After we arrived in England, we were paid off, and proudly, I took my prize
money home. The pride I felt bringing home that money, even though it was
but pittance. I knew I was the man of the family, though, my mother kept me
in my place. She taught me to be a good God-fearing boy. I remember running
down to the harbour after getting my transfer, my midshipmen's hat sliding
over my face. When I got there I first met the formidable Captain Charlie
Hammond, 'Black Charlie'. He was a lot taller than I then, and gave me
quite an inquisition.
"Mr Bush, have you served at sea before?" I knew he knew the answer to the
question, so I thought I had better answer.
"Yes, sir, The H.M.S Resource, 28 in the West Indies, Sir." He smiled
fleetingly.
"So you already know Mr Midshipman Simpson then?" Oh no!
"Yes sir."
"Good, go to the berth then."
"Aye, aye sir."
I found my way, growing more accustomed to the semi-darkness.
"Hello boy! I see your back." "Yes, I am." "Sir, call me sir." "But your not." He looked dangerous. "None of your smart alecky comments, boy! You call me sir, now, Understood?" Apparently I hesitated too much. Whack! "Yes sir!" In a Trigonometry class later that day, I'd finally succeeded in remembering how to correctly find our position, and was the only one who got it right. "Boy! Come here." I could feel a storm brewing. "Yes sir?" "You were too clever by half this afternoon. You showed me and the others up. You know what that means don't you?" "No..." He raised his fist. "No Sir." "I'm going to have to make you forget." he beat me so hard I couldn't breathe. All I could think of was the pain. "Can you remember it? Because if you do, I'll have to make you forget again. Better remember that boy." "Yes sir." "Say thank-you boy. I've helped you." "Thank you sir." I ran off to skulk in the cable tiers. It went on like that. Every time I did something right I got beaten. Slowly, painstakingly so, I learnt not to show what I was really thinking, and made myself appear slow-witted. If I arrived at the right answer, I took one away from it, so as to escape the beatings. We were shipmates for three years, until he got transferred to the Justinian under Captain Keene. After that the master, found I couldn't do trigonometry well, that I had actually become slow-witted. He said to me one day, 'I hope for your sake your promotion doesn't depend on a sight.'
Not long after that I was transferred to another ship, the sloop Zebra, bound again for the West Indies. My mother did not like the thought of it at all as it was by providence I had escaped unharmed before. On this ship, at first as a midshipman, one of two, the other a cheerful and clever young man named Adams. Although I felt better and more confident, I found I wouldn't ever be able to calculate without difficulty, and through Adams, the master's and the first Lieutenants most attentive direction, I first learned the tortures of Whist. I knew I was a player of little consequence, that without me they wouldn't be able to play, and that I was such a bad player that they must have had the patience of saints. Then both the master and the second lieutenant, (Who couldn't abide card games and generally kept to himself) came down with yellow jack. This meant, with Number one being pomoted to Master, there were two positions vacant and they needed to be filled by us. I, through no action, no feat of heroics, had become acting lieutenant William Bush. On the station were a few Captains and they agreed to hold an examination. To my utter chagrin, I failed due to a miscalculation, and was told to come back in three months. On this momentous occasion, they asked me to recite the order of the knots and whatnot of the log which I did without a hitch as I had been teaching two of the lower deck boys just how not a day before. I was now Lieutenant Bush had no seniority, but an increase in pay. How joyous was my Mother and Sisters then!
"Hello boy! I see your back." "Yes, I am." "Sir, call me sir." "But your not." He looked dangerous. "None of your smart alecky comments, boy! You call me sir, now, Understood?" Apparently I hesitated too much. Whack! "Yes sir!" In a Trigonometry class later that day, I'd finally succeeded in remembering how to correctly find our position, and was the only one who got it right. "Boy! Come here." I could feel a storm brewing. "Yes sir?" "You were too clever by half this afternoon. You showed me and the others up. You know what that means don't you?" "No..." He raised his fist. "No Sir." "I'm going to have to make you forget." he beat me so hard I couldn't breathe. All I could think of was the pain. "Can you remember it? Because if you do, I'll have to make you forget again. Better remember that boy." "Yes sir." "Say thank-you boy. I've helped you." "Thank you sir." I ran off to skulk in the cable tiers. It went on like that. Every time I did something right I got beaten. Slowly, painstakingly so, I learnt not to show what I was really thinking, and made myself appear slow-witted. If I arrived at the right answer, I took one away from it, so as to escape the beatings. We were shipmates for three years, until he got transferred to the Justinian under Captain Keene. After that the master, found I couldn't do trigonometry well, that I had actually become slow-witted. He said to me one day, 'I hope for your sake your promotion doesn't depend on a sight.'
Not long after that I was transferred to another ship, the sloop Zebra, bound again for the West Indies. My mother did not like the thought of it at all as it was by providence I had escaped unharmed before. On this ship, at first as a midshipman, one of two, the other a cheerful and clever young man named Adams. Although I felt better and more confident, I found I wouldn't ever be able to calculate without difficulty, and through Adams, the master's and the first Lieutenants most attentive direction, I first learned the tortures of Whist. I knew I was a player of little consequence, that without me they wouldn't be able to play, and that I was such a bad player that they must have had the patience of saints. Then both the master and the second lieutenant, (Who couldn't abide card games and generally kept to himself) came down with yellow jack. This meant, with Number one being pomoted to Master, there were two positions vacant and they needed to be filled by us. I, through no action, no feat of heroics, had become acting lieutenant William Bush. On the station were a few Captains and they agreed to hold an examination. To my utter chagrin, I failed due to a miscalculation, and was told to come back in three months. On this momentous occasion, they asked me to recite the order of the knots and whatnot of the log which I did without a hitch as I had been teaching two of the lower deck boys just how not a day before. I was now Lieutenant Bush had no seniority, but an increase in pay. How joyous was my Mother and Sisters then!
