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THE TWO ADMIRALS
gone about, as soon as the flood made; in which case he ought
to bear nearly west of us, and you will also look in that direction. On the other hand, Sir Gervaise may have stretched so
far over towards the French coast before night shut in, as to
feel satisfied Monsieur de Vervillin is still to the eastward of
him; in which case he would keep off a little, and may, at this
moment, be nearly ahead of us. So that, under all the circumstances, you will sweep the horizon, from the weather-beam
to the lee-bow, ranging forward. Am I understood, now, my
lord?”
“Yes, sir, I think you are,” answered the boy, blushing at his
own impetuosity. “You will excuse my indiscretion, Admiral
Bluewater; but I thought I understood all you desired, when I
spoke so hastily.”
“No doubt you did, Geoffrey, but you perceive you did not.
Nature has made you quick of apprehension, but not quick
enough to foresee all an old man’s gossip. Come nearer, now,
and let us shake hands. So go aloft, and hold on well, for it is a
windy night, and I do not desire to lose you overboard.”
The boy did as told, squeezed Bluewater’s hand, and dashed
out of the cabin to conceal his tears. As for the rear-admiral, he
immediately relapsed into his fit of forgetfulness, waiting for
the arrival of Stowel.
A summons to a captain does not as immediately produce a
visit, on board a vessel of war, as a summons to a midshipman.
Captain Stowel was busy in looking at the manner in which
his boats were stowed, when Cornet told him of the rear-admiral’s request; and then he had to give some orders to the
first lieutenant concerning the fresh meat that had been got
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
off, and one or two other similar little things, before he was at
leisure to comply.
“See me, do you say, Mr. Cornet; in his own cabin, as soon
as it is convenient?” he at length remarked, when all these several offices had been duly performed.
The signal-officer repeated the request, word for word as
he had heard it, when he turned to take another look at the
light of the Dover. As for Stowel, he cared no more for the Dover, windy and dark as the night promised to be, than the burgher is apt to care for his neighbour’s house when the whole
street is threatened with destruction. To him the Cæsar was
the great centre of attraction, and Cornet paid him off in kind;
for, of all the vessels in the fleet, the Cæsar was precisely the
one to which he gave the least attention; and this for the simple reason that she was the only ship to which he never gave,
or from which he never received, a signal.
“Well, Mr. Bluff,” said Stowel to the first lieutenant; “one
of us will have to be on deck most of the night, and I’ll take a
slant below, for half an hour first, and see what the admiral
wishes.”
Thus saying, the captain left the deck, in order to ascertain his superior’s pleasure. Captain Stowel was several years
the senior of Bluewater, having actually been a lieutenant in
one of the frigates in which the rear-admiral had served as a
midshipman; a circumstance to which he occasionally alluded
in their present intercourse. The change in the relative positions was the result of the family influence of the junior, who
had passed his senior in the grade of master and commander;
a rank that then brought many an honest man up for life, in
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THE TWO ADMIRALS
the English marine. At the age of five-and-forty, that at which
Bluewater first hoisted his flag, Stowell was posted; and soon
after he was invited by his old shipmate, who had once had
him under him as his first lieutenant in a sloop of war, to take
the command of his flag-ship. From that day down to the present moment, the two officers had sailed together, whenever
they sailed at all, perfectly good friends; though the captain
never appeared entirely to forget the time when they were in
the aforesaid frigate; one a gun-room officer, and the other
only a “youngster.”
Stowel must now have been about sixty-five; a square, hardfeatured, red-faced seaman, who knew all about his ship, from
her truck to her limber-rope, but who troubled himself very
little about any thing else. He had married a widow when he
was posted, but was childless, and had long since permitted
his affections to wander back into their former channels; from
the domestic hearth to his ship. He seldom spoke of matrimony, but the little he saw fit to say on the subject was comprehensive and to the point. A perfectly sober man, he consumed
large quantities of both wine and brandy, as well as of tobacco,
and never seemed to be the worse for either. Loyal he was by
political faith, and he looked upon a revolution, let its object
be what it might, as he would have regarded a mutiny in the
Cæsar. He was exceedingly pertinacious of his rights as “captain of his own ship,” both ashore and afloat; a disposition that
produced less trouble with the mild and gentlemanly rearadmiral, than with Mrs. Stowel. If we add that this plain sailor
never looked into a book, his proper scientific works excepted,
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
we shall have said all of him that his connection with our tale
demands.
“Good-evening, Admiral Bluewater,” said this true tar, saluting the rear-admiral, as one neighbour would greet another, on dropping in of an evening, for they occupied different
cabins. “Mr. Cornet told me you would like to say a word to
me, before I turned in; if, indeed, turn in at all, I do this blessed
night.”
“Take a seat, Stowel, and a glass of this sherry, in the bargain,” Bluewater answered, kindly, showing how well he understood his man, by the manner in which he shoved both
bottle and glass within reach of his hand. “How goes the
night? – and is this wind likely to stand?”
“I’m of opinion, sir – we’ll drink His Majesty, if you’ve
no objection, Admiral Bluewater, – I’m of opinion, we shall
stretch the threads of that new main-top-sail, before we’ve
done with the breeze, sir. I believe I’ve not told you, yet, that
I’ve had the new sail bent, since we last spoke together on the
subject. It’s a good fit, sir; and, close-reefed, the sails stands like
the side of a house.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Stowel; though I think all your canvass
usually appears to be in its place.”
“Why you know, Admiral Bluewater, that I’ve been long
enough at it, to understand something about the matter. It is
now more than forty years since we were in the Calypso together, and ever since that time I’ve borne the commission of
an officer. You were then a youngster, and thought more of
your joke, than of bending sails, or of seeing how they would
stand.”
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THE TWO ADMIRALS
“There wasn’t much of me, certainly, forty years ago, Stowel; but I well remember the knack you had of making every
robin, sheet, bowline, and thread do its duty, then, as you do
to-day. By the way, can you tell me any thing of the Dover, this
evening?”
“Not I, sir; she came out with the rest of us I suppose, and
must be somewhere in the fleet; though I dare say the log will
have it all, if she has been anywhere near us, lately. I am sorry
we did not go into one of the watering-ports, instead of this
open roadstead, for we must be at least twenty-seven hundred
gallons short of what we ought to have, by my calculation; and
then we want a new set of light spars, pretty much all round;
and the lower hold hasn’t as many barrels of provisions in it,
by thirty-odd, as I could wish to see there.”
“I leave these things to you, entirely, Stowel; you will report in time to keep the ship efficient.”
“No fear of the Cæsar, sir; for, between Mr. Bluff, the master, and myself, we know pretty much all about her, though
I dare say there are men in the fleet who can tell you more
about the Dublin, or the Dover, or the York. We will drink the
queen, and all the royal family, if you please, sir.”
As usual, Bluewater merely bowed, for his companion required no further acquiescence in his toasts. Just at that moment, too, it would have needed a general order, at least, to
induce him to drink any of the family of the reigning house.
“Oakes must be well off, mid-channel, by this time, Captain
Stowel?”
“I should think he might be, sir; though I can’t say I took
particular notice of the time he sailed. I dare say it’s all in the
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
log. The Plantagenet is a fast ship, sir, and Captain Greenly understands her trim, and what she can do on all tacks; and, yet,
I do think His Majesty has one ship in this fleet that can find
a Frenchman quite as soon, and deal with him, when found,
quite as much to the purpose.”
“Of course you mean the Cæsar; – well, I’m quite of your
way of thinking, though Sir Gervaise manages never to be in a
slow ship. I suppose you know, Stowel, that Monsieur de Vervillin is out, and that we may expect to see or hear something
of him, to-morrow.”
“Yes, sir, there is some such conversation in the ship, I
know; but the quantity of galley-news is so great in this squadron, that I never attend much to what is said. One of the officers brought off a rumour, I believe, that there was a sort of a
row in Scotland. By the way, sir, there is a supernumerary lieutenant on board, and as he has joined entirely without orders,
I’m at a loss how to berth or to provision him. We can treat the
gentleman hospitably to-night; but in the morning I shall be
obliged to get him regularly on paper.”
“You mean Sir Wycherly Wychecombe; he shall come into
my mess, rather than give you any trouble.”
“I shall not presume to meddle with any gentleman you
may please to invite into your cabin, sir,” answered Stowel,
with a stiff bow, in the way of apology. “That’s what I always
tell Mrs. Stowel, sir; – that my cabin is my own, and even a wife
has no right to shake a broom in it.”
“Which is a great advantage to us seamen; for it gives us a
citadel to retreat to, when the outworks are pressed. You appear to take but little interest in this civil war, Stowel!”
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THE TWO ADMIRALS
“Then it’s true, is it, sir? I didn’t know but it might turn out
to be galley-news. Pray what is the rumpus all about, Admiral
Bluewater? for, I never could get that story fidded properly,
so as to set up the rigging, and have the spar well stayed in its
place.”
“It is merely a war to decide who shall be king of England;
nothing else, I do assure you, sir.”
“They’re an uneasy set ashore, sir, if the truth must be said
of them! We’ve got one king, already; and on what principle
does any man wish for more? Now, there was Captain Blakely, from the Elizabeth, on board of me this afternoon; and we
talked the matter over a little, and both of us concluded that
they got these things up much as a matter of profit among the
army contractors, and the dealers in warlike stores.”
Bluewater listened with intense interest, for here was proof
how completely two of his captains, at least, would be at his
own command, and how little they would be likely, for a time,
at least, to dispute any of his orders. He thought of Sir Reginald, and of the rapture with which he would have received
this trait of nautical character.
“There are people who set their hearts on the result, notwithstanding,” carelessly observed the rear-admiral; “and some
who see their fortunes marred or promoted, by the success or
downfall of the parties. They think de Vervillin is out on some
errand connected with this rising in the north.”
“Well, I don’t see what he has got to do with the matter at
all; for, I don’t suppose that King Louis is such a fool as to expect to be king of England as well as king of France!”
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
“The dignity would be too much for one pair of shoulders
to bear. As well might one admiral wish to command all the
divisions of his own fleet, though they were fifty leagues asunder.”
“Or one captain two ships; or what is more to the purpose,
sir, one ship to keep two captains. We’ll drink to discipline, if
you’ve no objection, sir. ‘Tis the soul of order and quiet, ashore
or afloat. For my part, I want no co-equal – I believe that’s the
cant word they use on such occasions – but I want no co-equal,
in the Cæsar, and I am unwilling to have one in the house at
Greenwich; though Mrs. Stowel thinks differently. Here’s my
ship; she’s in her place in the line; it’s my business to see she is
fit for any service that a first-class two-decker can undertake,
and that duty I endeavour to perform; and I make no doubt it
is all the better performed because there’s no wife or co-equal
aboard here. Where the ship is to go, and what she is to do, are
other matters, which I take from general orders, special orders,
or signals. Let them act up to this principle in London, and we
should hear no more of disturbances, north or south.”
“Certainly, Stowel, your doctrine would make a quiet nation, as well as a quiet ship. I hope you do me the justice to
think there is no co-equal in my commands!”
“That there is not, sir – and I have the honour to drink
your health – that there is not. When we were in the Calypso
together, I had the advantage; and I must say that I never had
a youngster under me who ever did his duty more cheerfully.
Since that day we’ve shifted places; end for end, as one might
say; and I endeavour to pay you, in your own coin. There is no
man whose orders I obey more willingly or more to my own
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THE TWO ADMIRALS
advantage; always excepting those of Admiral Oakes, who, being commander-in-chief, overlays us all with his anchor. We
must dowse our peaks to his signals, though we can maintain,
without mutinying, that the Cæsar is as good a boat on or off a
wind, as the Plantagenet, the best day Sir Jarvy ever saw.”
“There is no manner of doubt of that. You have all the notions of a true sailor, I find, Stowel; obey orders before all other things. I am curious to know how our captains, generally,
stand affected to this claim which the Pretender has set up to
the throne.”
“Can’t tell you, on my soul, sir; though I fancy few of them
give themselves any great anxiety in the matter. When the
wind is fair we can run off large, and when it is foul we must
haul upon a bowline, let who will reign. I was a youngster under Queen Anne, and she was a Stuart, I believe; and I have
served under the German family ever since; and to be frank
with you, Admiral Bluewater, I see but little difference in the
duty, the pay, or the rations. My maxim is to obey orders, and
then I know the blame will fall on them that give them, if any
thing goes wrong.”
“We have many Scotchmen in the fleet, Stowel,” observed
the rear-admiral, in a musing manner, like one who rather
thought aloud than spoke. “Several of the captains are from
the north of Tweed.”
“Ay, sir, one is pretty certain of meeting gentlemen from
that part of the island, in almost all situations in life. I never
have understood that Scotland had much of a navy in ancient
times, and yet the moment old England has to pay for it, the
lairds are willing enough to send their children to sea.”
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JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
“Nevertheless it must be owned that they make gallant and
useful officers, Stowel.”
“No doubt they do, sir; but gallant and useful men are not
scarce anywhere. You and I are too old and too experienced,
Admiral Bluewater, to put any faith in the notion that courage
belongs to any particular part of the world, or usefulness either. I never fought a Frenchman yet that I thought a coward;
and, in my judgment, there are brave men enough in England,
to command all her ships, and to fight them too.”
“Let this be so, Stowel, still we must take things as they
come. What do you think of the night?”
“Dirty enough before morning, I should think, sir, though
it is a little out of rule, that it does not rain with this wind, already. The next time we come-to, Admiral Bluewater, I intend
to anchor with a shorter scope of cable than we have been
doing lately; for, I begin to think there is no use in wetting
so many yarns in the summer months. They tell me the York
brings up always on forty fathoms.”
“That’s a short range, I should think, for a heavy ship. But
here is a visiter.”
The sentinel opened the cabin-door, and Lord Geoffrey,
with his cap fastened to his head by a pocket-handkerchief,
and his face red with exposure to the wind, entered the cabin.
“Well,” said Bluewater, quietly; “what is the report from
aloft?”
“The Dover is running down athwart our forefoot, and
nearing us fast, sir,” returned the midshipman. “The York is
close on our weather-beam, edging in to her station; but I can
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