Young Tom Bowling Part 4

"Never mind, my boy, if your sh.o.r.e toggery is a bit seedy," he said.

"You'll soon be blooming out in a bran-new sailor's rig, and be as good as anybody!"

At this, Mick slipped off his ragged jacket at once, dragging an even more tattered s.h.i.+rt over his head. But I noticed though, and so did the doctor too, who had pretty sharp eyes of his own in spite of his somewhat indolent demeanour, that, if poor Mick's garment was ragged, as indeed it was--aye, and 'holy' enough to have served his patriot saint, Saint Patrick, for a vestment--the s.h.i.+rt, or rather the remnant of the article, was scrupulously clean. The Irish boy's skin also appeared much more accustomed to soap and water than that of the ugly Reeks, who, I saw, regarded my new friend with contempt, though he seemed to me a very dirty fellow, if outwardly better dressed.

However, in spite of his dilapidated raiment, Mick pa.s.sed all the medical tests; though he had a narrow squeak in regard to the dimensions of his chest, failing in the proper measurement for his age by just an eighth of an inch.

"Faith, sor, I'll fill out soon enough whin I git outside ov a good male or two," pleaded the defaulter, on the sick-berth steward noting the deficiency. "An' sure, yer anner, if Oi arn't broad enough in the chist, I make up for it by being taller for me age--Bedad, Oi'm that, sor!"

The doctor seemed tickled by this unanswerable piece of logic.

"We'll see about that, Paddy," he said. "Trimmens, measure his height!"

"Five feet five, sir," e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the steward, after adjusting the sliding roll of the standard and reading the index. "That's three h'inches over the h'average, sir, for his age, I think, sir."

"Very good, that'll do; I'll pa.s.s you, Donovan," said the doctor, wheeling round his chair and facing Mick. "But, mind, you'll have to fill out, my boy."

"Faith, I will that same, sor; and thank you kindly, sor, for your goodness to a poor misfortenate gossoon:" replied the other, all full of grat.i.tude. "Your honour won't know me, bedad, in a wake's toime if I ownly git enough praties an' mate!"

The doctor laughed outright at this; whereat, the somewhat demure sick- berth steward smiled grimly, allowing himself this slight indulgence amid the stormy austerities of duty, the only departure from the gravity he had all along displayed.

As for me, I was on the broad grin the whole period of my examination.

This lasted from the time I unb.u.t.toned my braces till I threw them over my shoulders again, my grin expanding as I pa.s.sed each test with flying colours, and broadening all over my face to express my inward joy. For, thank G.o.d, I proved to be not only 'sound in mind and limb,' but taller and broader-chested than most lads of my age. While as for my sight--

"By Jove, Trimmens," observed the doctor, "I think he could pretty nearly see through that bulkhead and the Bill of Portland beyond! He has eyes like gimlets!"

"Yes, sir!"

With that, the sick-berth steward, hailing the s.h.i.+p's corporal, who had been waiting all the while at the entrance to the doctor's sanctum, handed him our papers; and the three of us were then escorted to the paymaster's office, aft there, to undergo our last ordeal.

Here, each of us had to sign a doc.u.ment, binding us to serve Her Majesty for a period of twelve years after we should have attained the age of eighteen.

A number was thereupon given to Reeks and Donovan, as well as myself, and these numbers entered in the s.h.i.+p's books against all three of our names; the one apportioned to me being 2799, which I looked upon as a happy omen, there being always luck in the odd figures.

Then, finally, one of the clerks noted down in turn the respective colours of our hair and eyes, asking also if we had any special markings on any part of our several persons; so that the authorities would be able to identify us should we 'cut and run' at any time, and try to leave the service before we worked out our allotted spell of twelve years as bluejackets "under the flag."

"Now, lads," said the corporal, as we emerged from the s.h.i.+p's office, as the paymaster's domain is styled, after going through all these formalities, "you're entered on the s.h.i.+p's books and you've signed the watch bill, and can call yourselves _Saint Vincent_ boys at last!"

"Be the powers, sor," exclaimed Mick Donovan, at once executing a caper which had some remote resemblance to an Irish jig, "it's deloighted Oi am at that same! Oi fale so glad, alannah, Oi could dance for joy, loike the piper that played before Moses!"

"What d'you mean?" retorted Reeks, thinking he was taking liberties with his name. "We don't have no Irish pipers or pigs in this country!"

"Faith an' sure," retorted Mike, "that's bekase ye don't want 'em, avic.

Ye've got so many pigs, me darlint, amongst ye, bedad, ov yer own, sure, an' not fur off, nayther, I'm a-thinkin'!"

Before 'Ugly' could make any reply to this sharp home-thrust, a bugle rang out loudly throughout the s.h.i.+p fore and aft, putting a stop to the interesting conversation.

"Look sharp, lads!" cried the corporal, hurrying us on to where we had left the master-at-arms. "There's 'cooks to their messes,' and you're just in time for dinner."

"Dinner, faith!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mick Donovan. "Oi'm the boy for ye, begorrah. Where shall we go, sor, for to git it? Sure, the docther, G.o.d bless him! Towld me Oi wor to fill mesilf out; an' the sooner I sit about it, the betther, Oi'm afther thinkin'!"

"Come along with me and you'll be all right," said the corporal kindly.

"You novices will mess here on the middle deck, along with us police, till you pa.s.s your bag and hammock drill and get your uniforms. You're only what they calls 'unclothed boys' at present, my lads!"

So saying, he led the way to the aftermost mess on the port side of the s.h.i.+p.

Its number was '52,' near at hand to the office of the s.h.i.+p's police, and adjoining the entry-port where we had come on board that morning, and on reaching it we were directed to seat ourselves at the table, one of the oldsters being 'told off' to look after us, and supply our wants as soon as the boatswain's pipe was heard; when some six hundred and fifty odd boys came tumbling down the hatchways from 'divisions' on the upper deck, diving below, to their dinners on the lower.

"You're in luck, my lads," said patronisingly the first-cla.s.s boy, with a double stripe on his arm, who had been deputed to fetch our food, we having no cook or captain of our mess appointed yet. "Not many gits sich a chance on first j'ining!"

"Why?" asked I--"how's that?"

"It's pay-day to-day, being Thursday; and so you'll have roast mutton and gammy duff for dinner, let alone your pay, mate."

"I don't fancy any of us will get fat on our pay," said I, with a grin, in response to his chaff. "But, what's 'gammy duff'--I never heard tell of such a thing before?"

"Plum puddin', with raisins in it, stoopid," he quickly sang out, we darting off, on catching sight of our friend the s.h.i.+p's corporal, who just then popped his head out of the office to see how we were getting on. "I means a puddin', Johnny Green, with as many 'gammies' as the boys don't 'sneak' when the cook's working up the duff!"

CHAPTER FOUR.

I AM "CUT DOWN IN MY PRIME."

After dinner, which, by the way, my friend Mick Donovan appeared to enjoy mightily, not having had a decent meal for more than a month past, as he confessed to me afterwards, the bugle loudly sounded the 'a.s.sembly,' when all the boys below came rus.h.i.+ng up the hatchway near us, trooping onwards by the ladder above to the upper deck. They jostled and shoved past each other, I thought, as if Old Nick were after them, none wis.h.i.+ng to occupy the unenviable position of last man, or rather boy.

There wore eight other new boys in addition to us three, the latest of the novices, who had joined the s.h.i.+p that morning; and, although we all rose up from the mess-table, where we had very satisfactorily polished off our dinners in company, the lot of us hung together about the spot, not knowing what to do, or where we should go.

We were, besides, pretty well confused with all the bustle and hurry, and scurry catch-me-who-can business, going on around us.

It seemed, indeed, to bewilder even 'Ugly,' free and easy chap as he appeared to be.

Our friend the master-at-arms, however, solved the difficulty for us before we were many minutes older, as you will see.

"Ha, my lads!" said he, advancing towards us from the office with the gla.s.s windows, through which he could overhaul all that was going on on deck, and where he probably had been enjoying his own meal on the quiet; "got through your dinners, eh?"

"Yes, sir," we shouted in chorus, Mick Donovan adding a very appropriate grace, which most of us had forgotten. "Thanks be to G.o.d, yer 'anner!"

"Ah, I needn't have asked the question," said the 'Jaunty' to this, glancing meaningly at the empty plates that littered the table, not a sc.r.a.p or a crumb being left by any of us. "But now, my lads, you must set to work to pay for your grub. Here, look sharp and clear up! We always have things s.h.i.+pshape aboard here, and the sooner you learn your duties the better."

The same first-cla.s.s boy who had previously got our dinners for us from the cook's galley, and who, you may remember, had tried a 'barney' on me when he brought them, happening to be pa.s.sing by at the time again, the master-at-arms hailed him.

"Where are you going, my joker?" said he. "You seem to be having a good time of it!"

"Jist goin' a message fur the bosun," stammered he. "He sent me to ax the gunner, sir, fur a copy o' the mornin' paper."

"That's a bouncer," rejoined the 'Jaunty,' who, no doubt, was up to such tricks. "Why, you're going away from the gunner's cabin and not towards it, as you very well know. You just stop here and show these new boys how to clean up the mess-table."

"Yes, sir," replied the boy very humbly; and then a grin came over his face as he looked at the empty plates, like as the master-at-arms had done previously, asking demurely, "Shall I show 'em where to chuck the sc.r.a.ps, sir?"