Description
Naval Occasions And Some Traits Of The Sailor-Man
The Midshipman of the Second Picket Boat—that is to say, the boat with
the bell-mouthed funnel of burnished brass and vermilion paint inside
her cowls—was standing under the electric light at the battery door
reading the Commander’s night order-book.
"Second Picket Boat to have steam by 5 A.M., and will perform duties of
D.S.B. for the Second Division." He closed the book and stood
meditatively looking out into the darkness beyond the quarter-deck
rails. It was blowing fitfully, gusts of wind shaking the awning in a
manner that threatened dirty weather on the morrow. "Why the deuce
couldn’t the other Picket boat…? But she hadn’t got a brass
funnel—only a skimpy painted affair. Decidedly it was the fatal beauty
of his boat that had influenced the Commander’s decision. Still…" He
yawned drearily, and opening the deck log, ran his finger down the
barometer readings. "Glass low—beastly low—and steady. Wind 4-5,
o.c.q.r. H’m’m." The cryptic quotations did not appear to add joy to
the outlook. Ten o’clock had struck, and forward in the waist the
boatswain’s mate was "piping down," the shrill cadence of his pipe
floating aft on the wind. Sorrowfully the Midshipman descended to the
steerage flat, and crouching beneath the hammocks that hung from the
overhead beams, reached his chest and noiselessly
undressed,—noiselessly, because the sleeping occupant of the adjacent
hammock had the morning watch, and was prone to be unreasonable when
accidentally awakened.
Product ID: 9781776762668
Sku: 9781776762668
