True Blue Part 22

He was awakened by a bland voice saying, "It is time to get up, sir.

Shall I help you to dress?"

True Blue opened his eyes and saw before him a personage in a very fine coat, with powdered hair, who he thought must be some great lord or other, even though he held a can of hot water in his hand.

The young sailor sat up, and, seeing no one else in the room, said, pulling a front lock of his hair, "Did you speak to me, sir?"

"Sir Henry sent me to ascertain if you wanted anything," answered the footman, somewhat puzzled, as he had not been told who the occupant of the room was.

When, however, he came to examine the clothes by the bedside, he guessed that he was some naval follower of his young master. He was about to carry off the clothes to brush them.

True Blue saw the proceeding with dismay. "Don't take them away, please. I have no others!" he exclaimed. "But, I say, I'm very hungry, and shouldn't mind some bread and cheese if there's any served out yet."

"I can get it for you at once; but breakfast will be ready directly, and you will find better things to eat then," said the footman, smiling.

"Oh, I'll be dressed in a jiffy, then," answered True Blue, jumping out of bed and forthwith commencing his ablutions in sea fashion, and almost before the footman had left the room he was ready to go downstairs.

Sir Henry came for him.

"Come along, Freeborn. My mother and sisters are anxious to see you.

They are in the breakfast-room. I am sure that you will like them."

True Blue, looking every inch the sailor, with his rich light curling hair, sunburnt countenance, laughing blue eye, and white strong teeth, followed the midshipman. He felt rather strange when the door opened and a handsome, tall lady came forward, and, taking him by both his hands, said:

"You saved my dear boy's life at the risk of your own. I owe you all the grat.i.tude a mother can offer."

She shook his hands warmly. He made no answer, for he did not know exactly what to say, except, "Oh, marm, it's nothing!"

Two tall girls then followed her example, and he thought that they were going to kiss him; but they did not, which he was glad of, as it would have made him feel very bashful.

Mr Leslie came down, and the party were soon seated round the breakfast-table. True Blue was very hungry, but at first everything seemed so strange about him that he could not eat. However, the ladies spoke in such kind, sweet voices, while they in no way seemed to notice what he was about, that he quickly gained courage and made the beef, and ham, and eggs, and bread and b.u.t.ter, rapidly disappear.

After the meal was over, some time was spent by Sir Henry with his mother and sisters, while Mr Leslie remained with True Blue, talking with him in a friendly way; and then he gave him a number of books with prints to look over, which interested him very much.

At last his host came back. "Come along, Freeborn," he said. "The coach is at the door, and we have numberless sights to see, which, truth to say, I have never seen myself; so my mother will go with us to show them. Is there anything you have heard of you would particularly like to see?"

True Blue thought a little. "Yes, indeed there is, Sir Henry," he answered. "There is one thing I'd rather see than anything else. It is what I have always longed to have a sight of, and that is His Majesty the King we fight for. Paul Pringle says he would go a hundred miles any day to see him; and so would I--two hundred for that matter. Every true sailor is ready enough to shed his blood for him, marm; but we should all of us like to see him just once, at all events."

"I daresay that we shall be able to manage that without difficulty,"

said Lady Elmore. "His Majesty will probably soon come up to deliver a speech in Parliament, and we shall then have a good opportunity of seeing him."

This promise highly delighted True Blue; and he evidently looked forward to seeing the King with more satisfaction than to any sight he expected to witness during his visit to London.

True Blue was taken one evening to the play, but, unfortunately, what was called a naval drama was acted. Here both he and the midshipman were well qualified to criticise. He certainly was the more severe.

"Does that fellow call himself a sailor, marm?" he asked, turning to Lady Elmore. "Don't believe it. He isn't a bit more like a sailor than that thing they are hauling across the deck is like a ship--that is to say, any ship I ever saw. If she came to be launched, she'd do nothing but go round boxing the compa.s.s till she went to the bottom. Would she, Sir Henry?"

The midshipman was highly diverted. "The manager little thought that he had us to criticise his arrangements," he answered, laughing. "The play is only got up for the amus.e.m.e.nt of landsmen, and to show them how we sailors fight for them."

"But wouldn't they like us to go and do that just now ourselves, Sir Henry?" exclaimed True Blue with eagerness. "If they'd give us a cutla.s.s apiece, and would get those Frenchmen we saw just now to stand up like men, we would show them how we boarded and took the French frigate in our first cruise."

Lady Elmore said she thought some confusion might be created if the proposal was carried out, and persuaded True Blue to give up the idea.

When, however, one of the stage sailors came on and volunteered to dance a hornpipe, his indignation knew no bounds. "He's not a true bluejacket--that I'll warrant!" he exclaimed. "If he was, he wouldn't be handling his feet in the way he is doing. I should so like to step down and just show you, my lady, and the rest of the good people here, how we dance aboard. If I had but Sam Smatch and his fiddle, I'll warrant people would say which was the right and which was the wrong way pretty quickly."

Lady Elmore explained to him, much to his surprise, that none but the actors who were paid for it were allowed to appear on the stage, but a.s.sured him that she would be very glad if some evening he would give them, at her house, an exhibition of his skill in dancing the hornpipe.

"That I will, my lady, with all my heart!" he exclaimed frankly.

"There's nothing I wouldn't do to please you and the young ladies; and I think that you would like to see a right real sailor's hornpipe danced.

It does my heart good to dance it, I know. It is rare fun."

On driving home, Lady Elmore asked him how he liked the play altogether.

"Well, my lady," he exclaimed, "much obliged to you for taking me to the place! It was very good sport, but I should have liked it better if I could have lent a hand in the work. When there is a scrimmage, it is natural-like to wish to be in it. And I couldn't bear to see that black pirate fellow carry off the young gal, and all the gold and silver plates and candlesticks, and not be able just to go and rout out his nest of villains."

This visit to the play enabled his friends to understand True Blue's style of thought and manners far better than they had before done, and was in reality of considerable benefit to him. Gentle of heart and right-minded, and brave as a lion, he was still a rough sailor; and only a considerable time spent in the society of polished people could have given him the polish which is looked-for in a gentleman.

The next day the King was to prorogue Parliament. Mr Leslie called in the morning and took his nephew and young guest down towards Westminster to wait for his approach. True Blue was full of excitement at the thought of seeing the King. "I wonder what he can be like? He must be a very grand person to have so many big ships all of his own," he observed to Mr Leslie.

"You would find His Majesty a very affable, kind old gentleman if he were to speak to you at any time," said Mr Leslie. "Here he comes, though. You will see him inside the coach. Take off your hat when he pa.s.ses."

At a slow and stately pace the carriage of the kind-hearted monarch of Great Britain approached. First came the body of Life Guards, their belts well whitened with pipeclay, and their heads plastered with pomatum and powder; and then followed the royal carriage, as fine as gold and paint and varnish could make it.

"There's King George, Freeborn," said Mr Leslie, pointing out his Majesty, who sat looking very gracious as he bowed now out of one window, now out of the other.

"G.o.d bless him, then!" shouted True Blue, almost beside himself with excitement, throwing up his hat and catching it again. "Three cheers for King George, boys! Three cheers for the King! Hurrah! hurrah!

hurrah, boys! Hip, hip, hip, hurrah!" True Blue's eye had fallen on several other bluejackets, who happened to be near him in the crowd, come up to London on a spree to get rid of their prize-money. Instantly the shout was taken up by them and echoed by the rest of the crowd, till the air was rent with cries of "Long live the King!" "Long live King George!"

"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah for King George!" "Hurrah for Old England!"

"Old England in arms against the world--Old England for ever!"

Mr Leslie was highly delighted, and he and his nephew joined in the shout as loudly as any one, while the King, looking from the windows, bowed and smiled even more cordially than before.

"Well, I've had a good sight of His Majesty, and I'll not forget his kind face as long as I live!" exclaimed True Blue as the party walked homeward. "It is a pleasure to know the face of the King one is fighting for; and, G.o.d bless His Majesty, his kind look would make me more ready than ever to stand up for him!"

All the way home True Blue could talk of nothing but the King, and how glad he was to have seen him. In the evening, however, one of the young ladies began to play a hornpipe, the music of which Sir Henry, not without difficulty, had procured for her. True Blue p.r.i.c.ked up his ears, and then, running to the piano, exclaimed, "You play it very well indeed, Miss Julia--that you do; but I wish that you could just hear Sam Smatch with his fiddle--he'd take the shine out of you, I think you'd say. Howsomdever, my lady, if you and the young ladies and Sir Henry please, and Miss Julia will just strike up a bit of a tune, I'll shuffle my feet about and show you what we call a hornpipe at sea. Sir Henry knows, though, right well; but, to say truth, I'd rather have the smooth deck under my feet than this gra.s.sy sort of stuff, which wants the right sort of spring in it."

"Never mind, Freeborn," said Sir Henry, laughing. "They are not such severe judges as Ogle and Bush, and Marline and our other shipmates."

"To be sure--to be sure," said True Blue in a compa.s.sionate tone. "Now, Miss Julia, please marm, strike up and off I go."

True Blue did go off indeed, and with the greatest spirit performed a hornpipe which deservedly elicited the admiration of all the spectators.

Miss Julia's fingers were tired before his feet, and, having made the usual bow round to the company, throwing back his hair, he stood ready to begin again.

The applause which followed having ceased, he laughed, exclaiming, "Oh, it's nothing, ladies--nothing to what I can do, Sir Henry will tell you; but, you see, there's a good deal of difference between the forecastle of a man-of-war, and this here drawing-room in big London City." The tone of his voice showed that he gave the preference to the forecastle.

That evening Lady Elmore and her son had a long discussion.

"But are you certain, Henry, that we are doing the best thing for the brave lad?" she said.

"Oh, he'll polish--he'll polish rapidly!" answered her son. "He has no notion of concealment, or that it is necessary for him to a.s.sume sh.o.r.egoing manners, now that he has got over his bashfulness at finding himself among strangers. He says exactly what he thinks and feels. The outside husk is rough enough, I own, but, depend on it, the jewel within will soon take a polish which will shine brightly through the sh.e.l.l and light up the whole form. Not a bad notion for a midshipman, mother!"