{"id":"01KG8AMJGBH9F3C20P4JF3GFA0","cid":"bafkreiguipkznafdihp76nwds3zqnibjmepbeharggzgejimrmqmb4fdju","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":11111,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:36.274Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","start_line":11048,"text":"accordingly tucks, point backward, under his arm, like an umbrella on a\r\nsun-shiny day. The other hand is continually bobbing up and down to the\r\nleather front of his cap, in response to the reports and salute of his\r\nsubordinates, to whom he never deigns to vouchsafe a syllable, merely\r\ngoing through the motions of accepting their news, without bestowing\r\nthanks for their pains.\r\n\r\nThis continual touching of caps between officers on board a man-of-war\r\nis the reason why you invariably notice that the glazed fronts of their\r\ncaps look jaded, lack-lustre, and worn; sometimes slightly\r\noleaginous—though, in other respects, the cap may appear glossy and\r\nfresh. But as for the First Lieutenant, he ought to have extra pay\r\nallowed to him, on account of his extraordinary outlays in cap fronts;\r\nfor he it is to whom, all day long, reports of various kinds are\r\nincessantly being made by the junior Lieutenants; and no report is made\r\nby them, however trivial, but caps are touched on the occasion. It is\r\nobvious that these individual salutes must be greatly multiplied and\r\naggregated upon the senior Lieutenant, who must return them all.\r\nIndeed, when a subordinate officer is first promoted to that rank, he\r\ngenerally complains of the same exhaustion about the shoulder and elbow\r\nthat La Fayette mourned over, when, in visiting America, he did little\r\nelse but shake the sturdy hands of patriotic farmers from sunrise to\r\nsunset.\r\n\r\nThe various officers of divisions having presented their respects, and\r\nmade good their return to their stations, the First Lieutenant turns\r\nround, and, marching aft, endeavours to catch the eye of the Captain,\r\nin order to touch his own cap to that personage, and thereby, without\r\nadding a word of explanation, communicate the fact of all hands being\r\nat their gun’s. He is a sort of retort, or receiver-general, to\r\nconcentrate the whole sum of the information imparted to him, and\r\ndischarge it upon his superior at one touch of his cap front.\r\n\r\nBut sometimes the Captain feels out of sorts, or in ill-humour, or is\r\npleased to be somewhat capricious, or has a fancy to show a touch of\r\nhis omnipotent supremacy; or, peradventure, it has so happened that the\r\nFirst Lieutenant has, in some way, piqued or offended him, and he is\r\nnot unwilling to show a slight specimen of his dominion over him, even\r\nbefore the eyes of all hands; at all events, only by some one of these\r\nsuppositions can the singular circumstance be accounted for, that\r\nfrequently Captain Claret would pertinaciously promenade up and down\r\nthe poop, purposely averting his eye from the First Lieutenant, who\r\nwould stand below in the most awkward suspense, waiting the first wink\r\nfrom his superior’s eye.\r\n\r\n“Now I have him!” he must have said to himself, as the Captain would\r\nturn toward him in his walk; “now’s my time!” and up would go his hand\r\nto his cap; but, alas! the Captain was off again; and the men at the\r\nguns would cast sly winks at each other as the embarrassed Lieutenant\r\nwould bite his lips with suppressed vexation.\r\n\r\nUpon some occasions this scene would be repeated several times, till at\r\nlast Captain Claret, thinking, that in the eyes of all hands, his\r\ndignity must by this time be pretty well bolstered, would stalk towards\r\nhis subordinate, looking him full in the eyes; whereupon up goes his\r\nhand to the cap front, and the Captain, nodding his acceptance of the\r\nreport, descends from his perch to the quarter-deck.\r\n\r\nBy this time the stately Commodore slowly emerges from his cabin, and\r\nsoon stands leaning alone against the brass rails of the\r\nafter-hatchway. In passing him, the Captain makes a profound\r\nsalutation, which his superior returns, in token that the Captain is at\r\nperfect liberty to proceed with the ceremonies of the hour.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJTJYF04A0665MPBYMDBW","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19NC56FFGBCM2SWEZZY","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMHV16SQHT8083SZGDG3X","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMJGBYKVF0VFG0HRHWX87","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:41.483Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:52.246Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}