21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey Read Online Free PDF

the boat’ s kedges dropped, sails stowed, floated quietly for their blessing. Suddenly the prodigious, all pervading sound of the vast crowd dropped to something not far from silence, instantly filled by the glorious sound of trumpets; and as the Legate, a fine tall upright figure in a white gown, advanced to the head of the steps, the people cheered to the very vault of the sky.
    “By God, he’s black,” said Jack Aubrey, and a moment later his face was contorted with emotion.
    “He is very happy,” murmured Stephen. “Presently he will come over.”
    Presently was a strange word to use: but while it lasted the Legate blessed, marked boats by the score, by the hundred, with holy water; and finally after an immense thunder of drums he told the assembly that the ceremony had been accomplished: they might now sail with God: It was as much a dismissal as Ita, missa est; but although something like silence came down upon the bay almost no one moved. They stood watching the Legate’ s splendid barge as it pulled straight across to the Surprise. The Legate came up the side like a right seaman and hurried across the deck to his father. “ Dea rest Sam, you have not changed,” said Jack as they clasped hands. Then Sam knelt and patted his father’ s feet, a gesture as natural as the sun.
    Then Stephen led his men forward, and they all kissed the Legate’ s ring. “ We must go,” said Sam, lift ing his ear to a distant bell. “ But, sir, may I beg for my supper tonight?”
    “ I shal l look forward to it extremely,” said Jack, and he went below while he could still do so with a decent composure.
    In the close-packed community that made up the crew of a man-of-war there was extremely little privacy: they ate, slept, washed, relieved themselves in public; in public they were flogged, unless they happened to be officers - and in that case a severe admonition was very soon made known throughout the ship. Each man and boy knew exactly what the others earned and how much the married men sent home. And although the officers sometimes had private means, and were sometimes unwilling to speak of them, they also had servants, who knew whether their masters were bearing hard up for Poverty Bay or spreading all canvas for Port Lavish itself. The paternity orders that had brought many hands aboard were the subject of often repeated wit.
    There were few Surprises therefore who were much astonished at the very strong resemblance between the Nuncio and his host. It was perfectly well known that the younger man was one of Mr Midshipman Aubrey’ s indiscretions when, as a long legged youth, he had served on the South African station, and that the boy, brought up by Catholic missionaries in Mozambique, had presented himself to his father in the West Indies, bearing the present of a charm, a ju-ju, from his affectionate mother, that had kept Jack alive through some really desperate encounters. Killick was of course a fount and a reasonably honest fount of information, much of it derived from Barret Bonden, Jack’ s coxswain and valued friend until he was killed in battle, a source of much greater value.
    From this general history, therefore, what newcomers there were in that long harbour-watch, learnt that the good fathers, having taught Sam his letters and a considerable amount of Latin - the English he picked up with no sort of trouble – destined him for the minor orders: for nothing more, because of his illegitimate birth. But Stephen Maturin, who, though a bastard himself, was very well-connected, obtained a dispensation for the young man, to whom he was particularly attached: and Sam had risen very fast indeed. To be sure, he was unusually intelligent and exceptionally good-natur ed: but he was also very black, shining black. And this was a time when a strong current of opinion in the Church felt that the rapidly increasing black world should be given very much more attention. On the merely practical side, the very, very large