by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XIII.
AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND.
The departure of the French had been hastened by the rapidly-increasingdiscontent and insubordination among the troops. During the later daysof the siege Sir Sidney Smith had issued great numbers of printed copiesof a letter from the Sultan authorizing him to offer a safe passage toFrance to the French army if it would surrender. This offer was atempting one indeed to the soldiers. They had suffered hardships of allkinds since they had disembarked at Alexandria. They had been parchedwith thirst, half-choked with blinding dust, and had seen their comradesfall in numbers smitten by sunstroke. They counted but little the lossesthey had suffered in the battles in Egypt--that was in the ordinary wayof the business of a soldier; but the dread of assassination wheneverthey ventured out from their lines, whether in camp or on the march, hadweighed heavily upon them. Then had come the plague that had more thandecimated them at Jaffa, and now they were reduced to well-nigh halftheir strength by the manner in which they had been sent time after timeagainst the breach in the wall of an insignificant town, which wouldhave been of no use to them if taken, as they could have been shelledout of it by the British men-of-war and gun-boats.
Sir Sidney Smith had passed through the terrible siege without ascratch, although freely exposing himself, and two attempts atassassination by the French emissaries in the town had also failed. The_Tigre_ sailed at once to place herself between Jaffa and Damietta, andso cut off the retreat of the French army by sea. Not anticipating thatthis would be the case, Napoleon, on his arrival at Jaffa, embarked thetwenty-three guns he had brought with him, on board ship, together withall the sick and wounded who were unequal to the desert march.
So great was the haste, that the vessels were despatched short of hands,and without provisions or water. As soon as the _Tigre_ was made out thevessels all steered for her, confiding in the well-known humanity of theBritish to their prisoners. They were not mistaken. Sir Sidney hadabundance of supplies and water put on board them, and he convoyed themto Damietta, where they received from their countrymen the surgical andmedical aid that was beyond his power to afford them. Edgar was not onboard the _Tigre_ when she fell in with the convoy of wounded. SirSidney had, early on the morning after the departure of the French,informed him that he should, in his despatches, report most favourablyof the assistance that he had rendered him both as interpreter andaide-de-camp during the siege.
"For the present," he went on, "I shall have no great need for aninterpreter, as I shall probably have little to do for some time beyondcruising backwards and forwards on the coast of Egypt to prevent shipsfrom France entering the ports with stores and ammunition, therefore Ishall be able to give you employment which I think that you will like.One of the gun-boats captured from the French is a fast sailer. HassanBey tells me that when he was at Rhodes he heard great complaints of thepiracy that was being carried on among the islands. The Turkish troopsin most of these were withdrawn by him to swell his force as he sailedsouth, and there are now no vessels of war in those waters. The Frenchflag has been driven from the sea, while our work has been too seriousto admit of our paying any attention to the Aegean, although, as I knewbefore I left London, the complaints of merchants and ship-owners of thecapture of merchantmen trading with Constantinople and other easternports were numerous. At the present moment I can well spare one of thegun-boats; the others will go down to watch the Egyptian coast. I shalltherefore commission the _Foudre_, and re-name her the _Tigress_. Ishall appoint Mr. Wilkinson to the command. Mr. Condor would, of course,have had it, but he has been transferred as third lieutenant to the_Theseus_, and as Wilkinson is senior midshipman, he will have her. Ishall appoint you his second in command. She carries eight guns, and hasroom for two more, which I shall place on board from those on the walls.Her own guns are fourteen-pounders, and with two eighteens she will beheavily armed. Her complement was fifty-two men. I will give you fortyfrom the _Tigre_, and will draw fifteen from the _Theseus_, and fivefrom the _Alliance_. You will need a stronger crew with two extra guns;besides, you may want to send landing-parties on shore, or to cut outpiratical craft, and ought therefore to be strong-handed."
"Thank you very much, sir. I shall be very glad to be employed on suchservice."
"Please send Mr. Wilkinson to me, Mr. Blagrove. I have his instructionswritten out for him."
"Sir Sidney Smith wants you, Wilkinson," Edgar said as he went into thenext house.
"What is up?"
"There is a report that you have been making love to a Turkish girl; youwill get it hot."
"Bosh!" Wilkinson said, laughing, as he put on his cap. "I have notspoken to a feminine of any kind since we left England."
In a quarter of an hour he returned.
"Hurrah, Blagrove! this is glorious. I am all the more pleased that youare going with me. How lucky Condor being promoted to the _Theseus_, orof course he would have had it. Then Knight, being still unfit for dutyfrom the effects of the wounds he received in the sortie, and our firstlieutenant being new to the ship, the third lieutenant cannot be spared.Sir Sidney spoke very kindly. He said that it was a heavy responsibilityfor so young an officer, but that he trusted I should prove equal to it,and that I must remember that prudence was just as necessary as courageand dash. He gave me a good deal of advice, which I shall think over andtry to act on when I sober down a bit. Now we are both relieved fromother duty, so we will pack up our kit.
"Sir Sidney is going on board the _Tigre_ in five minutes, and he saidthat we could go on board with him, and we had better do so, as therewas no time to be lost. Mason, one of the gunner's mates, is to go withus. We are to have sixty blue-jackets and five marines for sentries, andso on. He thinks that we can't do better than take the Turk who has beencooking for him, and our cook here. They are both very good fellows. Onewill be our steward and cook, and the other cook for the men. Theboatswain's mate and the purser are to go with us to the brig, and seewhat is required in the way of stores. Everything has to be got on boardby to-night, as Sir Sidney sails early to-morrow morning, so there is notime to be wasted."
While he was talking the two midshipmen were throwing their spareclothes into the kit-bags, in which they had brought them ashore. One ofthe sailors slung them across his shoulder and followed them down to thelanding-place. The bags were stowed under the thwarts forward, and thelads waited until their commander came down.
"Remember, Mr. Wilkinson," the latter said as he took his seat in theboat, "you and Mr. Blagrove must be here at seven o'clock this evening,for I am landing at that hour to pay a final adieu to the pasha, and heasked me to bring you both with me. I mention it now, as it might slipmy memory. The men you had on shore all gave you satisfaction, didn'tthey?"
"Yes, sir, they were all willing and ready for work at any hour, day ornight."
"Then you may as well have them as a body. Some twenty of them have beenkilled, wounded, or laid up by fever, but with the men now on board theywill make the crew up to its full strength."
The gig was now on her way, and the shore party of sailors and marineswere gathering round the cutter that had been sent to take them onboard. Before leaving the quarters that they had occupied, themidshipmen had made hasty arrangements with the two Turks, who hadgladly accepted their offer. They had been told that one or other of themidshipmen would be sure to be on shore some time during the day.Therefore they were to hold themselves in readiness to embark at once.On arriving on board, the lieutenant was requested by Sir Sidney to telloff five marines to form part of the complement of the gun-boat. Tenminutes after their arrival the two midshipmen started with two pettyofficers to inspect the stores of the gun-boat.
"She is a very pretty craft, Blagrove!" Wilkinson said with delight ashe regarded with pride his new command.
"Yes. I doubt whether we should have ever taken her if she had not beenso deep in the water with the guns and stores she had on board. TheFrench certainly know how to build ships; there is no question aboutthat. I doubt whether we ha
ve such a good-looking gun-boat in theservice. Anyhow I have not seen one."
The petty officer who commanded the gun-boat saluted as Wilkinson cameup to the side and announced that he had come to take command of theboat.
"Am I to remain on board, Mr. Wilkinson?"
"Yes, Mr. Philpot. I am to have two petty officers, and Sir Sidney saidthat as you knew all about the brig you would be very useful to me. Allthe men are to remain here. Now we must overhaul the stores. What haveyou got on board?"
"We have a very short supply of powder and ball, not above ten roundsfor each gun, and there is hardly any small-arm ammunition. There aretwelve barrels of salt junk, eight of flour; there is a cask of rum thatwas broached last week, half a cask of sugar, and some bags of coffee. Ihave not sounded the water-tank, but I don't think that there is much inthere."
A thorough examination was now made. An exact inventory of theprovisions was taken, and the amount of water on board was ascertained,the boatswain's stores were gone over, and were found to be wellsupplied with rope, sail-cloth, and other necessaries. A calculation wasthen made as to the amount that would be required for the futurestrength of the crew for a three months' cruise. The boat was then rowedback to the _Tigre_. As soon as they arrived there, and reported to thefirst lieutenant what was required, a signal was made to the gun-boat tosend one of her boats ashore at once with water-casks, and to fill upthe tanks. A party was set to work to hoist up the barrels of stores,according to the list handed in by Wilkinson, while Edgar was sent onshore with forty men, with an order to the Turkish commander ofartillery, to hand over to him two 18-pounders and as much ammunitionfor them and the 14-pounder guns as could be provided.
Mason, the gunner's mate, who was to sail in the _Tigress_, accompaniedhim to aid him to get the guns down to the boat. The Turkish officer atonce handed over the guns, but was able to supply but little ammunition,for which, now that the French had retreated, there was no longer anyuse at Acre. However, he told off twenty men to aid the sailors ingetting the guns and ammunition down, and in two hours the whole hadbeen placed on board the boats, bringing them down very low in thewater. When the last party were on their way down, Edgar hurried to hisold quarters and had a consultation with the two Turks, who were orderedto purchase a supply of wine, meat, and such other stores as they couldfind for the cabin use, and were told to have everything at thelanding-place, and to be in readiness to go on board themselves, by fouro'clock in the afternoon.
Had the order been given two days before, there would have been littlefor the Turks to have purchased; but the town was already full ofnatives from the hills, many chiefs having come down to assure the pashaof their fidelity, and to inform him that bands of their horsemen werehanging on the rear of the retreating French. Great numbers of thevillagers had come in to inspect the scene of the desperate strugglethat had for upwards of two months gone on unceasingly. Many wereanxious to obtain employment in the work of burying the dead andclearing away the ruins. Almost all brought in something to sell--sheep,goats, and chickens, eggs and vegetables. Of the latter Edgar hadordered that a large supply should be brought for the use of the crew;for although native boats from the north had, while the siege went on,often arrived with fresh provisions, the supply had been insufficientfor the demand, and many of the sailors were suffering alike from thewant of fresh food and from their hard work, and most of all from thehorrible effluvia from the unburied bodies that bestrewed the groundover which the fighting had taken place.
As the heavily-laden boats rowed out to the brig they were overtaken bythe water-boats, which were now making their third trip; they reportedto Edgar that what they now carried would completely fill up the tanks.Wilkinson was on board, having come off with the boats with the storesfrom the _Tigre_. It had been a hard morning's work, but both were wellsatisfied with it; and as they sat down to a lunch composed of a loaf ofbread and a bottle of wine Edgar had brought off with him, they chattedover the future prospect in high glee.
"This is not so spacious as the room you have been occupying for thelast two months," Wilkinson said, "but it beats the cockpit hollow."
"Yes, it is a very snug little cabin, and the French skipper evidentlyknew how to make himself comfortable. It is lucky that everyone has beenso busy since we took her that no one has thought of stripping it. Thereare his telescope, a big roll of charts, and two brace of pistols, allin their places. I know the French officers were all permitted to taketheir clothes away with them; so no doubt the lockers are empty."
This, however, on examination, proved not to be the case, for in themwere found three or four dozen of wine, two dozen of brandy, a goodsupply of chocolate, coffee, and other cabin stores.
"I see, Mr. Philpot," Wilkinson said when they went on deck, "you havehusbanded the captain's stores most carefully."
"Yes, sir; no orders were given to me about them, and I knew that Imight be relieved any day. I think I have had three bottles of brandy. Iused to take a tot every night, thinking that there could be no harm inthat."
"No harm at all," Wilkinson said. "I suppose properly, under ordinarycircumstances, the stores should have been handed over at once to the_Tigre_; but as no orders were given about it, I think you wereperfectly right in taking toll, though I don't know that it would havebeen justified by the regulations. However, certainly I shall risk itmyself."
"Of course, sir, as commander of the ship, it is a different thingaltogether. I was only put here to look after the men working the guns."
For some hours the crew were hard at work lowering down the stores intothe hold, packing the ammunition in the magazine, hoisting up the twoeighteen-pounders and their carriages, and getting them into position.At half-past three a boat was sent ashore, and returned with the twoTurks and a quantity of provisions. The carcases of three sheep werehanded over to the crew, with the greater portion of the vegetables, onesheep being kept for the use of the cabin and the petty officers,together with a supply of vegetables sufficient for some days. A goodsupply of fruit had been brought, which was also divided. As soon as thedeck was cleared, all hands were set to wash it down.
"They need not scrub until to-morrow morning, Mr. Philpot," Wilkinsonsaid. "The men have had a hard day's work; they can clean her properlythe first thing to-morrow. Have you taken a look at the rigging?"
"Yes, sir, everything is in first-rate condition."
"No doubt she was thoroughly fitted out before she sailed. Shecertainly looks like it," Wilkinson replied as he glanced at the coilsof ropes. "We shall get up anchor at daybreak. I want to be under sailbefore the _Tigre_. It would not look smart for a line-of-battle ship tobe under weigh before a brig."
At half-past six, Wilkinson and Edgar, both in full uniform--for thelatter had provided himself with a full kit, having bought the outfit ofone of the midshipmen of the _Theseus_ who had been killed, and whohappened to be about his own height and size--took their places in aboat and rowed ashore. In a few minutes Sir Sidney Smith arrived.
"Nearly ready for sea, Mr. Wilkinson?"
"Yes, sir, we shall be ready to sail to-morrow morning. Everything maynot be quite ship-shape yet, but a few hours' work on the way will geteverything in order."
"Very good work!" Sir Sidney said approvingly. "I hardly thought thatyou would have got your guns on board to-day."
"The commandant gave us a complement of Turks to help to carry themdown, sir, which made short work of it."
"I expect that you will be having a more lively time of it than I shall.I may pick up a few store-ships, but blockading is always dull work.However, I hope before very long they will be sending a force out fromEngland to finish with the French in Egypt. You must remember that youcan't be too careful with those Greek and Moslem pirates; one is as badas the other, and from what I hear they generally work two or threetogether, and though their craft may be small they carry a number ofmen; therefore, boat expeditions against them should always bestrong-handed. You must bear in mind that although a command like thisis a fine
opportunity for a young officer to distinguish himself, uponthe other hand, if he meets with a misfortune it tells against him. If Ihad not seen you and Mr. Blagrove both frequently under a heavy fire Ishould scarcely have ventured to appoint you to such a charge; but Iknow that you are both cool and steady, and being so short of officersas we are, and feeling that it is of urgent importance to do somethingto put a stop to the alarming increase of piracy, I consider myselfjustified in making these appointments."
By this time they had reached the pasha's palace. The latter evidentlyconsidered the visit to be a ceremonious one, and a guard of honour wasdrawn up in the court-yard who saluted as they passed in. For a time thepasha and Sir Sidney exchanged compliments in the usual oriental style,Edgar translating their speeches.
"Without you and your brave sailors the town would have fallen on thefirst day the French opened fire," the pasha said. "My men werethoroughly dispirited by the events of Jaffa, and to tell you the truth,I myself absolutely despaired of resistance, and should have left beforethe French arrived had not your ships come into the bay. If Jaffa, whichwas very much stronger than this place, and with a garrison of 8000 menin good heart, fell at the first assault, what could be done here, wherethe defences needed but a few shot to fall in ruins, and the garrisonwere panic-stricken and believed the enemy to be absolutely invincible?"
"No troops could have fought better than yours towards the end of thesiege, pasha. The way in which they threw themselves sabre in hand uponthe French bayonets was splendid, and my own sailors could have foughtno better than they did when the French entered the town."
"Yes, yes, they did well then, but at the beginning their hearts werewater, and a hundred French grenadiers could have taken the place. Ihope you will return here soon."
"I fancy that there is little chance of that, pasha, unless it be that Ihear that those three French frigates the _Theseus_ chased a few daysago are on the coast again, in which case I may run across and try tocatch them. Certainly there is no fear of the French coming here again;the news of what has taken place here will cause such excitement amongthe Egyptians that Bonaparte will have as much as he can do to maintainhis hold on the province. I shall take care to do justice to yourselfand your soldiers in sending my report of the siege to the Sultan, mysovereign's ally, and in whose service I hold rank."
The old pasha smiled. "At any rate, Sir Sidney Smith, I shall take carethat the Sultan shall not send you hither to capture Acre instead ofdefending it. I have had a lesson that my troops are not so formidableas I had deemed, and he shall have no further reason for complaintagainst me. And now, young gentlemen," he went on, turning to themidshipmen, "I hear that you are going to sail in one of the gun-boatscaptured by your commander, to endeavour to punish some of the piratesthat are doing so much mischief, not only to the trade among theislands, but to vessels trading from our ports and others with Stamboul.You, young sir, have rendered me, as well as Sir Sidney Smith, greatservice throughout this siege by interpreting between us and thusenabling me to understand his wishes, instead of being obliged to learnthem through those who might have reported their substance to theFrench. Likewise you have daily carried his orders to my officers, andoften through heavy fire. Had you been an officer of mine I should haveknown how to recognize your services. I could have given you muchpromotion, and, for such is the custom in our army, have presented youwith so many purses. As you are not, I have no power to give youpromotion, and Sir Sidney Smith tells me that as a British officer youcould not receive gifts in money even from a foreign monarch. He hassaid, however, that, as a personal present, and as a token of my regardfor the services that you have rendered me, he considers that you couldaccept such a present in the form of a jewel as I might think it rightto offer you."
He took a box of Turkish make that stood on the table beside him.
"This," he said, "is an aigrette which I myself have worn in battle; andno more appropriate present could be made to one whom I have seenstanding unflinchingly in a fire that might well have appalledveterans."
Then he turned to Wilkinson. "You, sir, have throughout the siege beenon service on shore here, and during the first part of the siegecommanded the little body of sailors who checked the first attempt ofthe enemy to capture the tower. I saw you fighting bravely during thatterrible struggle in the breach when it so nearly fell into the hands ofthe French. I therefore present you with a ring of honour similar tothose that I have requested Sir Sidney Smith to have the kindness togive in my name to the officers who distinguished themselves mostgreatly in the defence of my town."
Edgar translated the pasha's speech, and then opened the box presentedto himself. It contained a superb aigrette, mounted upon a brooch-likeornament by which it was fastened to a turban. This ornament, which wassome four inches in diameter, was composed entirely of precious stones,with an emerald of great size in the centre. He looked at Sir SidneySmith.
"It is too valuable altogether," he said.
"You can take it," his commander said with a smile; "he showed it to methis morning."
Edgar then expressed his thanks in suitable terms to the pasha, and alsothose of Wilkinson, whose ring contained a diamond of great beauty; thenat a sign from Sir Sidney they left the room, leaving him to concludehis interview with the pasha alone. In a quarter of an hour he joinedthem outside the palace.
"I congratulate you on your presents," he said. "Yours, Blagrove, isundoubtedly very valuable, and had you intended to remain permanently inthe service I do not know that I could have allowed you to accept it. Asit is, I see no harm in it. I may tell you that the pasha asked me if Ithought that you would remain in his service. He says your knowledge ofseveral languages would be of much value to him, and that he should liketo have one about him on whose courage, as well as fidelity, he couldrely. I told him that I knew that you had other plans, and that youwould probably leave the navy as soon as the French evacuated Egypt, andwere, I knew, anxious to return to your parents in England. I have nodoubt, Mr. Blagrove, that he would have been willing to give you termsyou could hardly have hoped for elsewhere; but the pasha is an old man,you would have been an object of jealousy to his officers and officials,and he is at times guilty of cruelties at which I know you would revolt,and your position therefore would have been a precarious one, and yourenemies might not improbably endeavour to remove so formidable a rivalin their master's favour by assassination, so I thought that for yourown interest it is better that I should take upon myself to decline theoffer."
"Thank you, sir. I should not have liked to enter his service at all.It would be an idle life as well as an unpleasant one, and, besides, Iknow that my father wishes me to take his place in Alexandria."
"Djezzar has behaved very handsomely," Sir Sidney said. "He obtainedfrom me a list of all the officers of the three ships and of the pettyofficers who have specially distinguished themselves. He has given mejewels to hand to all the officers in his name, and also purses of moneyfor the petty officers. He is, you know, immensely rich. The old fellowwas really grieved that he could not offer anything to me; he said asmuch, but I at once pointed out that, putting everything else aside, itwould be an unheard-of thing for the commander-in-chief of the Sultan'sarmy to receive a present from one, however high in rank, who was underhis orders. He just now insisted, however, that we should exchangerings, and as he had absolutely tears in his eyes when he spoke, I couldnot refuse, though mine was but a signet-ring with my crest, and his adiamond worth, I should say, a thousand pounds if it is worth a penny."
They had by this time reached the landing-place.
"Now, lads, we part here for the present; I hope that you will have aprosperous cruise, and do credit to my choice. You understand, Mr.Wilkinson, that you will remain on your station among the islands untilyou receive other orders from me."
After seeing Sir Sidney off, the two midshipmen took their places intheir boat, and were rowed off to the _Tigress_.
"That was an unexpected piece of luck, Blagrove," Wilkinson s
aid whenthey had started. "I thought, perhaps, that he might make you a present,for you have seen him every day, and besides interpreting, have carriedorders to his officers under a heavy fire, and done all sorts ofthings, but except that I landed several times to take part in thesorties, and was lucky enough to be on shore at that fight at the breachand when the French got in, I did no active work. I had no hopes ofgetting anything beyond perhaps a mention in the chief's despatches."
"I feel quite ashamed at having so much more valuable a present,Wilkinson."
"Oh! I am sure that no one could begrudge it to you," Wilkinson replied."You don't get any special pay for being an interpreter, and it givesyou a tremendous lot of work; besides, going about as you do with SirSidney, you were constantly under fire. Besides, the pasha saw a greatdeal more of you than he did of anyone else, except the chief himself. Icongratulate you upon it heartily; if you ever want to turn it intomoney it will be quite a small fortune. Luckily my father is in aposition to make me a good allowance, so I have no intention of everparting with this ring, it will be a remembrance of the siege, and thesort of thing to wear on grand occasions."
They found that during their absence the men had worked hard, and that,except for a final scrub, the brig was now ship-shape and in good order.At four o'clock in the morning the crew were again on deck It was stilldark, but the men set to with a will to scrub the decks, for, as theysaid, if they passed near the _Tigre_ they should not like the decks tolook like those of a trader in ballast. An hour's hard work and they hadfinished, just as the look-out reported that the _Tigre's_ men weregoing aloft to loosen sails. It was light now, and in a very few minutesthe canvas was spread and the anchor catted. The _Tigre_, with her greatsail spread, was not yet under way, and the brig, as she laid her coursewest, passed a hundred yards under her stern. The _Tigress_ ran up herensign, for the sun was just showing, and dipped it in salute. Themidshipmen waved their hands to their comrades on board, and salutedmore formally Sir Sidney, who stood at the bulwarks watching the craftas she passed, and who returned the salute with a cheery shout of "Welldone, _Tigress_!"
Then she went on her course, after the exchange of a cheer between thecrews clustered by the bulwarks of the _Tigress_ and in the tops of theman-of-war.
"Now we are fairly off," Edgar said, "what do your written instructionssay?"
"I am to go to Rhodes, there to make inquiries of the port authoritiesas to any outrages that have been lately reported, and to be guided bywhat I hear. In fact, the matter is left entirely in my hands, after weonce get there. I don't know how we had better divide the watches. Itwould hardly be the thing for me, as skipper, to take a watch, and yetthat would be the most satisfactory way of arranging it. I could takethe gunner and you the boatswain. In fact, I think it would beridiculous to work it in any other way."
"Just as you like, Wilkinson, but I have no doubt that the boatswainwould do just as well or better than I should."
"No, I will take a watch, at any rate until we see how the pettyofficers get on. It is ticklish navigation among these islands, and Icertainly should not feel comfortable if neither you nor I were on deck.There is the _Tigre_ fairly under way, steering south by west. We arewalking along, ain't we? This breeze just suits her, and she is a verydifferent craft now to what she was when we overhauled her, laden downpretty nearly to her covering-board. I don't think, in a breeze likethis, that the _Tigre_ would be able to catch us, although, of course,if the wind strengthened much her weight would tell. However, there isno doubt at all that this craft is fast. I hope ere long we shall tryour speed against one of these pirates. I expect that off the wind withthose big lateen sails of theirs they are very fast, but on the windthey would have no chance with us. When we get away from Rhodes we willdisguise her a bit, put a yellow streak to her, and give her the look ofa trader. They are much more likely to find us than we are to findthem."
"Where are we to send our prizes, that is, if we take any?"
"If they are small craft we are to burn them, but if we take any thatwould be likely to be of use to the chief in the blockade we are to sellthem. Any prisoners we take we are to hand over to the pasha at Smyrnaif they are Moslems; if they are Greeks, the fewer prisoners we take thebetter. It would be infinitely more merciful to shoot them down in fairfight than to hand them over to the tender mercies of the Turks, but SirSidney said that he would largely leave the matter to my discretion. Iwould rather that he had given me positive orders in writing on thesubject, for it is an awkward thing for a midshipman to have a thinglike this left to his discretion, especially as at other times superiorofficers don't seem to think that midshipmen possess any discretionwhatever."