Up The Baltic Part 16

In a short time the ship was approaching the narrow pa.s.s. The cliffs on each side were very bold and rugged, and if the students had not been feasting themselves with grand antic.i.p.ations, they would have appreciated the scenery much better. Ryder and Lincoln laughed when they compared the reality with the pictures they had. The scenery could not be called grand, though it was certainly very fine. The strait was very narrow, and on each side of it rings were fastened in the rocks, which were painted white around them, for the convenience of vessels warping out in a calm or against the wind. On the high rock,--it could not have been a hundred feet high,--at the right, was a small fort, which looked grim and terrible in its way, but which any well-ordered man of war, with modern ordnance, could have battered down in half an hour.

Pa.s.sing through the strait, the ship came in sight of the small village of Frederiksvaern, which is a naval station, where a number of gunboats are housed in a series of uniform buildings. The town itself is only a hamlet, but as the vessels proceeded, those on board saw Laurvig at the head of the bay, which is a place of considerable importance.

"Little Foerder," said the pilot, an hour later, as he pointed to a tall, red light-house, at the entrance of the fjord.

"Then the land we see beyond must be Sweden," added Ryder.

"_Sverige_," nodded the pilot.

"I suppose that is Sweden, but I don't see the use of having half a dozen names to a country."

"And this is _Norge_," added the second master, pointing to the other side.

"Yes, _Norge_," answered the pilot, pleased to hear the young officer apply the Norwegian name.

On the port hand of the ship was a vast sea of rocky islands, of all shapes and sizes. Those farthest from the mainland were entirely dest.i.tute of soil or verdure; but in the distance a few pines, and the fresh tints of the early gra.s.s, could be seen.

"Keep her north-north-east," said the pilot.

"Man the weather and stand by the lee braces!" shouted the first lieutenant.

Clyde Blacklock took out his station card, and looked to see whether the order applied to him.

"You are on the main brace," said Scott, a good-natured young tar, who happened to be near the new student. "There you are, on the weather side."

"Who spoke to you?" demanded Clyde, dropping his card, and looking Scott in the face.

"I haven't been introduced to you, I know; but I thought you wanted to know your duty," laughed Scott.

"You take care of yourself, and I'll mind my own duty," growled Clyde.

"All right, my lad," replied the good-natured student, whose station was at the weather fore brace.

Clyde walked aft, and placed himself in the line of those who were to haul on the weather main brace.

"Slack the lee, and haul on the weather braces," said the first lieutenant, and the other officers repeated the order.

"Walk away with it!" shouted the fourth lieutenant to those at the main brace.

Clyde took hold, and tugged with all his might; but the brace would not come away. To tell the exact truth, there was a disposition among the students to haze the new comer, and the main brace men had agreed among themselves to let him do the whole of the work. They pretended to haul, but not one of them bore a pound upon the brace.

"Pull!" shouted Clyde, at the top of his lungs, as he strained at the rope. "Why don't you pull, boys?"

"Silence on the quarter-deck!" cried the executive officer--for all work was required to be performed in silence. "Walk away with the main brace."

"Come, boys, why don't you pull?" roared Clyde, who was blest with a pair of hearty lungs.

"Silence, Blacklock! You mustn't hollo like that when you are on duty," interposed De Forrest.

"Who says I mustn't?" demanded Clyde, dropping his hold upon the brace, and walking up to the officer who had dared to give him these words of counsel, which were uttered in a mild and pleading tone, rather than in those of authority.

"Starboard the helm," said the executive officer.

"Starboard, sir," repeated the quartermaster at the wheel.

"Walk away with that main brace!" added the first lieutenant.

The main brace men, finding that Clyde was at issue with the fourth lieutenant, applied themselves to their work, and the main yard swung round.

"Steady!" said the executive officer.

"Steady, sir."

"Avast hauling! Belay, all."

By these manoeuvres the ship had been kept away, and was now headed directly up the fjord.

"I don't allow any fellow to speak to me like that," bl.u.s.tered Clyde.

"I want you to understand that I am a gentleman."

"Go forward, Blacklock, and don't make a row on the quarter-deck,"

replied De Forrest, mildly.

"I'll not go forward!"

"Then I must report you to the first lieutenant."

"I'm willing to do my work, but I won't be f.a.gged by any n.o.b in gold lace."

"You are making a mistake, Blacklock," said De Forrest, in a low tone, as he walked towards the angry Briton, with the intention of reasoning with him upon the absurdity of his conduct.

Mr. Lowington had cautioned him and other officers to be very prudent in dealing with the new student till he had become accustomed to his duty, and certainly De Forrest was prudent in the extreme. Perhaps Clyde misunderstood the purpose of this officer when approaching him, and suspected that he intended to use violence, for, drawing back, he made a pa.s.s at De Forrest with his fist. But the latter detected the nature of the demonstration in season to ward off the blow, and, still in the exercise of the extreme prudence which had before characterized his conduct, retreated to the other side of the quarter-deck.

"Enough of that," said Judson, the first lieutenant, as he stepped between Clyde and De Forrest.

Clyde was very angry. Though he had made up his mind to perform his duty in the beginning, he fancied that no one had the right to command him to be silent. In his wrath he pulled off his blue jacket, tossed it upon the deck with a flourish, and intimated that if the first lieutenant wanted to fight, he was ready for him. Happily the first lieutenant did not wish to fight, though he was fully prepared to defend himself. At this crisis, the princ.i.p.al observed the hostile att.i.tude of the young Briton, and quietly ordered Peaks to interfere.

"Go forward, Blacklock," said Judson, calmly.

"I won't go forward! I have been insulted, and I'll break the sconce of the fellow that did it," added Clyde, glancing at the fourth lieutenant.

"Come, my hearty, let us go forward, as we are ordered," interposed Peaks, as he picked up Clyde in his arms, and in spite of his struggles, carried him into the waist.

It was useless to resist the big boatswain, and the pressure of Peaks's arms soon crushed out Clyde's anger, and like a little child, he was set down upon the deck, amid the laughter of his companions. He felt that he was not getting ahead at all; and though he reserved the expression of his anger, he determined at the first convenient opportunity to thrash both Judson and De Forrest. He had also decided to run away at the first chance, even if he had to camp on a desolate island in doing so. He regarded Peaks as a horrible ogre, whose only mission in the ship was to persecute and circ.u.mvent him.

"I'll have it out with those n.o.bs yet," said Clyde, as Peaks left him, restored to his senses, so far as outward appearances were concerned.

"Have it out! Have what out?" asked Scott, the good-natured.