The Autobiography of a Man-o"- Wars Bell. 133
dinner by the captain on certain holidays, such as
the King's birthday, and he always stood first on the
list for invitations not only on board ship, but at any
official entertainment or ball ashore. Henderson, the
officer in question, was not a gentleman either by
birth or breeding, and his appearance and bearing
were altogether so vulgar and unprepossessing, that
the Honourable Captain Gaisford, himself a well-
bred man, recoiled from his society, and, naturally
jealous of the good name of his ship as a school for
gentlemen as well as seamen, made a practice of
passing over the senior mate whenever he could do
so with a decent pretext, or without any pretext at
all, if one was not to be found. The captain did not
on this account favour James Duckworth more than
others of the mates and midshipmen, though he
clearly preferred the society of the former, who acted
as a sort of aide-de-camp, or flag-lieutenant, to that
of the senior mate.
Mr. Henderson, a great burly fellow, having a
sinister expression in his heavy deep-set eyes, which
were shaded by a pair of overhanging eyebrows, hated
Duckworth with all the force of his envious heart, but
did not care openly to insult him, though greatly his
superior in physical strength. But the most singular
feature in the physiognomy of this gentleman was his
134 The Autobiography of a Man-<f- War's Bell.
nose. Now I take it as a well established fact, that
the nasal organs of most folk are modelled on those
of their parents, but in the case of Henderson, on
surveying what is generally regarded as the most
prominent feature in the human face divine, it was
irresistibly borne home to me, that Dame Nature
had been seized with a comic fit, and despairing of
moulding an organ in consonance with the duplicate
models set before her, had in an access of humour
just incontinently dabbed [(that is the most appro-
priate expression as applied to the protuberance or
excrescence in question) a lump of flesh "in the
place where the nose ought to be." " Not to put
too fine a point upon it/' it was a lusus natures. But
whereas in Mr. Dickens' immortal novel of " Oliver
Twist," a certain Mr. Chickweed was denominated
by his familiars, " Conky," which Mr. Blathers, that
shrewd Bow Street runner, was at the pains to
explain, was a synonym for " Nosey " so Mr. Hen-
derson, who was very unpopular with the foremast
hands, went by the nickname of " Conky," though
that pleasing sobriquet was applied in his case
ironically, as his nose was of dimensions the
smallest compatible with its fulfilling the require-
ments for which noses were made and provided.
Henderson, notwithstanding his cowardice, often
The Autobiography of a Man-o 1 - Wars Bell. 135
appeared inclined to pick a quarrel with Duckworth,
for his envy and malice at times seemed quite to
overpower him, though he always thought better of
it, and swallowed his spite. For a long time they
had not been on speaking terms ; it was certainly
very aggravating for Henderson, and would have
been so even to a more amiable man, to watch the
calm indifference and aristocratic hauteur with which
the younger officer treated his more mature mess-
mate. Henderson was the head of the mess, and
as such, in authority over his juniors, but Duckworth
scorned the fellow, and would have none of his bully-
ing ways. There was a clique in the gun-room also,
who, although they hated Henderson, yet were
jealous of the favourable position in the estimation
of his officers attained by their young rival, and they
egged on the senior mate to do something either in
the way of insulting or thrashing, or keeping in his
place by any means the whilom Etonian, who
offended them mightily every hour of the day by
being handsomer, and braver, and smarter, and
altogether superior to themselves. The feeling
between the two officers grew so hostile that it was
evident it only required a spark to cause an explosion
among the combustible matter with which they were
charged. A very trivial circumstance caused the
136 The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell.
explosion that all had foreseen, and which Duck-
worth at least was anxious to have over without
further delay.
One forenoon James Duckworth feeling drowsy
for he had been up half the night, owing to all
hands having been turned out to shorten sail when a
squall had struck the ship turned in "all standing,"
or rather took a nap on the chests that were stowed
in the gun-room. Now it was the peculiar privilege
of the mates, and one or two senior midshipmen, to
have their sea-chests in the gun-room, while there
not being space in this apartment for all the huge
trunks in which the juniors kept their worldly goods,
these latter were ranged in the steerage, and here the
owners washed and performed all their ablutions,
as well as dressed. It was rather public, it must be
owned, being under the eyes of the whole crew, whose
messes were ranged on the same deck, but, bless
you ! who cared ? certainly not the middies, who
though perhaps when they first joined as " green-
horns " just caught from school, might not have
quite liked the publicity, now that they had been
knocking about all the seas between Canada and the
Coromandel coast, had long got used to it, and would
have laughed heartily had you spoken of schoolboy
modesty. There is nothing like habit in these
The Autobiography of a Man-o- Wars Bell. 137
things, and if you have been cruising about a couple
of years in the tropics, and have become accustomed
to seeing all hands piped " to bathe/' when " Jack "
and "Joey" the marine, multiplied three hundred-
fold, jump overboard in the condition in which they
came into the world, it certainly matters very little
whether you wash in steerage or gun-room.
This forenoon, then, James Duckworth sought
to avoid the noise and racket of the steerage, and the
clatter of the cutlasses, for a division of the sailors
were going through the sword drill on the upper
deck, under the direction of the gunner, whose sten-
torian voice echoed through the ship as he bawled
out, " Right [cheek/' " Left cheek/' " Right side,"
" Left side/' "Wrist," "Parry;" looking about then
for a quiet nook, our hero laid down on a couple of
chests in the gun-room one being that of his chum,
the second senior mate. The other, however, was
the property of his bitter foe Henderson, and this
temporary occupation of the lid of his chest aroused
the ire of this individual, who, as luck would have it,
came in soon after the tired midshipman had fallen
into a heavy sleep, with the object of getting some
article out of his box.
Henderson gazed for a minute in stupid astonish-
ment, as if paralyzed at the audacity of the youngster,
138 Tht Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Bell.
as he still persisted in calling Duckworth, when
speaking of him to his messmates.
" Come," he called out, roughly; "just be good
enough to move your carcase off my chest, or
I'll ," and he left the sentence unfinished, as if
he was undecided what he would do in the event of
his orders not being complied with, which it was,
indeed, very probable they would not be.
But Duckworth did not move. He was in too
deep a slumber to hear the request, but had he done
so, he would assuredly not have acted up to its
requirements, when couched in such offensive
terms, or with so menacing a manner. Henderson
thought that the latter was the reason that the
sleeper did notarise at his bidding, so merely ejacu-
lating, "D'ye hear, youngster, d you?" pre-
pared to oust him from his position. At this
moment a number of the seamen, with half a dozen
of the members of the gun-room mess, came down
below, having been released from cutlass drill, which
had concluded for that day. Henderson was beside
himself with rage at the idea of his junior refusing to
move off his chest, and so openly insulted him before
the whole mess, a thing he had before never attempted
to do. Receiving no reply, and completely carried
away by passion, he without further parley, roughly
Tiie Autobiography of a Man V- War's Bell. 139
raised the lid of his sea-chest, thus jamming Duck-
worth's legs against the bulk head that divided the
gun-room from the narrow slip that did duty as
pantry for the mess. Thus rudely awakened from
his slumber, the young officer, raising himself, gazed
round the assembled circle of his messmates with an
expression in which unfeigned astonishment was
blended with rising indignation. He made an
evident effort to calm himself, however, and extri-
cated his legs from the unpleasant position in which
they still remained, owing to Henderson's keeping
the lid of his box raised with one hand, while with
the other he proceeded to ransack one of the tills
with which midshipmen's chests are always well
garnished, for the article of which he was in quest.
Springing to his feet, Duckworth calmly asked the
senior mate if he had dared to do this out of rude-
ness intentionally; though the voice in which this
question was put was not elevated beyond its ordi-
nary pitch, there was a tremulousness in its tones
which he could not disguise. Without lifting his
head, which was bent over the contents of his box,
Henderson, quietly putting a pipe which he had
charged with tobacco into his coat pocket, sneeringly
replied in the affirmative, adding; "What then ? "
He had barely time to conclude his sentence,
140 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell.
when the individual he addressed struck him
straight from the shoulder, and with a speed that
rivalled the lightning a blow that took effect on the
side of the face and head of the insulter, and sent
him headlong into his chest, the lid of which fell on
him as he lost his balance. There was an excla-
mation of astonishment from all the lookers-on, at
the celerity and terrific force of the blow, and they
fell back with the expectation of a mill. These two
young men, now placed in such direct antagonism
to each other, had notwithstanding the disparity in
their ages, led the two cliques into which the mess
was divided, for though no one liked Henderson,
many rallied to his side, both because as senior he
had some authority vested in him, and was feared
as a ruthless bully, and on account of the jealousy
with which some among them regarded his an-
tagonist.
Henderson quickly extricated himself from his
undignified position, and rushed at his opponent
with the fury of a mad bull. The latter was prepared
to receive him, which he did in the most artistic style
by a duplicate of No. i, on the jaw, that must have
unsettled some of his " teeth." But nothing could
overbear the brute strength of Henderson, and there
being no space for a stand-up fight in the mess-
" He ciutcheil hiiu by the throat with both hands."
The Autobiography of a Man-o'-War's Belt. 141
room, which was small and crowded with tables and
boxes, Duckworth was unable to avoid his onset, as
he might have done in a properly constituted ring.
As it was, he was knocked over, and the pair rolled
on the floor together, struggling and striking as if in
mortal strife. And, truth to say, it was in mortal
strife as far as one of the combatants was con-
cerned. Henderson was 59, transported with fury,
that when he got the upper hand, he clutched his less
muscular antagonist by the throat with both hands,
and sought to strangle him. At first Duckworth hit
him repeatedly with his fist on the head and face to
make him relax his hold, but the other disregarded
the punishment he thus received, and clung to the
throat of the midshipman with the tenacity of a bull-
dog, which not all the blows and threats of bystanders
will induce to loosen its hold. The combatants rolled
under the table, the senior mate uppermost now, for
James Duckworth was growing faint with exhaustion,
and the fell pertinacity of his enemy was doing its
work. Duckworth, indeed, was fast being strangled
under the very noses, if not the eyes (for they could
not see him) of his friends and messmates, and not
a hand was raised to save him, for the desire of fair
play so characteristic of Englishmen restrained them
from interfering, and, moreover, like all uneducated
142 The Autobiography of a M an- J -Wars Bell.
men (and in those days naval officers who went to
sea at the age of ten might with truth be classed in
this category), they were naturally cruel. The gene-
ration who could look on at all the barbarities inci-
dental to bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and such like
exciting sports, loved not less a mill truth compels
us to add, no matter who were engaged in it, for
these worthy people, our ancestors, in the good old
times were not chary of their own blood if they
thought little of spilling, or seeing spilt, that of their
friends.
But we must return to James Duckworth, whom
we have left choking under the gun-room mess table.
It is certain that he would have died under the iron
grip of Henderson, who was at least twelve years his
senior, but that one of his friends not quite compre-
hending the reason for the quiet under the table, that
had now succeeded the previous furious struggling,
and, moreover, being attracted by a convulsive
twitching of the legs of his friend, which were the
only members of his body that remained in view,
had the curiosity to look under the table, when to his
horror he found his chum lying quite still and black
in the face with the agonies of suffocation, while the
wretch above him was kneeling with both knees
firmly planted on the chest of his antagonist, whose
The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell. 143
face, moreover, he was critically watching while it
changed its hues from blue to the deepest shades of
black. The chivalrous young Duckworth was almost
gone ; he had scorned to cry out for help while he
could do so, and when he had become exhausted with
his struggle to extricate himself, Henderson had con-
tinued his grip with one hand, which was enough to
complete the strangling, while with the other, he
covered the mouth of his helpless enemy, so that he
could not make himself heard.
But it was not yet too late. Tn a moment the
friend in need had sprung upon the would-be mur-
derer, and by a supreme effort dragged the wretch
backwards, so that he was forced to relax his hold,
while he called out to his messmates that murder
was being wrought. It was some time before Duck-
worth completely regained consciousness, but towards
the afternoon he was himself again, though pale and
weak. He refused to allow the surgeon to be called
in to see him, and merely pleading temporary indis-
position, obtained leave for a messmate to perform his
ordinary duties on watch. But he had not done with
the coward, Henderson, and sent word to him
through the friend who had so opportunely rescued
him from a fearful death, that he, Duckworth, gave
him the alternative of meeting him that night in the
144 The Autobiography of a Man-a' -War's Bell.
middle watch, on the forecastle, and fighting the
quarrel out with swords the crack of the pistol
rendered it an undesirable weapon to go out with
or of having the whole circumstance reported to the
captain immediately; the challenger gave the other
half an hour to make his decision, but there was no
necessity for the concession of this indulgence, as
the officer who acted as Henderson's friend, returned
with the reply (a gratifying one to our hero) that he
would be on the forecastle at any hour, and with any
weapon he liked, and only stipulated that they did
not hold their hands until one or the other lay dead,
or mortally wounded.
The preliminaries were soon settled by willing
seconds and kind messmates, anxious to show their
friendship by this touching exhibition of unselfish
devotion, and true British love for sport. The
officers, it was agreed, were to fight with their regu-
lation swords, and as Duckworth, being a midship-
man, was only entitled to wear a dirk, his friend and
chum, Stanley, lent him his sword ; not a word was
said about the projected encounter, but every one,
including the principals, equally with their mess-
mates, was in a fever of doubt and fear, lest some
one among them, seized with a humane fit, or dread-
ing the extreme probability of a fatal issue to the
The Autobiography of a Man-d* -War's Bell. 145
approaching duel, might "blow the gaff," as Hender-
son expressed it, in idiomatic but not choice English.
However, he was mistaken ; the members of the gun-
room mess proved staunch " to a man " or " boy,"
and were far too anxious for the occurrence of an
event that would pleasantly vary the monotony of
this long sea voyage, to spoil sport.
The night at length closed in, it seemed to all
the mess that it would never succeed the long and
dreary day, and the first watch passed away. Few
eyes were closed that night in the gun-room, though
it was agreed that only the seconds were to accom-
pany the combatants to the scene of action, in order
to avoid the chance of discovery. There was a fresh
breeze that night, which blowing right aft, would
carry the sound of the strife away, and the foresail
was out, which tended still further to deaden the
noise inseparable from the use of steel weapons.
Every soul in the ship, with the exception of the
officers on duty (fortunately Henderson as senior
mate had charge of the middle watch), the quarter-
master, the helmsman, and the look-out man, was
wrapped in a profound slumber. The previous
night had been a fatiguing one, owing to squally
weather, and all hands had turned out to shorten
sail, and to secure the guns ; hence, every one slept
10
146 The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell.
particularly heavy, and the watch on deck either
wrapped themselves in their blankets, and lay down
on deck, or contrary to rule, sneaked down below,
and turned into their hammocks, " all standing," and
ready for a call.
It was half-past one a.m., when Henderson,
giving over charge of the deck temporarily to one of
the midshipmen, "until he had settled the hash of
this bumptious cabin-boy," as he said to his junior,
walked quickly forward, and springing up the ladder
that led to the topgallant forecastle, found that he
had been anticipated, and the " bumptious cabin-
boy" was already waiting for him, as calm and col-
lecte.d to all outward appearance, as if he had been
going to dine with the captain. Strikingly different
was the demeanour of the two duellists. Of Duck-
worth's bearing we have already spoken. Hender-
son's, on the contrary, was characteristic of the
man, bullying and offensive to a degree that was
aggravating to a sensitive nature like that of the
youth he was going to fight. He swaggered about
the confined space, and dropped ejaculations and
inuendoes expressive of his contempt for his adver-
sary, while the seconds made the necessary prepara-
tions and agreed to certain preliminaries in a low
tone of voice. Duckworth took no notice of him,
The Autobiography of a Man o'- War's Bell. H7
but stripping himself to the shirt, turned back his
cuffs, and testing for the last time the temper and
strength of his sword for the trial it was about to
undergo, quickly informed his second he was ready,
O ' J
and placed himself in position, His opponent also
said he was prepared, garnishing the statement with
an oath, and then the two messmates, without even
the interchange of the customary shake of the hand,
or salute of the sword, to show they bore no malice
to each other, were at once and eagerly engaged in
the stern ordeal of battle.
They commenced the conflict with widely different
feelings and intentions as to the course proposed to
adopt, though they both entertained confidence in
their ability to bring it to a successful conclusion.
It was Duckworth's purpose to " wing/' or other-
wise wound his adversary, but not to kill him ;
whereas the latter proposed to himself not to stay his
hand until he had slain outright, or, better still,
mortally wounded the young man who had been his
messmate and rival for four years. Henderson was
wild with passion and malignant hate, and, while in
this devilish fit, cared nothing for the consequences
to himself, though he knew, had he thought a
moment, that they must be of the most serious
character. Though a bully, and at heart a coward,
148 Jfu Autobiography of a M an- J -Wars Bell,
as all bullies are, he entered without any misgivings
into the duel, as he was assured, after the events of
the morning, of his greatly superior strength, and
also counted on his adversary not only being demora-
lized by the recent exhibition of this strength, but
on his not having recovered from the weakness inci-
dental to the desperate assault he had committed on
him. He was aware of the finished swordsmanship
for which Duckworth was remarkable in the ship,
out he intended to force the fighting, and, by dint of
sheer strength, to bear down all opposition; no un-
common thing, I may observe, in passing, to befall
the most accomplished fencers if once they lose their
nerve.
On the other hand, Duckworth relied on the
superb skill he had attained. Unerring of eye, quick
of hand, and bold of heart, there was no want of
nerve in his breast; rather, as he dwelt on the insult
and well-nigh murder to which he had been subjected,
the only difficulty he experienced was to prevent his
running into the other extreme, and losing himself
in an access of indignation. But he calmed down
when he reflected how much was at stake, antl
watching the line of action his formidable opponent
intended to adopt, proposed to bide his time.
After a few passes and cuts, which the junior
The Autobiography of a Man-o'- War's Bell. 149
officer easily parried, Henderson struck furiously and
fast, and so occupied Duckworth with the fury of
the assault, that he was forced to give ground. Hav-
ing fallen back a few paces, the latter turned his head
for a moment, and found that he was on the brink
of the forecastle, and that another step would launch
him on to the deck below. Quickly altering his
tactics, he watched his opportunity, and, with a
clever parry and a turn of the wrist, whirled the
sword of his adversary out of his hand, and sent it
flying over his shoulder into the sea. Henderson
became livid with rage on discovering the deft
manner in which his weapon had been whipt out of
his clutch ; he stamped his feet, and swore horribly
that he would be avenged yet, calling at the same
time for another sword. Duckworth, who, like a
brave fellow, scorned to take advantage of the de-
fenceless condition of his adversary, stood calmly
waiting to renew the contest, and dropped the point
of his weapon so as to recruit his strength. The
seconds came forward, and sought to obtain an ad-
mission from Henderson that he was satisfied ; but
he replied, with a shower of oaths, that he did not
come there to play at single-stick like a fencing-
master, but to fight, and to fight it out, too, to the
bitter end. Another sword was at hand, and was
150 The Autobiography of a Man-o' -War's Bell.
quickly supplied, and the exciting game went on
Duckworth, on his part not uttering a word nor
changing a muscle; that his hand was well in, his
friends saw with satisfaction.
The combat was renewed. The senior mate
adopted his old tactics, though with more wariness ;
he used his weapon freely, cutting and slashing,
but, though always considered proficient in the use
of the. cutlass, he had never practised with the small
sword, and knew not the mysteries of carte and
tierce. Duckworth, on the other hand, was, as I
have said, a finished swordsman, and excelled in the
use of the rapier, which he had learnt from his former
friend, Mullins, whom he now surpassed in the noble
art. At length, the midshipman, taking advantage
of an unguarded moment, made a lunge at his ad-
versary, which took effect on his right shoulder, and
drew blood freely. Maddened with pain, and still
more with the disgrace of this second contretemps,
Henderson made fiercely at his foe, and pressed him
back. The impetuosity of the onset was so great
that the latter gave way, and it employed every
energy, and " took all he knew," to parry and elude
the shower of blows which almost broke down his
guard. Calm and collected, he stepped back, when
suddenly, in avoiding a trenchant blow, he came in
The Autobiography of a Man-o'-Wars Bell. 1 5 1
contact with the structure from which the narra-
tor of this autobiography was suspended, and was
so taken up with defending himself, that he was