“The prospect of being shipmates with my big brother cheered me up considerably, though it made me a bit anxious, too.  Ever since I remember myself as a little chap he had been very good to me, and I looked upon him as the finest fellow in the world.  And so he was.  No better officer ever walked the deck of a merchant ship.  And that’s a fact.  He was a fine, strong, upstanding, sun-tanned, young fellow, with his brown hair curling a little, and an eye like a hawk.  He was just splendid.  We hadn’t seen each other for many years, and even this time, though he had been in England three weeks already, he hadn’t showed up at home yet, but had spent his spare time in Surrey somewhere making up to Maggie Colchester, old Captain Colchester’s niece.  Her father, a great friend of dad’s, was in the sugar-broking business, and Charley made a sort of second home of their house.  I wondered what my big brother would think of me.  There was a sort of sternness about Charley’s face which never left it, not even when he was larking in his rather wild fashion.

“He received me with a great shout of laughter.  He seemed to think my joining as an officer the greatest joke in the world.  There was a difference of ten years between us, and I suppose he remembered me best in pinafores.  I was a kid of four when he first went to sea.  It surprised me to find how boisterous he could be.

“‘Now we shall see what you are made of,’ he cried.  And he held me off by the shoulders, and punched my ribs, and hustled me into his berth.  ’Sit down, Ned.  I am glad of the chance of having you with me.  I’ll put the finishing touch to you, my young officer, providing you’re worth the trouble.  And, first of all, get it well into your head that we are not going to let this brute kill anybody this voyage.  We’ll stop her racket.’

“I perceived he was in dead earnest about it.  He talked grimly of the ship, and how we must be careful and never allow this ugly beast to catch us napping with any of her damned tricks.

“He gave me a regular lecture on special seamanship for the use of the Apse Family; then changing his tone, he began to talk at large, rattling off the wildest, funniest nonsense, till my sides ached with laughing.  I could see very well he was a bit above himself with high spirits.  It couldn’t be because of my coming.  Not to that extent.  But, of course, I wouldn’t have dreamt of asking what was the matter.  I had a proper respect for my big brother, I can tell you.  But it was all made plain enough a day or two afterwards, when I heard that Miss Maggie Colchester was coming for the voyage.  Uncle was giving her a sea-trip for the benefit of her health.

“I don’t know what could have been wrong with her health.  She had a beautiful colour, and a deuce of a lot of fair hair.  She didn’t care a rap for wind, or rain, or spray, or sun, or green seas, or anything.  She was a blue-eyed, jolly girl of the very best sort, but the way she cheeked my big brother used to frighten me.  I always expected it to end in an awful row.  However, nothing decisive happened till after we had been in Sydney for a week.  One day, in the men’s dinner hour, Charley sticks his head into my cabin.  I was stretched out on my back on the settee, smoking in peace.