Patrick O'Brian - Post captain

It was Paris, with a rectangular sail-​cloth parcel. Stephen ran to him, took it from his arms with infinite precaution and set it on the table, pressing his ear to its side. ‘Listen, Jack,’ he said, smiling. ‘Put your ear firmly to the top and listen while I tap.’ The parcel gave a sudden momentary hum. ‘Did you hear? That shows they are queen-​right - that no harm has come to their queen. But we must open it at once; they must have air. There! A glass hive. Is it not ingenious, charming? I have always wanted to keep bees.’

‘But how in God’s name do you expect to keep bees in a man-​of-​war?’ cried Jack. ‘Where in God’s name do you expect them to find flowers, at sea? How will they eat?’

‘You can see their every motion,’ said Stephen, close against the glass, entranced. ‘Oh, as for their feeding, never fret your anxious mind; they will feed with us upon a saucer of sugar, at stated intervals. If the ingenious Monsieur Huber can keep bees, and he blind, the poor man, surely we can manage in a great spacious xebec?’

‘This is a frigate.’

‘Let us never split hairs, for all love. There is the queen! Come, look at the queen!’

‘How many of those reptiles might there be?’ asked Jack, holding pretty much aloof.

‘Oh, sixty thousand or so, I dare say,’ said Stephen carelessly. ‘And when it comes on to blow, we will ship gimbals for the hive. This will preserve them from undue lateral motion.’

‘You think of almost everything,’ said Jack. ‘Well, I will wear the bees, like Damon and Pythagoras - ho, a mere sixty thousand bees in the cabin don’t signify, much. But I tell you what it is, Stephen: you don’t always think of quite everything.’

‘You refer to the queen’s being a virgin?’ said Stephen.

‘Not really. No. What I really meant was, that this is a crack frigate.’

‘I am delighted to hear it. There she goes - she lays an egg! You need not fear for her virginity, Jack.’

‘And in this frigate they are very particular. Did not you remark the show of uniforms as you came aboard -an admiral’s inspection - a royal review.’

‘No. I cannot truthfully say that I did. Tell me, brother, is there some uneasiness on your mind?’

‘Stephen, will you for the love of God take off that thing?’

‘My wool garment? You have noticed it, have you? I had forgot, or I should have pointed it out. Have you ever seen anything so deeply rational? See, I can withdraw my head entirely: the same applies to the feet and the hands. Warm, yet uncumbering; light; and above all healthy - no constriction anywhere! Paris, who was once a framework knitter, made it to my design; he is working on one for you at present.’

‘Stephen, you would favour me deeply by taking it right off. It is unphilosophical of me, I know, but this is only an acting-​command, and I cannot afford to be laughed at.’

‘But you have often told me that it does not matter what one wears at sea. You yourself appear in nankeen trousers, a thing that I should never, never countenance. And this’ - plucking at his bosom with a disappointed air - ‘partakes of the nature both of the Guernsey frock and of the free and easy pantaloon.’

The Lively had remained in commission throughout the peace; her people had been together many years, with few changes among the officers, and they had their own way of doing things. All ships were to some degree separate kingdoms, with different customs and a different atmosphere: this was particularly true of those that were on detached service or much by themselves, far from their admirals and the rest of the fleet, and the Lively had been in the East Indies for years on end - it was on her return during the first days of the renewed war that she had had her luck, two French Indiamen in the same day off Finisterre. When she was paid off, Captain Hamond had no difficulty in manning her again, for most of his people re-​entered, and he even had the luxury of turning volunteers away. Jack had met him once or twice -a quiet, thoughtful, unhumorous, unimaginative man in his forties, prematurely grey, devoted to hydrography and the physics of sailing, somewhat old for a frigate-​captain -and as he had met him in the company of Lord Cochrane, he had seemed rather to want colour, in comparison with that ebullient nobleman. His first impression of the Lively did not alter during the ceremonies of mustering and quarters: she was obviously a most competent ship with a highly efficient crew of right man-​of-​war’s men; probably a happy ship in her quiet way, judging from the men’s demeanour and those countless very small signs that a searching, professional eye could see - happy, yet taut; a great distance between officers and men. But as he and Stephen were sitting in the dining-​cabin, waiting for their supper, he wondered how she had come by her reputation as a crack frigate. It was certainly not from her appearance, for although everything aboard was unexceptionally shipshape and man-​of-​war fashion, there was no extraordinary show of perfection, indeed nothing extraordinary at all, apart from her huge yards and her white manila cordage: her hull and portlids were painted dull grey, with an ochre streak for the gun-​tier, her thirty-​eight guns were chocolate-​coloured, and the only obvious piece of brass was her bell, which shone like burnished gold. Nor was it from her fighting qualities, since from no fault of her own she had seen no action with anything approaching a match for her long eighteen-​pounders. Perhaps it was from her remarkable state of readiness. She was permanently cleared for action, or very nearly so: when the drum beat for quarters she might almost have gone straight into battle, apart from a few bulkheads and a minimum of furniture; the two quarterdeck goats walked straight down the ladder by themselves, the hen-​coops vanished on an ingenious slide, and the guns in his own cabins were cast loose, something he had never seen before in an exercise. She had a Spartan air: but that in itself was not enough to explain anything, although it did not arise from poverty - the Lively was well-​to-​do; her captain had recently bought himself a seat in Parliament, her officers were men of private means even before their fortunate stroke, and Hamond insisted upon a handsome allowance from the parents of his midshipmen.

‘Stephen,’ he said, ‘how are your bees?’

‘They are very well, I thank you; they show great activity, even enthusiasm. But,’ he added, with a slight hesitation, ‘I seem to detect a certain reluctance to return to their hive.’

‘Do you mean to say you let them out?’ cried Jack. ‘Do you mean that there are sixty thousand bees howling for blood in the cabin?’

‘No, no. Oh no. Not above half that number; perhaps even less. And if you do not provoke them, I am persuaded you may go to and fro without the least concern; they are not froward bees. They will have gone home by morning, sure; I shall creep in during the middle watch and close their little wicket. But perhaps it might be as well, were we to sit together in this room tonight, just to let them get used to their surroundings. A certain initial agitation is understandable after all, and should not be discountenanced.’

Jack was not a bee, however, and his initial agitation was something else again. It was clear to him that the Lively was a closed, self-​sufficing community, an entity to which he was an outsider. He had served under acting-​captains himself, and he knew that they could be regarded as intruders - that they could excite resentment if they took too much upon themselves. They had great powers, certainly, but they were wise not to use them. Yet on the other hand, he might have to fight this ship; the ultimate responsibility, the loss of reputation or its gain was his, and although he was here only for the time, and although