The Three LieutenantsKingston, William Henry Giles
General
The Three Lieutenants
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Great Britain. Royal Navy -- Officers -- Juvenile fiction; Sea stories
"`Take that, ye spalpeen, and think yourself fortunate to get it instead
of the three dozen you would have had as sure as you're alive for
burning your captain's nose.' The captain, in half a minute, sitting
down as if nothing had happened, the jolly picked himself up and went on
with the operation, taking very good care, you may be certain, not to
burn Jerry's nose again. Some time after this, our captain received an
intimation from the Admiralty, as did other captains, that flogging was
as much as possible to be avoided, and other punishments substituted.
On this, Jerry, who was possessed of an inventive turn of mind, set
himself to work to devise such as would to a certainty be so hated by
the men that they would answer the purpose of maintaining discipline
fully as much as flogging. The ship's cook was a one-legged negro, a
jolly, fat fellow with a comical expression of countenance, Sambo
Lillywhite by name, generally known as Sam Lilly. Sam had a white mate
called Tim Dippings, an incorrigibly idle rascal. One day Tim--not for
the first time--had neglected to clean the galley, and on being
reported, both he and Sam Lilly were put in the black list. Jerry,
exercising his inventive genius, ordered Tim to walk the deck the whole
of the afternoon watch, with a cauldron slung round his neck half full
of slush; while the black cook, with a huge frying-pan held at arm's
length in each hand, had to pace up and down for the same period. As
each bell struck Tim had to sing out, `Here am I for not cleaning the
galley,' which was responded to by Sambo, in the most dolorous tone,
with, `I here for no see 'um do it,' his peculiar voice and the comical
expression of his countenance eliciting roars of laughter from his
shipmates. Thus at every half-hour the words went sounding along the
deck, `Here am I for not cleaning the galley!' `I here for no see 'um
do it.' Jerry, however, on another occasion, surpassed even himself, he
caught a man smuggling a bottle of rum on board. The opportunity for
exhibiting his inventive genius was not to be lost. The bottle was
captured and the man put in the black list. The captain, after due
consideration, ordered a cock to be fixed in a seven-gallon beaker, into
which, being more than half-filled with water, the rum was emptied. It
was then secured by a rope yarn round the neck of the culprit, who
appeared thus at the commencement of the watch with a tumbler in his
hand, and as the bell struck he had to fill his glass and drink the
contents, shouting out at the top of his voice each time, `Here am I, a
smuggler bold!' He was never again caught smuggling spirits on board.
Some captains with less inventive genius are much more cruel than was
our friend Jerry in their black list punishments."
"That is not a subject I wish to bear spoken of," observed Captain
Sourcrout, in an angry tone.
"Come, come, we'll change it then, gentlemen," exclaimed the
good-natured admiral.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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