el), and navigating it
himself.

He was, however, prevented from undertaking this enterprise by a
message which he received from the Court, then stationed at Greenwich.
The Lord High Admiral desired to see him; and after many civil
compliments, he offered him the post of keeper of the plankyard at
Chatham. Pett was only too glad to accept this offer, though the
salary was small. He shipped his furniture on board a hoy of Rainham,
and accompanied it down the Thames to the junction with the Medway.
There he escaped a great danger--one of the sea perils of the time.
The mouths of navigable rivers were still infested with pirates; and as
the hoy containing Pett approached the Nore about three o'clock in the
morning, and while still dark, she came upon a Dunkirk picaroon, full
of men. Fortunately the pirate was at anchor; she weighed and gave
chase, and had not the hoy set full sail, and been impelled up the
Swale by a fresh wind, Pett would have been taken prisoner, with all
his furniture.[20]

Arrived at Chatham, Pett met his brother Joseph, became reconciled to
him, and ever after they lived together as loving brethren. At his
brother's suggestion, Pett took a lease of the Manor House, and settled
there with his sisters. He was now in the direct way to preferment.
Early in the following year (March, 1601) he succeeded to the place of
assistant to the principal master shipwright at Chatham, and undertook
the repairs of Her Majesty's ship The Lion's Whelp, and in the next
year he new-built the Moon enlarging her both in length and breadth.

At the accession of James I. in 1603, Pett was commanded by the Lord
High Admiral with all possible speed to build a little vessel for the
young Prince Henry, eldest son of His Majesty. It was to be a sort of
copy of the Ark Royal, which was the flagship of the Lord High Admiral
when he defeated the Spanish Armada. Pett proceeded to accomplish the
order with all dispatch. The little ship was in length by the keel 28
feet, in breadth 12 feet, and very curiously garnished within and
without with painting and carving. After working by torch and candle
light, night and day, the ship was launched, and set sail for the
Thames, with the noise of drums, trumpets, and cannon, at the beginning
of March, 1604. After passing through a great storm at the Nore, the
vessel reached the Tower, where the King and the young Prince inspected
her with delight. She was christened Disdain by the Lo