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A midshipman belonging to the Indian navy having gone on shore for the purpose of visiting the valley before-mentioned, and straying away to some distance, attracted by the beauty of the scenery, was suddenly surrounded by a party of Bedouins, who robbed him of all he possessed, cutting off the buttons from his clothes, under the idea that they were of gold an impression which obtains all over the coast, and which inspired the people who made the last assault upon Aden with the hope of a rich booty.
"Ice right ahead, sir!" came the cry again, nor could we clear the jumble of bergs until the dusk had settled down, when we hove-to for the night. No one was hurt, but I suppose no closer shave of the kind ever happened to a ship before. Again, and this time once more off Cape Horn. It was my third voyage; I was still a midshipman, and in the second mate's watch.
"But a midshipman can always eat two breakfasts, particularly when his own comes first; so sit down and breakfast with us it's all over now." "Even if it was not," replied Captain Wilson, laughing, "I doubt whether it would spoil Mr Easy's breakfast. Come, Mr Easy, sit down." Jack bowed, and took his chair, and proved that his lecture had not taken away his appetite.
As soon as he had served his six years, I sent for him and told him he must go to London to pass his examination. “You must excuse me, my lord,” was his answer; “I would rather remain the oldest midshipman than the youngest lieutenant,” and he persisted in this whim for more than three years.
But his own predilections were in favour of a seaman's life, and accordingly, after brief schooling, he joined the Hind, as a midshipman, in June, 1793, when he was nearly eighteen years of age. During the next seven years he learnt his craft in various ships and seas, being helped in many ways by his uncle, the Hon.
A little while later the Fleet Surgeon, splashed with red to the elbows, glanced up from his work in the fore-distributing station and saw a strange figure descending the hatchway. It was Mouldy Jakes: his scalp was torn so that a red triangular patch hung rakishly over one eye. Flung over his shoulder was the limp form of an unconscious Midshipman.
No sooner had he put his head into the coffee-room, than another young officer, in the uniform of a mate or passed midshipman, jumped up, and, seizing him by the hand, exclaimed "I am delighted to see you, my dear Jack. You've come to join the Dugong, I hope." "If you belong to her, Adair, I wish I was," answered Jack Rogers, for he was the new-comer. "But I am not.
Indeed, just then she evidently had forgotten her own age and his, and probably thought of him just as she did when he came home a young midshipman the first time from sea, proud of his dirk and uniform, and full of the scenes he had witnessed and the wonders of the foreign lands he had visited.
Old Ding-dong was going into action, and had brushed his hair first as was his invariable custom. "Morn, Mr. Caryll," said the old man, never taking his eyes off his topsails. "I was just going to send for you. You'll be my orderly midshipman. We're in for a little bit o business. See them two?" He jerked his head across the water.
"Johnson is a sternish fellow, and," he added laughing, "if any dangerous parties go near the island, Mr Midshipman Roberts will blow them right out of the water." "Yes," said Major Sandars, indulging in a low chuckle, "he and Mr Ensign Long between them would be a match for all the rajahs on the river."
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