assertion.Captain Delmar then shook hands with my mother, intimating his intentionof paying her another visit very soon, and again patting me on the head,quitted the parlour, and went away through the shop.
As soon as Captain Delmar was gone, my mother turned round, and said,"You naughty, mischievous boy, to play such pranks. I'll have that dogkilled, without you promise me never to do so again."
"Do what again, mother?"
"None of your pretended innocence with me. I've been told of thepigtail that Bob pulls at. That's all very well at the barracks withthe marines, sir, but do you know _who_ it is that you have been playingthat trick to?"
"No mother, I don't. Who is he?"
"Who is he, you undutiful child? why, he's--he's the Honourable CaptainDelmar."
"Well, what of that?" replied I. "He's a naval captain, ain't he?"
"Yes; but he's the nephew of the lady who brought me up and educated me.It was he that made the match between me and our father: so if it hadnot been for him, child, you never would have been born."
"Oh that's it," replied I. "Well, mother, if it had not been for me,he'd never have come into the shop, and found you."
"But, my child, we must be serious; you must be very respectful toCaptain Delmar, and play no tricks with him; for you may see him veryoften, and, perhaps, he will take a fancy to you; and if he does, he maydo you a great deal of good, and bring you forward in the world; sopromise me."
"Well, mother, I'll promise you I'll leave him alone if you wish it.Law, mother, you should have seen how the middy laughed at him; it wasreal fun to make a gallant captain run in the way he did."
"Go along, you mischievous animal, and recollect your promise to me,"said my mother, as she went into the shop where she found that CaptainBridgeman, to whom she intended to explain how it was that she haddropped the tumbler of water, had gone away.
There was a great deal of consultation between my grandmother and mymother on that evening; my aunt and I were sent out to to take a walk,that we might not overhear what passed, and when we returned we foundthem still in close conversation.
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