Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/35

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1831 Maury was appointed master of the sloop-of-war 'Falmouth,' which had been ordered to the Pacific Station. Years later, Maury used to warn his children against any injustice to their companions in thought or deed, by telling them the story of Johns, a young midshipman who was on the 'Falmouth' when Maury joined her for her four years cruise.

Young Johns, when going ashore at Norfolk, had been entrusted by a comrade, whom we will call B., with a case containing two bottles of very precious attar of roses for his sisters. He shared his room at the hotel in Norfolk that night with another midshipman, who we shall call A. A. was to leave very early in the morning to visit some relations, having leave of absence for some months. He accordingly rose early and took his departure, without waking Johns, but first, only for a joke, he poured out the attar and filled the bottles with water. Johns awoke in due time and took the case, which he had never opened, to the sisters of B., afterwards joining the 'Falmouth' for her cruise in the Pacific. The sisters, as soon as they found the bottles were filled with