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SHORT STORY
THE HONOUR OF THE FLAG
BY
W. CLARK RUSSELL
AUTHOR OF "THE WRECK OF THE GROSVENOR," "LIFE OF LORD NELSON," ETC., ETC.
G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK LONDON 27 West Twenty-third Street. 24 Bedford Street, Strand.
1895
The Knickerbocker Press, New Rochelle, N.Y.
SHORT STORY
Contents.
PAGE
=The Honour of the Flag= 3
=Cornered=! 28
=A Midnight Visitor= 41
=Plums from a Sailor's Duff= 57
=The Strange Adventures of a South Seaman= 82
=The Adventures of Three Sailors= 110
=The Strange Tragedy of the "White Star=" 137
=The Ship Seen on the Ice= 163
THE HONOUR OF THE FLAG
=The Honour of the Flag=.
A THAMES TRAGEDY.
Manifold are the historic interests of the river Thames. There isscarcely a foot of its mud from London Bridge to Gravesend Reach thatis not as "consecrated" as that famous bit of soil which Dr. SamuelJohnson and Mr. Richard Savage knelt and kissed on stepping ashore atGreenwich. One of the historic interests, however, threatens to perishout of the annals. It does not indeed rise to such heroic proportionsas you find in the story of the Dutch invasion of the river, or in oldHackluyt's solemn narrative of the sailing of the expedition organisedby Bristol's noble worthy, Sebastian Cabot; but it is altogether toogood and stirring to merit erasure from the Thames's history books bythe neglect or ignorance of the historian.
It is absolutely true: I pledge my word for that on the authority ofthe records of the Whitechapel County Court.
In the year 1851 there dwelt on the banks of the river Thames aretired tailor, whom I will call John Sloper, out of regard to thefeelings of his posterity, if such there be. This man had for manyyears carried on a flourishing trade in the east end of London. Havinggot together as much money as he might suppose would supply his dailyneeds, he built himself a villa near the pleasant little town ofErith. His house overlooked the water; in front of it sloped aconsiderable piece of garden ground.
Mr. Sloper showed good sense and good taste in building himself alittle home on the banks of the Thames. All day long he was able, ifhe pleased, to entertain himself with the sight of as stirring andstriking a marine picture as is anywhere to be witnessed. He couldhave built himself a house above bridges, where there is no lack ofele