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Lean Administration 1st Edition Manfacturing Excellence
Ame - Association For Digital Instant Download
Author(s): Manfacturing Excellence AME - Association for
ISBN(s): 9781563273667, 1000044386
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ENTERPRISE EXCELLENCE
SERIES

LEAN
ADMINISTRATION
 Series Mission

To share new ideas and examples of excellence through case

studies and other reports from all types of organizations, and to
show how both leading-edge and proven improvement methods
can be applied to a range of operations and industries.
 ENTERPRISE EXCELLENCE
SERIES

LEAN
ADMINISTRATION
Case Studies in Leadership and Improvement

Association for Manufacturing Excellence

(AME)

Boca Raton London New York

CRC Press is an imprint of the

Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
A PRODUCTIVITY PRESS BOOK
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742

Copyright © 2007 by Association for Manufacturing Excellence.

CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

ISBN-13: 9781563273667 (pbk)

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded
sources. Reason-able efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but
the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Lean administration : case studies in leadership and improvement : a

compilation of articles from Target the periodical of the Association
for Manufacturing Excellence.
p. cm. — (Enterprise excellence series)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-56327-366-7 (alk. paper)
1. Management—Case studies. 2. Administration—Case studies.
3. Leadership—Case studies. I. Association for Manufacturing
Excellence (U.S.) II. Target (Wheeling, Ill.)
HD31.L3265 2007
658.4'092--dc22
2007013328
Lean Administration v

Table of Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

Section I: Leadership, Organization, and Training. . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter One
HUI Expands Self-Directed Teaming to the Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Chapter Two
Steelcase: Learning How to Implement Customer-Focused,
Enterprise-Wide Lean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Section II: Improving Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter Three
Lean Goes Beyond the Production Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter Four
Lean Office Events — Priceless Knowledge, Team Solutions . . . . . . 41
Chapter Five
Lean Success in an Administrative Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Chapter Six
Lean Office: Mapping Your Way to Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Chapter Seven
Elgin Sweeper Co. Employees Clear a Path Toward Lean
Operations with Their Lean Enterprise System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Section III: Lean in Healthcare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Chapter Eight
Metamorphosis: Healthcare’s Ongoing Transformation . . . . . . . . . . 89

v
vi Enterprise Excellence Series

Chapter Nine
“The Calling:” St. Vincent Hospice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Lean Administration vii

Foreword

Lean Without a Product/Artifact

Most people realize that what we now call lean thinking is really a
take-off on lessons from the Toyota Production System. Most people
not actually making something in manufacturing have difficulty relat-
ing to a shop floor. They may never have seen one. Naturally, their
question is, “What can concepts coming from manufacturing possibly
have to do with me?”
Only a small percentage of people actually make something.
Depending on which government figures you choose, only 12 percent
of the U.S. workforce now works for a manufacturing company. Far
from all of them are actually hands-on workers. To take dramatic
examples, both Hewlett-Packard and Apple are classified as manufac-
turers, but neither has much domestic manufacturing. Only a tiny frac-
tion of their U.S. employees are direct labor personnel. What do the
rest of them do?
Most people work in service and administration. Some, as in util-
ities or construction, work in operational environments, but even
there, much work is administrative. The potential to make a big differ-
ence improving non-manufacturing processes is huge.
But, given all this, most manufacturing companies begin their
lean journey on the shop floor. That’s where issues of waste and pro-
ductivity receive the most scrutiny. The physical flow of work is usu-
ally easier to see. It is easy to assume that a physical artifact embodies
value added; hopefully that’s what the customer pays for. Therefore
anything that impedes the production flow of artifacts is waste —
something to eliminate. Besides, it slows the cash cycle, the time from
when an order is entered until payment is received from a customer.
Therefore, manufacturing and similar operations are prime areas for
applying lean thinking in practice.

vii
viii Enterprise Excellence Series

Service processes and service industries are a huge opportunity,

for improving quality, delivery, productivity, and cost — and for
directly improving the experience of customers.
By one definition, a service process includes a customer; map it
end-to-end, and customer contact shows up in at least one box. And by
an archaic definition, production processes are remote from customers,
presumably to better concentrate on efficiency. Perhaps a customer on-
site, seeing how things are really done, might have a lawsuit-beckon-
ing accident– or at least be so appalled that she would cancel the order.
But that’s not how quality-conscious companies are supposed to
think. Most strive for customer satisfaction, or maybe even, like
Toyota, for the ideal of zero unsatisfied customers. That’s seldom
achieved merely through possession of the artifact sold, but through
customers’ total experience that goes with it, including its functions,
ease of use, repair process if needed — in sum, whether they consider
life to be much better because they bought it. Therefore, all operating
companies that have customers also have service processes, whether
they are officially classified as a service company or not.
Service operations range from health clinics to tax advisories to
criminal court systems, classified in various ways, profit or non-profit,
etc. Some are associations like the Association for Manufacturing
Excellence (AME). Classification by ownership is almost irrelevant to
the rooting out of waste.
Over the years, Target has published a number of cases of apply-
ing lean thinking or other excellence thinking to non-manufacturing
processes. We’ve also reported a few snippets about this in articles
focused on manufacturing companies. For example, we reported that
Guidant (now Boston Scientific) eliminated a huge fraction of their
paperwork associated with pharmaceutical device manufacturing
compliance by going back to the intent of the regulations, studying
them, and figuring out simple ways to comply.
This snippet illustrates an important point about “administrative
lean.” Sorting out what does or does not add value is harder to simpli-
fy by making the assumption that all value is embedded in a physical
product to be sold. Determining the customer for a process, and what
adds value for them can be perplexing. An example from these read-
ings is “The Calling,” about St. Vincent’s Hospice. Who are the cus-
tomers, and what does satisfaction mean to them? For any administra-
tive or service process, critically ask this question to identify waste that
interferes with delivering that satisfaction.
To start your thinking about this, the classification below is
Lean Administration ix

incomplete, and in no particular order, but it’s a start:

• Necessary for customer education, information, development,
or training
• Necessary for understanding what the customer needs or
wants
• Necessary for convenience of the customer or to preclude trou-
ble for them
• Necessary for legal or regulatory compliance
• Necessary for health and safety of any process stakeholder —
customers, workers, service personnel, etc
• Necessary for local or global environmental sustainability
• Necessary to execute transactions with customers or suppliers
• Necessary feedback to check or improve the process.
The operative word in the list above is “necessary.” A payment
system can be highly effective, yet simple and fast. Or it can be a very
ineffective, error-ridden, time-consuming, and a waste for any and all
stakeholders. If no stakeholder is happy, it’s a good clue that waste is
abundant.
But the processes to scrutinize closely are control systems whose
only “customer” is management. There may be good reasons, for
example, to have audit trails. Later, they may be worth the trouble. If
so, what is the simplest way to leave one? But beware of complex con-
trol systems. They may only be a symptom of much more waste that,
were it eliminated, would not need any elaborate controls.
This kind of kaizen is apt to lead to revelations about systems
sometimes held sacred, like cost systems. What effort goes into them;
what results come from them; and what do they do that could not be
done otherwise? A very productive exercise can be a series of kaizens
about an annual budget process, questioning its purpose. But seeking
to butcher a sacred cow is probably not the place to start. For most
organizations, an order entry system is a less controversial beginning
project; almost everyone would like to improve it. As a consequence
a great many people can be involved in improving it, including some
customers, so you can involve many people in learning how to take
the waste out of an administrative process. At first, the key objective
is to develop people working with “office processes” so that they
become accustomed to routinely questioning old ways and looking
for better ones.
This can dramatically change a company if you persist. For exam-
ple, if a process is always subject to change, it makes a big difference in
how the software supporting processes are designed. To understand
x Enterprise Excellence Series

what is happening and why, involve lots of people, including IT per-

sonnel, in early projects.
What you will find in the articles is how a number of different
companies have applied lean thinking to various kinds of non-produc-
tion processes. If you have never systematically attempted to improve
“office processes,” they may give you some ideas to start. Then don’t
become afraid of your own revolution. You’ll make some mistakes;
everyone does; that’s part of learning. Work through them, keep going,
and create some advances worthy of a Target article about them.

Robert W. “Doc” Hall

Editor-in-Chief, Target
Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME)
Lean Administration xi

Introduction

Interest in applying lean principles to administrative operations as

well as to manufacturing has been growing rapidly. As the concept of
an entire lean enterprise gains ground, so has the desire for informa-
tion about what has already been accomplished. This book provides a
wide range of case studies to satisfy that hunger for information.
The chapters that follow originally appeared as articles in Target
magazine, published by the Association for Manufacturing Excellence.
Loyal readers of Target have long been familiar with its reputation for
quality, in-depth case studies. The articles included here not only
demonstrate the reasons for that reputation but also provide a range of
insights into what it takes to achieve excellence in administrative
processes.
It is almost a truism that lean cannot succeed without strong top
management commitment. Therefore, the two chapters in the first sec-
tion of this book are, appropriately, devoted to Leadership,
Organization, and Training.
Chapter One details how the HUI company built on its experience
applying lean to the shop floor to implement lean administration. This
involved demonstrating commitment to a core set of values, adopting
a different style of management, and creating teams in administrative
areas.
Establishing senior-level teams and picking the right people for
them were part of the approach to lean administration at Steelcase, an
experience described in Chapter Two. In addition, project sponsors
and value stream managers were selected, with value stream mapping
workshops a central part of the strategy. Steelcase team members also
learned the value of piloting changes before adopting them on a wide-
spread basis.
The second section of this book, Improving Processes, encompass-
es five tales of companies in the forefront of lean administration.
xi
xii Enterprise Excellence Series

Two companies — Rockwell Automation and The Antioch

Company — are featured in Chapter Three. Both businesses tackled
the challenges of bringing lean into non-production areas, learning a
wide range of valuable lessons along the way.
The Antioch Company is also the focus of Chapter Four. But in
this article, two Antioch managers describe their experiences first-
hand, discussing in detail the types of waste that are repeatedly found
in office situations. They also explain key process mapping steps, and
the rules that must be followed to achieve success.
A British office of Waukesha Bearings embarked on a journey
to lean administration, an adventure detailed in Chapter Five. That
journey included overcoming cultural resistance, gaining a better
understanding of what really constituted a value stream, experiencing
“trystorming” rather than brainstorming, and overcoming an initial
failure to achieve true imprƒovement.
We return to The Antioch Company for additional lessons laid out
in Chapter Six. Those lessons include how to identify when change is
needed, how to analyze and update metrics, how to get started and
how to sustain change.
And Chapter Seven details how the Elgin Sweeper Company built
a lean culture throughout the business on the foundation of a 5S pro-
gram carefully and methodically implemented in all departments.
The third and final section of this book reflects the spread of
improvement activities in the healthcare sector. Two chapters comprise
Lean in Healthcare.
Chapter Eight describes the experiences of several different
healthcare organizations — ThedaCare and a collection of Iowa organ-
izations involved in a variety of aspects of the healthcare system — in
pursuing ways to save money, streamline operations and increase the
quality of care.
And finally, Chapter Nine is a detailed case study of St. Vincent’s
Hospice in Indianapolis, where dedicated staff achieve improvements
and a level of care that set a standard for this type of institution.
These three sections provide valuable insights into both how lean
can be applied to administrative areas and what it takes for those
efforts to succeed.
Each chapter is accompanied by a series of questions designed to
help you think about what you need to do in your organization. The
benefits of lean administration can be significant. This book can be one
of your first steps toward achieving those benefits.
 Section I

Leadership,
Organization,
and Training
 HUI Expands Self-Directed
1
Teaming to the Office

Growing the business by developing

leadership in all areas

G
Jim Tennessen and Lea A.P. Tonkin
In Brief
Building on their success with shop floor

ive talented people

teaming, HUI of Kiel, WI made the transi-

clear-cut goals, the

tion to office lean teamwork starting in

training and tools they

2002. Thanks to this approach — treating

need to reach those objectives

people as adults and providing them with

and the freedom to make

the tools, freedom, and accountability to

improvements happen in a
reach organizational goals — they’ve

teamwork environment, and

achieved increased throughput and other

you’ve got a winning combi-

gains, as sales have continued to rise.
Among their lessons learned: Commit to a

nation. That’s what senior

long-term improvement process; leaders

leadership at HUI in Kiel, WI

must change themselves so they don’t get

figured several years ago. The

in the way of progress; align organization-

privately-held company, with

al strategy, marketing, organizational struc-

about $20 million in annual

ture, decision making, and metrics; and

sales, had been holding its

make it safe for others to learn and try.

own in its custom sheet metal

markets back in 1999, yet cycle times and overhead costs were among
nagging issues. Convinced that there had to be a better alternative to
traditional management, CEO Kurt Bell, COO Dan Ruedinger, and
other senior management looked for the means to create an environ-
ment that encourages risk-taking to grow themselves, their teams, and
the business. Strongly positive results (increased throughput and other
gains) achieved by production people then led to lean extension in

3
4 Enterprise Excellence Series

About HUI
Employees at contract manufacturer HUI, based in Kiel, WI provide servic-
es ranging from design and metal fabrication to powder coating, assem-
bly, and supply-chain management. Approximately 110-115 people work
at the non-union facility. Sales are approximately $20 million a year.
Product lines include panels, enclosures, medical carts, various assemblies,
and other products. The company’s existed about 70 years.

office areas. HUI employees recently shared their story about the tran-
sition to office teaming during an AME workshop.
“In 1999, we had started with lean on the floor,” Ruedinger said.
“We shifted to work cells and also began making changes in strategy
and in our customer base. At the same time we were working with a
very traditional customer group that had a heavy industrial base. It was
apparent to us that it was very difficult to differentiate ourselves to
these customers and in these markets. As a response, we looked to inte-
grate the advantages driven by lean into our sales and marketing strate-
gies. This led us to a customer base filled with people looking for solu-
tions to problems rather than parts that needed to be made. This change
and the response that was required were the primary drivers to acceler-
ating the teams and lean efforts in the office. We simply needed to be
able to deliver more solutions in shorter time frames than ever before.”

Values Matter
Asking people to take a “leap of faith” toward team-based, lean oper-
ations had brought faster cycle times and cost savings in production.
This shop floor lean experience helped to pave the way for lean office
operations starting in 2002. Yet management realized that their com-
mitment to core values in day-by-day activities as well as their vision
of success would continue to play a major role in acceptance of new
ways. HUI’s core values and vision are shown in Figure l.

The HUI Improvement Model

HUI’s continuous improvement model is based on a three-way combi-
nation of their strategic position, lean concepts, and what they describe
Lean Administration 5

HUI's Core Values and Vision

Values
• Integrity. Be honest with yourself, talk straight.
• Courage. Dare to think and act differently.
• Respect. "See the good" in others; trust and act accordingly.
• Passion. In what we do and who we are.
• Growth. Learn from our mistakes.
Vision
• HUI will be the company of choice in all that we do today and
tomorrow.
• Sell our story, not product. Tell us what your problem is and
how we can help you.

Figure 1.

as “Murray/Adulthood” concepts. The company’s strategic position,

described by Ruedinger, is to “seamlessly integrate speed and expert-
ise in design, manufacturing, assembly, and supply chain solutions to
help customers achieve their goals.”
The Murray/Adulthood concepts (developed by Pat Murray)
contrast sharply with the traditional “military model: of top-down,
centralized authority — “do as you’re told.” Instead, people are treat-
ed as adults and encouraged to use their knowledge, skills, and cre-
ativity to achieve organizational goals. HUI employees were coached
in these concepts by former team member and current outside consult-
ant Eric Coryell. “He introduced the idea that people, like pack ani-
mals, are constricted by their fear of being separated from the pack,”
said Ruedinger. “When they are afraid, they don’t speak up. So our
general premise is that we coach people on how to talk about tough
stuff — problem-solving issues, differences of opinion, teamwork, etc.
We also do onsite and offsite team-building and training on individual
learning styles, communication, and problem solving.” In turn, HUI
people use these skills and understanding to build overall perform-
ance-boosting capabilities: ownership of results, creativity, agility, and
decision-making speed.
“Adulthood” challenges all employees — including senior man-
agement — to better their performance, said Ruedinger. Key adult-
hood qualities are shown in Figure 2.
6 Enterprise Excellence Series

Adulthood
• Create an environment where people can be adults
• Growth — try, learn from mistakes, trust
• Transfer ownership of results
• Build teams
• Create a learning- and growth-based company.

Figure 2.

Leadership/Coaching
Leaders need to evaluate what they want out of lean reorganization,
advised Ruedinger. “It’s more about the growth of people who work
with you than simply focusing on your own growth; you can’t fake
that,” he said. “Most people don’t get to leadership in business with-
out being doers and tellers. Yet instead of telling people what to do,
leadership needs to coach and teach, and to get people to ask good
questions. You also need a longer-term perspective. Daily, you are
making an investment for the future.
“At certain times, it can be tempting to go back to the old way. But
after this month, you may then need to tell people what to do again. If
you had let them make their own decisions — including some mis-
takes — then hopefully they will make better decisions as time goes
on,” he added.
The executive compared this approach to a sports model. “The
coach doesn’t play in the game,” he said. “Their job is to prepare play-
ers for particular situations. Then the player executes it when the
opportunity arises. My job is to prepare people on our teams — not to
throw the pass.”

Organizational Structure: Teaming, Eliminating

Obstacles to Improvement

Team-powered activities in the office and shop areas keep the improve-
ment wheels turning. Ruedinger said senior leadership learned sever-
al years ago, through experience in shop floor teaming, that “your
organizational chart and management structure are the biggest obsta-
Lean Administration 7

cles to improvement. We would rather invest in teams than in man-

agers,” he said.
After they’d “gone cellular” on the shop floor, HUI production
people working in teams had learned how to make most of their prod-
ucts within a day or two. Yet overall leadtimes dawdled at one or two
weeks. That led to the conclusion that leadtimes were not necessarily a
shop floor issue. So HUI turned to “office lean” in 2002. Teaming
seemed the way to go. Good choice. Since then, the company’s
Customer Business Development (CBD) teams succeeded in trimming
waste (and cost) from their work flows (invoices, engineering draw-
ings, etc.)
Each of the two CBD teams comprises nine people from sales, cus-
tomer service, engineering, purchasing, and accounting functions.
“Each team has its own group of customers, rationalized once a year.
We are a job shop so they are not organized by product line,”
Ruedinger said. Earlier attempts to organize teams along geographical
lines didn’t work well. The teams each have roughly ten customers
and $10 million in sales.
Asking questions about ways to sequence their work in line with
customer demand and their takt time helped the CBD teams (over
time) to streamline processes. “We didn’t rock anyone’s world too bad.
We started small, with customer service and engineering,” said
Ruedinger. “Customer service people had been running up and down
the hall, asking engineering people questions. It made sense to com-
bine them in the same location. Then people realized how much time
was spent looking for purchasing people, so we added them to the
team. Sales and accounting people were added to the teams so we
could end the shuffle back and forth.”
CBD teams run one-to-three shifts to coordinate with the shop
floor. Part-timers work according to demand. The teams develop their
own (U-shaped) layouts and visual boards.
One of the tools used by CBD teams in their lean efforts is identi-
fying their “products.” These products range from estimates and
quotes to engineering documents/drawings, shop packets/routings,
and invoices.
The teams now have common goals and collaboratively solve
their mutual problems. “They were already doing various smaller
pieces of the process. Now our teams are self-accountable and self-suf-
ficient in the office and on the floor,” Ruedinger continued. “People are
treated as adults. We don’t tell them what to do, but what we want to
Other documents randomly have
different content
be expected. I could give instances of similar behaviour, which have
come under my notice, and which I myself have experienced, but
will refrain in order to get on with my yarn.
Frank strode aft to the lazaret hatch and lowered himself down
promptly into the midst of four youngsters of about sixteen years of
age, who were busily engaged in roasting one of their number, a boy
evidently somewhat younger than the rest of them, and obviously
about to make his first voyage. Three of them were certainly
experienced to the extent of at least one voyage, and it was a great
game for them to break Johnny Newcome in. But they all desisted
from their sport as Frank dropped among them, and stood half on
the defensive, like hens when a strange fowl is introduced to them.
Frank just smiled cheerfully upon them and said, “All right, boys, I’m
one of yourselves, don’t mind me. But the mate’ll be here in a
minute or two, if I don’t mistake, and I don’t know how you stand
with him, but I don’t want him to find me one of the unemployed.
What are you supposed to be doing?”
The eldest boy present piped up, “We’re supposed to be stowing the
stores, but, as we don’t know anything about it, we’re not getting on
very fast. We heard that the third mate was coming to-day, and then
I s’pose we shall be all right.”
Frank laughed, but with a supreme effort, for his heart was very
heavy, and said, “Well, I’m supposed to be the third mate, so I’d
better start in, I think. But first of all, what’s your names?”
“Mine’s Thompson,” piped up the first speaker.
“Selden me,” chipped up another.
“Fitzgerald,” said a third.
The new-comer, who had not settled yet after his ragging, sullenly
mumbled, “My name is Reginald Percy Smith, and I want to
complain to the captain.”
There was a short, violent burst of laughter from the other young
rascals at this, and Frank, tapping him kindly on the shoulder, said,
“All right, Reggie, we’ll see about complaining afterwards. At present
what we’ve got to do is to get these cases and bags and barrels
stowed away snugly, so that they won’t get adrift when we are at
sea. So here goes,” and seizing one of the cases he up-ended it, and
worked it into a vacant space which gaped to receive it.
In five minutes the whole of them were labouring energetically
under Frank’s direction to get the chaos of packages reduced to
something like order. And then the mate came down with words of
snarling disparagement of Frank’s ability as a stevedore, made them
do most of the work over again, while Frank set his teeth and said
nothing. But even the new-comer could see the purposeful malice in
the mate’s behaviour, and, although he could not understand it, he
dimly resented it, for it reminded him of the bully at school.
Now I do not care to dwell further upon the way in which, during the
remaining days of the ship in dock, the mate endeavoured to make
life a burden to the young third mate, and succeeded in making him
nervous and diffident about his work, anxious as ever to do that
work well, but doubtful of his ability. Still I must record one fact that
commends itself to me as being the act of a brave man, to say
nothing of a youth. In the midst of this sore trial Frank allowed no
word of complaint to escape him to his father or the owner. And this
he did knowing as well as possible what a voyage was awaiting him.
I feel that he was quixotically heroic, but there it is, he made up his
mind that he would go through this thing no matter what the cost
might be. And out of this grew one good thing. The other lads, three
of whom were new and the other four all second voyagers, grew to
admire him immensely, some of them to love him, and of course that
helped.
Then came sailing day, and with it a crowd of wasters, the dregs of
Liverpool, there being a dearth of foremast hands just then, and
skippers being glad to take what they could get. Only three out of
the twenty appeared to be good sailormen, the rest looked as if a
tramp steamer was the only kind of craft they had ever known, and
in consequence they were almost as much out of place on board of
a ship dependent for her motive power upon the wind as a landsman
would be, except for the matter of sickness.
The second mate, who joined late, was a splendidly clean-built
young fellow, who looked not only the highest type of seamen, but
bore unmistakably the hall-mark of a gentleman; and, as like cleaves
to like, he soon found Frank out, and took to him at once, uttering a
few kindly words in appreciation of his late feat that gave Frank the
first sensation of pleasure he had known since he came on board.
He had served his time in one of the splendid ships of Messrs.
Patrick Henderson & Co., the Oamaru, on the long trail from England
to New Zealand, being third mate on his last voyage, and this was
his first essay as second. His name was James Wilson, an
Englishman from the Midlands.
Precisely at noon on a grim December day, the 13th of that stern
month, the Thurifer was seized by the tug and dragged out into the
river, looking most ungainly and helpless among the huge trim liners
lying easily at anchor on the bosom of the grey Mersey as she
submitted clumsily to the fussy efforts of the great Jolliffe tug. No
sooner was she in the river, and the mooring gear cleared away,
than the big business of rigging the jibboom out was taken in hand,
and here the mate got the first taste of the quality of his crew.
Fortunately he had as a bo’sun a huge Londoner from Blackwall, one
of those splendid seamen of the old school who, although he could
hardly write his name, could do anything with rope and wire and
canvas that was possible, having been, as he was wont to say
laughingly, almost born in a rigging-loft. In addition he was
immensely strong, and stood well over six feet.
This worthy seaman, under the orders of the mate, marshalled his
motley gang, who tumbled over one another, got in the way of the
good men, and showed conclusively that they were hopelessly
bewildered at the vast entanglement. There was much shouting and
cursing and objurgation generally of men who sign on as seamen
and are only labourers, the mate being almost beside himself with
rage. Frank was in the thick of it toiling like any beaver, and by his
intelligent seamanship completely winning the heart of the bo’sun,
who, being so good a sailor himself, was fully able to appreciate
Frank’s ability, smartness, and industry. But even Frank was amazed
at the magnitude of the spar which they were handling, and the
complication of gear attached to it, for, as he afterwards said in
conversation with the bo’sun, the Sealark’s jibboom was only a
walking-stick compared with it. And as the number of really useful
hands engaged upon it was limited to four men and two lads, the
work proceeded but slowly, while the mate raved and swore like a
man possessed of a devil.
Steadily seaward went the ship into a rising gale, a nasty sea, and
the coming night. Gradually she began to dip and curtsy to the seas
as she was dragged to meet them, adding to the immense difficulty
of the work being performed by the devoted handful of workers,
because of the great showers of spray that were continually
breaking over the bows. But at last the mighty job was finished as
well as it could be under the circumstances, and wearied to the very
bone, the workers’ thoughts were turned to rest. But in cases of this
kind, especially leaving Liverpool, where a ship is on the high sea so
soon, those that have knowledge have the burden laid upon them of
using that knowledge, with generally the added satisfaction of
finding that the wasters and loafers have a far better time all round.
However, respite came at last, and all hands, with the exception of
those at the wheel and look-out, went to supper, with the prospect
of presently being started at setting the great sails and proceeding
independently. Frank went to his cabin, which he was to share with
the second mate, and while waiting for his call to supper prepared to
have a wash.
But he had hardly entered before he heard the harsh voice of the
mate shouting, “Brown, where have you got to?”
Frank presented himself at once, and the mate said impressively,
“What sort of an officer do you think yourself, sneaking off below
directly you see a slant, like any other waster? You’ll keep watch up
here with the pilot, while the captain and I go to get our suppers,
and don’t let me catch you shirking again.”
Frank merely uttered the formula, “Very good, sir,” and turned away
rather relieved than otherwise, for he noted that the mate had
recognised him as an officer, against his previous declaration that he
was only a senior apprentice.
So he paced the broad expanse of the poop, looking round at the
darkening, lowering sky and rising sea, and feeling a sense of
responsibility coming back to him again to compensate him. Also the
pilot spoke a few cheery words to him about his recent exploit,
warming his heart anew, because praise from such men is of all the
most valuable to a sailor.
Then came the mate, who said ungraciously, “Go and get your
supper, and make haste up again. Don’t sit there half the night.”
Frank went, and found to his delight Mr. Wilson already at the table,
and the two had a most delightful meal, hurried, it is true, but the
food was good, and they were in full sympathy with each other on
every point. Wilson, however, was inclined to be pessimistic, dwelling
upon the obvious incapacity of the crew and the harshness of the
skipper and mate. He had already come into conflict with the former,
who, although a prime seaman, had the unfortunate belief that the
way to treat young officers was to bully and discourage them,
forgetting entirely his own first nervous essay as junior mate, so
that, apart from the fact that he was a genial, gentlemanly young
fellow, his heart went out to Frank, who, he felt, was going to be his
brother in affliction, although of course they would see little of each
other, being in different watches.
Having finished their meal, they both hastened on deck, to be met
immediately by the thundered order of the skipper to get sail on the
ship. “Now,” thought Frank, “the fun begins.” And it was even so.
The utter incapacity and helplessness of the crew generally became
at once a very real and pressing danger. They could not go aloft in
most cases; those who did, always excepted the three prime seamen
before mentioned, could do nothing when they got there but cling
tenaciously to whatever rope came first, to do the smallest thing was
beyond their power entirely.
But here, as so often happens, the boys came to the rescue. There
were five of them, including Frank, who had been to sea at least a
voyage, and three had received a comprehensive sea education in
the Conway, the cadet-ship at Rock Ferry. So they were now called
upon to exert all their youthful strength and skill in making up for
the deficiencies of the men. The work, of course, took a shockingly
long time to perform, for the wasters of the crew did not even know
how to pull, being clumsy almost beyond belief, but still one by one
the huge sails were spread, until the Thurifer, under whole topsails,
foresail, and lower fore and aft sails, began to gain upon the tug,
the wind blowing quite strongly from the west, with promise of a
speedy increase.
The time had come to part, the ship being now in mid-Channel,
abreast of Bardsey Island, with the deep bight of Cardigan Bay
under her lee, the narrow strait between Carnsore and St. David’s
ahead of her, a gale imminent, and night coming on thick and black.
But whatever any one felt he showed no sign, and the usual signal
having been made to the tug, she eased astern in order to assist the
crew to get in the mighty hawser. Indeed it is most probable that
had she not done so they would have been unable to do it without
losing a tremendous lot of ground. As it was, the job was got over
fairly well, the tug dropped alongside and took off the pilot as
previously arranged, and the Thurifer was left to herself and her
crew.
No sooner were the yards trimmed and the hawser stowed away
than the word was passed along for all hands to lay aft, while Frank
was told to take the wheel. The skipper came to the break of the
poop when they were all assembled and said, “Before the officers
pick for watches I want to tell you fellows, all but the three
sailormen among you, that if you think you’re going to ship as A.B.’s
aboard my vessel not knowing the first thing about your business, if
you think you’re going to obtain money under false pretences like
that and have a good time, you’ve made the one mistake of your
worthless lives. You are just a gang of low-down bummers, up to
every dirty trick of loaferdom, and would see honest able men kill
themselves doing your work, if you’re allowed to. But you won’t be.
Until you pick up your work, and put all the guts into it you’ve got,
I’m going to make this ship a floating hell for you, and don’t you
forget it. Now go ahead and pick your vermin, Mr. Vincent.” And he
turned on his heel and walked away.
The business of the selection was soon over, and the men were
dismissed to begin, as inauspicious a voyage as could well be
imagined. And whatever we may think of the behaviour of the
skipper and mate, it must be remembered that the problem they had
to face was a hard one—especially so under the present
circumstances. But fortunately the gale increased in force very
slowly, and held true to its point. Also the ship was splendidly
staunch and strong, every item of her equipment being of the very
best, so that they were able to carry sail until the morning, when the
danger point was passed, and what had become an imperative
necessity of shortening sail could be safely yielded to without
jeopardising the safety of the ship.
But the toil and strain upon the handful of competents, especially
the boys, was very great, for they had to do all the work that was
hardest and most dangerous, in spite of the relentless driving
exercised by the mate and bo’sun upon the wasters. Their lives were
indeed made a burden to them, and doubtless in the eyes of all the
others they deserved it, but landsfolk should be able to spare a grain
or two of pity for them, seeing that they had never before realised
the difference between a tramp steamer and a sailing ship.
As a plain fact, nobody on board could boast of having much of a
good time during the first fortnight of the Thurifer’s voyage. Nothing
but sheer seamanship and dogged determination on the part of the
skipper and mate brought her through gale after gale, which rose up
against her, and tried to drive her back. So severe was the strain and
the stress of iron discipline introduced by the skipper that Christmas
passed unnoticed in the midst of the hard work of sail-handling and
working up of the greenhorns, only the very slightest addition being
made to the grub served out, and the very word Christmas being
unmentioned in the after part of the ship.
And yet I feel sure that this iron time did Frank and the second mate
good. It brought out all that was best in them, and the terrific
training stiffened their muscles. Also, though they received no word
of kindness or praise for the splendid manner in which they rose to
the occasion, they got no active persecution, their services were far
too valuable for that. And as Frank felt day by day that every boy in
the half-deck was looking to him as their leader, he felt more and
more of the bone and sinew of manhood developing within him, and
a fine pride in himself came to help him live his life as it should be
lived in spite of all drawbacks.
And then came the fine weather with its opportunities for the
skipper and mate to work up the wastrels, an operation conducted
with the utmost ruthlessness as regards their work, although being
under the English flag there was no downright cruelty such as would
have been dealt out unstintedly in an American vessel. But the effect
of this working was most severe upon Frank. He was now
recognised as third mate tacitly, although never called “Mr.” or “Sir,”
and had to supervise the work which his watch were driven to do all
day long, for except the good hands, no one forward had any watch
below. And the bo’sun’s services were far too valuable in the
direction of the rigger work to make him just an overseer of
labourers.
So Frank got no watch below in the daytime, he got no word of
pleasant intercourse from anybody, the men he was compelled to
drive hated him with a most virulent hatred, and he was fast
degenerating into a mere machine. Worst of all for himself, he felt he
got no opportunity at all to practise his navigation or add to his
studies, and felt that all he had learnt in the past was slipping away
from him. There was another point which he hardly admitted to
himself, it seemed like some grim spectre threatening him; he was
actually beginning to dislike his profession, which so short a time
ago had seemed the one thing in the world to him.
Mr. Wilson, the second mate, was also in parlous case, even worse
than Frank, for he had no such deep and enduring love of the sea as
Frank had to console him. But having worked his way so painfully
upward as far as his present position, it was a bitter reflection to him
that he was in the hands of a man who not only had it in his power
to destroy his career, but would do this diabolical act without
compunction. There are occasions, of course, when to stop a man
from going farther in so responsible a life as that of a sea-officer
becomes a positive duty to a conscientious man; but when some
infernal kink in the brain leads the man in power to abuse that
power for the purpose of destroying the career of his junior, who
with a little encouragement would become an entirely estimable
officer, no words of mine could convey the horror and detestation
that I feel at such an act. Most happily, with the passing away of the
sailing ship that vile abuse of opportunity is becoming less and less
frequent in its incidence, and I hope will soon finally disappear.
Under the incessant grind and constant supervision of the skipper,
who, if he spared nobody on board, certainly did not spare himself,
the noble Thurifer gradually worked down to the region of the
“roaring forties” without any mishap, and this with a crew so drilled
that the majority of them could not knot a ropeyarn, and could not
go aloft and do something else besides hang on when they got
there. It was a triumph, and Captain Forrest’s grim face showed that
he realised it to the full as he strode to and fro on his spacious
quarter-deck, nothing escaping his keen eye. Yet it was strange that
with these splendid qualities so manifest in him he could not, or
would not, recognise merit in others, for even his chief officer and
coadjutor was never admitted to any terms of intimacy with him. He
apparently preferred to reign alone, unbendingly, an absolute
monarch, who was self-satisfied, self-contained, self-centred, who
could command, and did so supremely well, but had wilfully and
deliberately crushed out of himself all the finer feelings of humanity,
and apparently would have subjected all who came under him to the
same stern rule of a loveless life.
 CHAPTER XV
THE BITTER LESSON ENDS

Among his fellow-captains the master of the Thurifer was accounted a

lucky man for his wonderfully smart passages and almost complete
immunity from accident, the occasional loss of a spar now and then
being merely incidental to the making of such passages, and hardly
to be called accidents. This voyage, in spite of its inauspicious
beginning, was no exception to the rule, for after getting out of the
Channel and licking his scratch crew into shape, nothing ever
seemed to go wrong again. Luck had but little to do with it, but
consummate seamanship had, and the ability and determination
which made his men admire while they hated him.
Poor Frank, who in spite of his high courage and dogged
perseverance had drunk the bitter cup of unhappiness and loneliness
to the dregs, could not help feeling that in one way, at any rate, the
captain was rendering him a service, that is, by getting the ship as
quickly to port as possible, for although hope was nearly dead within
him, he could not help stealing over him now and then a shadow of
anticipation that relief might come; but he did fear that it might
come too late to save him from what he felt would be the irreparable
harm of making him hate the profession he had loved so sincerely.
He did not realise that even this cold neglect, overwork, and
incessant fault-finding that he had been subjected to had been
productive of benefit to others. He had been driven to devote
himself during work hours, whenever possible, to assisting the boys
to learn as much as he knew himself, and had fired them with
emulation, so that they were all in a fair way of becoming good
seamen much more rapidly than would otherwise have been the
case.
At last, after a splendid passage of eighty-four days from Liverpool,
the Thurifer was hove to off the Sandheads to receive her pilot from
one of the beautiful brigs which ply about the entrance to the great
Hooghly. With her usual good fortune the Thurifer had not even to
wait for a tug, for the Court-Hey, at that time the acknowledged
chief of the fine Calcutta tug-boats, came steaming past with a big
outward-bounder, which she slipped just abreast of the Thurifer,
then turned and hooked on to the latter vessel at once.
There is always in the breast of the most case-hardened old sailor a
sense of prideful accomplishment upon the completion of a
successful passage under sail, a feeling that has been most
attenuated, if not entirely destroyed, by the advent of steam. And
every man and boy on board the Thurifer seemed by common
consent to have forgotten all their grievances in their elation at
having made so fine a passage, with the exception of the two men
primarily responsible for it, Captain Forrest and Mr. Vincent. Their
grim faces never relaxed a line, their haughty unapproachable
manner softened not in the least.
But Frank, for some reason that he was entirely unable to define,
found himself for the first time during the voyage in almost
boisterously high spirits, nor, although he found the captain’s eye
fixed upon him every now and then in sourest disapproval, did he
feel at all inclined to curb them. He flew about his duties as if full of
the joy of life, wondering why he felt so happy, and when the anchor
rattled down at Garden Reach, he actually felt as if all his troubles
were over.
When the decks were cleared up and the cry of “Supper” was raised,
he went into his berth to find Mr. Wilson sitting in an attitude of
deepest dejection, looking like a thoroughly beaten man from whom
all hope had fled. Frank, somewhat alarmed, went up to him and
inquired in the heartiest manner after his health, thinking he must
be ill.
The young man, however, merely said, “No, my body is all right, but
that demon of a skipper has broken my heart.”
“Why, what has he been doing now?” eagerly inquired Frank.
“Oh, nothing fresh,” groaned the poor fellow, “only he told me
before the pilot and the fellow at the wheel that I wasn’t worth a
shilling a month, and that he wouldn’t carry me for ballast, with a
few other choice remarks of the same kind. Nothing worse than he
has often said before, but coming to an anchor as we were, I felt
sure that he intended to sack me here and give me a bad discharge.
I’ve a good mind to jump overboard. I was so thundering happy
when I heard I’d got this ship, and I’ve got on so splendidly before,
that it’s as if an earthquake had come into my life and broken it all
up.” And he let his head drop again and groaned aloud.
“Now, look here,” said Frank after a pause, “I don’t know what it is,
but something tells me that our troubles are nearly over. I feel like a
man who is waiting to be hung and has just heard that he has been
pardoned. I don’t know why or how I’ve got this feeling, but I’d like
to give it to you, my dear man. But I do know this, that whatever
happens to me in after life, I’ll never abuse my position as this
hateful beast has done, a perfect enemy of mankind I call him, all
the worse because of his wonderful ability. Do cheer up, and
remember that if the worst comes to the worst, and we have to go
home with him again, we’ve both got good records up till the time
we met him, and I don’t believe he’ll dare to malign us to the owner.
Curse him,” cried Frank in a sudden fury, “how dare he come into
our lives and try and wreck them by means of his diabolical temper.
He ought to be shot, and many a far better man has been shot for
less, if only half what I’ve heard is true.”
That night, for the first time since they had come together, these
two young men were able to sit and talk for a long spell, comparing
notes of their experiences and fighting their battles over again, but
never a word more was uttered about the bane of both their lives.
When they turned in, Frank felt as if a crisis had arrived in his career,
and, as he had done on a momentous occasion before, turned
blindly to God and blurted out the desire of his soul. “Deliver me
from this evil man,” and with a swift after-thought, “and poor Wilson
too.” Then he sank peacefully and almost immediately to sleep.
Morning brought the mooring-boat and the allotted position off
Prinsep’s Ghaut. In the excitement of the work of mooring, unlike
the process anywhere else in the world, Frank forgot all about his
worries and his strangely unwarranted hopes. It was to him one of
the most peculiar and, at the same time, interesting pieces of work
that he had ever seen, the way in which the slender black men dived
to the bed of the turbid river and hooked on ropes to the moorings
which lay there; how skilfully they toiled in their huge launches to
get the ship’s cables attached to the mooring—chains ahead and
astern, and how splendidly the ship rode when moored, unable to
move in any direction but up and down.
It was a busy day, and there was no time for reflection until evening,
when the steward came and called Mr. Wilson and Frank to supper,
telling them that the captain and chief officer would not be there to
the meal. It was wonderful how great was their sense of freedom,
and when the steward had gone away on some trivial errand, Wilson
lifted his cap and cried boisterously, “Good luck to them! may they
never come back here any more!”
“Hush,” said Frank, “we don’t want anything reported to them when
they return; you know what some of these stewards are. Let us go
and have a smoke and a yarn on the poop, where we can sit now
without fear of being made to feel as if we were stowaways.”
And up they went, sat in the skipper’s long chair and on the skylight
settee, and talked until the bumping of the dinghy bringing the mate
against the accommodation-ladder roused them from their long
discussion of all things they knew anything about.
As they stood at the gangway to receive him, he said in quite a
different tone from any they had ever before heard from him, “Good
evening, gentlemen, glad to see you keeping such a good look-out.
Come into the saloon, I’ve got some news for you.”
They followed him with thumping hearts, wondering if their hopes
were to be realised. As soon as they were seated, the mate said
cheerfully, “The captain has just received the news that he has fallen
heir to a great estate, which requires his attention at home as soon
as he can get there, so he has resigned. And as the owners
apparently think it isn’t fair to the skipper of the barque Coomallie,
which is lying higher up the river here, to promote me to this big
ship over his head, I am exchanging with him to-morrow. I believe
he is considered a very smart man. It’s a pity, Wilson, that you
hadn’t got your mate’s ticket, or you might have gone on here. As it
is, the mate of the Coomallie is coming here, and I shall have to get
a new one. That’s all, good night.” And turning abruptly from them
he went into his cabin.
Wilson and Frank stared at each other for a few moments in almost
stupid amazement, like men suddenly stricken imbecile; then,
actuated by a common impulse, they both turned and made for the
deck outside, which having reached, Wilson whispered hoarsely,
“Frank, it can’t possibly be true. Surely no such miracle has
happened to save you and me from destruction.”
Frank, who by this time had regained his composure, answered
quietly, “I believe it is true. I’ve felt in my very bones lately that I
was going to be set free from this man. My only fear was whether I
did right in coming with him at all, since I knew what he was before
we started. But I felt that I couldn’t be far wrong if I did my duty,
and I certainly never imagined that any man could be so evil-minded
and cruel as he has turned out to be. I can only say, as I have had
occasion to say before, ‘Thank God for deliverance.’”
“And I’ll say ‘Amen’ to that with all my soul,” rejoined Wilson. “It
means new life to me, for there can’t be such another brute in the
world of sailors as this one; or if there is, it’s against all laws of
chance that we should get him here.”
Yes, it was true. Morning brought Captain Forrest and the new
commander, Captain Sharpe, on board, when all hands were called
aft and informed of the change by Captain Forrest in a cold,
contemptuous fashion. He took no note of the palpable movement of
relief which ran through the entire ship’s company as the splendid
news of his going entered their minds, but he could not help seeing
the earnest look of pleased appreciation on every face when his
successor stepped forward at the close of his little speech and said,
“Well, my men, you’ve got a new skipper in me, and I hope and
believe that we shall pull well together. It shan’t be my fault if we
don’t, for I am proud to be appointed to so splendid a ship and such
a good crew as you appear to be.”
He stopped abruptly, having apparently no more to say, and a
spontaneous joyous cheer went up from all of them. A cheer
wherein was mingled immense relief and glad anticipation of better
days in store. Captain Sharpe then went up to Wilson and Frank, and
shaking hands heartily said, “I am very pleased to know you both,
and especially you, young Brown. I know your friend Captain Burns
in Lytham, and heard all about your wonderful work in bringing
home the Woden; I’m proud to have you on board my ship.”
Poor Frank was speechless, unable to say a word in reply, for a lump
came up into his throat and nearly choked him. It was not
necessary, however, for him to speak, for the captain patted him
kindly upon the shoulder and passed on to say a cordial word to the
apprentices, all of whose faces lighted up as he spoke to them. He
was like a beam of sunshine breaking through the lowering clouds of
a dark and gloomy day.
The retiring skipper and the mate collected their belongings, and left
the ship without a word of farewell, consistently sullen and ugly until
the last. Thank heaven we know them no more either, but we must
not forget that there are more of the breed about, both afloat and
ashore, who conceive that their mission in life is to make other
people miserable, and who never cease their efforts for that fell end
until death has mercy upon their victims and removes their
oppressors.
That was indeed a momentous day for the crew of the Thurifer. For
the new captain even improved upon closer acquaintance, and by
the end of the first week not a man on board had any other opinion
of him than that he must be about the best man in the world. I draw
him from the life, gratefully, but not one touch of exaggeration is
there about my description of him. He was a man of about forty-five
years of age, with a handsome sunburnt face, a big fair beard, and a
roguish blue eye. A prime seaman and navigator, he had yet been
slow in getting up the ladder, more I think from native modesty and
want of hardness in pushing himself forward, no matter who was
pushed aside to make room for him, a trait only too characteristic of
many successful men. But his chief charm was his innate kindliness
and goodness of heart, breeding an intense desire within him to see
everybody around him happy. Indeed a miserable face made him
feel a sense of guilt, as if he were in some measure responsible for
the unhappiness. Wilson and Frank literally adored him, and felt that
they could cheerfully die for such a man.
One of his first acts was to institute a regular course of lessons in
navigation and seamanship for the apprentices in the saloon,
coupled with a standing invitation to a certain number of them each
day to have dinner with him and his officers, no selection being
made, but all enjoying his hospitality in rotation. Also he made great
improvements in their dietary and accommodation, and visited their
quarters every day, so as to keep them up to the mark of decent
living, knowing full well that without such supervision boys on board
ship invariably get slack and often lose all the habits of neatness and
cleanliness instilled into them at home and at school. And all this he
did not only from a sense of duty to his young charges, but from
inclination, for he loved to act thus, and obeyed this the highest
incentive to well-doing that man can have.
The loading of the Thurifer with jute for Dundee proceeded apace. It
was a time of high freights and plentiful cargo, and all hands began
to look forward with joy to the homeward passage. Mr. Wilson, of
course, was busy in the hold supervising the stowing of the cargo,
while Frank, now regarded as an officer indeed, was busy from dawn
till dark with the bo’sun in attending to all the hundred and one
details of the rigging and equipment which are necessary in order to
prepare a great sailing-ship for her homeward passage, work which
can nowhere be so well and expeditiously performed as in harbour.
And in the evenings the captain would often remain on board, busy
with some of his boys, while Wilson and Frank were able to go and
visit friends ashore, whose acquaintance they would never have
made under the old system.
Liberty day came and went without any disturbance whatever, the
men all feeling so contented with the change that they voluntarily
did what they could not have been driven to do, in fact they had all
sworn not to go home in the ship with the other man. And I must
interpolate one remark here, although it is slightly out of its turn;
instead of being charged 2s. 4d. to the rupee, whose exchange
value was then 1s. 5d., as they would have been under Captain
Forrest, they were charged 1s. 6d., for Captain Sharpe disdained to
rob his men even in strictly orthodox fashion, nor would he permit
others to do so. There was only one cloud in the blue sky of content
which enveloped the ship, and that was the uncertainty attendant
upon the coming of the new mate. Everybody wondered much what
manner of man he would be, knowing well how much of the comfort
of a ship depends upon the character and ability of the first
executive officer.
The day before she sailed the new officer came on board, and
looked curiously about him as if he sought a sympathetic face. He
would have had my sympathy had I been there, for I know of few
situations more trying than his was. And it was well for him that he
happened to strike a little community of really good fellows who
wished to put him at his ease. They, that is, the captain and second
and third mates, treated him exactly as they would have treated a
man who had been in the ship for a long time. But he, poor fellow,
actually mistook their kindly attitude for a tribute to his personality, a
mistake he was never able to rectify afterwards. Because his
personality was a kind to excite derision, not sympathy or respect.
He was not able to take the smallest manœuvre without the stimulus
of liquor, and he had brought on board with him a few bottles, of
necessity few since his means were extremely limited, and before he
had been in the saddle forty-eight hours everybody on board knew
his weakness.
In this matter sailors are the keenest observers in the world. And
when, in getting under weigh the next day, he stood on the
forecastle-head and endeavoured to make up for his lack of ability
by making a noise, the men under his command quietly ignored him
and did the work they had been trained to do just as if he had not
been there. Poor chap, his bemused brain took it all in but was
unable to deal with it, and from thenceforth his position in the ship
was a nominal one. I cannot here explain how such men come to
the position of chief officer and sometimes captain, I only know that
it is so, they do, and the fall they make is painful to witness.
But nothing now could affect the happiness of the Thurifer’s crowd.
The captain was such a real live man, so genuinely anxious for the
welfare and happiness of everybody on board and so indefatigable in
his attention to what he conceived his duty, that the fact of an
incompetent chief officer having joined the ship was but a small
detail in the general scheme of things.
No sooner had the ship got to sea than the skipper arranged a
three-watch system, whereby Frank had the first watch from 8 P.M.
till midnight, Mr. Wilson the middle watch, and the mate from 4 A.M.
to 8 A.M., thus giving each of the officers a long spell of rest and
recreation, as well as a chance to feel their power of independent
command. And as the captain invariably rose about 4 A.M., he was
able to keep his eye upon the mate and see that he did nothing
wrong, but he never actively interfered. What he said to the mate in
the privacy of his cabin no one but themselves ever knew, but it was
doubtless something very stern and searching. Yet it had no effect
whatever.
The man was hopelessly incompetent and growing worse, not better,
every day. So that when at noon all the officers were grouped on the
poop with their sextants getting the sun’s meridian altitude, he was
always the one to be out at even this, the simplest of all marine
operations. For when you have, by moving the vernier on the arc of
the instrument, brought the sun’s lower limb in contact with the
horizon and clamped it, you have only to turn the tangent screw
gently as the sun rises until it rises no more, a sign that it is at its
highest point or meridian for the day—it is noon at that particular
spot. It is so simple, so easy, that any schoolboy could perform the
operation with just a few minutes’ tuition; but this poor bungler
seldom if ever got a correct meridian altitude. And at the working up
of the ship’s noon position, while the agreement between the
captain and Mr. Wilson and Frank was scarcely ever out more than a
mile, it was the rarest thing for Mr. Carter to be within five miles of
the correct position.
Still, as I said, this matter did not affect the general comfort of the
ship or the happiness of the two junior officers, who both made
splendid progress, the captain saying one day to Frank, “What a pity
it is you weren’t either a Worcester or a Conway boy, you would
have been able to come as second mate next voyage. As it is, you’ll
have to make another trip as third before you can go up for your
ticket.”
“Then all I hope and pray is, Captain Sharpe,” brightly responded
Frank, “that it will be with you. I don’t care a bit about the position
as long as I am treated as you treat me; I am happier than I have
ever been in my life before.”
“That’s all right, my lad, you deserve all you’re getting,” answered
the captain. “I am always very pleased with you.”
At which Frank turned away, his heart too full for utterance, and yet
with a sense of shame that he should have allowed the transient evil
of being under Captain Forrest to have almost made him hate the
noble profession. In which I do not at all agree with him, knowing as
I so well do what a hell of misery a bad captain can make of a ship.
So the Thurifer fared homeward, happily, uneventfully, her crew all
now thoroughly trained and ready for any eventuality, a ship where
there were no quarrels or discontents, where the work went as goes
well-oiled machinery, dominated by the splendid personality of one
man. Shall I be believed when I say Frank actually dreaded the
arrival of the ship at her destination? I am afraid not, yet such was
really the case. As each day saw her drawing nearer home, he had
hard work to keep from feeling downhearted with the prospect of
another ship or another skipper in view; he felt so fit and so happy,
that the idea of again being bullied and worried as he had been on
the passage out almost terrified him. So that in very truth he was
what the old salts used to say the perfect sailor must be, wedded to
his ship. Indeed he grew to love her more and more every day, as
the perfect weather they were having allowed them to paint, polish,
varnish, and beautify her generally, even to the extent of granting a
calm for two days, without more than an incipient swell, just to the
southward of the Western Islands, so that they were able to paint
her round outside quite close to the water’s edge. Oh but they were
proud men on board that ship, feeling that never did a homeward
bound Sou’spainer come into port looking as their ship would look.
Nearer and nearer home they drew, still favoured by fortune with
the brightest and best of weather, until they were met in the chops
of the Channel by a heavy easterly wind, hardly a gale, but
necessitating a good deal of stern carrying on in order to hold their
own, since the bottom of the ship was of necessity foul, affecting her
weatherly qualities very much. Now it so happened that just about
this time Captain Sharpe was not at all well, not ill enough to lay up
entirely, but compelled to take all the rest he could. And so he was
not able to be with Mr. Carter in taking over the “gravy-eye” watch,
as it is called—4 A.M.—when the tides of life run lowest, and some
men find it positive agony to keep awake. There is little doubt that
owing to the captain’s constant supervision of him the mate had
become utterly careless, so much so, that even the fact that he was
left to himself to watch over the lives of thirty-four of his shipmates
had no power to make him vigilant. At least that is the only
construction I can put upon his behaviour upon this terrific occasion,
the account of which I am now about to give.
It was about 4.15 A.M., with a moderate gale blowing and the fine
ship under topgallant sails, a tremendous press of canvas for the
weight of wind, was standing across the mouth of the Channel on
the starboard tack. As always with an easterly wind up there the
weather was clear, but there being no moon it was fairly dark. Still
there was ample range of sight for a sailor.
Suddenly a shout was heard from the forecastle, “A green light on
the port bow, sir.”
The mate emitted a sleepy roar in reply, but actually for several
minutes did not trouble himself to go to leeward and look, although
he must have known that by the rule of the road at sea it was his
duty to give way to the other vessel in the event of their
approaching too closely to each other, and at night it is impossible to
be too careful with ships crossing. When he did go over and look,
the crossing vessel seemed to leap out of the dark at him, she was
so close.
Panic-stricken, he ordered the helm hard up, but as the Thurifer
swung slowly off the wind, the officer in charge of the crossing ship
having waited in agony for some sign that the other vessel was
going to do the right thing and give way, until he could bear it no
longer, hove his helm hard up also. The result was that the two
ships, which might have gone clear had both kept their course,
rushed at each other end on, and when the stranger hauled his wind
again, it was too late, he had only time to present his broadside to
the immense shock of the Thurifer’s 4000 tons coming on at the rate
of about eight miles an hour. There was an awful moment of
suspense as men’s hearts stood still, a tremendous crash, and the
huge steel wedge of the Thurifer’s bow shore its relentless way right
through the strange vessel’s middle, amid a gigantic chorus of
crashing masts, rending metal, and human yells of terror.
 CHAPTER XVI
CONCLUSION

There are, I think, few more terrible and majestic spectacles to be

witnessed than a collision at sea between two large ships, and
especially between two large sailing-ships. The moment before the
shock the immense cobweb-like entanglement of masts, yards, sails
and rigging is towering skyward in all its graceful beauty and
scientific arrangement, making the uninstructed beholder marvel,
not merely how it can support the tremendous stress put upon it by
the vast sail area acted upon by the wind, but how it is held in its
place at all against the incessant pitching and rolling of the hull upon
which it is reared.
But when two vessels like that come crashing into one another with
an impact of several thousands of tons, and the mighty top-hamper
comes hurtling down in ghastly entanglement of ruin, the scene is
even more terrifying than that of some gigantic forest-tree with
wide-spreading branches being struck by lightning and falling in an
avalanche of riven fragments of timber. It is, however, a sight that is
seldom seen by an outsider, and as, moreover, it usually occurs at
night, few indeed are the people who have even had the momentary
glimpse of its terrors caught by the crew of either vessel in their
agony.
In the impact of the Thurifer upon the stranger, not one of the usual
horrors was wanting. In the first place the Thurifer appeared to
rebound as if aghast at the deed she had done, but her impetus
carried her on again, rending and tearing her gigantic way through
the hull of her victim, which was literally cut in twain, and heeling
away from her, settled down as the Thurifer passed through her.
Amid all the horror of the scene, two figures in fluttering white were
noticed on the top of the forward house of the doomed ship as it
came abreast of the main rigging of the Thurifer.
Some instinct, I suppose, prompted Mr. Wilson to leap with a rope
from the Thurifer’s rail on the house of the other ship, shouting as
he did so, “Come on, Frank—women!”
Frank was close behind him at the time, and in a very tempest of
energy the two succeeded in saving the two unfortunates, who were
indeed the wife and daughter of the captain of the sinking vessel.
And as they were hauled into the rigging of the Thurifer they sent up
shriek after shriek for “husband” and “father” in Italian, and had to
be forcibly restrained from leaping back into the whirling blackness
of sea and wreck through which the Thurifer was relentlessly
ploughing her way. At last, that is after two or three minutes of
eternity, the Thurifer dragged clear, her upper gear a mass of
entanglement, ropes, sails, and masts carried away and dangling
most dangerously overhead, while beneath her keel the mass of ruin
which had so recently been a splendid ship settled quietly down to a
final resting-place on the sea-bed.
Now here was a case where the most superb seamanship was
absolutely of no avail for any attempt to save life. The ship could not
be handled, for her braces and running gear generally were in an
apparently inextricable confusion, no one knew the extent of the
damage done to the hull, although the carpenter, true to the instinct
of that most valuable class of seafarer, regardless of the falling and
dangling gear overhead, ran and sounded the well, finding that she
was as yet making no water. The boats were mostly destroyed, and
in any case the falling wreckage had made it an impossibility to get
at them even had they remained intact. So Captain Sharpe did the
only thing possible, called all hands aft to see if any were injured or
lost, and found to his delight that every man answered to his name.
But Mr. Carter was missing! Is missing still. Whether in horror at the
deed he had done he had jumped overboard, or whether he had
been knocked overboard by a falling spar, no one will ever know; he
was gone, and, if the truth must be told, no one could regret him
very much. The unanimous opinion was, “Well, poor chap, if he
made a mistake, and there isn’t much doubt that he did, he’s paid
for it with all that man has to give, and may God have mercy upon
his soul.”
Now, while Captain Sharpe was outlining his plan of work to the
men, who were all recovered from their fright and confident in the
safety of the ship, one of the boys came up to him with the startling
news that two men had just crept into their house looking like
lunatics, as indeed they were temporarily. How they got there they
could not explain, but the supposition is that when the Thurifer
passed through their ship, they, feeling only the blind desire to save
themselves, had sprung at the black side of their destroyer, had
caught some gear hanging outboard, or perhaps the chain plates, as
the iron bars to which the standing rigging is secured and which are
bolted on the outside of the ship are called, and had climbed on
board, hiding in some corner until their paroxysm of fear had passed
away, when they had emerged and entered the first open door they
saw, which happened to be that of the boys’ house. But they
completed the tale of the rescued, four in all, the other two being
the late captain’s wife and daughter, whom the steward was vainly
trying to comfort in the captain’s cabin.
Daylight was now beginning to struggle through the mist on the
horizon, and the wind was falling fast. So that after giving a few
general orders as to the clearing away of the gear aloft in order to
enable the ship to be handled, and men to move about the decks
without the imminent danger to life and limb of spars falling upon
their heads, the captain and carpenter went forward to survey the
damage done to the bows. In truth it was a grim spectacle. The
ministering priest, torn from his beautiful attitude of blessing, hung
dolefully head downward, battered out of all recognition and only
held by a few wrenched and twisted bolts whose tenacity would not
be denied, and the thurible, that emblem of beatific aspersion, was
gone.
The huge bar of iron which held down the bowsprit, the bobstay,
was still in place though bent and curiously twisted, and so was the
sturdy steel bowsprit itself. The jibboom with its great complication
of stays, guys, foot-ropes, sails, and downhaul was like a scene I
witnessed once, where a man fishing from the end of a pier caught
a conger-eel which he flung into the midst of his line by mistake and
then attacked with his umbrella. It was just hideously hopeless, the
sort of thing you want to cut off and let drift away as beyond the wit
or skill of man to get disentangled.
The anchors, snugly stowed and firmly lashed to their respective
bolts by the cat-tails, were all right but useless, for the hawse-pipes
through which the cables should have led to secure the ship to them
while they bit into the ground were torn and twisted beyond locating
or use. And the stem, that splendid curvilinear girder of steel which
had cleft the waves so proudly, it reminded now only of the
battered, inhuman visage of an old prize-fighter, so curiously bent
and broken did it appear. Lastly, and most serious of all, the two
sides of the bows were stove in, two huge rents appeared there, into
either of which you might have driven a cart, and into which the
unresisted sea flowed gaily, resurging discoloured with coal-dust and
laden with curious fragments, for the fore-peak, as that part of a
ship is called, was now getting such a scouring out as it had never
received since she was built.
But it will be asked, why did this fine ship not sink with such a
tremendous wound in her most vulnerable part? Only because of
that invaluable invention, the water-tight bulkhead. At a distance of
some twenty feet from the stem or cutwater there is built into all
such ships a barrier of steel plates at right angles to the line of the
ship’s keel, or right across the ship. And the general practice was to
build them without any door, so that neglect could not vitiate the
safety they promised. They were built quite perpendicular and flat,
which I have always thought a mistake, a slight curve or angle from
each side pointing forward would have made them so much safer
when resisting the inrush of the water when the ship was head-
reaching with a hole in her bows.
Now with the exception of any possible damage done to the bottom
plates of the ship by the wreck as she bumped over it, the extent of
the structural damage to the ship was fairly well defined, and as the
bulkhead which kept the water out of the main hold was well shored
up behind by the well-packed cargo of jute, and consequently there
was little or no danger of its giving way under pressure of the head
sea, Captain Sharpe’s mind as far as the ship’s safety was concerned
was quite easy.
What, however, he could not rid himself of was the fear which all
shipmasters must have when any accident to the vessel under their
command occurs—would he be brought in as being to blame? It is
here that so much injustice is done to the men of the sea. No
allowance is made for possible accidents over which a man has no
control; could have none, in the nature of the case, be he as careful
and vigilant as a man may be, there being no discharge in this war.
And if he be brought in to blame, in most cases he falls, like Lucifer,
never to rise again. Too old for service as a junior officer in a tramp,
he may get a precarious position in a line whose directors, trading
upon their fellow-creatures’ misfortunes, get skippers upon whom
disgrace has come to command their vessels at a miserably
inadequate salary, and keep them in terror of instant dismissal,
making an immense merit of employing them at all. Pah! the whole
business is vile, it should stink in the nostrils of all honest men.
However, Captain Sharpe was not the man to allow his work to be
hindered by any premonition of coming disaster to himself, so he
proceeded as vigorously as he possibly could, aided to the utmost by
his good crew, in the work of getting his ship so far repaired aloft as
to be manageable. This enormous task was made somewhat easier
by the wind falling away to an almost perfect calm, during which
many an anxious glance was cast around in the hope of espying
some sign of life upon the floating wreckage. But never a glimpse
did they see, and consequently the work being unhindered by the
arduous job of getting boats out, by nightfall they had her again well
under control.
True, she looked ragged and unkempt aloft, a sad, strange contrast
to the beautifully-rigged and splendidly-kept ship she was before the
collision, but the great thing, getting her dirigible again, was
accomplished by sunset. In this work the two rescued men took
active part, albeit they had to be spoken to in sign language almost
exclusively. But all sailors know that at sea this disability is no bar to
the employment of foreigners, it being no uncommon thing for an
officer to find himself commanding a whole crew, none of the
members of which can speak more than two or three words of
English, and some no word at all.
When at last the Thurifer was moving through the water again to a
light south-westerly breeze, Captain Sharpe went below, and calling
the steward inquired after the well-being of his two unhappy and
unwilling passengers. He was informed that they were now quite
calm, and had taken a little food. So the good man went to their
state-room and introduced himself to them, finding that the young
woman spoke sufficient English to make herself understood. From
her he learned that the sunken ship was the Due Fratelli of Genoa,
bound from Peru to London with nitrate of soda, and that she had
been one hundred and thirty days out when the calamity occurred.
More than that he could not ascertain, partly because the poor ladies
were so overcome at the thought of all their woes and the
anticipation of destitution in the future that they speedily became
inarticulate with lamentation and sobbing, and such poor consolation
as the captain was able to offer them was entirely unheeded.
Moreover, he somehow could not help feeling that in a great
measure they looked upon him as the author, or at least the
proximate cause, of all their suffering. So after assuring them that
every possible care should be taken of them, and that they should
be landed as soon as possible, he left them to each other’s sad
company.
The vessel was now headed for Falmouth, and going at a fairly good
rate, remembering her crippled condition, before the fresh breeze
which had now sprung up. But the captain’s mind was full of anxiety,
knowing as he did that the bulkhead, which alone stood between
them and foundering, was quite weak in itself; indeed, but for the
backing of the close-packed jute it would not have been possible to
sail the ship at all, for the sea rushing through those two enormous
holes in the bows would have soon crushed it in. And nothing could
be done to block those holes in any way, because of the great area
of open, ragged ironwork they presented to the incoming sea.
However, the distance being small, only some forty miles, and the
wind as yet light, he hoped for the best, and carried all the available
sail, which drove her heavily along at about four knots. Meanwhile
every precaution was taken, in case of a sudden bursting-in of the
saving bulkhead, to have the boats ready to get out at a minute’s
notice, and all the equipment they required or could carry put into
them. And so that long, anxious night wore through, during which
every man who slept did so ready to jump for his life at the call.
Fortunately the weather held good throughout the night, and at the
first premonition of dawn the captain, sending Frank up on the
main-topsail yard to have a keen look around, was intensely relieved
to hear him shout, “Land right ahead, sir!” a shout that brought all
hands on deck with a rush to realise the good news. Shortly
afterwards they were spoken by a tailor’s boat, the skipper of which,
hearing the news, piled on all canvas he could carry for Falmouth, in
order to warn a tug-boat of the job that awaited them. The day
strengthened into beauty, and the great sun came out in all its
autumn glory, flooding the heavens with gold, as the once splendid
Thurifer, like some gallant warrior wounded, his armour dented and
broken, his proud plumes drooping and bedabbled with blood,
dragging himself wearily homeward from a stricken field, crept
heavily towards the lovely entrance to Falmouth harbour.
The wind died away to a calm, the exquisite beauty of the shores, in
all the splendour of their autumn tints, lay basking in the sun, under
a cloudless sky; but most glorious sight of all to those hardly
bestead ones was a grimy, fussy, gasping tug heading straight for
them. So she came panting up alongside, full of importance, and
lowering a boat put the pilot on board. There was no bargain, only a
warning word from Captain Sharpe that his ship was in no danger,
and that this towage was quite ordinary, having nothing in the
nature of salvage about it.
Then the tug’s hawser was passed, and the Thurifer began to move
gently in towards the beautiful harbour of Falmouth. The sails were
all furled as neatly as possible under the circumstances, and
presently, under the eyes of the crews of the great crowd of shipping
in the harbour (for Falmouth in those days had an immense vogue
as a port for orders), the crippled but gallant Thurifer was towed to
a berth alongside the wharf, where her arrival was greeted with
thunderous cheers by the great crowd which had assembled to greet
her on her triumphant emergence from one of the most terrible
dangers of the sea. Then as soon as the shore warps were properly
fast and the decks cleared up, the very welcome word was given,
“That will do, men,” and everybody retired to their respective
portions of the ship’s accommodation to rest and think over their
wonderful escape.
Frank especially felt the need to be alone. He, of course, could not
help recalling vividly his last home-coming, as wonderful in many
ways as this, but certainly not fraught with such tremendous danger.
And then he thought with a thankful heart of the splendid change
wrought in his life during the homeward passage as compared with
the sad time going out, and a feeling of conscious and entirely
justifiable pride swelled his heart as he remembered that he had
endured not unmanfully, and had been fully rewarded. It made his
eyes moist and his face hot, and to ease his pent-up feelings he was
fain to sit down and unburden his mind in a long letter home, such a
letter as his parents had never received from him before.
But he had not been writing for more than an hour when he was
called on deck to bid farewell to the two poor ladies, whose consul
had come down with a closed carriage to convey them to an hotel.
And as Frank, blushing and sheepish, came up to them, the younger,
a girl of about his own age, flung her arms around his neck, and
with her face flooded with tears kissed him passionately, uttering a
very torrent of terms of endearment and thanks in choice Italian.
Poor Frank was in a desperate plight, knowing not what to say or do,
for he had not seen them since that awful night when he and Wilson
had rescued them from going down with the ship. Then the elder
lady kissed him gravely and sadly, murmuring blessings upon him in
her beautiful language.
The young lady, however, controlling her feelings with difficulty at
last, said in her pretty broken English, “My mater and myzelf pray
God give you tousan, tousan blessing; we never forget you brave
Engleesman save our life, an’ also this good man here,” turning to
Wilson, who stood by almost as sheepish as Frank himself.
Then the consul came forward and made a most heartfelt and
gracious speech, assuring the captain that apart from the calamity
the bravery of his officers and his own kindness would certainly be
warmly recognised by the King of Italy, adding at the same time his
condolences upon the sad loss of the chief mate. Then the ladies
were hastily conveyed to the carriage and driven away.
Captain Sharpe turned to his two young officers with a sad shake of
his head and said: “Those two poor creatures are in evil case, for in
addition to losing husband and father, I have reason to believe from
what the consul tells me that they have lost everything in the world,
as that was the skipper’s first voyage in the ship, and he had spent
all his savings before he got her, having been long out of a billet. I
do hope the country will do something for them, but I’m afraid there
is a black look-out ahead for them. And now about ourselves. I have
wired the owner full particulars, and must await instructions. I think
if the ship’s bottom should be found intact that it is possible she may
be patched up temporarily and towed round to Dundee, or even sail
round, in which case there will be great saving. But we shall know in
the morning some time. Mr. Wilson, will you call the crew aft, I want
to say a few words to them.”
Aft they came, looking full of eager expectation. “Men,” said Captain
Sharpe, “I have only praise for the splendid way in which you have
done your duty under the most trying circumstances, and I wouldn’t
wish to have a better crew. Now the voyage as far as you are
concerned is virtually over, and if you choose to take your discharge
you must have it. But I hope that we may all be together for a little
while yet, and that you will help me to take the bully old ship round
to Dundee with the cargo. Anyhow, will you stay on until we know
definitely what is going to be done? I will let you have what money
you require on account of your wages, and of course you can go
ashore at any time out of working hours, while the food shall be as
good as I can get. What do you say?”
The men shuffled uneasily, as sailors under such conditions always
do, from one foot to another, and looked helplessly at one another,
until one of the Britons cleared his throat and said, “P’rhaps we’d
better go forrard, sir, and talk it over, an’ let you know in a few
minutes.”
“That’s right,” heartily responded the skipper, “do so.” And away they
all went.
They came back within five minutes, having decided to stay if the
ship wanted them, and wisely, since but few hands are required in
Falmouth. The captain was very pleased with their amenity to
reason, and giving them each a sovereign on account, dismissed
them to go ashore if they felt so inclined and taste the delights of
Falmouth, although, to be exact, there was much more fun and
profit to be found on board the ship, which was thronged with
visitors all day long, most of whom were very generously minded
towards men who had been through what even they could see were
tremendous dangers.
In due time the owner arrived and also a representative of the
underwriters, and after long consultation it was decided that as the
ship had sustained no injury to her bottom she might be patched up
as regards the bows, refitted aloft, and sailed for her original
destination, Dundee. Which was immensely to the satisfaction of all
hands, and especially Frank and the bo’sun, both enthusiasts in the
“sailorising” side of their profession, because of the big job of rigging
work they were now called upon to perform, all work of the most
interesting character, and highly educational for most of the men as
well. Few people ashore realise how a sailor enjoys a job of rigging
work, if the conditions under which it is performed are at all
bearable.
The repairs progressed apace, and Frank and Wilson both felt as
thoroughly happy as ever they had been in their lives, especially as
neither had received anything but good news from home. The only
uneasy feeling they had was concerning their well-beloved skipper.
He had yet to face the ordeal of the Board of Trade inquiry, an
ordeal which is proverbially uncertain in its results, sometimes
resulting in the grossest injustice being perpetrated upon a good
man, sometimes allowing the worthless to escape scot free, but
always, I believe, conducted with the most earnest desire to arrive
at the truth. Unfortunately for the skipper, his suspense was
prolonged by the fact that the Government department moved
slowly, while his work went on very rapidly, so that the Thurifer was
ready for sea before the inquiry could be held.
In three weeks from the time she entered Falmouth harbour she was
towing out of it again completely fitted aloft, but temporarily
patched as to her bows, and spreading her huge white wings, bore
away grandly up Channel before a strong westerly breeze, a Channel
pilot being on board, and all hands, including the two rescued Italian
seamen, who had by this time learned enough English to swear by,
highly pleased with themselves. Of course these latter were needed
to give evidence about the running down of their ship, although it
was evident that they could know nothing about it, they being by
their own admission asleep at the time.
Now, by the perfectly marvellous combination of circumstances,
remembering the time of the year, the Thurifer made a passage from
Falmouth to Dundee without once having to shorten sail on account
of wind. It was accomplished, too, in the remarkably short space of
time of six days; and so persistently favourable was the weather that
it was frequently remarked, both forrard and aft, that the ill-luck
seemed to have expended itself upon the collision, for ever since
then fortune had smiled upon them.
They were met by a tug outside the Tay, towed right in and docked
at once, and Frank’s first voyage as an officer was over. Never surely
was there a heartier or kindlier paying-off than that. No one had any
grudges to work off, no ill-feeling to suppress, and yet no one had
done anything more than his duty. They could not separate,
however, as the inquiry was yet to be held; but it came off within a
few days, the unanimous verdict being, that in the absence through
death of the officer of the watch, and the consensus of evidence as
to the care and skill of Captain Sharpe, they could only bring the
disaster in as the result of accident from some cause or causes
unknown, adding many compliments, as a rider, to Captain Sharpe
for his skilful handling of his ship after the collision.
And this closes my record of Frank’s career as an apprentice. His
next voyage ended with him in the position of second mate, but with
that I have here nothing to do. If the fates are propitious I should
like to go on and picture him as certificated officer and master, or
skipper, in a subsequent volume; but at present I must leave him
with you as having passed from boyhood to manhood with credit,
and as having also, after a hard and trying apprenticeship, still
retained his early love and enthusiasm for the sea.
SO-LONG
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
Edinburgh & London
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