Cut by the Mess

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CUT BY THE MESS BY AETHUR KEYSER AUTHOR OF AN EXILE'S ROMANCE* ' OUR CRUISE TO NEW GUINEA' ETC. 2. 0__* (W CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY PRINTED DY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A Ball at Malta 1 II. The Polo Ground at Night .... 7 III. Child's Plat 10 IV. A Bad Half-hour 16 V. A Letter prom Home 19 VI. A White Feather 23 VII. A Gun-room Court-martial 28 VIII. Alone in a Crowd 33 IX. The House at Rose Bay 38 X. A Friend in Need 42 XL A Dance on Board the Flag-ship . . . 48 XII. The Islands 63 XIII. A Brush with the Natives 57 XIV. A Rash Attempt G2 XV. -A Native Hiding-place C5 XVI. A Dance of Victory 69 XVII. A Headlong Flight 71 XVIII. A Partial Escape 77 XIX. Forced Reflections 82 XX. Norfolk Island 86 XXI. A Return to Life 91 XXII. A Confession of Love 94 XXIII. Rivals 98 XXIV. Johnny's Plunge 106 XXV. Homeward Bound 113 XXVI. 'Lost by a Shoe' 115 XXVII. 'Good-bye I'

Chapter I

A BALL AT MALTA. The Governor of Malta had given a ball. It had been a big affair, and kept up with much spirit. As may be supposed, the army and navy were well represented ; red coats and gold epaulettes were on every side. Miss Bid well had been there. She was the prettiest girl now along the shores of the Mediterranean, and her whereabouts in a room could always be discovered by means of the little crowd of admirers which surrounded her. This young lady was very skilful in managing her adorers. She pre vented collisions and avoided complications with the most consummate tact and ability. It was as a game to her, a game of chess, this worship which was offered up by that devoted little crowd : she moved the pieces of which it was comprised as though they had been pawns, and prided herself upon the harmony she maintained among a collection of volcanic embers which might at any moment burst forth into active eruption.

That this is no exaggerated simile will be understood when it is men tioned that the majority of these devoted admirers were very young men — mostly subalterns and midshipmen. Miss Bid well was playing with fire, and it amused her. Not long ago a paper reported how two individuals had passed the afternoon upon a railroad, amusing themselves by seeing which could go nearest to the trains without accident. Towards evening, emboldened by familiarity B with danger, one of the two went so near that an engine caught him and crushed him to death. Danger is fasci nating, and games wherein this element is absent are wont to be dull. Playing off the vanity of young men one against the other, for one's own delectation, being certainly dangerous, is therefore far from dull, and to watch Miss Bidwell as she stood there, her beautiful face all spark ling with animation, was sufficient to convince the most sceptical of the fact.

But immunity from danger had made her bold, and, like the poor man on the railroad, she ventured a little too near. The fire with which it had been so agreeable to toy burst into a conflagration. How it came about cannot be described, these things happen so quickly. Even Miss Bidwell herself could scarcely have told you. She may not perhaps have been aware of anything unusual, but that would be tantamount to saying she was unobservant, and she was not that — she was, on the contrary, extremely wide-awake. Doubt less she noticed that something had happened, that the laughter was forced, and that a spirit had entered into that little gathering which had not before been there. No one said anything, of course — well-bred people do not brawl in public — but there was anger about, and Miss Bidwell was aware that she was the cause of it.

This bored her. It had amused her to chat with these young men so long as they were all good temper and smiles, the chaff bright and everyone happy ; but the moment the fun seemed to diminish, then it was time to be off. Miss Bidwell had come there to enjoy herself, and it was not in her nature to waste time. Perhaps you will con sider she was a terrible flirt. She was. But what you may think of her is immaterial. She has nothing to do with our story ; yet that is not strictly true, for had it not been for her there would have been no story to write. We can, none of us, be sure that people we meet are nothing to us. Some chance word or deed may influence our whole future, though the origin of that future we could little guess. Thus some remark about Miss Bid well's fan, some smile from the beauty in question, some A BALL AT MALTA 3 childish chaff about faint heart and fair lady, some light banter about the sister services and the probability of a faint heart being found in one more than the other, and the spark was kindled which was destined to burst into flame.

The beauty sailed away in the mazy dance, and four young men were left to continue the conversation as best they might. Their talk having taken an awkward turn, the originator had retreated ; the four who had been rendering her homage remained. Words are often spoken in the heat of excitement which would never otherwise be uttered ; and under the combined influences of flirtation and champagne, very young men of hot and ignitable passions, like the four who now met at the Governor's ball, are apt to make remarks without much reflection as to their possible or probable consequences. Two of the four were subalterns. The other two were midshipmen. They had never met before. These young fellows under almost any circumstance but one would have naturally fallen to friendship : that one circumstance, a pretty girl, had rendered them enemies.

Tom Howard and Walter Jones were subalterns newly joined. They were proud of their new dignity of officer, and seemed to feel as though the weight of the honour of the whole British Army were on their shoulders, its good name in their keeping, and that it behoved them to be on the look-out for offence, and demonstrate their worthiness to the name of officer by a readiness to defend their service under any circumstance whatever. This self-consciousness is a thing which when too apparent is apt to amuse the watchful eyes of a naval officer of the same age ; for he has been an officer for years, has knocked about among men and been himself a man in a responsible position ever since the age of fourteen ; therefore he perhaps assumes an unin tentional tone of superiority towards these ' grabbies,' as he calls them, who, just emancipated from school, are now suddenly elevated to full-blown officers, a dignity that in their new-flushed pride they cannot altogether keep in the background.

This tone of superiority on the part of a midshipman, whether unconscious or intentional, B is a galling thing to which to submit, and a 'grabble,' instead of submitting, is often tempted to say those words which will lead to an issue where that assumption of superiority can be conclusively proved. It was so now.

It seems almost ridiculous to relate the conversation, it was so very childish, the repartee so weak, but thus too often quarrels are. ' What is faint-heartedness ? ' sneered Howard, address ing himself to Johnny West, as though that individual could be sure to tell. ' How the deuce do I know ? ' he blurted out ; ' you're last from school, where it may exist, I dare say.' ' What do you mean ? ' 'What I mean,' said West with deliberation, 'is this, that boys fresh from school should not affect ignorance upon a subject they should be up in ; and let me add,' he continued loftily, ' that the next time I am speaking to a lady I will thank you to be more civil, and not say any thing which might be construed into an insult.' ' Insult ! what do you mean ? ' replied Howard, flushing hotly; 'if I have insulted you I am perfectly ready to follow it up.' ' Can you fellows fight ? ' broke in Jones abruptly ; ' school-boys can ; can sailor-boys ? ' ' We'll try,' answered the other midshipman, who, till now, had held his peace ; ' shall we go now ? ' ' We'll meet in an hour's time,' replied Howard, turning towards the speaker, and instinctively speaking in a more courteous tone, for there was something about this quiet lad which compelled respect. ' I shall have to arrange for a fellow to take my morning's duty in case of accidents ; we'll be on the polo ground in about an hour's time, there's a capital moon ; we will drive out as soon as we're ready.' ' We four and no one else ? ' asked West. ' Of course ; au revoir,' and the party separated.

The ball went on, the talk continued, and no one guessed the little tempest which had raged so close beside them. Johnny West and Charlie Lathom were great allies. A BALL AT MALTA 5 They were midshipmen of H.M.S. ' Victoria,' who was on her way out as flagship on the Australian station. These young officers were both favourites, especially Johnny, for he was a light-hearted debonair lad, ready for anything, high-spirited, and full of fun. He was a little selfish, perhaps, but who is not so ? and his bright eyes and jolly laugh were amply sufficient to atone for any such trifling defect, which was seldom brought into notice. Johnny was the life and soul of the gunroom, and was much looked up to by the junior members of his mess, who universally regarded him with fervent admiration. The senior officers, too, were disposed to make much of West, and there was seldom a party going on leave for a picnic or a shoot that, if it was his day off, this lucky midshipman was not asked to join.

Moreover, he was very good-looking. Though beauty is of no account, it is, nevertheless, of considerable value in the procuring of the good things of this world, and whatever may be said to the contrary, a taking-looking fellow stands a better chance of having things made pleasant for him than does his more heavily handicapped companion. Thus Johnny West came in for a good share of the pleasures of this world ; wherever he went he was welcome for his bright face and cheery laugh, and fair ladies would smile their sweetest when finding themselves an object of admiration to that handsome boy. Charlie Lathom was of another type. He was tall and rather grave — for his age he was extraordinarily quiet, and possessed of a dignity of manner which sat oddly upon such a juvenile form. He was not bad-looking, though neither was he handsome.

His features were regular and his eyes good, but they lacked that ' fascinating ' twinkle, as the ladies described the sparkle which shone in the orbs of Johnny their favourite. Yet they were clear and bright — a couple of eyes which looked as though they would lower their gaze to no one. But the feature of his face was the mouth; it betokened kindness and sympathy, and yet withal marked with lines of determina tion, which denoted a firmness of purpose as rare as it is enviable. At a glance you could see that in Charlie Lathom there was promise of a man — a manly man — such a one as the English navy abounds with. And beneath this quiet rather shy exterior there evidently lay a character worthy of study ; but people seldom stay to pursue such study, and, given two young men such as are here de scribed, there is little doubt as to which would be selected to make much of and to flatter, the grave self-contained Charlie Lathom, or the jolly, laughing, handsome Johnny West, whose good qualities were so apparent to the eye.

We all like things easy for us in this world, and few care to dig on the chance of solid gold when a glittering sub stance which may be gold lies ready for the grasp. How ever, the best point about Johnny West, at least the one which often brought him greatest approbation, was his blind devotion for his friend — devotion being an excellent quality if the object of it be worthy, for it proves that the person devoted has at least an appreciative mind ; and it says much for Johnny that he could thoroughly realise and admire the sterling good virtues of his messmate and friend. True, they had known each other long, from boys ; they knew each other ' at home,' and were in the same year on board of the ' Britannia,' and many times during that first entry into life Johnny had found it no slight advantage to possess a real true-hearted friend, such as Charlie had always proved himself to be.

And Charlie was very fond of him, and in a way proud of him. When they were out together, and Johnny was as usual monopo lising the general attention, laughing and talking as though he felt sure that people were glad- — and they were glad — to listen to him, Charlie would look admiringly at him, as though it were only right and natural that he should be the one to shine, while he himself should take but a subordinate part in this social performance. Such were the two midshipmen who were driving along the moonlit road at Malta towards the polo ground, leaving the heated ball-room for the sake of settling their differences with the young soldiers who had so insulted them. Of course the whole affair was most laughable. THE POLO GROUND AT NLCHT 7 No men would have so easily quarrelled, and had they done so, it is much to be doubted whether such a speedy way of settling their differences would have suggested itself; but remember, these young officers were not men, they were boys, hot-headed and impetuous, and who can say with any certainty what a boy will do ?

Chapter II. The Polo Ground At Night

The naval party were the first to arrive. Not a soul was in sight. Telling the gharry to wait some little distance off, they strolled round. It was not a cheerful scene. The polo ground looked very cold and bleak in the moon light, and the first excitement of the quarrel having worn off, each of the two was probably asking himself why he was there at all. Under altered circumstances the same thing will wear a very different aspect, and thus that which had seemed a casus belli in the ball-room, under the combined influences of flirtation and champagne, dwindled to a very insignificant squabble now that beauty was absent, champagne had worn off, and the intending combatants were stalking round in the ghostly light, thirsting for the blood of their foes, or supposed to be thirsting, at least so far as one of the pair was concerned ; for, judging from his present demeanour, Johnny scarcely gave one the idea of a relentless individual, intent only upon the vindication of his wrongs.

All the brightness seemed to have left his usually happy face, his habitual smile had vanished altogether, and that merry twinkle, sugges tive of fun, was totally extinguished by the lugubrious aspect of the scene. Charlie looked much as usual, though graver than ever perhaps, and whatever he felt, there was no indication upon his face, as Johnny apparently found, after looking round at him once or twice, scruti nising him closely as though endeavouring to read his thoughts. At length, tiring of such a long silence, and as much to find some companionship from the sound of his own voice as for any other reason, Johnny spoke : ' What on earth are you thinking about ? ' he said ; ' it's mighty gloomy here ; you might be more sociable, I think.' ' Sociable ! ' smiled his companion ; ' do you expect me to crack jokes when we are meandering about this blessed graveyard instead of having supper at the ball ? ' ' No, but you might say something, you know ; tell me what you think of all this ; I have half a mind to go back.' ' Go back!' echoed his friend, 'what, not wait, you mean?' ' Well,' laughed Johnny nervously, ' they don't seem to be coming, and I don't think we need wait any longer.' ' Why,' replied Charlie, looking at his watch, ' we are before time ; as it is, of course we must wait,' and then he relapsed into silence. ' Isn't it rather foolish to fight those fellows ? ' began Johnny again. ' Doubtless,' replied his companion with a little laugh, ' but you should have thought of that before you dragged us into it ; we must go through with it now.' ' Why must we ?

Can't we " off it " now, and show we were only pretending?' suggested Johnny, his face wearing a new and anxious look as he turned it towards his friend. ' What are you talking about ? ' said Charlie, stopping abruptly in his walk ; ' do I understand you that you wish to shirk fighting ? ' he added in a cold voice. ' Well, shirk is a hard word,' was the hesitating answer, ' but I think — I believe — I mean — I don't see why we should put ourselves out like this.' ' Bah ! ' ejaculated his friend, ' what is the matter with you ? Ton my word, if anyone else had spoken like that I should be obliged to think he was afraid.' ' And if you thought a fellow was afraid, what then ? ' came in a jerky voice from his companion, as though it cost him an effort to say it, ' what then ? ' ' Why, I should despise him, that's what then, my boy.' ' Supposing you had liked him before ? ' THE POLO GROUND AT NLGHT 9 ' I couldn't ever have liked a fellow who was capable of showing the white feather.' ' How can you know what anyone will do or is capable of doing — you've liked me, haven't you ? ' ' You know I have.' ' Well now, Charlie, suppose I tell you that I am a coward ? ' ' Bosh ! ' ' Ah, I wish it were bosh, but it's true, all my life I've been a coward.

I cannot help it. I envy you, you are so brave and fearless, while I — look at me ! ' he cried, glanc ing down at himself in unutterable disdain ; ' look at me, Charlie ; I am cold with fear, my teeth chatter and my head is going round. I cannot fight, I will not fight. Oh, let me go ! You will not tell anyone — you are so clever — you can concoct a yarn to explain why I am not here. And oh ! don't hate me — I cannot, cannot help it, it's my nature, I suppose, and I've fought against it all my life, but to no purpose,' and the boy, in reality all trembling, now covered his face with his hands and seemed to await the verdict of his friend. ' Come,' that friend said sternly, ' have done with this ; you cannot be in earnest, can you ? ' as though striving to fight against conviction. There was no answer ; what the boy had spoken was true. ' Be a man,' went on Charlie, putting his hands upon the shoulders of his companion, who dared not look at him as he spoke. ' Shake all this off and come with me ; those fellows ought to have arrived by now.' ' Oh ! ' cried Johnny wildly, ' I cannot come, say what you like.

It is better to run away now than to disgrace myself by funking in their presence. Forgive me, Charlie ; I cannot help it. What shall I do ? ' ' You can do what you like, for all I care,' replied his friend, withdrawing his hands and turning on his heel. ' If you are anxious to run away do not let any consideration for me stop you. I will do the best I can, single handed, against the pair.' ' Oh ! what a miserable cur I do seem,' sobbed the boy ; ' don't leave me like that, Charlie, don't cut me for ever. I cannot do without you ; your friendship is what I value most on earth ; let me go and give me a chance to fight against this curse ; perhaps I shall grow out of it, I some times think I may. I know you will never tell of this night, but let me go, and swear you will never betray me ; ' and speaking thus Johnny seized his friend by the hand, entreating. ' Swear, swear ! it's only one little sen tence, so easy to say ; say it to help me, to save me.

Why shouldn't you save me if you can ? for the sake of my people, for the sake of our friendship, swear.' ' I swear,' answered Charlie hoarsely. ' Thank God,' breathed the wretched youth, ' then I am safe ; your word is sacred, I have no fear. Aud our friendship, Charlie — will you cut me ? ' ' Enough now,' was the answer. ' Go, I must tell you that to-morrow ; go,' he repeated, wrenching himself free from the other's grasp, ' go, and do not hinder me further now.' ' One kind word,' pleaded the boy, ' say you are sorry for me ; see, I cannot help it, I cannot indeed.' ' Johnny, won't you wait ? ' suddenly said Charlie in a kinder tone. ' I'll see you through it, old boy. I'll help you, and if you go away it may ruin your whole life ; it will soon be over.' ' I cannot trust myself ; I should only run away when the time came.' ' Then go.

I am sorry for you if you have no greater control over yourself than that ; ' and once more turning on his heel Charlie Lathom walked swiftly towards the little pavilion at the top of the ground.

Chapter III. Child's Play

Chaelie had little time to meditate upon the sudden madness, as he deemed it, of his friend, for the sound of voices told him that the enemy had arrived. The sub alterns had alighted from their gharry at the entrance, CHLLD'S PLAY 11 and walked on to the ground. They came forward and bowed. ' I hope we are not late,' began Howard, ' but we had to go to barracks first ; are you alone ? ' ' I regret to say I am,' replied Charlie ; ' I fear my friend must have met with some accident ; we separated in the ball-room to avoid suspicion, and he promised to meet me here. It is/very provoking, but I trust his absence, if he does not turn up, will not interrupt our programme. I shall be very happy to take his place when my own duties are done.' ' Sir,' answered Jones, saluting, ' we have not the pleasure of knowing your name ' — and he paused ; Charlie said nothing — ' but we could not think of allowing you to fight twice.' ' Thank you,' smiled the midshipman, < but I shall prefer it.' 'We have brought some swords,' said Howard, with out more ado, producing those weapons, 'knowing that you were unarmed.' Taking a sword, Charlie examined it in the moonlight, and as he did so it began to strike him that he was doing rather a risky thing in fighting thus.

While maintaining the silence which had so tried the patience of his friend, he had, in reality, been turning over in his mind some plan whereby this silly affair might be brought to an end by amicable means without loss of honour ; but Johnny's ill-timed confession had brought chaos to his ideas. In the endeavour to allay the unworthy fears of his friend and induce him to see the matter through, any coherent plan which his tact might have evolved was knocked on the head. Even had it not been so, he would have hesitated to mention such a thing as compromise or apology to Johnny in his then frame of mind ; he was not capable of appreciating the nicety of words or the subtle distinctions which such a compromise might involve. In his eager ness to escape the consequences of his champagne-born folly he would have been only too ready to jump at such a chance, regardless of the price paid by their honour, and, through theirs, the honour of their ship.

And now that he was alone, and his friend so suspiciously absent, it was still more impossible for Charlie, however much he may have wished it, to have been the first to attempt a peaceful solution by means of words. In fact, he had been so little the offender that it would have been ridiculous for him to apologise for what he had not done — though, for the matter of that, it was now forced upon him to wonder what had been done, and what the row was all about. The whole thing, as anyone could see, was so utterly childish and ridiculous ; but there it was, and who should be the first to give way ? Not himself, certainly. To-morrow morning his ship sailed ; she had only been at Malta two days, and his opponents would be left to tel! their own story of the occurrences of this evening. A quarrel may be foolish, wicked, wrong even, as indeed it often is, but who takes the trouble to inquire into the rights of the case during the narration of results ?

So and-so had a row at a ball, they agreed to fight, when they met one of them immediately apologised and re gretted his conduct; honour is satisfied, and the incident is closed. Is it ? Moral courage is not always appreciated as it deserves, and when this story is told at mess any little show of interest or sympathy which it may elicit will be found generally on the side of the one who accepted, not proposed, the amende honorable. It is im moral, perhaps, that this should be so ; but who can change public opinion on that account ? Thus, when So-and-so's name is mentioned years after, it may be said, ' Oh, that fellow ! wasn't there some story about him ? Didn't he get mixed up in some ridiculous row, and then sneak out of it directly the other fellow meant business ? ' There is no reason for supposing that all this passed through Charlie Lathom's brain when he took that sword in his hands, but no doubt some similar ideas and reflec tions were there.

For a boy of nineteen Lathom was old for his years, and, as has been said above, a midshipman accustomed to responsibility and trained to think and act both for himself and others, can be readily understood to CHLLD'S PLAY 13 think twice before he committed himself to a decision ; and Charlie, to use his own expression, saw that he was in a tight place. There was no time for arbitration or delay; his ship sailed in a few hours, the matter could therefore be referred to no wiser heads than their own ; his decision must be taken at once, and the consequences, whatever they were, he must bear. Foolish as he knew it to be, he would have to fight. The prospect was not a pleasant one, for if his life depended upon his skill with a sword, it depended on what did not exist ; but what was, to do him justice, really uppermost in his mind, was the dread of mortally wounding his opponent, and thus ending the affair in tragedy.

Then indeed would he be condemned for his "decision, and possibly even poor Johnny might come in for a share of praise. But could the fight be brought to a finish without any particular amount of bloodshed, then, nothing succeeding like success, supposing the affair got abroad, he would be held to have acted in an entirely satisfactory manner. There is little doubt but that Charlie's antagonists were equally aware, matters now having gone so far, that they were making fools of themselves, but they could not trouble to think of that now ; they were far younger in their natures than Charlie, and it was not to be expected that they should pause to weigh the rights and wrongs of their quarrel, of the origin of which they had an extremely hazy idea, although rather unpleasant visions of reprimands and court-martial may have mo mentarily disturbed their youthful minds.

However, no onlooker would have given either of the parties present credit for one single qualm, when Howard, bowing to Charlie, said : ' I fear my friend must be second for us both ; shall we begin ? ' ' Certainly,' replied Charlie, and they began. Now, there is no need to describe this wonderful duel, for it is certain that it would look quite as ridiculous upon paper as it did upon the polo ground. There was nothing remarkable about it either, excepting perhaps the utter lack of science. What would their respective instructors have said ? for barring the position there was little else according to the book. The other subaltern, Jones, who was looking on, was probably having the worst time of it, as the possible consequences of this scene now crowded upon his brain, while looking on at what seemed to be nothing but flashing, clashing swords, hitting and striking wildly, so wildly that he involuntarily moved himself to a safer distance to that which he had at first occupied.