The G.A. Henty MEGAPACK ®. G.a. Henty Henty
“we want to ask you a few questions.”
Supposing that he was about to be asked more about Egypt, or perhaps the depth of water in the port of Alexandria, Edgar prepared to answer, and the first questions justified his anticipations, for he was questioned minutely as to the point for which a ship would head to round the dangerous reef extending from the outer point of the western port. Then he was asked as to the depth of water between this and the shore, the guns that could be brought to bear upon it, and the depths at various points in the harbour itself. All these he was able to answer at once. Then he was asked various questions as to harbours in the Turkish and Greek islands, and as he had constantly consulted the charts during his cruise in the Tigress, he was able to reply readily on all these points. The next question surprised him.
“Now, Mr. Blagrove, if caught by a sudden and heavy squall, when under full sail, among these islands, and having but three or four minutes to strip the ship, what orders would you give?”
As he had in his mind every order that Wilkinson had given on the approach of the squall, he was able to repeat them with accuracy.
“You are cutting them rather short, Mr. Blagrove.”
“Yes, sir; but the time is very short. When cruising there we were struck by a squall less than three minutes after we had notice of its coming, and everything had to be done at once and with the greatest possible speed. As it was, the men were not out of the rigging when the squall struck us.”
“Supposing you had had ten minutes’ notice, how would you have proceeded?”
Edgar gave the orders as laid down in the text-book, for after the narrow escape they had had, he and Wilkinson had especially learnt these by heart.
“Very good indeed, Mr. Blagrove.”
Two or three questions in navigation were then asked, and these were also answered well, as they had found it absolutely necessary to be able to find their exact position when cruising in such dangerous waters.
“Thank you, sir,” the officer said when the last question had been answered; “we shall have much pleasure in certifying that you have passed your examination in a most creditable manner.”
Edgar looked a little bewildered.
“Sir Sidney Smith perhaps did not inform you, Mr. Blagrove, that, by Lord Keith’s orders, you were to be examined to-day, and that we have sat as a board for that purpose?”
“No, indeed, sir, I had no thought of such a thing. I shall not have served my time for nearly three years.”
“I suppose Lord Keith had some special reason for having you examined now. It was a good opportunity, you see. You will please remain on deck for a few minutes while we draw out the certificate.”
He was soon called in again and presented with a certificate, saying that he had passed the examination most satisfactorily.
“You will now go to the admiral’s cabin,” the president said; “he desires to speak to you.”
Still greatly puzzled why he should be examined so long before his time, Edgar sent in his name to the admiral, and was at once shown in. Sir Sidney Smith was with him.
“I am very glad to hear from the examining board that you have passed your examination with great credit, Mr. Blagrove,” the admiral said. “Sir Sidney Smith has spoken to me in very high terms of the services you have rendered him, and the general commanding the troops has requested that you should be told off to his staff, where your knowledge of the country will be of great service to him. Under these very exceptional circumstances I have taken the exceptional step of having you examined at once, and as you have passed with flying colours I now hand you your appointment as acting lieutenant. The appointment is, of course, a temporary one, but when I explain to the Admiralty my reasons for making it, and inclose the report of your services that Sir Sidney Smith has handed to me, I have no doubt that the step will be confirmed. I may say that one reason for my doing this at the present moment is that as you will be on Sir Ralph Abercrombie’s staff, I think that, as the navy is to be represented, it should be represented by an officer with at least the rank of lieutenant, so as to give him a proper status. I congratulate you, Lieutenant Blagrove, on the promotion that you have, in my opinion and in that of your immediate superior, most worthily won.”
Thereupon he shook Edgar warmly by the hand. Sir Sidney Smith did the same, and with a smile stopped Edgar’s disjointed words of thanks and pointed to the door. Some of the middies of the flagship nudged each other and smiled at his pale face as he walked to the gangway.
“He has been getting a wigging and no mistake,” one said to another. “He looked all right when he went in, for I noticed him as he came on deck; but he has evidently got into some awful scrape, and will be court-martialled and sent home, I should say, or his captain would have kept the affair in his own hands instead of bringing him up before the admiral.”
“Anything the matter, Mr. Blagrove?” Mr. Knight, who was still second lieutenant on the Tigre, asked him, as he came on board. “’Tis not often that a midshipman is signalled for by an admiral’s flagship, and you are looking rather shaky.”
“No, sir, there is nothing wrong, but I do feel a little queer. When I got there I was taken down to the wardroom, where three captains were sitting. They asked me a number of questions about the port of Alexandria, the depth of water, the batteries, and so on. Of course I knew about that from going so often on board ship in the harbour and from sailing in and out. Then, to my surprise, they asked me what I should do if the ship I was in command of was caught in a sudden squall. As we had been caught in a white squall in the islands, of course I was able to answer. They asked me some other questions as to navigation, and I could not for the life of me make out what they were doing, and was thunderstruck when they told me that they were a board, and that I had passed my examination with great credit. When they gave me the certificate I was taken to the admiral’s cabin;” and he then repeated the substance of what the admiral had said.
“I congratulate you, Blagrove. You are a lucky young dog; but I don’t think that luck is the proper word, for you owe it entirely, first to your knowledge of languages, then to your own behaviour and pluck. It is rare indeed, I can tell you, that a midshipman of two years’ standing is passed and promoted. I have no doubt that, as the admiral said, your going on Abercrombie’s staff had a good deal to do with it, because, for the credit of the navy, one would not like to be represented by a midshipman on such service. Well, you must borrow an epaulette;” for at that time a naval officer did not mount two epaulettes until he had obtained the rank of commander.
At first Edgar’s story was altogether disbelieved in the cockpit, where his arrival was anxiously expected, as all were curious to learn what he had been signalled for. When at last they understood that he was in earnest, he was very warmly congratulated. Three of them were senior to him; but he was so generally liked, and his acquirements in the way of languages so fully acknowledged, that there was no feeling of jealousy, especially as they felt sure that, when the campaign was over, Sir Sidney Smith would get him appointed to another ship. Two of them that evening got a boat and rowed to several other men-of-war, and at last succeeded in buying an epaulette from an officer who had bought the kit of another who had died some time before, and this they formally presented to Edgar that evening.
While at Marmorice Bay the latter had almost daily interviews with the general. At these the quarter-master and adjutant-generals and several other superior officers were often present, and he was asked innumerable questions as to the country between Alexandria and Cairo, the probabilities of obtaining animals for the baggage-waggons and artillery, the amount of provisions that could be obtained from the country, the length of the marches and the nature of the ground, and whether the Arabs were likely to render any efficient assistance. All these questions he answered to the best of his power, saying, however, that it would be absolutely necessary to depend to a large extent on the boats for provisions as the French had done, for that comparatively few horses could be obtained, as the French had purchased all that they could lay their hands on.
Then to an engineer officer he described the position of the old