How is that, aunt?
Well, Horace, when there are hundreds of officers on half-pay, who can scarcely keep life together on the few pounds a year they get, it would be hard indeed for young fellows with money and influence to step into the places and keep them out.
Yes, aunt, I did not think of that, Horace said, brightening up. It certainly would be a beastly shame for a fellow who can do anything with himself to take the place of a man who can do nothing else.
Besides, Horace, his aunt went on, if you like the sea so much as you do now when you have done with college, there is no reason why you should not get your father to let you either hire or buy a yacht and go where you like in her, instead of travelling about by land.
That would be very jolly! Horace exclaimed. Yes, that would be really better than going to sea, because one could go where one liked.
And so at the end of the holidays Horace went up to Eton. On his return home in the summer his father said: Your aunt was over here the other day, Horace, and she was telling me about that foolish idea you have of going to sea. I was glad to hear that you gave it up at once when she pointed out to you the absurdity of it. Her opinion is that as you are so fond of the water, and as Marco can manage a boat well, it would be a good thing for you to have one of your own, instead of going out always with the fishermen; the idea seemed to me a good one, so I got her to write to some one she knows at Exmouth, and he has spoken to the revenue officer there. They have been bothering me about what size it should be, and as I could not tell them whether it should be ten feet long or fifty, I said the matter must remain till you came home, and then Marco could go over with you to Exmouth and see the officer.
Oh, thank you very much, father!
It is only right that you should be indulged in a matter like this, Horace. I know that you dont care about riding alone, and I am sorry I cant be more of a companion to you, but I have always my hands full of important work, and I know that for a boy of your age it must be very dull here. Choose any boat you like. I have been talking to Marco, and he says that she can be hauled up on the beach and lie there perfectly safe when you are away. Of course if necessary he can have a young fellow or two from the village to help while you are at home. He seems to think that in that way you could have a boat of more comfortable size. I dont know anything about it, so I have left the matter entirely to him and you. The difference of cost between a small boat and a large one is of no consequence one way or the other.
Accordingly, the next morning Marco and Horace started directly after breakfast in the carriage to catch the coach, which passed along the main road four miles from Seaport, and arrived at Exmouth at two. They had no difficulty in finding the house of Captain Martyn, whose title was an honorary one, he being a lieutenant of many years service.
Is Captain Martyn in? Horace asked the servant who opened the door.
No, sir; he is away in the cutter. Horace stood aghast. It had never struck him that the officer might not be at home.
His son is in, Mr. William Martyn, if that will do, the servant said, seeing the boys look of dismay.
I dont know, he said; but at any rate I should like to see him.
I will tell him, sir, if you will stay here.
A minute later a tall powerfully-built young fellow of two or three-and-twenty came to the door.
Well, youngster, what is it? he asked.
I have come about buying a boat, sir. My name is Beveridge. I believe Captain Martyn was kind enough to say that he would look out for a boat for us.
Oh, yes, I have heard about it; but whether it was a dinghy or a man-of-war that was wanted we couldnt find out. Do you intend to manage her single-handed?
Oh, no, sir! I have done a lot of sailing with the fishermen at Seaport, but I could not manage a boat by myself, not if there was any wind. But Marco was a sailor among the Greek isles before he entered my fathers service.
Want a comfortable craft, the Greek, who had learned to speak a certain amount of English, said. Can have two or three hands.
Oh, you want a regular cruiser! Well, you are a lucky young chap, I must say. The idea of a young cub like you having a boat with two or three hands to knock about in! Do you want a captain, because I am to let?
No, sir, we dont want a captain, and we dont want a great big craft. Something about the size of a fishing-boat, I should say. Are you a sailor?
Yes, worse luck, I am a masters mate, if you know what that is. It means a passed midshipman. I have been a masters mate for four years, and am likely to be one all my life, for I have no more chance of getting a berth than I have of being appointed a post-captain to-morrow. Well, I will put on my cap and go with you. I have been looking about since my father heard about a boat being wanted. The letter said nothing about your age, or what size of boat was wanted; it gave in fact no useful information whatever. It was about as much to the point as if they had said you wanted to have a house and did not say whether it was a two-roomed cottage or a country mansion. But I think I know of a little craft that would about suit you. Does your father sail himself?
Horace could not help smiling at the idea. No, he said. My father cares for nothing but studying Greek. I am at Eton, but it is very slow in the holidays, and as I generally go out with the fishermen the best part of the time I am at home, he thought it would be a good thing for me to have a boat of my own.
William Martyn looked quietly down at the lad, then went in and got his cap, rejoined them, and sauntered down towards the river. He led the way along the wharfs, passed above the town, and then pointed to a boat lying on the mud.
That is the craft I should choose if I were in your place, he said. She is as sound as a bell, and I wouldnt mind crossing the Bay of Biscay in her.
But she is very large, Horace said, looking at her with some doubt in his face.
She is about fifteen tons burthen, he said, built of oak, and is only eight years old, though she looks battered about and rusty as she lies there. She was built from his own designs by Captain Burrows, as good a sailor as ever stepped. She is forty feet long and fifteen feet beam. She is fast, and a splendid sea-boat, with four foot draft of water. He died three years after he built her, and she has been lying there ever since. Her gear has been all stowed away in a dry place, and the old sailor in charge of it says it is in perfect order. The old captain used to knock about on board of her with only a man and a boy, and she is as easy to handle as a cock-boat. I was out in her more than once when I was at home on leave, and she is a beauty. Of course you cant judge of her as she lies there; but she has wonderfully easy lines, and sits the water like a duck. She is a dandy, you see; that is, she carries a small mizzen mast. She was rigged so because a craft like that is a good deal easier to work short-handed than a cutter.
She seemed as she lay there so much larger than anything Horace had had the idea of possessing that he looked doubtfully at Marco.
I think she will do, the Greek said; just the sort of boat for us. See her when tide comes up, and can go on board. How much cost?
They only want eighty pounds for her, William Martyn said. They asked a hundred and fifty at first; but everything is so dull, and there have been such a lot of small craft sold off from the dockyards, that she has not found a purchaser. If I had two or three hundred a year of my own there is nothing I should like better than to own that craft and knock about in her. Her only fault is she wants head-room. There is only five foot under her beams, for she has a low freeboard. That prevents her from being sold as a yacht. But as one does not want to walk about much below I dont see that that matters. She has got a roomy cabin and a nice little stateroom for the owner, and a focastle big enough for six hands.
It would be splendid, Horace said. But do you think, Marco, my father meant me to have such a large boat as this?
The Greek nodded. Master said buy a good big safe boat. No use getting a little thing Mr. Horace tire of in a year or two. Can always get a man or two in the holidays. I think that is just the boat.
Tide has nearly reached her, William Martyn said. We shall be able to get off to her in an hour. We will go and overhaul the gear now. I will get the key of the cabins.
It took them a good hour to get out the sails and inspect them, and examine the ropes and gear. All were pronounced in good order.
The sails are as good for all practical purposes as the day they were turned out, Martyn said. They may not be quite as white as the fresh-water sailors about here think necessary for their pleasure craft, but they are sound and strong, and were well scrubbed before they were put away. And you may be sure Burrows used none but the best rope money could buy. Now we will go on board. She will look a different craft when her decks are holy-stoned, and she gets two or three coats of paint, the young officer went on as they stepped on board. A landsman can never judge of a boat when she is dismantled, and he cant judge much at any time. He thinks more of paint and polish than he does of a ships lines.
But Horace had seen enough of boats to be able to appreciate to some extent the easy lines of her bow and her fine run, and the Greek was delighted with her. Below she was in good order, except that she wanted a coat of paint. The cabins were of course entirely dismantled, but Horace was surprised at their roominess, accustomed as he was to the close little focastles of the fishing-boats.
She was fitted up in a regular man-of-war fashion, Martyn said. This was just a captains cabin on board a frigate, but on a small scale, and so was the state-room. We did not see the furniture, but it is all upstairs in an attic of the cottage we went to.
How long would it take to get her ready? Horace asked.
About ten days. Most of her ballast is out of her, but the rest ought to come out so as to give her a regular clean down, and a coat of whitewash below, before it is all put in again. If you like, young un, I will look after that. I have got nothing to do, and it will be an amusement to me. I am looking for a berth at present in a merchantman, but there are such a number of men out of harness that it isnt easy to get a job. Look here, if you really want to learn some day to be fit to take charge of this craft yourself, you could not do better than persuade your father to let you come over here and see her fitted up, then you will know where every rope goes, and learn more than you would sitting about on deck in the course of a year. There will be no difficulty in getting a couple of rooms ready for you and your man in the town.
Can we get home to-night, sir?
Yes, the coach goes through here at six oclock.
My father will write to-morrow, at least I expect he will, Horace said. It isnt very easy to get him to do things, but I expect I shall manage.
He will write, Marco said confidently; and as the boy knew that the Greek had far more opportunities of getting at his father than he had, he felt sure that he would manage it.
We are very much obliged to you, Mr. Martyn, he said.
All right, young sir. If your father decides to take the boat get him to write to me; or if he is bad at writing, write to me yourself after settling it with him, and I will put on men and see that she is ready for sea in a fortnight.
Do you feel sure father will let me have the boat, Marco? Horace said as soon as they were alone.
It is done, the Greek said with a wave of his hand. He said to me, Go and buy a proper boat, see that everything is right about it, but dont worry me. So when I say, I have bought the boat; it is just the thing we want; it will cost a hundred pounds by the time it is ready for sea, he will say he is glad to hear it, and there will be an end of it. Mr. Beveridge never troubles.
And will you tell him that it would be a good thing for me to go over and see her fitted up?
I will tell him. He will be glad to know that you have got something to do.
It was half-past ten oclock when they got home. The other Greek opened the door.
Is the master in bed yet, Zaimes?
He went upstairs ten minutes ago. I think he had forgotten all about Horace not being at home. He did not mention his name to me.
What a nuisance! Horace said. Now I shall have to wait till morning before I know about it, and I am so anxious to hear what he says.
It will be all the pleasanter when you hear, Zaimes said quietly.
The two men were brothers, Zaimes being ten years senior. He was Mr. Beveridges valet, his brother being a sort of general assistant, waiting at meals except when Horace was at home, when he was considered specially told off to him. They lived apart from the other servants, having a room of their own where they cooked their meals in their own fashion. Both were extremely attached to their master, and would have given their lives for him.
Marco will tell me all about it, and I will talk to the master while I am dressing him. You are making Marco again a boy like yourself, Horace. He is as eager about this boat as you are; and he smiled indulgently at his brother, whom he still regarded as a boy, although he was now nearly forty.
That will be the best plan, Zaimes. I shall be glad for him to know all about it before breakfast time, for I am sure I should not like to tell him that we had fixed on a boat like that.
Horace was a long time before he got to sleep. He had never dreamt of anything bigger than an open boat, and the thought of having a craft that he could sail anywhere along the coast, and even sleep on board, seemed almost too good to be true. He woke an hour before his time, dressed hastily, went out into the garden, and stood there looking over the sea. The fishing-boats were going out, and he pictured to himself the boat he had seen, gliding along among them, bigger and ever so much handsomer than any of them; and how he would be able to take out his cousins, and perhaps some day have a school friend to spend the holidays with him and cruise about. So deep was he in his thoughts that he was surprised when he heard the bell ring for breakfast.
Now, then, he said to himself as he walked back to the house, I shall know. Of course it will be a horrible disappointment if he says no, but I shant show it, because it is too much to expect him to do this. I should never have dreamt of such a thing if it had not been for Marco. Well, here goes; and he walked into the parlour.
Good morning, father!
Good morning, Horace. I am glad to hear that Marco has found just the boat that he thinks will suit the place. He tells me you want to go over and see her fitted out. I think that that will be a very good plan. When you do a thing, Horace, do it well if it is worth doing at all. Marco will go back with you by the coach this morning.
Oh, thank you, father; it is awfully kind of you!
I wish you to enjoy yourself, his father said; it is no more than the price of another horse. It is a fine sport and a healthy one, and I dont know that it is more dangerous than galloping about the country on horseback. I have told Marco to make all arrangements, and not to worry me about things. At the beginning of each holiday he will say how much he will require for provisions on board, and the payment of the wages of a man and a boy. I shall give him a cheque, and there will be an end of it as far as I am concerned. I shall be much more at my ease knowing that you are enjoying yourself on board than wondering what you will do to amuse yourself from day to day.