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"You are going to see an angel, Sir John." "How! Do you know anything of Miss Etherington?" "I should be as blind as an old bumboat else. During our late v'y'ge, I saw her often." "This is strange! But there is evidently something on your mind, my friend; speak freely." "Well, then, Sir John, talk of anything but of our v'y'ge, to the dear crittur.
Tom also wrote to comfort his mother, and the greatest comfort which he could give was, as he said, to promise to keep sober. Having entrusted these letters to the bumboat woman, who promised faithfully to put them into the post-office, we had then nothing else to do but to look out for some place to sleep.
I don't exactly know how many men were saved, but there was only one woman, which was the one I dragged out of the port. There was a great fat old bumboat woman, whom the sailors used to call the `Royal George, she was picked up floating, for she was too fat to sink; but she had been floating the wrong way uppermost, and she was dead. There was a poor little child saved rather strangely.
As the boys had not yet grown entirely accustomed to what is called "Government straight," i.e., salt meat and hard-tack, the bumboat did a thriving business. Young Potter's bill was tremendous, and Mrs. Bumboat bade him a regretful farewell when she visited us for the last time. At three in the afternoon of the tenth we hoisted anchor on our way to sea.
Some half a dozen men-o'-war lay at anchor at Spithead; and the waters of the Solent were dotted with the sails of craft of all sizes, from the stately frigate to the humble but enterprising bumboat.
"No debbel, sar my name, sar, Lillydew vat you please vant, sar? steward to young gentlemen, sar. Will young massa have a lily-white bit soft tommy, sar, broil him a sodger, sar bumboat alongside, get a fresh herring for relish, sar." "Get me a little fresh air take me upstairs." "O Gemminnie! hi! hi! hi! young gentleman, Massa Johnny Newcome. This way, sar."
Captain Gordon, who was the admiral's flag captain, spoke to him about the poor watermen and bumboat women being robbed of their money by our starting so suddenly; but he could get no satisfaction from old Charley. `Bumboat women be hanged! was all he said. `Let 'em take their payment out of the fore tops'l, and the main topgallant s'l shall be witness to the bargain! With that, he orders the men, who were muttering to be piped down."
The eighth portion of soft tommy and butter, with a bottle of porter, I made the servant leave on the table; and then sent him again to the bumboat, to procure other necessaries, to make the accompaniments to our mutton perfect. In the meantime, Pigtop, who lay in his hammock, directly across the window of our berth, had been a tantalised observer of all that had passed.
"I can't, sir. I've expended all my money in buying clothes of this good lady here," explained Downy, pointing to the fat, old bumboat woman. "I hadn't a stitch to my back and had to get a rig-out for the voyage, sir." "Yes, sir, he's 'ad three shirts, as is twelve-and-six, and cheap at the price, too, sir," corroborated Mistress Poll Nash, with a low curtsey to the lieutenant.
When a man that's been a real sailor sinks as low as I've sunk from clipper ships to mate on a rotten little bumboat people don't respect him none. But it's different with a marine engineer. You might be first assistant on a P.M. boat to-day an' second assistant on a bay tug to-morrow but nothin's thought of it." "What're we goin' to do with the five dollars?"
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