CHAPTER IV.
THE NAVAL RENDEZVOUS.
About a week after the events recorded in the preceding chapters, Lieutenant Bankhead paid another visit to Pinchbrook; but the way had already been prepared for him. Mrs. Somers, finding that she should be compelled to yield to the tremendous pressure which would be brought to bear upon her, had already decided to yield gracefully and without a struggle. Captain Barney had used his eloquence to some purpose; but the strong desire of John to serve his country was the most powerful influence acting upon her mind.
On the morning after the captain’s visit, John was somewhat surprised to hear her open the subject herself, without any prompting on his part.
“I have been thinking about your going into the navy, John, ever since I waked up this morning.”
“Have you? Well, what do you think about it, mother?” replied John.
“I have come to the conclusion that you had better go, if you want to.”
“Of course, I want to go; but I don’t want to go if you are not willing. I shouldn’t have a moment’s comfort if I thought you were worrying about me all the time.”
“I don’t think I should worry any more if you were gone than I have for the last two or three months.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to drive you into letting me go.”
“You haven’t. I’ve made up my mind that you will be just as well off in the navy as you will be at home. You always was a good boy; and I expect you will behave yourself wherever you go.”
“I always mean to do that, mother. A fellow can’t be a very bad boy in the navy, they are so strict.”
So it was decided that John should go into the navy; and there wasn’t half so much friction about the matter as he thought there would be when the final action should come. His mother seemed to be entirely satisfied to have him go; and she was more cheerful for the few days following the decision than she had been before. All doubt and anxiety on the subject were removed, and she was disposed to look on the bright side of the case.
When Lieutenant Bankhead appeared, there was no occasion for the array of excellent and convincing arguments which he had provided to overcome the mother’s repugnance to the proposed step.
“Is your son at home, madam?” said he, after the introductory remarks were concluded.
“Yes, sir: he is out in the garden. I have sent Jenny after him, and he will be here in a few moments.”
“I suppose you know what kind of a time we had upon the water the other night,” continued the visitor.
“Yes, sir: John told me all about it.”
“And, of course, he told you how deeply I am indebted to him for the service he rendered me?”
“He didn’t say much about that,” replied Mrs. Somers, who did not know but that he might think her son had criticised the conduct of his passenger on that eventful night.
“He is a brave little fellow, and I owe him a debt I shall never be able to repay.”
“Oh, well! John don’t mind that.”
“But I mind it; and I should have been here before to repeat my thanks, if the death of my father had not prevented.”
“John thought ever so much of you; and I rather think he is much obliged to you for falling overboard, and giving him the chance to pull you into the boat. But you are not the first man that John has pulled out of the water,” added the mother proudly.
“I am very glad to have obliged him, though it is not every young man whom I should be willing to oblige in that manner. But, madam, your son wishes to go into the navy.”
“Yes, sir; he has been wanting to go ever since the war broke out: but I couldn’t make up my mind to let him go before; and John isn’t a boy that would go without his mother’s leave.”
“Good boys always love and respect their mothers.”
“But I’ve made up my mind to let him go just as soon as he has a mind to. He wanted to go off and sign the papers yesterday; but I told him he had better wait till he saw you.”
“Indeed! I am very glad you have consented.”
“Yes, sir; I thought it would not do any good to hold out any longer: and John is a good boy, and will behave himself wherever he goes. Here he comes: he can speak for himself.”
Lieutenant Bankhead rose, and grasped the hand of John as he entered the room; and, after they had talked a while about their trip to Fort Warren, the subject nearest to the young man’s heart was again brought up for consideration. His grateful friend gave him all the information necessary for his guidance in the important step he was about to take. It was decided that John should enter the navy on the following day; but, as the ship to which Mr. Bankhead had been ordered would not be ready for sea for a few weeks, it was thought best, for several reasons, that the young sailor should enlist in Boston, and spend the period of his probation on board the receiving-ship at Charlestown. The arrangements having been completed, and an appointment made for John to meet his friend in the city at noon the next day, Mr. Bankhead rose to take his leave.
“Jack, I dare say you may think I am a very forgetful man,” continued the lieutenant, with a smile upon his handsome face.
“Forgetful? I don’t understand you, sir. I’m sure I never thought anything of the kind,” replied John, blushing up to his eyes.
“You know, I promised to give you ten dollars if you brought me back safely from the fort the other night.”
“I never thought of it, sir.”
“Well, I did; though the illness of my father drove it out of my head for the time,” added the officer, taking out his porte-monnaie.
“Really, sir, I don’t want you to give me a cent. I don’t ask anything for what I did.”
“I don’t care what you want, Jack. My conscience wouldn’t let me sleep at night, if I didn’t keep my promise. Oh! you needn’t blush, my boy: I’m not going to pay you; but I want to make you a small present, and my brother insisted upon adding something to my little gift. Here is mine, and here is my brother’s;” and Mr. Bankhead handed him first a hundred-dollar bill, and then a fifty-dollar bill.
“Why, sir, I----”
“Take them, Jack, just to oblige me,” added the lieutenant.
“No sir: I can’t take all this money. It will burn my fingers if I keep it.”
“If you feel afraid of it, just hand it to your mother, who, I dare say, will find a good use for it.”
John protested, and Mrs. Somers protested; they protested singly and together: but the officer was resolute, and positively refused to take back the bills.
“If I thought I could pay you, Jack, in money, I should have given you a thousand dollars. There is an elderly lady, who lives only seven miles from here, who is just as grateful to you as I am; and, when she feels able to leave home, she is coming over to see your mother; and I know they will be the best friends in the world.”
“Who, sir?”
“My mother, Jack. She already thinks a great deal of you, my boy; and, when she sees you, she will not think the less of you.”
Lieutenant Bankhead took his leave; and John and his mother were so bewildered when he had gone, that they hardly knew what had happened during his visit. But there were the two bank-bills to attest the reality of what had occurred; and the rest of the day was spent in making preparations for the sailor-boy’s departure. The question of what should be done with the hundred and fifty dollars caused considerable discussion; for Mrs. Somers thought it should be placed to John’s credit in the Savings Bank, and he declared she must use it to make herself comfortable until he could get some money to send home. John was the stronger party in the argument; and the money was carefully deposited in the bureau-drawer, to be expended as the necessities of the family might require.
The next morning, John rose very early, and did his “chores” about the house as usual. These were his last hours at home; and, though he was not a very sentimental lad, he couldn’t help visiting all the familiar spots in the vicinity, and recalling all the pleasant little incidents of the past. He might never see them again; and, when he left the little chamber which Thomas and himself had occupied since they were old enough to leave the trundle-bed, he was weak enough to shed a few tears. He compared his comfortable bed with a hammock on the berth-deck of a sloop-of-war; but, when he thought that he was going forth to fight for the glorious stripes and stars, he was reconciled to any privations which he might be called upon to endure.
The hour for his departure came; and after his mother had given him a few words of counsel, and a blessing warm from her heart, he kissed his sisters, shook hands with Gran’ther Greene, and rushed out of the house before anyone had an opportunity to shed many tears. At the railroad station he found many of his young friends who had come to see him off: but the train was approaching; and after Captain Barney had wrung his hand, and his friends had given him a hearty God-speed, he stepped into a car, and, as it seemed to him, actually entered upon his career as a sailor-boy.
If our space would permit, we could, no doubt, tell what Jack Somers was thinking about as the train hurled him along into the arms of his future destiny. He was a good boy, and I suppose he thought of everything that would be likely to occur to the mind of a good boy leaving home to take a part in the most momentous war in which a nation ever engaged. But, of whatever else he thought, I am sure that his mother was uppermost in his mind. For her sake he was resolved to be true to his God, his country, and himself.
At the appointed time, he met Lieutenant Bankhead at the hotel where he was boarding while in the city; and after dinner they repaired to the naval rendezvous, where John was duly presented for examination under the auspices of his influential friend.
“Your name, my lad?” demanded the recruiting agent.
“John Somers,” replied our hero with a promptness which was part of his nature.
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen, sir.”
“Have you been to sea?”
“Yes, sir.”
“How long?”
“One voyage to the West Indies, and two to Charlestown. I have been about boats ever since I was a baby.”
“I can vouch for him that he is every inch a sailor,” added Lieutenant Bankhead; “and the smartest lad in a small craft I ever came across in my life.”
“Looks like it,” said the agent. “What can you do, my lad?”
“Hand, reef, and steer. I know something about rigging; but I don’t want to ship as an able seaman.”
“Good: ordinary seaman, then; though you are rather young.”
“Better than half of them in the service,” said Jack’s friend.
“All right, Mr. Bankhead. We will take your word for it.”
“I ought to know: I have sailed with him when I wouldn’t trust myself in the hands of many a skipper that I have known.”
John was then taken into another room, where he was ordered to “strip,” and was thoroughly examined with regard to his physical condition. A minute description of his person was then written out, including his height, complexion, color of his eyes, and other distinguishing marks, which would enable his officers to identify him if occasion should require. He was pronounced sound in every respect, and fit to serve the United States Government in the capacity of an ordinary seaman.
The men on board a ship-of-war are shipped in three classes: landsmen, who know nothing about a ship; ordinary seamen, who can “hand, reef, and steer,” and who are sent aloft to perform the ordinary work of a sailor; and seamen, sometimes called “able seamen,” who are competent to do everything required in fitting out and working the ship; who know all about rigging, splicing ropes, making and mending sails; who can rig and unrig any spar; and who understand the lead.
Landsmen, at the time of which we write, received twelve dollars a month. They remain on deck, haul the halyards, braces, and other ropes which are worked on deck, clean up, and do general work. The pay of an ordinary seaman was fourteen dollars a month; and of a seaman, eighteen. There are also three classes of boys, called first, second, and third-class boys,--according to their knowledge and physical ability,--who received, respectively, nine, eight, and seven dollars a month.
When a sailor ships for the navy, he is supplied with clothing, and other articles of comfort and luxury, upon credit; that is, the value of the goods is charged to him, to be deducted from his future wages. As my readers may be curious to know the contents of Jack Somers’s bag, I shall add a list of the articles with which he was supplied, and the prices of them:--
1 Pea Jacket $12 00 1 Blue Cloth Jacket 10 00 1 pair Blue Cloth Pants 4 00 1 pair Blue Cloth Satinet Pants 3 00 1 Blue Cap 1 00 2 Blue Flannel Shirts 4 00 2 White Frocks 3 00 2 White Inside Shirts 3 00 2 pairs Drawers 3 00 2 pairs Duck Pants 3 00 2 pairs Stockings 1 00 1 pair Shoes 2 00 1 Neck Hankderchief 1 50 1 Tin Pot and Pan 75 1 Jack-knife and Spoon 50 1 Bar Soap and Scrubbing-Brush 1 00 1 Shoe-brush and Blacking 50 1 Razor, Shaving-box, and Soap 2 15 ------ $55 40
Jack blushed when the last-named articles were handed to him; but, as he had already made some efforts to coax a little feathery down upon his upper lip to vegetate more rapidly than Nature was disposed, he determined to persevere, in the hope that he might surprise his friends, at the expiration of his term, by presenting himself before them with a full-grown beard.
Men may draw two pounds of tobacco; but it is not allowed if the sailor is under twenty.
Our hero was appalled at the extent of his wardrobe: but Mr. Bankhead assured him he would find a use for everything he had, unless it was the shaving implements; which made Jack blush again, as though it were wicked to shave.