CHAPTER LXXIII.
NIGHT AND DAY GAMBLING IN A MAN-OF-WAR.
Mention has been made that the game of draughts, or checkers, waspermitted to be played on board the Neversink. At the present time,while there was little or no shipwork to be done, and all hands, inhigh spirits, were sailing homeward over the warm smooth sea of thetropics; so numerous became the players, scattered about the decks,that our First Lieutenant used ironically to say that it was a pitythey were not tesselated with squares of white and black marble, forthe express benefit and convenience of the players. Had this gentlemanhad his way, our checker-boards would very soon have been pitched outof the ports. But the Captain--usually lenient in somethings--permitted them, and so Mr. Bridewell was fain to hold his peace.
But, although this one game was allowable in the frigate, all kinds ofgambling were strictly interdicted, under the penalty of the gangway;nor were cards or dice tolerated in any way whatever. This regulationwas indispensable, for, of all human beings, man-of-war's-men areperhaps the most inclined to gambling. The reason must be obvious toany one who reflects upon their condition on shipboard. Andgambling--the most mischievous of vices anywhere--in a man-of-waroperates still more perniciously than on shore. But quite as often asthe law against smuggling spirits is transgressed by the unscrupuloussailors, the statutes against cards and dice are evaded.
Sable night, which, since the beginning of the world, has winked andlooked on at so many deeds of iniquity--night is the time usuallyselected for their operations by man-of-war gamblers. The place pitchedupon is generally the berth-deck, where the hammocks are swung, andwhich is lighted so stintedly as not to disturb the sleeping seamenwith any obtruding glare. In so spacious an area the two lanternsswinging from the stanchions diffuse a subdued illumination, like anight-taper in the apartment of some invalid. Owing to their position,also, these lanterns are far from shedding an impartial light, howeverdim, but fling long angular rays here and there, like burglar'sdark-lanterns in the fifty-acre vaults of the West India Docks on theThames.
It may well be imagined, therefore, how well adapted is this mysteriousand subterranean Hall of Eblis to the clandestine proceedings ofgamblers, especially as the hammocks not only hang thickly, but many ofthem swing very low, within two feet of the floor, thus forminginnumerable little canvas glens, grottoes, nooks, corners, andcrannies, where a good deal of wickedness may be practiced by the warywith considerable impunity.
Now the master-at-arms, assisted by his mates, the ship's corporals,reigns supreme in these bowels of the ship. Throughout the night thesepolicemen relieve each other at standing guard over the premises; and,except when the watches are called, they sit in the midst of a profoundsilence, only invaded by trumpeters' snores, or the ramblings of someold sheet-anchor-man in his sleep.
The two ship's corporals went among the sailors by the names of Leggsand Pounce; Pounce had been a policeman, it was said, in Liverpool;Leggs, a turnkey attached to "The Tombs" in New York. Hence theireducation eminently fitted them for their stations; and Bland, themaster-at-arms, ravished with their dexterity in prying out offenders,used to call them his two right hands.
When man-of-war's-men desire to gamble, they appoint the hour, andselect some certain corner, in some certain shadow, behind some certainhammock. They then contribute a small sum toward a joint fund, to beinvested in a bribe for some argus-eyed shipmate, who shall play thepart of a spy upon the master-at-arms and corporals while the gaming isin progress. In nine cases out of ten these arrangements are so cunningand comprehensive, that the gamblers, eluding all vigilance, concludetheir game unmolested. But now and then, seduced into unwariness, orperhaps, from parsimony, being unwilling to employ the services of aspy, they are suddenly lighted upon by the constables, remorselesslycollared, and dragged into the brig there to await a dozen lashes inthe morning.
Several times at midnight I have been startled out of a sound sleep bya sudden, violent rush under my hammock, caused by the abrupt breakingup of some nest of gamblers, who have scattered in all directions,brushing under the tiers of swinging pallets, and setting them all in arocking commotion.
It is, however, while laying in port that gambling most thrives in aman-of-war. Then the men frequently practice their dark deeds in thelight of the day, and the additional guards which, at such times, theydeem indispensable, are not unworthy of note. More especially, theirextra precautions in engaging the services of several spies,necessitate a considerable expenditure, so that, in port, the diversionof gambling rises to the dignity of a nabob luxury.
During the day the master-at-arms and his corporals are continuallyprowling about on all three decks, eager to spy out iniquities. At onetime, for example, you see Leggs switching his magisterial rattan, andlurking round the fore-mast on the spar-deck; the next moment, perhaps,he is three decks down, out of sight, prowling among the cable-tiers.Just so with his master, and Pounce his coadjutor; they are here,there, and everywhere, seemingly gifted with ubiquity.
In order successfully to carry on their proceedings by day, thegamblers must see to it that each of these constables is relentlesslydogged wherever he goes; so that, in case of his approach toward thespot where themselves are engaged, they may be warned of the fact intime to make good their escape. Accordingly, light and active scoutsare selected to follow the constable about. From their youthfulalertness and activity, the boys of the mizzen-top are generally chosenfor this purpose.
But this is not all. Onboard of most men-of-war there is a set of sly,knavish foxes among the crew, destitute of every principle of honour,and on a par with Irish informers. In man-of-war parlance, they comeunder the denomination of _fancy-men_ and _white-mice_, They are called_fancy-men_ because, from their zeal in craftily reporting offenders,they are presumed to be regarded with high favour by some of theofficers. Though it is seldom that these informers can be certainlyindividualised, so secret and subtle are they in laying theirinformation, yet certain of the crew, and especially certain of themarines, are invariably suspected to be _fancy-men_ and _white-mice_,and are accordingly more or less hated by their comrades.
Now, in addition to having an eye on the master-at-arms and his aids,the day-gamblers must see to it, that every person suspected of being a_white-mouse_ or _fancy-man_, is like-wise dogged wherever he goes.Additional scouts are retained constantly to snuff at their trail. Butthe mysteries of man-of-war vice are wonderful; and it is now to berecorded, that, from long habit and observation, and familiarity withthe _guardo moves_ and _manoeuvres_ of a frigate, the master-at-armsand his aids can almost invariably tell when any gambling is going onby day; though, in the crowded vessel, abounding in decks, tops, darkplaces, and outlandish corners of all sorts, they may not be able topounce upon the identical spot where the gamblers are hidden.
During the period that Bland was suspended from his office asmaster-at-arms, a person who, among the sailors, went by the name ofSneak, having been long suspected to have been a _white-mouse_, was putin Bland's place. He proved a hangdog, sidelong catch-thief, but giftedwith a marvellous perseverance in ferreting out culprits; following intheir track like an inevitable Cuba blood-hound, with his noiselessnose. When disconcerted, however, you sometimes heard his bay.
"The muffled dice are somewhere around," Sneak would say to his aids;"there are them three chaps, there, been dogging me about for the lasthalf-hour. I say, Pounce, has any one been scouting around _you_ thismorning?"
"Four on 'em," says Pounce. "I know'd it; I know'd the muffled dice wasrattlin'!"
"Leggs!" says the master-at-arms to his other aid, "Leggs, how is itwith _you_--any spies?"
"Ten on' em," says Leggs. "There's one on 'em now--that fellowstitching a hat."
"Halloo, you, sir!" cried the master-at-arms, "top your boom and saillarge, now. If I see you about me again, I'll have you up to the mast."
"What am I a-doin' now?" says the hat-stitcher, with a face as long asa rope-walk. "Can't a feller be workin' here, without being 'spected ofTom Coxe
's traverse, up one ladder and down t'other?"
"Oh, I know the moves, sir; I have been on board a _guardo_. Top yourboom, I say, and be off, or I'll have you hauled up and riveted in aclinch--both fore-tacks over the main-yard, and no bloody knife to cutthe seizing. Sheer! or I'll pitch into you like a shin of beef into abeggar's wallet."
It is often observable, that, in vessels of all kinds, the men who talkthe most sailor lingo are the least sailor-like in reality. You maysometimes hear even marines jerk out more salt phrases than the Captainof the Forecastle himself. On the other hand, when not actively engagedin his vocation, you would take the best specimen of a seaman for alandsman. When you see a fellow yawning about the docks like ahomeward-bound Indiaman, a long Commodore's pennant of black ribbonflying from his mast-head, and fetching up at a grog-shop with a slewof his hull, as if an Admiral were coming alongside a three-decker inhis barge; you may put that man down for what man-of-war's-men call a_damn-my-eyes-tar_, that is, a humbug. And many damn-my-eyes hum-bugsthere are in this man-of-war world of ours.