Here is the next. I have time to update just at the weekend, so sorry for the late. I hope you will like it!

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Chapter 4

The sunshine was flaming, the blue sea was glittering, there weren't any clouds on the sky. The Raisonable was cutting through the waves elegantly, heading south, the wind was singing in the rigging. On the deck orders were sounded, the bare feet of the sailors were slapping, the never-ending noise was buzzing: the ship was living her everyday life.

The three midshipmen were sitting in the shadow of the stern, with their slates in their hands. They were deep in the exercise which had been set by Hammond. Horatio was sitting cross-legged, bent over his slate, his chalk was running swiftly. Sawyer was lying flat near him, he was waving his legs in the air. The chubby Pellew was sitting on a chair (his legs didn't reach the floor) and he was trying to see the answers of the other two.

"Mr Pellew, please solve your problem alone!" Hammond ordered him. Perhaps he had eyes in the back of his head, because he had been talking with two other lieutenants until now.

"What do you say to that? How can he give me orders?" grumbled Pellew.

"I think because he is a lieutenant". murmured Horatio, without looking up. He was already used to to the boy's constant dissatisfaction.

"But he just became a lieutenant!" continued Pellew. "He has barely passed his exam and he bosses us around as if he were the Adirality! Even though I've been in the navy longer than he!"

"Can you shut your mouth!" Sawyer snapped at him . "You are fifteen years old, he is twenty-three. It's a big difference, mainly in your brains."

"But it isn't fair! It's all right if he gives orders to the doctor or Horatio, I could understand that, because they are fresh to the service, like him, but he had no business giving orders to me."

"Leave me out of this." asked Horatio. He was fed up with his novice status.

"One: Hammond isn't a novice, this is his third voyage as a lieutenant. Two: the doctor is just inexperienced and he doesn't know yet what a hard life it is, working in a ship. Three: Horatio is already better than you because he has nearly finished his exercise, but you haven't written anything. So please, shut up!" explained Sawyer with forced gentleness.

"Silent, sirs, get on with your work!" said Hammond, without looking at them.

Of course he heard what the midshipmen said but he didn't want to upbraid them in front of the whole ship. He didn't want to make a complete fool of himself. So he waited a while, and then approached the boys.

"Finish now, quickly, quickly, sirs! We can't spend the whole day onthis!"

The midshipmen gave him their slates one after the other, and he tried to keep his countenance while he was studying the strange workingson them.

"Mr Pellew, this is completely hopeless. You used the wrong formula. I see you don't understand this. Please learn it for tomorrow!" he said and he managed to keep his face straight. Pellew muttered something and took back his slate.

"Mr Sawyer, this is good. Except the end. If you write down all of the steps, you will get the right result."

Sawyer nodded and corrected his mistake. Hammond now picked up Horatio's slate and he stared at it with wonder. He expected that the little novice would not have done anything, but the slate was full with the correct working and the right answer!

"Oh my!" he said spontaneously, but he controlled himself. "You can go now. Mr Nelson, please stay here for a moment." he waited until the other boys had gone, and then he bowed down to Horatio.

"How did you get the right result?"

"I think it was logical." mumbled the child. Hammond cleaned the slate and wrote a new exercise on it.

"Try to solve this." he knew it was a difficult example but he wanted to be sure of himself. He didn't turn away at this time, he watched the child with curiosity while he wrote without stopping on the slate.

"Ready, sir!" reported Horatio. Hammond checked the working and he gasped for breath : the result was right!

"Thank you, Mr Nelson, you can go." he said and his voice shivered. He didn't wait for the answer, just rushed down to the wardroom, to the captain. He shoved the slate into Suckling's hands and cried out:

"This is your cousin's work, sir!"

Suckling looked at the exercise with surprise.

"He did it alone? He didn't cheat?"

"No, no, I was near him, I saw it!"

The two men looked at each other without a word, for a long time. Hammond started speaking first.

"I think this boy is a born sailor!"

The captain couldn't speak, just nodded slowly.

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I don't know when can I take here the 5th. So update till then! I think you will have a plenty of time…