The Loss of the Royal George, by W. H. G. Kingston. 

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A beautifully written but short little book. The actual loss of theRoyal George occurs in a few paragraphs in chapter four, but the wholeof the rest of the book concerns a small child who had been brought onboard the vessel by a lady presumed to be his aunt. The child survivesthe accident, but the lady he was with was drowned. The child wasrescued, and was brought up by a crew-member, having a good career inthe Royal Navy. In the last chapter his true parentage is discovered, and all is made well. 

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THE LOSS OF THE ROYAL GEORGE, BY W. H. G. KINGSTON. 

CHAPTER ONE. 

My father, Richard Truscott, was boatswain of the _Royal George_, one ofthe finest ships in the navy. I lived with mother and several brothersand sisters at Gosport. 

Father one day said to me, "Ben, you shall come with me, and we'll makea sailor of you. Maybe you'll some day walk the quarter-deck as anofficer. "

I did not want to go to sea, and I did not care about being an officer;indeed I had never thought about the matter, but I had no choice in it. I was but a very little chap, and liked playing at marbles, or "chuckpenny, " in our backyard, better than anything else. 

"He is too small yet to be a sailor, " said mother. 

"He is big enough to be a powder-monkey, " observed my father; and as hewas not a man who chose to be contradicted, he the next day took meaboard his ship, then fitting out in Portsmouth harbour, to carry theflag of Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. She was indeed a proud ship, with thetautest masts and the squarest yards of any ship in the British navy. She carried one hundred and four guns, all of brass--forty-two pounderson the lower-deck; thirty-two on the middle deck; and twenty-fourpounders on the quarter-deck, forecastle, poop, and main-deck. She hadhuge lanterns at her poop, into which four or five of us boys could stowourselves away; and from the time she was first launched, in 1756, theflag of some great admiral always floated from the masthead. When myfather left me, to attend to his duty, I thought I should have been lostin the big ship, with deck above deck, and guns all alike one another oneither side; and hundreds of men bawling and shouting, and rushing abouthere and there and everywhere. Sitting down on a chest, outside hiscabin, --my legs were not long enough to reach the deck, --I had a goodcry; and a number of boys, some of them not much bigger than myself, came and had a look at me, but they did not jeer, or play me any tricks, for they had found out that I was the bo'sun's son, and that they hadbetter not. I soon, however, recovered, and learned to find my way, notonly from one deck to another, but up aloft; and before many days wereover, had been up to the main-truck; though when my father heard of it, for he was below at the time, he told me not to go again till I wasbigger. As I was continually, from ignorance, getting into scrapes, andhe could not keep an eye on me himself, he gave me in charge to JerryDix, the one-legged fiddler and cook's mate. Jerry could take very goodcare of me, but was less able to take care of himself when he had gothis grog aboard, and more than once when this happened I had to watchover him. This made us firm friends, and I am very sure that he had asincere affection for me. 

England was now engaged in what was known as the Seven Years' War, whichbegan in 1756, and had been going on for three years, the ships ofEngland fighting those of France whenever they could find them, andgenerally giving them a drubbing. Our ship, which carried, as I havesaid, the flag of Admiral Sir Edward Hawke, had, with several otherline-of-battle ships, been for some time watching the French fleet, under Admiral Conflans, shut up in Brest harbour, when, a heavy galecoming on, we were obliged to put into Torbay for shelter. We remainedthere for some time, while it blew great guns and small arms, whichJerry told me would keep the French ships shut up in harbour as securelyas would our cannon. At length the weather moderated, and our admiralmade the signal for the fleet to sail. It was a fine sight to seetwenty-four line-of-battle ships, beside the _Royal George_, mostlyseventy-four's, some larger and some smaller, getting under waytogether, and standing over to the enemy's coast. We were a few hourslater than we should have been, however, for on our arrival we heardthat Admiral Conflans had just before slipped out of Brest harbour, andsailed away for Quiberon Bay, hoping to cut off a small English squadronunder Commodore Duff at anchor there. 

We made all sail in chase, but a strong south-easterly wind blew intheir teeth, and it was four days before we arrived off Belle Isle, whenwe were joined by Commodore Duff, with four fifty-gun ships and sixfrigates. Early in the morning, the _Maidstone_, one of our look-outfrigates, made the signal that the enemy's fleet was in sight! We, onthis, threw out the signal for our ships to form in line, while thefrigate was sent inshore to ascertain how far we were from it. You willunderstand that the fog prevented us from seeing the land or the enemy, and from the same cause it was no easy matter, as we all sailed closetogether, to prevent one ship from running into another. 

We had not long to wait, however, before, the fog lifting, we caughtsight of the French fleet, crowding all sail to get away from us, fortheir frigates had found out our fleet, while ours had discoveredtheirs. We made all sail in chase, both the enemy's ships and ourshaving every stitch of canvas they could carry. In about three hoursthe van of our fleet got up with them. 

I remember standing by my father's side, in the forecastle, and thinkingwhat a grand sight it was, as the _Warspite_ and _Dorchester_ gallantlycommenced firing their broadsides into the enemy. The next ship thatgot into action was the _Magnanime_, commanded by the brave Lord Howe, followed quickly by the _Revenge_, _Torbay_, _Montagu_, and many otherswhose names are known to fame. There was a heavy sea running at thetime, and, big as were our ships, they kept tumbling about so much thatwe were unable to fight our lower-deck guns. The captain of one of theFrench ships, the _Thesee_, engaged with the _Torbay_, thought that hecould do so; and Captain Keppel, who commanded the English seventy-four, unwisely followed his example. The two ships were thus hotly engaged, firing their broadsides into each other, when we saw the Frenchman givea lurch to starboard, and then down she went; out of all her gallantcrew of eight hundred men, only twenty being saved by the British boats. The _Torbay_ was very nearly following her, but by great exertions theguns were run in, and the ports closed, though not till she had shippeda good deal of water. Directly afterwards another Frenchman sank beforeour eyes, as we guessed, from the same cause. 

I can't say that I saw much more of what took place, for we were nowgoing into action, and I was sent below to attend to my duty, which wasto bring up ammunition in a tub, and to sit upon it on the main-deck, with the other ship's boys, till it was wanted to load the guns. Wewere soon thundering away at the enemy, clouds of smoke filling thespace between the decks, through which I could dimly see the crews ofthe guns, stripped to the waist, running them in to load, and runningthem out again as rapidly as they could. Shouts from the upper deckreached us, and we heard that one of the French ships had struck, but soheavy a sea was running, that no boat could be lowered to takepossession of her; several others were also severely handled, and onecompletely dismasted. Night was coming on; and as we were but a shortdistance from the shore, the admiral made a signal for the fleet toanchor, and we, rounding-to, brought up. There we lay, the wind roaringand the sea foaming and tossing around us, anxiously waiting fordaylight. I had not seen my father, who was, as I supposed, at hisstation on the upper deck, when the order came to secure the guns. Iwas still sitting on my tub joking with the other boys, who werecongratulating themselves at not being killed, when Jerry Dix camestumping along the deck towards me; he took my hand kindly, and Ithought I saw him wipe away a tear from his eye. 

"What is the matter, Jerry?" I asked, seeing that something was wrong. 

"Ben, my boy, he that's gone told me to look after you, and so I will aslong as I have a shot in the looker. You don't hear his pipe, do you?and you never will no more. There's the order to return powder to themagazine--as soon as you come up again, look out for me. "

The other boys and I hurried below to the magazine with our tubs; assoon as I came up I looked out for Jerry. 

"What were you talking about?" I asked, having a feeling that somethinghad happened to my father, though I scarcely dared to ask what. 

"As I was saying, Ben, you have a friend in me if you have no other, "said Jerry, again taking my hand. "You will grieve, my boy, I know, butit can't be helped; so I must out with it. We have not lost many men, but one has gone who was worth a dozen of the best; the Frenchman'sround shot coming aboard took off his head, and deprived you of yourfather and us of our bo'sun. "

"Do you mean to say that father's killed?" I asked in a tremblingvoice, unable to believe the fact. 

"Yes, boy, he has sounded his last pipe; we shall no more hear his voicerousing up all hands, or hailing the maintop; but he died doing hisduty. We could have better spared a worse man, but there is no help forit and so, Ben, don't pipe your eye. "

Notwithstanding Jerry's exhortations, I did, however, cry heartily as Ilay in my hammock; and even the other boys respected my sorrow, thoughit did not last long, I must confess. 

The next day was an exciting one. As the morning broke, we saw ourprize on shore, and another French ship at anchor dismasted; she, onseeing us, also ran on shore; when the _Essex_, a sixty-four, being sentin to take possession of her, was also wrecked; while another ship, the_Resolution_, seventy-four, was discovered on the rocks, the sea beatingover her; and, before assistance could be sent, most of her gallant crewhad perished. We succeeded, however, in burning the two French ships;but others, which were almost falling into our hands, by heaving theirguns overboard, managed to escape up the river, where we could notfollow. 

"Although we have gained the victory, I do not see that we have gainedmuch else for our trouble, " observed Jerry, who was a philosopher in hisway. "We have, you see, destroyed four French ships, and sent well-nightwo thousand Frenchmen, more or less, out of the world, but then we havelost two of our own ships and some hundred British seamen; and, worsethan all, our brave bo'sun, your father. "

The loss of my father was not to be repaired. I cannot say what mighthave happened had he lived, but losing him I grew up from boy to man, knocking about the world with many a chance of being knocked on thehead, and yet with not the slightest hope of ever treading thequarter-deck as an officer--not that I ever thought about that. Jerryproved my firm friend. Though fond of his grog, for my sake he keptsober, that he might better look after me. 

"Your father, Ben, lent me a helping hand when I had not a shot in thelocker and was well-nigh starving, and it's my duty to help you; and soI will, boy, as long as I can keep my fiddle-stick moving, and get acrust to put into my mouth. "

Jerry did me an essential service, for having seen better days he hadgot some learning, which was more than most men in the ship possessed, and he taught me to read and write, of which I knew nothing when I cameto sea. Even my father, though boatswain of a line-of-battle ship, hadnot been much of a scholar. However, I am not now going to write aboutmyself or my own adventures. When the ship was paid off, as my poormother could not support me, and I had no fancy for any other calling, Iwent to sea again with Jerry, who got the rating of cook's mate on boardthe _Thunderer_, seventy-four. 

I was now a stout lad, and could stand to my gun or handle a cutlass aswell as any man. We were stationed off Cadiz, with three other smallervessels, looking out for a French squadron expected to sail for thatport. Being driven off the coast by bad weather, on our return we foundthat the Frenchmen had slipped out, so away we went under all the canvaswe could set in pursuit. We had come in sight of the _Achille_, asixty-four gun ship, and, soon getting up with her, we opened ourbroadside, receiving a pretty hot fire from her in return. We wereblazing away at each other, when a noise louder than all our gunstogether sounded in my ears, and I felt myself lifted off my legs andshot along the deck. For the moment I thought the world had come to anend, or that the ship had blown up. On opening my eyes, I caught sightof a number of dead and wounded men lying around me, and the after-partof the ship in flames. Among them, seeing Jerry, I picked myself up andran to him. 

"Are you killed, Jerry?" I asked. 

"No, it's only my wooden leg knocked away, " he answered. "Just get me amop-stick, or bit of a broken pike, and I shall soon be on my pinsagain. "

Jerry having soon, spliced a piece of the mop-stick which I brought himto the stump of his leg, I set him on his pins. Meantime I found thatone of the quarter-deck guns, having burst had created the havoc I havedescribed and set the ship on fire. All hands labouring away withbuckets, we got the flames extinguished, and stood after the enemy, whowas trying to escape. We again, however, came up with her; and runningalongside, the boarders were called away, headed by our firstlieutenant, Mr Leslie, whom I followed closely. We had sprung on thedeck of the enemy, and a big Frenchman was about to cut him down, when Icaught the blow on my cutlass, and saved his life. One hundred andfifty gallant fellows coming on board after us, we quickly swept theFrenchmen from the deck, and they, crying out that they surrendered, wehauled down their flag. I did not think that Mr Leslie was aware ofthe service I had rendered him till he thanked me for it, and everafterwards was my friend. I had the good chance, also, some timeafterwards, of keeping his head above water, when our ship, the_Laurel_, was capsized in a hurricane in the West Indies; and though, ofcourse, it was what I would have done for anyone, I was very thankful tohave been the means of again saving his life, though I ran, he alwaysdeclared, no little risk of losing my own. I served with him when hecommanded the _Favourite_, sloop-of-war, and afterwards in the _Active_, frigate, when we captured a Spanish galleon, which put some hundredpounds into the pockets of each of the men, and a good many thousandsinto those of the captain. I was pretty fortunate on board other ships, in which I sailed to different parts of the world, getting back to oldEngland safe at last. 

CHAPTER TWO. 

Getting back safe home at last, like many another sailor, I might havesung--

 "'Twas in the good ship _Rover_ I sail'd the world around, For full ten years and over I ne'er touch'd British ground. And when at length I landed, I could not long remain; Found all my friends were stranded, So went to sea again. "

Jerry, the truest of them, who had at the Peace gone on shore, I couldnowhere hear of; my poor mother was dead, my brothers at sea, and mysisters either married or in service. One of the youngest, my sisterJane, I was told was living near Ryde with the family of a captain inthe navy, and on inquiry I found he was no other than my old commander, Captain Leslie. I started at once with my pockets pretty well linedwith gold, for I had just received a good lumping share of prize-money, which I was sorely puzzled to know what to do with. I was pleased atthe thought of again seeing my old captain, though I scarcely fancied hewould remember much about the little services I had done him. Whoshould open the door but Jane herself! She did not know me, but I knewher, though she had grown from a girl into a young woman, and I soonpersuaded her who I was. She asked me down into the kitchen; and afterwe had had a talk, and she had told me all about those I cared for, shesaid she would go and tell Captain Leslie and his lady, who had oftenspoken to her about me, for they had found out that she was my sister. I was sent for into the drawing-room, when the captain welcomed mekindly, and told his wife and the young ladies--for there were two ofthem, besides a number of small children, boys and girls--how I hadtwice saved his life. 

"I hope that you will stop as long as you like, and I will get you alodging close at hand, " he said in his pleasant way. "I have oftenwished that I could have shown my gratitude more than I have been ableto do. "

I told him not to trouble himself about that, as it was a pleasure to meto think that I had been of service; and as I had more money than I knewwhat to do with, and never wished to be anything but what I was, Ididn't see how he could have done more than he had done. 

"I like your independent spirit, Ben, " he said, "but perhaps a time maycome, when I may be able to serve you as I should wish. "

After a good talk of old times, I went back into the kitchen. I hadbeen sitting there for some time, when a young woman came in with thesweetest face I ever set eyes on. I got up and made a sort of bow, witha scrape of my foot and a pull at a lovelock I wore in those days, forit was not for me, I felt, to sit in the presence of one like her; whenJane, laughing, said--

"Why, Ben, don't you know Susan Willis?"

She was one of a lot of little girls I remember living next door to us, and I used to take her on my knee and sing to her, and tell her aboutLord Hawke and the _Royal George_, when I was at home for the first timeafter going to sea. Susan smiled, and put out her hand, and that momentI felt I was not my own master; her voice was as sweet as her smile, andhad the true ring of an honest heart in it. 

"She is the young ladies' own maid, " said Jane; "and they are as fond ofher as everyone is who knows her. "

"I am sure of it, " says I; "and I am thankful that I am among them. "

Susan looked down and blushed, and so I believe I did, though she couldnot see my blush through the brown skin of my face as well as I couldsee the rose on her lily cheeks. 

Well, the long and the short of it is that day after day I went up tothe house, and at last--I couldn't help it--I knew that I should bemiserable if Susan wouldn't be mine, so I asked her to marry me. How myheart did beat when she said yes. The captain and his lady wereagreeable, and when they heard that I had a matter of three hundredpounds prize-money, or more, they observed that it was a prudent match;and so I took a cottage and furnished it, not far off, that Susan mightgo up and see Mrs Leslie and the children whenever they wished, and wewere married and were as happy as the day was long. I know I was, andSusan seemed contented with her lot. 

Susan was a prudent young woman, and one day she says to me, "We must dosomething, Ben, to make a living. "

"Why do you think that, Susan?" I asked; "I have got no end ofprize-money. "

"It's just this, " says she; "you may think there is no end, but it willcome to an end, notwithstanding: what with the rent, and furnishing thehouse, and the new clothes you got me, and the weekly bills, we havespent fifty pounds of it already. Now, if we could set up a shop, oryou could turn carpenter or gardener, or go into service with someoneliving hereabouts, we could lay up the rest of the money till a rainyday; and as we have a pretty spare room, I might take in a lodger tohelp out the rent. "

I had never before thought of that sort of thing; but I was sure thatSusan was right, and I began to turn in my mind what to do. I soonfound that I was not fit for anything Susan proposed. I never was muchof a carpenter, and I knew nothing about gardening. I tried my hand inmy own garden, and had got everything shipshape as far as the palings, walks, and borders were concerned, but I could get nothing to come up. Still I kept thinking of Susan's remark, and, seeing the wisdom of it, Iknew that there was only one thing I was fit for, and that was to go tosea. I was loath to part from Susan, but there was no help for it. There came about this time a hot press at Portsmouth; and as more thanonce the pressgangs had landed in the Isle of Wight, I was very surethat unless I got stowed away securely I should be picked up. Now, thinks I, it's better to enter as a free man; and hearing that my oldship, the _Royal George_, which was lying at Spithead, was in want ofhands, after a talk with the captain and poor Susan, whose heart waswell-nigh ready to break, though she could not help acknowledging that Iwas right, I went on board and entered. Captain Leslie had given me anote to Captain Waghorn, her commander, and I was at once rated asquartermaster. The flag of the brave Admiral Kempenfelt, who had a yearbefore been appointed Admiral of the Blue, flew aboard her. We sailedshortly afterwards with a strong squadron for Brest, to look after aFrench fleet which had just left that port, conveying a large number ofmerchantmen bound for the East and West Indies. On the 12th of Decemberwe had the good fortune to discover the enemy's fleet about thirty-fiveleagues to the westward of Ushant, we being a long way to leeward of theconvoy. I heard the admiral talking to the captain. 

"We will cut off the merchantmen first, and fight the enemy afterwards, "says he. 

What he had determined on he was the man to carry out, and beforeevening we had picked up twenty merchantmen, laden with provisions andnaval and military stores, two or three regiments of soldiers, and alarge number of seamen. The _Royal George_ had to heave-to for the restof the squadron, which was a long way astern. 

Next morning the French fleet was increased by a number of other shipsappearing to leeward. The admiral was a prudent as well as a brave man, and considered that it would be wiser not to engage them, and so withour prizes we sailed back to Portsmouth. I could almost see my cottagefrom the maintop, but I could not get leave to go on shore; and as tohaving Susan off to see me, that I would not think of, for she wouldhave had to see and hear things such as I did not wish my wife towitness. We again sailed for a cruise down Channel, and, after puttinginto Torbay, once more returned to Portsmouth. Admiral Kempenfelt, wehad heard, had been appointed to the command of the fleet in theMediterranean, and we expected to sail again in a week or less. Thiswas in August 1782. Lord Howe's fleet was also lying off Spithead, among them the _Victory_, _Barfleur_, _Ocean_, and _Union_, allthree-deckers, close to us, and numerous other men-of-war and merchantvessels; indeed, the people who came off from Portsmouth declared theycould hardly see the Isle of Wight on account of the masts and spars ofthe ships. In consequence of going foreign we had been paid in goldenguineas. As soon as I had received my pay, I got leave to go on shoreto spend a couple of days, to be off again on the evening of the 27th. I had no difficulty in getting a boat, for there were hundreds pullingbackwards and forwards. I found Susan bright and well, and looking outfor me, for I had written to say I hoped to come. We went up to seeCaptain Leslie and the ladies, who had sent word that they wished us topay them a visit. They were as kind as ever. The hours went by a greatdeal too fast. 

A sailor's wife has a hard trial to bear, to have her husband at homefor two or three days, and then away for as many years or more; however, I hoped to be at home again in less time than that, and so I cheered upSusan, and promised for her sake to take the best care of myself Icould. She had not given up her notion of taking in a female lodger. We were standing in the porch of the cottage on the last day, when wesaw a young lady in black, leading a little boy, coming along the road. The little chap had a sailor's hat and jacket on, though he did not seemmuch more than three years old. 

"She is some officer's widow, " I remarked to Susan as we watched her. 

"She seems almost too young to be the mother of that child; she is hissister, more likely, " answered Susan. 

The young lady had stopped, and was looking about her; presently shecame on to us. 

"Can you tell me if I am likely to find a lodging hereabouts for a fewdays?" she asked in a sweet voice; "I have left my luggage at the inn inthe village, but I do not wish to remain there, and I feel very tiredwith walking about. "

"Will you like to walk in, miss, and rest yourself?" said Susan, "foryou do look tired and ill too. "

The young lady's cheek was very pale. 

"I shall indeed be thankful if you will let me do so, " she answered, andcoming in she sank down in a chair. 

Susan got tea ready; it seemed to revive her a little; the child, Iobserved, did not call her mother; and as I saw no wedding ring on herfinger, I began to think that Susan was right about her not being thechild's mother. Susan was evidently taken with the young lady, and, calling me out, she said that she would ask her to stop, as she did notseem fit to walk back to the village. I offered to go to the inn andfetch her things, but she had a bag in her hand which she said containedsufficient for the night, and she would send for them the next morning. I soon afterwards had to go off to the ship, so I saw no more of theyoung lady, who had gone to her room with the little boy. 

CHAPTER THREE. 

What a change it was from the quiet cottage, with my sweet Susan by myside, to the lower-deck of the big ship, crowded with people, not onlyher own seamen and marines, but some hundreds of visitors, women andchildren! some of them the honest wives of the men, but others drunken, swearing, loud-talking creatures--a disgrace to their sex. Quarrellingand fighting and the wildest uproar were taking place; and then therewere a number of Jews with pinchbeck watches, and all sorts of trumperywares, which they were eager to exchange for poor Jack's golden guineas. Some of them went away in the evening, but many more came back the nextmorning to drive their trade, and would have come as long as coin was tobe picked up. 

I am not likely to forget that next morning, the 28th of August. It wasa fine summer's morning, and there was just a little sea on, with astrongish breeze blowing from the eastward, but not enough to preventboats coming off from Portsmouth. I counted forty sail-of-the-line, adozen frigates and smaller ships of war, and well-nigh three hundredmerchant vessels, riding, as of course we were, to the flood with ourheads towards Cowes. 

You will understand that under the lower-deck was fitted a cistern, intowhich the sea-water was received and then pumped up by a hand pump, fixed in the middle of the gun-deck, for the purpose of washing the twolower gun-decks; the water was let into this cistern by a pipe whichpassed through the ship's side, and which was secured by a stop-cock, onthe inside. It had been found the morning before that this water-cock, which was about three feet below the water line, was out of order andmust be repaired. 

The foreman came off from the dockyard, and said that it was necessaryto careen the ship over to port sufficiently to raise the mouth of thepipe, which went through the ship's timbers below, clean out of thewater, that he and his men might work at it. Between seven and eighto'clock the order was given to run the larboard guns out as far as theycould go, the larboard ports being opened. The starboard guns were alsorun in amidships and secured by tackles, the moving over of this greatweight of metal bringing the larboard lower-deck port-cills just levelwith the water. The men were then able to get at the mouth of the pipe. For an hour the ship remained in this position, while the carpenterswere at work. We had been taking in ruin and shot in the previous day, and now a sloop called the _Lark_, which belonged to three brothers, came alongside with the last cargo of rum; she having been secured tothe larboard side, the hands were piped to clear lighter. 

I had been on duty on the main-deck; several ladies had come off earlyin the morning, friends and relations of the officers. Some of themwere either in the ward-room or gun-room, and others were walking thequarter-deck with the help of their gentlemen friends, as it was no easymatter, the ship heeling over as much as she was then doing. Theythought it very good fun, however, and were laughing and talking as theytried to keep their feet from slipping. I had been sent with a messageto Mr Hollingbury, our third lieutenant, who was officer of the watch;he seemed out of temper, and gave me a rough answer, as he generallydid. He was not a favourite indeed with us, and we used to call him"Jib-and-Foresail Jack"; for when he had the watch at night he wasalways singing out, "Up jib, " and "Down jib"; "Up foresail, " "Downforesail"; and from a habit he had of moving his fingers about whenwalking the quarter-deck, we used to say that he had been anorgan-player in London. Just as I got back to the main-deck, I caught aglimpse of a young lady in black, leading a little boy; she turned herface towards me, and I saw that she was the very same who had come to mywife's cottage the previous evening--indeed I should have known her bythe little boy by her side. I had to return to the quarter-deck again, and when I once more came back to the main-deck I could nowhere see her;but whether she went into the ward-room, or had gone below, I could notlearn. I asked several people, for I thought she might have brought meoff a message from Susan, and I might, I fancied, have been of use toher in finding the person she wished to see. While I was looking about, Mr Webb, the purser's clerk, who had received orders to go on shore incharge of a boat, came up and ordered me to call the crew away; a coupleof midshipmen were going with him. This took up some time, andprevented me from finding the young lady. Just then, as I went up toreport the boat gone to Mr Hollingbury, Mr Williams, the carpenter, came up from the lower-deck, and requested that he would be pleased toorder the ship to be righted, as she was heeling over more than shecould bear. The lieutenant gave one of his usual short answers to thecarpenter, who went below, looking as if he did not at all like it. Hewas back again, however, before I had left the deck, when he said in ashort quick way, as if there was not a moment to lose--

"If you please, sir, the ship is getting past her bearings; it's my dutyto tell you, she will no longer bear it. "

"If you think, sir, you can manage the ship better than I can, you hadbetter take the command, " answered Mr Hollingbury in an angry tone, twitching his fingers and turning away. 

About this time there were a good many men in the waist who heard whatthe carpenter had said, and what answer the lieutenant gave. They allknew, as I did, that the ship must be in great danger, or the carpenterwould not have spoken so sharply as he had. 

A large number of the crew, however, were below; some on board thelighter, others at the yard-tackles and stay-falls, hoisting in casks;some in the spirit-room stowing away, others bearing the casks down thehatchway, all busy clearing the lighter. The greater number, it will beunderstood, were on the larboard side, and that brought the ship downstill more to larboard. There was a little more sea on than before, which had begun to wash into the lower-deck ports, and, having noescape, there was soon a good weight of water on the lower-deck. Several of the men, not dreaming of danger, were amusing themselves, laughing and shouting, catching mice, for there were a good many of themin the ship, which the water had driven out of their quarters. It's mybelief, however, that the casks of rum hoisted in, and lying on thelarboard side, before they could be lowered into the hold, helped verymuch to bring the ship down. 

There stood the lieutenant, fuming at the way the carpenter had spokento him. Suddenly, however, it seemed to occur to him that the carpenterwas right, and he ordered the drummer to beat to quarters, that the gunsmight be run into their places, and the ship righted. 

"Dick Tattoo" was shouted quick enough along the deck, for everyone nowsaw that not a moment was to be lost, as the ship had just then heeledover still more. The moment the drummer was called, all hands begantumbling down the hatchways to their quarters, that they might run intheir guns. 

Just then I saw a young midshipman, whom I had observed going off withMr Webb, standing at the entrance-port singing out for the boat; he hadforgotten his dirk, he said, and had come back to fetch it. The boat, however, had got some distance off, and he was left behind. Poorfellow, it was a fatal piece of forgetfulness for him. 

"Never mind, Jemmy Pish, " said little Crispo, one of the smallestmidshipmen I ever saw, for he was only nine years old. "There isanother boat going ashore directly, and you can go in her. "

He gave an angry answer, and went back into the gun-room, swearing athis ill-luck. 

The men had just got hold of the gun-tackles, and were about to bowseout their guns, which had been run in amidship, some five hundred ofthem or more having for the purpose gone over to the larboard side, which caused the ship to heel still more, when the water made a rushinto the larboard lower-deck ports, and, do all they could, the guns ranin again upon them. Feeling sure that the ship could not be righted, I, seizing little Crispo, made a rush to starboard, and, dashing through anopen port, found myself outside the ship, which at that moment wentcompletely over, her masts and spars sinking under the water. Somehowor other, the young midshipman broke from me and slipped over into thesea. I thought the poor little fellow would have been lost, but hestruck out bravely, which was, as it turned out, the best thing he couldhave done, as he could swim well. 

I had just before seen all the port-holes crowded with seamen, trying toescape, and jamming one another so that they could scarcely move one wayor the other. The ship now lying down completely on her larboardbroadside, suddenly the heads of most of the men disappeared, theyhaving dropped back into the ship, many of those who were holding onbeing hauled down by others below them. It was, you see, as if they hadbeen trying to get out of a number of chimneys, with nothing for theirfeet to rest upon. Directly afterwards there came such a rush of windthrough the ports that my hat was blown off. It was the air from thehold, which, having no other vent, escaped as the water pouring in tookup its space. The whole side of the ship was, I said, covered withseamen and marines, and here and there a Jew maybe, and a good manywomen and a few children shrieking and crying out for mercy. Never haveI heard such a fearful wailing. One poor woman near me shrieked out forher husband, but he was nowhere to be seen, and she thought that he wasbelow with those who by this time were drowned; for there were hundredswho had been on the lower-decks, and in the hold, who had never evenreached the ports, and some who had fallen back into the sea as itrushed in at the larboard side. She implored me to help her, and I saidI would if I could. We could see boats putting off from the ships allround us to our help, and here and there people swimming for their liveswho had leaped from the stern-ports, or had been on the lower-deck. Icould not help thinking of our fine old admiral, and wished that hemight be among them; but he was not, for he was writing in his cabin atthe time, and when the captain tried to let him know that the ship wassinking, he found the door so jammed by her heeling over that he couldnot open it, and was obliged to rush aft and make his escape through astern-port to save his life. This I afterwards heard. 

As the ship had floated for some minutes, I began to hope that she wouldcontinue in the same position, and that I and others around me on herside might be saved. I hoped this for my own sake, and still more forthat of my dear wife. I had been thinking of her all the time, for Iknew that it would go well-nigh to break her heart if I was taken fromher, as it were, just before her eyes. Suddenly I found, to my horror, that the ship was settling down; the shrieks of despair which rent theair on every side, not only from women, but from many a man I had lookedupon as a stout fellow, rang in my ears. Knowing that if I went downwith the ship I should have a hard job to rise again, I seized the poorwoman by the dress, and leaped off with her into the sea; but, to myhorror, her dress tore, and before I could get hold of her again she wasswept from me. I had struck out for some distance, when I felt myself, as it were, drawn back, and, on looking round, I saw the ship's upperworks disappear beneath the water, which was covered with a mass ofhuman beings, shrieking and lifting up their hands in despair. Presently they all disappeared. Just then I felt myself drawn down bysomeone getting hold of my foot under the water, but, managing to kickoff my shoe, I quickly rose again and struck out away from the spot, impelled by instinct rather than anything else, for I had no time forthought; then directly afterwards up came the masts almost with a bound, as it were, and stood out of the water, with a slight list only tostarboard, with the fore, main, and mizzen tops all above water, as wellas part of the bowsprit and ensign-staff, with the flag still hoisted toit. Many people were floating about, making for the tops and rigging, several of them terrorstricken, who could not swim, catching hold ofthose that could. I thought, on seeing this, that it would be wiser tokeep clear of them, till I could reach a boat coming towards the wreckat no great distance off. I was pretty nigh exhausted when I reachedthe boat, in which were a waterman and two young gentlemen, who happenedto be crossing from Ryde to Portsmouth at the time. They soon hauled mein, and I begged them to pull on and save some of the drowning people. As neither of them could row, quickly recovering I took one of the oars, and was about to sit down to help the waterman, when I saw, not far off, several sheep, pigs, and fowls swimming in all directions, whilehencoops and all sorts of articles were floating about. 

"Let us save the poor beasts, " cried one of the young gentlementhoughtlessly, just as young people are apt to speak sometimes. We, ofcourse, took no heed of what he said, when our fellow-creatures had tobe saved, and were pulling on when my eye fell on one of the sheepswimming away from us, which seemed to have someone holding on to itsback. We put the boat round and followed, when, what was my surprise tosee a child hanging on with both its hands to the sheep's back! On asecond look, it struck me that he was the very same little boy I hadseen at my cottage, and who had come on board that morning with theyoung lady. 

"Gently, now, " I cried out, afraid that the little fellow might let gohis hold before we were up to him, but he held on bravely. In half aminute we were alongside the sheep, and I had the child safely in myarms. The young gentlemen hauled the poor sheep into the boat, for itwould not have done to let it drown after having saved the child. I nowsaw that the little fellow was the same I had supposed, for he had hishat fastened on under his chin, and his sailor's jacket and trousers on;he looked more astonished than frightened, and when I asked him how hehad got into the water he could not tell me. 

"Where is the young lady? is she your mother or aunt?" I asked. 

He had no answer to give, but only gazed about with a startled look. Hemight have been younger than I had supposed; at all events, not a wordcould I get out of him to let me know who he was. One of the younggentlemen wished to hold him in his arms, so I gave the little fellow tohim, and, taking the oar, we began to pull back towards the wreck to tryand save any who might be still swimming about. The tops and riggingwere by this time full of people who had managed to reach them, whileseveral hanging on by ropes were still floating in the water. A numberof boats from the men-of-war had, however, got up to the spot, and theywere better able to go in among the spars and rigging than was our lightwherry with the sea which was then running. Now that I was safe myself, I was anxious to learn who among my shipmates had escaped; but then Ihad the little boy to look after, who was all wet and shivering, and Iknew too that the news of the accident would soon reach Susan, and thatshe would be in a fearful state of alarm if I did not let her know thatI had been preserved. I told the young gentlemen this, and begged themto let the boatman put me and the child ashore at Ryde, promising him aguinea if he would do so. They were strangers who had been making atour on the island, and, though they were in a hurry to get back toPortsmouth, they at once consented to do as I wished. 

As we had a fair wind we hoisted the sail, and, soon getting away fromthe scene of the disaster, quickly reached the hard at Ryde. Afterthanking the young gentlemen and the waterman, I had jumped on shorewith the child in my arms, and was stooping down to get hold of thesheep which I thought ought to be mine, or rather the little boy's, whenthe waterman stopped me. 

"No, no, master! you are not going to have that animal, " he said; "Iwant him. "

"We should not have stopped to pick up the sheep if it had not been forthe little boy, " observed one of the young gentlemen; "and so, as thesheep's life was saved on his account, the animal should go where hegoes. "

The waterman, however, seemed determined to have the sheep. 

"Come, master, " said I, "I will give you half a guinea, and that is asmuch as you will get for the animal. "

The waterman still held out. 

"Come, you shall have a guinea, " said I, getting the money out of mypocket. 

"And we will give five shillings apiece, " said one of the younggentlemen. 

"Come, that must settle the matter, " said the other, giving the sheep alift out of the boat. 

Still the man grumbled, wanting to get more, but, handing the guinea tothe young gentlemen, for the little boy being wet to the skin, --as ofcourse I was, though that did not matter, --I wanted to be off home. Igot hold of the poor sheep and dragged it along, thinking thus to settlethe matter. What had come over the waterman I do not know, but, springing out, he was going to catch hold of the sheep, when his footslipped, and in he went between the boat and the hard. 

"Go on, sailor, go on, " cried the young gentlemen, laughing, while thewaterman, now wet as I was, scrambled out, and, seeing that there was nouse in following, got into his boat. Feeling very much obliged to theyoung gentlemen, and sorry I could not stop to thank them again, Ihurried up as fast as I could to my home. 

CHAPTER FOUR. 

As I walked up the hill towards my cottage many people stopped, surprised at seeing me dripping wet, carrying a child and leading asheep, and asked me all sorts of questions about the wreck; but I wouldnot delay to answer them, except very briefly, or I should never havegot home. I hoped that Susan would not have heard of the ship goingdown, still I half expected to meet her coming to learn if I hadescaped; and I thought of the joy it would be to her to find that I wasalive and well. As I drew near I saw that the cottage door was open;still Susan did not come out. My heart began to sink within me. Iturned the sheep into the garden, and shut the wicket gate. I did notmind just then if the poor animal ate up all the flowers and vegetables;it deserved the best I could give it for the service it had rendered thelittle boy in my arms. No one was in the outer room, but I heardvoices, and, opening the door of Susan's room, I saw Mrs Leslie and thetwo young ladies, with my sister Jane, standing by Susan's bed. Jane, catching sight of me, rushed out of the room and threw her arms round myneck. 

"Thank Heaven, you are alive, Ben!" she exclaimed. "It will bring Susanto; don't be afraid. The captain has gone off for the doctor. She sawthe ship go down, and went off in a faint, thinking that all on boardmust be lost. I, fortunately, was with her. The captain, who waslooking through his glass at the time, also saw the ship go over, andcame down at once with the ladies to comfort her, he intending to go offto Spithead to learn all about the matter, and to hear if you had beensaved. He, however, was first to go round to send up the doctor, andthat was the reason he missed you. "

"But, Ben, " she asked, "is this the child Susan was telling me about?And the poor young lady, what has become of her?"

I just told Jane what had happened; but I could not say much, for allthe time I was speaking I felt ready to drop, thinking that maybe Susanwas gone altogether, but that she had not the heart to tell me so. Isaw, however, that the ladies were burning feathers and holding salts toher; and at last Mrs Leslie came out, and after I had told her all Ihad said to Jane, with which she was much interested, she begged I wouldnot be cast down, as she hoped my wife would soon again come round. Shethen went back to Susan's room, but soon returned. 

"You may go in, " she said, "and maybe, if she opens her eyes, the sightof you will do her more good than anything else. "

I did as she bid me, but as I leaned over Susan my heart sank, for shedid not seem to breathe at all, and looked so pale that I thought shemust really be dead. Still the young ladies kept applying the burntfeathers and salts, and then one of them held a small looking-glass fora moment over her mouth, and showed me that there was breath on it, andthat made me feel a little less miserable. At last the doctor came; hefelt her pulse, and looked very grave; then he opened her mouth, and, having given her something, stood watching its effects. 

Soon I could see that she was beginning to breathe, a slight colourhaving come back to her cheeks, and then she opened her eyes, but sheseemed not to be looking at anything. Presently, however, she began tomove them, and uttering a faint cry she sat up, and, throwing her armsaround my neck, burst into tears. 

"She will do now very well, " said the doctor; and he and the ladies leftthe room. In a little time, however, they came back and called me out, telling Jane to go and sit with my wife. The doctor showed me somephysic bottles on the mantelpiece, and, saying that Jane knew what to dowith them, he began to make inquiries about the wreck and the littleboy, and how I had saved him. 

I found that the ladies had got off his wet clothes, which Jane had hungup to dry before the fire, while they had wrapped him up in theirshawls. The only thing which the ladies found in his pockets was alittle case. On opening it they saw that it contained a picture--alikeness of the child himself, just as he was then dressed. It was butslightly wet, as the water had not had time to soak it, so it was soondried. 

"It must be carefully preserved, as it may assist to prove who he is, "observed Mrs Leslie, though how that was to be was more than I couldtell. "It is slightly done in water-colours, evidently by a lady, "observed Mrs Leslie. 

She examined it carefully, but could find no name either on the pictureor the case. It was placed on the mantelpiece to show to the captain assoon as he arrived. Jane then took the child in to see Susan, whokissed him again and again, as if he were her own child restored to her, and from that moment she felt towards him almost as if she was hismother. Of course I had to go over the whole story again, but I couldonly narrate what I knew. 

"We must wait to hear more till the captain comes back, " said MrsLeslie. "He will be truly thankful to find that you have escaped, Ben, and then we will consider what must be done with this little child. Perhaps his father or mother may have escaped and will claim him, or thepoor young lady who you say took him on board, though you think she wasnot his mother. "

"Please, ma'am, " I said, "though I cannot claim any merit for saving thechild--for it was the sheep saved him--I would like that my wife shouldhave charge of him, and I am sure she would, for she said so just now. I say it at once for fear anybody else should ask to have him and Isuspect that there will be a good many who will make the offer. "

"We will hear what the captain thinks, " said Mrs Leslie. "But youcertainly have a better claim than anybody else, though, as I saidbefore, probably some of his friends will come and claim him. "

I thought so too, but I knew in the meantime that it would please Susangreatly to have charge of the little fellow. 

At last the ladies, leaving Jane with us, returned home; and the doctorwent to visit his other patients, saying he would look in again duringthe evening. 

By that time Susan was able to sit up and tell me more about the younglady. She had got up very early in the morning, and, begging to havesome breakfast for herself and the little boy, said that she wanted topay a visit to a ship at Spithead, and would be back in the evening. She had gone away, taking her bag with her, but left a letter with asovereign in it, and a few words to the effect that she wished to payher rent and board in advance. This, Susan thought, she did that itmight not be supposed that she was going away without paying. 

I went down to the inn, at which we understood the young lady had lefther trunk, but I could hear nothing of it; the landlord said that nosuch person as I described had come there. I made inquiries at otherpublic-houses, thinking that there might be some mistake, but I got thesame answer. 

Late in the evening Captain Leslie came back, and, shaking me by thehand, told me that he had been afraid I was lost, and how glad he was Ihad escaped. He had been over to Portsmouth, and had visited the_Victory_, and other ships on board which the people from the wreck hadbeen carried, inquiring everywhere for me. He had heard a great dealabout the wreck and the way in which many had been saved. I willmention what he then told me, and what I picked up from others. 

Out of nearly a thousand souls who had been alive and well on board theship in the morning, between seven and eight hundred were now lifeless. Besides our gallant admiral, who had been drowned while sitting writingin his cabin, three of the lieutenants, including the one whoseobstinacy had produced the disaster, the larger number of themidshipmen, the surgeon, master, and the major and several otherofficers of marines, were drowned, as were some ladies who had justbefore come on board. Sixty of the marines had gone on shore in themorning, a considerable number of the rest who were on the upper deckwere saved, but the greater number of the crew, many of whom were in thehold stowing away the rum casks, had perished; indeed, out of the ship'swhole complement, only seventy seamen escaped with their lives. 

I was sorry to hear that Mr Williams, the carpenter, whose advice, hadit been followed, would have saved the ship, was drowned; his body waspicked up directly afterwards, and carried on board the _Victory_, whereit was laid on the hearth before the galley-fire, in the hopes that hemight recover, but life was extinct. 

Captain Waghorn, though he could not swim, was saved. After trying towarn the admiral, he rushed across the deck and leaped into the sea, calling others to follow his example. A young gentleman, Mr Pierce, was near him. 

"Can you swim?" he asked. 

"No, " was the answer. 

"Then you must try, my lad, " he said, and hurled him into the water. 

Two men, fortunately good swimmers, followed. One of them getting holdof the captain, supported him, and swam away from the ship; the otherfell upon Mr Pierce, of whom he got hold and supported above water tillthe ship settled, when he placed him on the maintop, and both weresaved. The captain, in the meantime, was struggling in the water, andwas with great difficulty kept afloat. A boat, with our seventhlieutenant, Mr Philip Durham, had on the very instant the ship wentover come alongside, when she was drawn down, and all in her were throwninto the water. Mr Durham had just time to throw off his coat beforethe ship sank and left him floating among men and hammocks. A drowningmarine caught hold of his waistcoat, and drew him several times underwater. Finding that he could not free himself, and that both would bedrowned, he threw his legs round a hammock, and, unbuttoning hiswaistcoat with one hand, he allowed it to be drawn off, and then swamfor the main-shrouds. When there he caught sight of the captainstruggling in the water, and a boat coming to take him off he refusedassistance, till Captain Waghorn and the seaman supporting him werereceived on board. The captain's son, poor lad, who had been below, lost his life. 

I heard that the body of the marine was washed on shore ten daysafterwards with the lieutenant's waistcoat round his arm, and apencil-case, having his initials on it, found safe in the pocket. Therewas only one woman saved out of the three hundred on board, and Ibelieve she was the one I had helped out of the port; her name was Horn, and I was glad to find that her husband was saved also. It was curiousthat the youngest midshipman, Mr Crispo, and probably one of thesmallest children, our little chap, should have been saved, while somany strong men were drowned. 

I have known many a man come to grief through having too much grogaboard; but one of the midshipmen, who had taken more than was good forhim, having overslept himself at the Star and Garter on the beach atPortsmouth, when he awoke in the morning found that his ship was at thebottom, and most of his messmates drowned. 

Our first lieutenant, Mr Saunders, who had been busy in the wings, wasdrowned; his body, with his gold watch and some money in his pocket, waspicked up, floating under the stern of an Indiaman off the Motherbank. 

Of the three brothers who owned the sloop, two perished and one wassaved. It was owing to her being lashed alongside that the shiprighted, or she would have probably remained on her side. I was a goodswimmer myself, and I should, had I not been, have lost my life longago; and I have often thought what a pity it is that all seamen do notlearn to swim. Many more might have been saved; but those who could notswim got hold of the men who could, and all were drowned together. Ifall had struck out from the ship when they found her going over, agreater number would have been picked up; instead of that, afraid totrust themselves in the water, they stuck by her, and they and a largenumber who got into the launch were drawn down with the ship, and allperished. The foreman of the plumbers, whose boat was lashed head andstern, was with all his men drawn into the vortex as the ship went down, and not one of them escaped. It was a sad sight, ten days or afortnight afterwards, to see the bodies which were picked up; some wereburied in Kingston churchyard, near Portsmouth, and a large number in anopen spot to the east of Ryde. Some time afterwards a monument was putup in Kingston churchyard, to the memory of the brave Admiral Kempenfeltand his ship's company. A court of inquiry was held, when CaptainWaghorn was honourably acquitted, and it came out, that in so rotten astate was the side of the ship, that some large portion of her framemust have given way, and it is only a wonder that she did not go downbefore. When I come to think that she had upwards of one thousand tonsof dead weight and spirits on board, it is surprising that she shouldhave held together. 

An attempt was made soon afterwards to raise the _Royal George_, andvery nearly succeeded, as she was lifted up and moored some way from thespot where she went down; but a heavy gale coming on, some of thelighters sank, and the gear gave way, and she was again lost. It waswhispered that on account of her rotten state the Admiralty had no wishto have her afloat, but that might have been scandal. 

Having now said everything which people will care to hear about the fineold ship, I will go on with the history of the little boy saved from thewreck. 

CHAPTER FIVE. 

I must pass over the next seven years of my life and that of my youngcharge Harry, for that was the name Susan was certain the young ladycalled him. He sometimes spoke of himself as "Jack Tar, " but probablyhe had heard his friends call him so, because he was dressed like alittle sailor. We were puzzled what surname to give him. The captainand Mrs Leslie and the young ladies and Susan and I talked it over, andat last settled to call him George, after the old ship; one of the youngladies thought Saint for saint would sound better, and so he went by thename of "Harry Saint George. "

I was at first greatly afraid that he would be taken from us, for asubscription was made for the families of those who perished when theship foundered, and when his story was known a good share was given tohim, besides other contributions, and many people wanted to have him. The captain stood my friend, as he did in all other matters, andinsisted that as I pulled him out of the water, and the only friend ofhis we knew of had stopped at our house, Susan and I ought to havecharge of him. He would have taken him himself, but he had a good manyyoung children of his own, and thought that Harry would do better withus, and that he could still look after his education and interests as hegrew older. 

As soon as Harry could speak, he said that he would be a sailor, thathis father was one, and that he would be one too; but who his father hadbeen was a puzzle, as about that, of course, he really knew nothing. Hecould not tell us either anything about those he had seen on board, orhow he had got hold of the sheep, though it is my belief that someonemust have placed him on the animal's back, intending to lash him to it, but that the ship had gone down before there was time to do so. Perhapsit was the last act of the poor young lady, or maybe of his father, ifhis father, as seemed probable, was on board. 

As may be supposed, that sheep was a great pet with us and the captain'sfamily as long as it lived. Harry was very fond of it, and would rideabout on its back, holding on just as he had done when the creaturesaved him from drowning. People used to come and see him ride about, and the ladies made a gay silk collar for the sheep, and also a bridle, but Harry would not use it, and always held on by the wool, saying thatthe sheep always well knew where to go. I railed off a piece of thegarden and laid it down in grass, and on one side I built a house forthe animal; but as there was not food enough in the little plot, thecaptain had it up to a paddock near his house, where it used to scamperabout with Harry on its back and enjoy itself. 

"It's an ill wind that blows no one good, " and people used to say thatthe foundering of the _Royal George_ was a fortunate circumstance forthe sheep, as it would long before have been under the butcher's knife. 

The captain, meantime, made all the inquiries he could to try anddiscover the friends of the little fellow, but in vain; none of thosewho were saved remembered to have seen the young lady talking to anyone, though two or three recollected seeing her, as I had, coming on board. 

Susan, like a thoughtful woman as she was, would not let the little boywear out his clothes, but at once set to work to make him a new suit, while she carefully laid up those he had had on, with his hat, and thelittle picture in the case, to assist, as she said, in proving who hewas should any of his relatives appear. Still time went on, and thereappeared less chance of that than ever. 

I spent a very happy time on shore with Susan: as we had no children ofour own, we loved Harry as much as if he was our own son. Still I couldnot be idle; had it not been, indeed, for the captain, I should havebeen pretty soon pressed and compelled to go to sea, whether I liked itor not. Susan would have gladly kept me at home, which was but natural;still, I was too young to settle down in idleness, and should have grownashamed of myself; so, as seamen were badly wanted for the navy, I atlast entered, with the captain's advice, on board a fifty-gun ship, the_Leander_, he promising to use his influence to obtain a boatswain'swarrant for me. While I was serving on board her we had a desperateaction with a French eighty-gun ship, the _Couronne_, when we lostthirteen killed, and many more wounded, but succeeded in beating her offand putting her to flight. 

Peace came soon after this, and five years passed before I obtained mywarrant as boatswain. The prize-money I had received enabled me in themeantime to keep Susan and Harry as I wished; and when I becameboatswain she was able to draw a fair sum of money every year. Duringthose years I spent five months at home, which was a pretty long timeconsidering what generally falls to the lot of seamen. 

Harry had grown into a fine manly boy, and the more I looked at him themore convinced I felt that he was of gentle birth; he called Susanmother, and me father, though he knew that we were not his parents. Hehad good manners, and, considering his age, a fair amount of learning, for he used to go up every day to the captain's to receive instructionfrom the children's governess. At last the captain considered that heought to be sent to school, and arranged that he should go with his ownson, Master Reginald, who was about his age, though Harry was thestrongest, and, I may say, the most manly of the two. 

While I was at home I taught Harry as much as he could learn of what Imay call the first principles of seamanship, --to knot and splice, andbox the compass. I also built and rigged a model ship, of which he wasvery fond. 

"You will not forget all I have taught you, my boy, " I said, when I wasgoing off to sea. 

"No, indeed I will not, father, " he answered; "and when you come back Ihope I shall have learnt more, for I will do my best to pick upinformation from everybody who will teach me. The captain, I know, will, when I come home for the holidays, and there is old Dick Wright, who has been at sea all his life, settled near us, and he will tell meanything I ask him; though there is no one teaches me so well as you do, father. "

In those piping times of peace the ships were not kept so long incommission as they were during the war, so after serving three years asboatswain of the _Huzzar_ frigate, on the West India and North Americanstation, I once more returned home. I found Harry more determined thanever to go to sea, and he told me that Reginald Leslie had made up hismind to go also. 

"Does his father wish it?" I asked. 

"Oh yes, he has no objection to his going; and do you know, father, thecaptain says that he will get him and me appointed to the same ship withyou, provided she is sent to a healthy station, " was the answer. 

"Well, Harry, I shall be very glad to have charge of you both, and I ampleased that the captain thinks so well of you; though, to be sure, hehas always shown that, " said I. 

Susan was much cast down at the thoughts of losing Harry, but she couldnot help acknowledging that it was time he should go to sea, if he wasgoing at all. 

"But a ship's boy has a hard life of it, as you have often told me, Ben, " she said, "and he has been gently nurtured, and brought up, I maysay, like a young gentleman. "

"And a young gentleman he will still remain; for, you may depend on it, the captain intends to get him placed on the quarter-deck; and, thoughhe himself has retired from the service, he has interest enough to getme and the lads appointed to some ship commanded by a friend of his own;and I flatter myself that, from the certificate I got from my lastcaptain, he will have no difficulty about that. "

We had almost given up any expectations of ever meeting Harry's friends. I own that I did not care very much about this, for once on thequarter-deck I felt sure he would make his own way; and though it mightbe of advantage to him to find them out, it was possible that it mightbe very much to the contrary. 

I was one day going up the street of Ryde with Harry, when we saw acrowd of women and children and a few men and boys standing round themodel of a full-rigged ship, and we heard a loud voice singing out--

 "Cease, rude Boreas, stormy railer; List, ye landsmen all, to me; Messmates, hear a brother sailor Sing the dangers of the sea. "

Then came the sound of a fiddle, and the singer continued his song tohis own accompaniment. 

"Let us stop and hear the old sailor, " said Harry, drawing me towardsthe crowd. 

We found room just opposite where the man was standing. I then saw thathe had a timber leg, and that the ship was placed on a stand with a lumpof lead fixed to the end of a bent iron rod at the bottom, which made itrock backwards and forwards. 

"Oh yes! oh yes! all you good people, lend a ear to poor Jack's yarn, "he continued; "and you pretty girls with the blue eyes and rosy cheeks, and you with the dark ones, who does more harm with your blinkers, whenyou've the mind, among the hearts of young fellows than ever our shipsgets from the guns of the Frenchmen. There aren't many men in the navyof Old England who has seen queerer sights, or gone through more ups anddowns in life than the timber-toed old tar who stands afore you, and wholost his leg in action aboard the _Thunderer_, seventy-four, when wetook a Frenchman and hauled down his colours afore he knew where he was. There aren't many either, I've a notion, who've been worse rewarded, ormore kicked about by cruel fate, or you wouldn't find him playing thefiddle and singing songs for your amusement. Howsomdever, that'sneither here nor there, and I daresay you wish to hear the end of hisstave, and so you shall when each on you has helped to load this herecraft with such coppers or sixpences or shillings as you may chance tohave in your pockets, and I daresay now a golden guinea wouldn't sinkher. Just look at her, always a-tossing up and down on the salt sea;that's what we poor sailors have to go through all our lives. She's acorrect model of the _Royal George_, that famous ship I once servedaboard when she carried the flag of the great Admiral Lord Hawke; andwhich now lies out there at Spithead fathoms deep below the briny ocean, with all her drownded crew of gallant fellows, no more to hear thetempest howling, or fight the battles of their king and country!"

I had been looking hard at the old sailor, whose eye just then fallingon me, he recognised me at once as a brother salt. 

"What, Jerry Dix!" I exclaimed; he looked at me very hard. "Don't youknow me, old ship? have you forgotten little Ben Truscott?"

"What, Ben, my boy! Give us your flipper, old chum. I thought as how Ihad seen you afore when my blinkers first caught sight of you, but Ididn't like to make a wrong landfall, " he exclaimed. 

We shook hands heartily. I was truly glad to see the old man again. 

"I see that you have become a warrant officer, " he said, eyeing myuniform. "That's better nor nothing, though I did think as how you'dhave been higher up the ratlines. And are you at anchor hereabouts?"

I told him that I was living in the neighbourhood, and begged him tocome at once to my cottage and see my missus, and have a talk about oldtimes. 

"In course I will, Ben, " he answered. Then recollecting his audience, he thought that some apology was necessary for leaving them so abruptly;turning round, therefore, and eyeing his model of the _Royal George_, ashe called her, though she was more like a frigate than a line-of-battleship, he said--

"You'll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but you see as how I've fallenin with an old ship, who I've known as man and boy these twenty years, so I must just now keep him company; but I'll come back to-morrow andfinish that there stave I was a-singing, and spin you more of mywonderful yarns, if you'll just be good enough to come here and meet me;now mind, my little dears, bring plenty of coppers; and you, my prettygirls, bring something in your purses for poor Jack; I never takes nomoney from ugly ones--it's a rule of mine, it's wonderful too how few Iever see's; so good-bye, and blessings on all of you; and now, Ben, we'll up anchor and make sail. "

Jerry on this unshipped his model from the stand, which he took underhis arm, while he placed the vessel on his shoulder, and with a stoutstick in his hand came stumping on alongside me. 

"Well, Jerry, I am truly glad to see you, " I said; "what have you beendoing with yourself since we parted?"

"That would be a hard matter to say, Ben, except as how I've beenknocking about the country from east to west, and north to south, spinning yarns without end, and singing and fiddling, and doing allsorts of odd dodges to pick up a living. They were honest ones though, so don't be afraid. "

"And the yarns were all quite true, Jerry, eh?" I could not helpasking. 

"As to that, maybe I have spun a tough one now and then, " answeredJerry, with a quizzical look. 

"About losing your leg aboard the _Thunderer_, for instance, " Iremarked. 

"Well, I can't say quite so true as that, for I did lose my leg aboardthe _Thunderer_. To be sure, it was my wooden one. Why, don't youmind, Ben, how you got a mop-stick and helped me to splice it? Itsounds better too, do you see, to talk of the _Thunderer_. The nametickles the people's ears, and it wouldn't do to tell 'em I lost my legby falling down the main hatchway when half-seas over; so, do you see, Igenerally sticks to the _Thunderer_ story, as it's nearer the truth thanany other, and doesn't so much hurt my conscience. "

I had till then forgotten the circumstance, and I felt that it would notdo to press old Jerry too hard. I introduced him to Susan, who made himwelcome, for she had often heard me speak about the old man; she soongot tea ready, and a few substantials; then I got out a bottle of rumand mixed some grog, which I knew would be more to his taste. He wasvery happy, and many a long yarn he spun. Harry listened to themeagerly, and seemed much taken with him. I must remark that, afterJerry had sat talking with us for some time, he completely changed histone and style of speaking; and though he still used what may be calledsailor's language, it was such as an officer or any other educated manmight have employed. Indeed, I remembered that in my early days, Jerry, when in a serious mood, often showed that he was much superior in mindto the generality of people in the position in which he was placed. Heafforded a melancholy example of the condition to which drunkenness andidle habits may reduce a man, who, from birth and education, might haveplayed a respectable part in life. "That's a fine boy of yours, "observed Jerry when Harry had gone out of the room. "I don't set up fora prophet, but this much I'm sure of, that if you get him placed on thequarter-deck, he will be a post-captain one of these days. Is he youronly one?"

I of course told Jerry that he was not my son, and described how he wasrescued from the _Royal George_. 

"Well, that's a surprising history, " said Jerry; "it's a wonder I neverheard of it. Do you see, I was at the time down in the West of England, where my family used to live; and I thought I would go and have a lookat the old place and see if any of them were above-ground--not that Iintended to make myself known. Few of my relatives would have wished toown a broken-down one-legged old tar like me. I found a brother alawyer, and a cousin a parson, and two or three other relations; but, from what I heard, I thought I should `get more kicks than ha'pence' ifI troubled them, so I determined to 'bout ship and stand off again. Iwas, howsomdever, very nearly being found out. I had got this herecraft, which I called the _Conqueror_ in those days, and was showing heroff and spinning one of my yarns, when who should appear at the door ofa handsome house but a lady with several little girls like fairies, andtwo fine boys. She and the young ones came down the steps, and afterlistening for some time she said in a pleasant voice, taking one of theyoungsters by the hand--

"`This boy is going to sea some day, and we wish him to hear aboutsailors, and I know what you tell about them is true, for I once had abrother who went away to sea, and used to write to me and give meaccounts of what happened. Poor fellow! he lost his leg just as youhave done, and after that I heard no more from him, so that I fear hedied. '

"`That was very likely, marm, ' said I. `In case I might have fallen inwith him, may I be so bold to ask his name?'

"The lady, as I had a curious feeling she would, told me my own name, and then I knew for certain that she was my youngest sister Mary, theonly one of the family who pitied me when others had cast me off. I hada hard matter not to make myself known, but I thought to myself that itwould do no good to those pretty young ladies and gentlemen to find outtheir weather-beaten, rough old uncle. Mary herself, too, I had anotion would not have been really pleased; though, bless her gentleheart, I was sure that she would have been kind to me; and so I gulpeddown my feelings, and declared that I remembered a man of that name, whowas dead and gone long ago. The words stuck in my throat, howsomdever, as I spoke them; and I was obliged to wish her good-morning and stumpoff, or she would have found me out. I hadn't got far before she calledme back, and putting a five-shilling piece in my hand she said--

"`Pray accept this trifle, my good man, for the sake of my lost brother, for I know what you tell me is true, and that you are a genuine sailor. '

"`May Heaven bless you, my dear, ' says I--I was as near as possiblepopping out the word `Mary, ' but I checked myself in time, and said`lady' instead. The tears came to my eyes, and my voice was as husky asa bear's. She thought it was all from gratitude for her unexpectedgift, and that I wasn't accustomed to receive so much. To be sure, shedid look at me rather curiously, and, as I was going away, on turning myhead I saw that she was still standing on the doorsteps watching me. 

"I stopped about the neighbourhood for better than a fortnight, for Icould not tear myself away; it was a pleasure to get a sight of Marydriving about in her carriage with her little girls, and her fine boyson ponies trotting alongside. She was happily married, I found, to aman of good fortune. 

"While I was putting up at `The Plough, ' which I had known well in myyouth, I heard a number of things about the neighbouring families, for Iwas curious to learn what had become of all the people I had known. There were not many of those who frequented the house who could read, and there was no newspapers taken in, and that is how I did not come tohear about the _Royal George_ till some time afterwards. It strikes me, though I may be wrong, that by a wonderful chance I got hold ofsomething which has to do with this fine lad here, who you have beenlooking after. I will think the matter over, and try and rake up what Ihave heard; but I don't want to disappoint you, and I may be altogetherwrong. "

I was naturally curious, and tried to get more out of Jerry, but hewould not say a word beyond repeating over again that he might bealtogether out of his reckoning. I of course begged him to stop withus, promising him board and lodging as long as he liked to stay; for, ashe was in no ways particular, I could easily manage to put him up. Hethanked me heartily, and said he would stop a night or two at allevents. In the evening he went back with me to the inn to get histraps, for he travelled with a sort of knapsack, which he left behindhim when he went out for his day's excursions. 

The next morning he had a wash and shave, and turned out neat and trim, with a clean shirt and trousers, and altogether looked a different sortof person to what he had been the day before. 

"You see, Ben, I have given up drinking, and like to keep a best suit oftoggery, and to go to church on a Sunday in a decent fashion, which Iused not to care about once upon a time. It's little respect that I canpay to the day, but I don't play my fiddle, nor sing songs, nor spinlong yarns about things that never happened, as I think myself a morerespectable sort of chap than I used to be. "

I was glad to hear Jerry say this of himself, though maybe his notionthat it was allowable to spin long yarns which had, as he confessed, nofoundation in truth, on other days in the week, was not a very correctone. I told him so. 

"As to that, " he answered, "my hearers don't take my yarns for gospelany more than the tales they read in books. Some people write longyarns which aren't true, and I spin much shorter ones out of my mouth. Where's the difference, I should like to know? Mine don't do any mortalbeing the slightest, harm, and that's more than can be said of somebooks I've fallen in with. My yarns go in at one ear and out at theother, and, supposing them worse than they are, they can't be dwelt uponlike those in books. I never speak of a real man except to praise him;and if I paint a scoundrel, I always give him a purser's name. Iproduce many a hearty laugh, but never cause a blush to rise on amaiden's cheeks; and so, Ben, don't be hard on me. "

I confessed that he had made out a good case, and that I was wrong tofind fault with him. At this he seemed much pleased, and, laughingheartily, told me that I reminded him of the little boy who wanted toteach his grandfather to suck eggs. 

Jerry had been so accustomed to wandering about, that though Susan didher best to make him comfortable, and he always found a willing listenerin Harry, after he had been with us three days he began to weary ofstaying quiet, and announced that he must get under way. The nextmorning he appeared in his weekday clothes, shouldering his knapsack andmodel ship. After wishing us all good-bye, he trudged off, intending, as he said, to go to the west end of the island. 

"You will not forget that matter about Harry?" I said. 

"No fear, Ben! It's the main thing I have on my mind; and if I succeedin picking up any information, I will let you know--depend on that, " heanswered. "Heaven bless you, and Susan and the boy!"

We watched him as he trudged sturdily away over the hills towards thetown, having, I observed, again assumed his independent, happy-go-luckyair, which he had laid aside during his stay with us. 

CHAPTER SIX. 

Harry had been greatly taken with Jerry, and seemed to miss him verymuch. He used to go out most days to play with his schoolfellow, thecaptain's son; but while Jerry was with us he preferred stopping andlistening to his yarns. The time, however, for both the boys to returnto school was now approaching. I saw that Harry had something on hismind. 

"Father, " he said, "am I not old enough to go to sea? and, if I am, hadI not better be looking out for a ship?"

"As we are no longer fighting the French, there are not many put incommission, " I observed; "so maybe you will have to wait for some time. "

As it happened, the very next day I got an order to join the _Nymph_, thirty-six gun frigate, just commenced fitting out at Portsmouth, commanded by Captain Edward Pellew. 

"So soon, Ben!" said Susan, looking pale as soon as she saw the letter;"I thought you would have had a longer spell on shore; but I am thankfulit's peace time, and I shall not be trembling at the thoughts of yourhaving to fight the French. "

"That's the very thing we would rather be doing, my dear girl, " Ianswered, smiling, and trying to raise her spirits. 

I at once went up to the captain and told him. 

"I am glad of it, " he answered. "There is not a better officer in theservice than Captain Pellew, and, as he is a friend of mine, I have nodoubt that I shall be able to get him to take the two youngsters. Iwill go over to Portsmouth this very day and see about it. "

As I had to join at once, the captain took me over in his wherry. Inabout a couple of hours he came on board, and told me it was allsettled, and he should trust to me to look after his son as well asHarry, as he was sure I should do my best for the lad. 

I had taken lodgings for Susan, and she joined me two days afterwards, bringing Harry with her. She had plenty to do in preparing his outfit, and that kept her mind from dwelling too much on our approachingparting. Harry was the first midshipman to join, and he had theadvantage of seeing the ship fitted out from the beginning. The captainbrought Reginald over about a week later, and Harry was proud in beingable to teach him all he knew. He had thus as it were got the lead, andhe kept it, though he did not let Reginald feel that he thought himselfsuperior to him in any way. The two lads were fast friends, as they hadalways been, for both were honest, kind-hearted, and good-tempered. There was no difficulty in getting hands; and as I knew where to findthe best men, we soon had a first-rate ship's company without muchpressing. 

We stood down Channel, bound out for Lisbon, with some officialcharacters on board. The captain's great aim was to get the ship'scompany into good order, and we were continually exercising the guns andshortening and making sail. This was an advantage to the youngsters, asthey learnt much faster than they would otherwise have done. They usedto come to my cabin, and I taught them all I could, though with myduties I had not much time to myself. I had advised Harry not to callme "father"; not that he should have been ashamed of his father being aboatswain had I been his father, but, as I was not, I thought it wouldbe better for him to be independent. I felt for him the same as if hewas my son. He and young Leslie got on very well in the berth, and, young as they were, gained the respect of their messmates. Thus a yearor more passed by; we had visited Cadiz, and had taken a trip up theMediterranean, when we were ordered home with despatches. One day Iobserved Harry was looking less merry than usual; I asked him what wasthe matter. At first he did not like to tell me. At last he said--

"The truth is, father, that my messmates have found out that I was savedwhen the _Royal George_ went down, and that Saint George is not my realname. "

"Never mind that, Harry, " I answered; "you have as much right to it asthey have to theirs. Tell them you hope to make it some day as wellknown to fame as Hawke's, Collier's, or Rodney's. "

Harry promised to follow my advice; at the same time he confessed thatit made him more anxious than ever to find out who his parents reallywere, and whether or not they were both on board the _Royal George_ whenshe went down. 

"You tell me that you think the poor lady who took me on board was notmy mother, and so perhaps my mother was on shore. "

"But the young lady was in black, and so it's possible that your mothermay have died, and that she took you to see your father, to whom, forsome reason or other, she wanted to introduce you. That's how I readthe riddle, but maybe I am mistaken. "

Harry was satisfied. 

"When we return to England, you will try and get Jerry Dix to come tosee you, and learn if he has heard anything more?" he said. 

Of course I replied that I would if I could; but that Jerry Dix had notleft me any address, and it might be a hard matter to find him. I didnot think that he had played me false, but I was afraid that someaccident might have happened to him, or that he might be dead, and thenthe clue which he fancied he had found would be lost. 

After visiting Cadiz and Gibraltar, we were on our way home, justentering the chops of the Channel, after being kept at sea by calms andcontrary winds for three weeks or more, when a frigate hove in sight andhoisted English colours. She made her number, and we knew her to be thethirty-two gun frigate _Venus_. Captain Faulknor, who commanded her, came on board, and we soon heard the news. The French Republicans hadrisen up against their king, and cut his head off, and as the EnglishGovernment did not approve of that, they had ordered the Frenchambassador to leave the country. The National Convention, as it wascalled, had therefore declared war against Great Britain, and we werenow going to thrash the French Republicans soundly, wherever we couldfind them, afloat or on shore. 

This was, of course, considered to be glorious news; and all hands foreand aft were in high glee at the thoughts of the work cut out for us. 

The _Venus_ soon after parted company with us to go and look out for theenemy, while we made the best of our way up Channel to Portsmouth, tofill up with ammunition and stores. Before Susan could come over to seeme we had sailed for the westward. On our way down Channel we againfell in with the _Venus_, which had had a sharp action with two Frenchfrigates, the _Semillante_ and _Cleopatre_, when she beat off the first, and escaped from the latter. We sailed together in search of the twofrigates. We sighted them three days afterwards, when they, havingnimble heels, escaped us and got into Cherbourg. 

Having cruised together for some time, we parted company, and we putinto Falmouth. We had now been a year in commission, and all hands wereeager to meet an enemy of equal force. My fear was for Harry; I don'tknow how I should have felt had he been my own son, but I doubt that Ishould have been as anxious as I was about him, and I knew it would gowell-nigh to break Susan's heart should he be killed. 

He and Reginald were in high spirits, and could talk of nothing else butthe battle in which they hoped to be engaged, and were always asking mequestions about those I had seen fought in my younger days. You see, after the long peace, we had a good many officers and men on board, whohad never seen a shot fired in anger. 

Our captain, however, and his brother, Commander Israel Pellew, had beenthrough the American War of Independence while they were midshipmen; thelatter had lately joined us as a volunteer. We sailed again on the 17thof June on a cruise. When nearly abreast of the Start we stood out forthe southward, in the hopes of falling in with one of the two frigateswe had chased into Cherbourg. We were about six leagues from the Start, when the look-out from the masthead hailed--

"A sail on the starboard beam. "

This was as we were standing to the south-east. You may be sure that weat once bore up in chase, under all sail. The stranger, as we gotnearer, was seen carrying a press of canvas, as we fancied, to get awayfrom us. We came up with her, however, and by the evening made her outto be no other than the _Cleopatre_, one of the frigates of which wewere in search. Finding that she could not escape, even if she intendedto do so, she hauled up her foresail, and lowered her topgallant-sail, bravely waiting for us. The men were at quarters, and the officers attheir stations, while the captain conning the ship stood at the gangwaywith his hat in his hand. We were close up to each other and not a shothad been fired; the French captain hailed, when our captain cried out--

"Ahoy! ahoy!"

On which our crew gave three hearty cheers, and shouted--

"Long live King George!"

"Reserve your fire, my lads, till you see me put my hat on my head, "cried our captain; "then blaze away and thrash the Frenchmen as soon asyou can. "

The word was passed along the deck, and all hands eagerly looked out forthe signal. 

The Frenchmen tried to imitate our cheer, but made a bad hand of it. Captain Mullon, as we afterwards heard was his name, the commander ofthe French frigate, was seen holding the red cap of liberty in his hand, and making a speech to his crew, on which they all sang out at the topof their voices, _Vive la Republique_, and one of the sailors, runningup the main rigging, secured the red cap to the masthead. We stood ontill our foremost guns could bear on the starboard quarter of the enemy. 

The French captain held his hat, like our captain, in his hand. Theybowed to each other, when ours was seen to place his on his head. Itwas the looked-for signal. At that instant we opened fire, which theFrenchmen were not slow in returning. We were running before the wind, within rather less than hailing distance of the Frenchman, who was onour larboard beam. In little more than half an hour we had shot awaythe Frenchman's mizzenmast and wheel; but our mainmast was badlywounded, and every instant I expected it to fall. Having lost commandof her rudder, the _Cleopatre_ fell aboard us, her jib-boom passingthrough our fore and mainmast. I thought that this would finish ourmainmast, but, fortunately, the Frenchman's jib-boom gave way. 

We were blazing away all this time, raking the _Cleopatre_ fore and aft. We had lost a good many officers and men, and I saw two midshipmenknocked over not far from me. I looked out for Harry and ReginaldLeslie, and I caught sight of them, still standing unharmed amid thesmoke, but I had not much time even to think about them or anything elseexcept my duty. 

We now fell alongside the enemy head and stern, being still foul of eachother. Her larboard-main-topsail studden-sail-boom iron having hookedthe leach-rope of our maintop-sail, I had still good reasons to tremblefor our mainmast. I saw a youngster spring aloft. It was Harry. Hemade his way along the yard, and with his knife cut the leach-rope; andthough many a shot from the Frenchmen was fired at him, he came downsafely. I felt my heart beat with pride as I saw him, for he had savedthe mast. The next moment the cry was heard--

"Boarders, away!"

Our brave first lieutenant, Mr Norris, leading the boarders, cutlass inhand, leapt from the quarter-deck on to the forecastle of the Frenchfrigate, while our master, Mr Ball, at the head of another party, madehis way through the bow-ports of the enemy. On they rushed, one partyon the upper and the other on the main-deck, sweeping all before them. The Frenchmen, though they numbered half as many again as our crew, gaveway; some springing down the hatchway, others flying aft, and in fiftyminutes from the commencement of the action the Republican colours werehauled down, and the Frenchmen from all directions cried for quarter. 

The brave French captain was found lying on the deck, his back torn openby a round shot, and part of his hip carried away. He was seen gnawingat a piece of paper, which he continued to bite till his hand dropped, and, his head sinking down, he ceased to breathe. He fancied that hewas destroying a list of coast signals used by the French, which he hadfound in one of his pockets; but he was mistaken, for the paper hewished to prevent falling into our hands was discovered on him coveredwith blood. He was a brave fellow--there was no doubt about that. Wehad not gained our victory without a heavy loss, for we had eighteenseamen and marines, three midshipmen and two other officers, killed, andtwenty-seven wounded; while the French lost sixty-three men. I do notthink there was ever during the war a more equal or better-foughtbattle, except that the Frenchmen had eighty more men to begin with thanwe had; but then the _Nymph_ had slightly heavier metal, and was a fewtons larger than our antagonist. However, I believe that if it had beenthe other way, we should, notwithstanding, have won the day. 

As soon as we had repaired damages we made sail, though it was four daysbefore we reached Portsmouth with our prize. The brave French captainwas buried the next day in Portsmouth churchyard, the surviving officersbeing permitted to attend him to the grave. A few days afterwards HisMajesty, George the Third, came aboard our frigate, when our captain andhis brother, Commander Pellew, and all the officers of the ship, werepresented to him. 

The king was highly pleased with the way the action had been fought, andat once knighted our brave captain, and presented his brother with hiscommission as post-captain, while Lieutenant Norris was made acommander. The king made inquiries as to what others had done. 

"They all did their duty, your Majesty, " answered the captain. 

"No doubt about it. That is what I know my officers and seamen alwaysdo, " observed the king. 

The captain then told him of the way Harry had behaved. 

"I am pleased to hear it, my lad, " said the king; "and I hope some daythat I shall have the pleasure of placing the flat of my sword on yourshoulders. What's your name?" asked the king. 

The captain told him, and mentioned how he had been saved from the_Royal George_. 

"What! are you the `Child of the Wreck' I have been told of?" asked theking. "I wish that more like you had been saved; you have begun well, and will prove an honour to the service, no doubt about that. "

The king spoke in a like fashion to several others. As may be supposed, I felt prouder than ever of Harry, and was sure that if his life waspreserved he would not disappoint the good king or anyone else. 

CHAPTER SEVEN. 

The grass did not grow in the streets of Portsmouth in those busy times;I managed, however, to get leave to run over to Ryde for a couple ofdays, and took Harry and Reginald Leslie with me. The youngsters got ahearty welcome; and when I told the captain how Harry had behaved, hecomplimented him greatly. The youngsters were made much of by theladies, and they ran no small risk of being spoilt, so it seemed to me. Miss Fanny especially, the captain's youngest daughter, seemed nevertired of talking to Harry, and asking him questions which he was wellpleased to answer. She was a pretty, fair-haired, blue-eyed littlegirl, about three years younger than him. Neither the captain nor hislady troubled themselves about the matter, looking upon them aschildren; of course they were not much more. Harry, however, came homein the evening to Susan and me, and I was pleased to see that he was nota bit set up, but just as affectionate to my wife as he had ever been. 

The day after I got home I received the long-looked-for letter fromJerry; but there was not much in it which I could make out, except thathe had come to an anchor near his old home, and had half-resolved not togo wandering any more. He had made himself known to his sister, who wastrying to persuade him to remain quiet. He was very mysterious aboutthe affair I had at heart. He still insisted that he was on the righttrack; but as he might spoil all if it was discovered what he was aboutuntil the right time came, it would be wiser not to mention names, incase anybody should get hold of his letter. 

"The youngster has friends, " he added, "and is doing very well, and canwait without damage for a few years. There is another person also forwhose sake, even more than for his, I should like to have the mysterycleared up, but the risk is too great to make the attempt. We must, therefore, as I have said, let both wait till the proper opportunity, and that is in the hands of One who orders all things for the best. "

I should say that Jerry wrote in a very different way to that in whichhe spoke, and it seemed to me that when he got a pen in his hand he wasno longer the rough sailor, but the educated man he had once been beforehe got into bad ways and ran off to sea. He signed his letter "JD, " andtold me to send my answer to the post-office, but on no account todirect my letter by the name I knew him by. I of course did as hedesired, thanking him heartily for what he had already done, andexpressing a hope that he would not neglect the interests of one whom mywife and I loved so much. 

I have not time to describe one-tenth part of the events in youngHarry's career. 

After serving in the _Nymph_ some time longer, I was transferred to the_Juno_ frigate; and Captain Leslie succeeded in getting the twoyoungsters appointed to her. I had belonged to her when she was firstin commission in the West Indies, commanded by Captain Hood. A braverman never stepped. I remember an incident which will show hischaracter. We were lying at Saint Anne's Harbour, Jamaica, a heavy galeof wind blowing, when the look-out from the masthead discovered far outat sea a raft; tossing about on the foaming waves, which threatenedevery moment to wash off three men who were seen clinging to it. Thecaptain at once ordered a boat to put off to their assistance, but thesea was so heavy that the boat's crew held back, thinking that theyshould lose their own lives if they made the attempt. 

"I never order men to undertake what I dare not do myself, " exclaimedCaptain Hood, springing into the boat. 

Away he pulled amid the foam-crested, tumbling seas. Every moment wethought that the boat and all on board would be lost; but he at lastsucceeded in reaching the raft, and taking the three poor men off itjust as they were exhausted, and would have in another minute beenwashed away. 

Such a man I was heartily glad to serve under again. We sailedimmediately for the Mediterranean, where we joined Lord Hood's fleetlying in the harbour of Toulon. The French Royalists had given up thecity to the English and Spaniards, who were at that time our allies, andtheir troops assisted to man the fortifications. A Republican army, however, invested the place, and a good deal of fighting had been goingon. The English had, however, not quite two thousand men on shore, and, though they could trust the French Royalists, the Spaniards, Neapolitans, and other troops could not be relied on. Serving in theRepublican army was Napoleon Buonaparte, then an officer of artillery;not that I knew of it at the time, but I afterwards heard that he hadbeen there when he became Emperor of the French. 

The French had one night surprised a detachment of Spanish troops postedon an important height above Toulon, and thereby got possession of it. No time was to be lost in driving them out, and the marines and a partyof bluejackets from the ships close at hand were ordered on shore toassist the Spaniards in storming the heights and turning out theRepublicans. The seamen, twenty of whom went from our ship, were headedby Lieutenant Seagrave: I went to assist in the landing. We had shovedoff, when I found that Reginald Leslie and Harry had jumped into theboat. Reginald said that he was resolved to see the fun. Harry told methat he had been ordered to take charge of the men instead of a master'smate, who was unable to go, so he was all right; but Reginald had nobusiness to be where he was, and had there been time I should have senthim on board again. It was dark by the time we had reached the shore;the troops and bluejackets, mustering eight hundred, formed as theylanded, and were immediately ordered to push forward. I had intended, as in duty bound, to keep Reginald Leslie in the boat, but he leapt onshore among the first, and I was too busy to see what became of him. The hills which rose above our heads were steep and rugged, notwithstanding which, soldiers and bluejackets pushed up them by a longand narrow path, with a rugged precipice on one side. At any momentthey might arouse the enemy, who would soon have stopped their progress. 

I knew it would take a couple of hours or more, from the distance theyhad to go, before the party could be back. I waited anxiously, thinkingmore perhaps of Harry and his messmate than of the success of theexpedition, about which I had little doubt. The time seemed very long. At last, hearing the sound of firing from among the hills, I knew thatthe batteries were being attacked. The firing then ceased, the sound ofonly an occasional shot reaching my ears. I now waited more anxiouslythan before for the return of the party. Suddenly the sound of greatguns and musketry came down from over the hills, and I began to fearthat our party were being again attacked by a superior force. I hadposted a couple of lookouts on the neighbouring heights which commandedthe path, to give notice of the approach of either friends or foes. Oneof them came running down, crying out--

"They are coming, sir, they are coming!"

"Our people or the French?" I asked. 

"Sure it must be our people, sir, " answered the man, who was Irish butas he seemed somewhat doubtful about the matter, I ordered the men intothe boats, to be ready to shove off, should by any chance our party havebeen cut off. At last I saw a large body of men coming down the hill, and was greatly relieved when I discovered that they were Spaniards, andthat our other allies were following close behind. Soon afterwards theEnglish troops came in sight, the bluejackets bringing up the rear. They were at once embarked, and I heard that they had stormed andcaptured the batteries, and spiked the guns, but had been attacked ontheir way back by a large body of Republicans, who, however, had beendefeated with great loss. I anxiously looked out for the twomidshipmen, but could nowhere find them. I made inquiries, and was toldthat they had been seen with the sailors, unhurt, just before the lastattack, but that several men had fallen just as they had received ordersto charge the enemy. It was very evident, I feared, that they hadeither been killed or taken prisoners. Still, as I could not bear thethoughts of leaving them, I obtained permission from the commandingofficer to take a party of men and to go in search of them, as, shouldthey have been only wounded, they might not be far off. I had plenty ofvolunteers, but chose only ten men, with a French Royalist officer whohad been aboard our ship and knew the country. There was no time to belost, so we started at once up the steep path. I felt my heart greatlycast down, for I would have sooner lost my life than have had the braveboys cut off. Still I had some faint hopes of finding them; but shouldthey have been taken prisoners by the Republicans, I had too much reasonto fear that they would be shot; for those fellows were terriblesavages, and many of their Royalist countrymen who had fallen into theirhands had been mercilessly put to death. As we approached the spotwhere the Republicans had attacked our friends, we carefully examinedthe ground on either side. Pushing on, we came upon several dead bodiesof men who had been shot, two or three of whom were Spaniards, theothers Neapolitans; and farther on were a still greater number ofRepublicans who had been killed in the attack on the troops; still wewent on till we got near the batteries, when our guide, though a braveman, refused to go farther, saying that we should probably lose our ownlives, as the enemy were likely to be in the neighbourhood, and that itwas most probable the midshipmen had been taken prisoners. Veryunwillingly, therefore, I agreed to return. We still examined everyplace on either side of the road into which a person could have creptfor concealment, for my idea was that one of the youngsters had beenwounded, and that the other had refused to desert him. All this time wehad been careful not to speak above a whisper, for fear, should an enemybe in the neighbourhood, of giving notice of our approach. We had gotmore than half-way down the hill, when, just as we turned a sharp angleof the path, I caught sight, through the gloom, of a figure, some fiftyyards ahead of us, moving on, it seemed slowly; the person, whoever hewas, must have heard our footsteps, for he appeared to run on, we ofcourse making chase; presently he stopped, and the next instant we lostsight of him. Some of the men fancied that he must have gone over theprecipice. We were quickly up to the spot, and were speaking prettyloudly about what had become of the man, when I heard a voice crying outmy name, and, turning round, there in a hole of the rock I discoveredHarry supporting Reginald in his arms. 

"Thank Heaven!" he exclaimed; "I thought you were Republicans, and thatwe should have been taken off by them. "

All hands were very glad to find the young gentlemen, but we lost notime in talking. It had been just as I had supposed; Reginald had beenwounded, and falling by the edge of a bank had rolled down it, andHarry, who had been at his side at the time, followed him. Just thenthe Republicans who had been coming up had charged our men, and, in thedarkness, the lads being unable to tell which party had gained thevictory, they had been afraid to climb up the bank till all was againsilent. By this time Reginald's wound prevented him from walking, andHarry had had great difficulty in getting him up the bank; he then hadtaken him on his shoulders, intending to carry him down the hill, butwhen he had got some way Reginald fainted from pain and loss of blood. On this he had carried him to a copse on the hillside, some little wayoff; here he had put him down, and had done his best to bind up hiswound, intending to go on again as soon as Reginald was somewhatrecovered. He had heard us hunting about, but thinking that we might beenemies he had kept silent, though it was a wonder that no one haddiscovered the youngsters. After we had passed by, Reginald having cometo, Harry had taken him on his back, and was proceeding down the hillwhen he overtook them as I have mentioned. We, of course, lifted upReginald, and hurried as fast as we could down to the boat. 

Harry, as he deserved, gained great credit for the way he had behaved, for he had undoubtedly saved Reginald's life; and, in consideration ofhis wound, the captain forgave Reginald for having left the ship withoutleave. 

I never had a fancy for fighting on shore, and I was not sorry when wewere ordered to Malta, to bring away a party of Maltese marines, engagedto serve on board the fleet. 

We had light and unfavourable winds going, and, on returning with thesoldiers aboard, we met with a succession of strong contrary gales fromthe eastward, and a lee current, which prevented us from arrivingabreast of the harbour's mouth till about ten o'clock at night on the11th of January. The captain, not wishing to run the risk of beingthrown to leeward, considering the number of men we had on board, determined to sail into the harbour at once. We had no pilot, but themaster felt confident that he could take the ship in without risk. Thehands were at their stations, and the captain ordered Harry and anothermidshipman to go forward with night-glasses and look out for the fleet. We had a moderate leading wind, which sent us under our topsails at afair rate through the water. As we neared the outer roads of Toulon wewere somewhat surprised at not seeing any of the fleet, but the captainconcluded that the ships had run for shelter into the inner harbour. 

The night, was clear, the moon was shining brightly, and the watersmooth. As we advanced we made out a brig ahead, and beyond her thelights of several others. The captain, therefore, had no doubt but thathe was right in his conjectures. Having passed the forts, we werestanding on, when we found that we could not weather the brig-of-war wehad seen ahead of us. We were close to her stern, when a hail came fromher, but what was said we could not make out. The captain, however, supposing that the brig was Spanish, and wanted to know what ship ourswas, answered--

"His Britannic Majesty's frigate _Juno_!"

Again a hail came from the brig, and several people shouted out, "Viva!"The captain then inquired what English ships were in the harbour, butwe could not make out a word of what was said in reply; still, ofcourse, taking her for Spanish, this did not surprise us, except that itseemed somewhat strange that an English vessel should not have beenstationed at the mouth of the harbour. Just as we passed under thestern of the brig, someone again hailed from her--

"Luff! luff!"

The captain, fearing that we had shoal water aboard, ordered the helm tobe put a-lee, but before the frigate got her head to the wind we wereaground. The captain immediately ordered the sails to be clewed up andhanded. While the people were on the yards, we caught sight of a boatpulling from the brig towards the town. Just then, before the peoplewere off the yards, a sudden flaw of wind drove the ship's head off thebank. Hoping now to get off, the order was given to hoist the driverand mizzen-staysail, and to keep the sheets to windward. The instantthe ship lost her way, the bower-anchor was let go, on which she tendedto the wind; but the after-part of her keel was still aground. Thelaunch and cutter were now hoisted out, and I jumped into the first tocarry out the kedge-anchor, with two hawsers, in order to warp the shipclear. We worked away with a will, for we did not like the thoughts ofbeing seen on shore by the rest of the fleet at daybreak. That was allwe just then thought about. At length we succeeded in getting hercompletely afloat, and were returning to the ship, when we saw a boat goalongside, and being hailed, she answered, "Captain Someone, " but we didnot catch the name, and up the side he went with two other persons, whoseemed to be officers. On reaching the deck he introduced himself as aFrench captain, and said that it was the regulation of the port, andaccording to the commands of the admiral, that vessels should go intoanother part of the harbour and do ten days' quarantine. 

On this, Captain Hood asked where the _Victory_, the admiral's ship, lay. The French officer hesitated, and then said she was far up theharbour. 

Just then Harry, who had a sharp eye, exclaimed somewhat loudly to amessmate--

"Why, the fellows have the Republican cockades in their hats!"

The captain overheard him; and, looking more earnestly at theFrenchmen's hats, he saw by the light of the moon, to his dismay, thethree Republican colours. He put another question about the admiral, when the French officer, finding that he and his companions weresuspected, replied--

"Make yourselves easy; the English are good people, and we will treatthem kindly; the English admiral has departed some time. "

I can just fancy how our brave captain felt. 

"We are prisoners!" exclaimed one of the officers; and the word, likewildfire, ran along the deck, while several of the officers hurried upto the captain to learn the truth. We all knew what we had to expect--aFrench prison till the end of the war, even if we escaped being shot bythe Republicans. I never felt more cast down in all my life, and Ibelieve that was the case with everyone on board. To be caught like arat in a trap, without a chance of escape, seemed too bad. We were allstanding, not knowing what to do, some proposing one thing and someanother, expecting the French boats to come alongside and takepossession of our tidy little frigate, when a flaw of wind came down theharbour. Scarcely had we felt it than our third lieutenant, Mr Webley, exclaimed--

"I believe, sir, we shall be able to fetch out if we can get her undersail. "

"We will try it at all events, and Heaven grant we may, " answered thecaptain; "we will not give up our ship without doing our best to saveher. All hands to their stations! Send the Frenchmen below. "

I never saw such a wonderful change as in a moment came over everybodyon board. The Frenchmen began to bluster and drew their sabres, but ourjollies quickly made them sheath them again, and they had to submit withremarkably bad grace, hoping, I daresay, that we should again get onshore. Officers and men flew to their stations, and in less than threeminutes we had the canvas on her, and the yards braced ready forcasting. The head sails filled. 

"Cut the cable!" shouted the captain. 

The ship quickly gathering way, began to glide down the harbour. Ourlaunch and cutter, and the Frenchmen's boat, were at once cut adrift, soas not to impede us, while a favourable flaw of wind gave the shipadditional way. We had still, however, the heavy batteries to pass, andit was not likely that they would allow us to go by without a warmpeppering; not that we thought much about that, for I know my heartbounded as light as a cork, and so I am pretty sure did the hearts ofeveryone on board at the thoughts that we were free. 

Directly we began to loose our sails, the French brig opened her fire, and we saw lights bursting out on all the batteries; while one, a littleon the starboard bow, was blazing away at us. As we glided on, the gunsof all the forts opened fire as they could be brought to bear. The windwas very scant, and it seemed impossible that we could weather the pointwithout tacking, and, of course, while we were in stays, the enemy wouldhave taken steady aim; but again a favourable flaw of wind helped us. As soon as the ship was well under command, the order was given to manthe guns, and we began returning the enemy's fire with good effect, asfar as we could judge. The Frenchmen's shot came flying through oursails, considerably cutting up our rigging, and two thirty-six poundshot struck our hull; but we repaired damages as fast as we could, and, nothing daunted, stood on. Wonderful to relate, all the time not a manhad been hit; and if we felt happy when we first got the frigate underway, we had reason to be doubly so when we found ourselves clear of theharbour and not a ship following us. We should have had no objection toit had a frigate of our own size come out, as to a certainty we shouldhave given her a sound drubbing, and finished by carrying her off as aprize. 

CHAPTER EIGHT. 

I should spin far too long a yarn were I to describe the various actionsin which we were engaged, or even mention the different ships to whichwe belonged. Both Harry and Reginald Leslie had now passed forlieutenants--indeed they had been for some time doing duty as such. Ofcourse they could have done very well without me, but hitherto, thanksto Captain Leslie, we had always been appointed to the same ship. 

The last time we were at home, Harry had become a greater favourite thanever with the captain's family. Of course the brave way in which he hadsaved Reginald at Toulon, at the risk of his own life, was well known. Though he himself might not have talked much about it, Reginald hadgiven a full account of all that had happened. With Susan and me, Harrywas just the same as he had always been. One thing we discovered, thathe had given his heart to Miss Fanny, and it was Susan's belief that shehad given hers in return. We saw no harm in this, though we thought itbetter not to talk to him about it; but I had a notion that the captaindid not suspect the true state of the case. Both Harry and I wereanxious to hear from Jerry, but day after day passed by, and no lettercame from him; I was expecting to be sent off to sea, and so were theyoung gentlemen. Harry, I suspect, was in no hurry to go; and Reginald, who generally took things easy, was happy with his family, and wasthankful to stop on shore for a spell. Still the accounts which we readin the papers, of the gallant actions fought, made us before long wishto be afloat again. We were reading, I remember, an account of SirSidney Smith's brave defence of Acre against Buonaparte, whom hecompelled to raise the siege. 

"I wish that I had been there!" exclaimed Harry. "Captain Leslie sayswe ought to be afloat again, and it's right, I know, though home is verypleasant. We are sure, if we go, to obtain our promotion before long, and once lieutenants, if we have luck, we shall soon win our next step;till I get that, I feel too sure that I shall have no chance of gainingthe object nearest my heart. "

"What is that, Harry?" I asked. 

"Perhaps I ought to have told you before, father; but the secret was notmine alone, " was the answer. 

Harry then told me what I suspected long ago, that he had set his hearton marrying Miss Fanny Leslie. 

"I hope you have not told her so, my boy, " I said; "the captain wouldnot approve of it. "

"Yes, father, I have though, " he answered; "and she has promised tomarry me if her parents will allow her. "

"I am very sorry to hear this, for one thing, Harry, " I said; "I fear itwill cause you and her much disappointment and sorrow. The captain isvery kind; he wishes you well, but he is proud of his family; and hewill not allow his daughter to marry a man about whose birth he knowsnothing, and who has no fortune. He will also be vexed to find that hisdaughter has engaged herself without first consulting him and hermother. "

"But we have known each other from childhood, and he always encouragedme to come to the house, " pleaded Harry; "and so Fanny thinks that hewill not object to me. "

"It's my belief he never thought such a thing possible, " I observed; "Idaresay he will blame himself when he finds it out, but that won't makehim excuse you. I wish you would tell Miss Fanny what I say. The bestthing you can now do is to set each other free; and if she remainsunmarried, and you obtain your promotion and discover that you are of afamily to which her father would not object, you can then come forwardopenly and claim her. "

This, I am sure, was good advice. 

"But, father, I cannot say this to Fanny; she would think mehard-hearted and that I did not really love her, " said Harry. 

"If she trusts you, and is a sensible girl, she will see that you areacting rightly, " I answered. "Do what is right, and trust that all willcome well in the end. That is a sound maxim, depend on it. "

Harry at last replied that he would think over what I had said. 

The next day he told me that he had spoken to Miss Fanny, who, though itmade her very unhappy, had at last acknowledged that I was right, andconsented to do as I had advised; assuring him, however, that she wouldnever change. I was thankful to hear this, as it saved me from speakingto the captain, which I should have otherwise felt bound to do. 

A few days after this I received orders to join the _Vestal_ frigate;and though neither I nor they expected it, Reginald and Harry wereappointed as master's mates to the same ship. I had to go on board atonce, and they joined a few days afterwards. We were ordered to fit outwith all despatch, and were quickly ready for sea. 

I felt sorry at having to leave without again hearing from Jerry, for ofcourse I could not tell what might happen to me; and there was nothing Imore desired, for Harry's sake, than to find out who his parents hadbeen. When I thought what a fine, handsome, gallant young fellow hewas, I could not help hoping that he would have no reason to be ashamedof them. At all events, he would not be worse off than he was; andsupposing that, after all, his birth was not such as he could boast of, he might still win a name for himself, as many another officer had done, who had, as the saying is, "gone in through the hawse-hole, " just as therenowned Captain Cook and several of our bravest captains and admiralshad done. 

We had gone out to Spithead, and "Blue Peter" was flying from the fore, when who should come alongside in a boat from Ryde but Susan herself. Ihad bidden her good-bye, and did not expect to see her again. 

"I have brought a letter, " she said; "and as it is from Jerry, I did notlike to trust it to anyone else. "

She had just given it to me, when I received the order to "Pipe upanchor"; so all I could do was to shove it into my pocket, while Susanhurried down the side without knowing its contents. This was verytrying to her, and I wished that she had looked at it before bringing itoff. 

When a ship is making sail, the boatswain has more to do than anybodyelse, and some hours passed before I could get to my cabin and break theseal; it was, as Susan supposed, from Jerry. Having it still by me, Igive it in his own words:--

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"Dear old Ship, --I am comfortably moored at last in a cottage of my own, with a small independence left me by my father--more than I deserved. Imight have had it years ago, if my good sister Mary and her husband, MrPengelley, had known where to find me. I had been here some time beforeI could make up my mind to let Mary know who I was. Instead of givingme the cold shoulder, bless her heart, she welcomed me at once, and Ihave been as happy as the day is long ever since, except when I think ofthe past and my own folly; but as it does me no good dwelling on that, Itry to forget it. Mr Pengelley is a lawyer, and lawyers, as you know, hear a good many things. One day I told him about Harry; he had neverheard of a child being saved from the wreck of the _Royal George_, norhad any people about here that I can make out. The next day he told methat he had been thinking over the matter, and asked me if I had ever inmy wanderings been to the house of an old Mr Hayward, living some milesoff. I remembered not only the house, which is a very solitary one, half a mile or more from any highroad, but the old gentleman himself, and a lady whom I heard was his widowed daughter. She spoke to mekindly when I first went there, and said that she loved sailors, andwanted to hear all about the sea. She invited me into the house, andgave me a good dinner, and begged that I would look in whenever I camethat way. I went several times. Though she was every inch a lady, Isaw no servant in the house, and guessed that she took care of the oldgentleman; indeed it was evident that their means were very scanty. Shemust have been very pretty in her youth, but care and sorrow had lefttheir traces on her countenance; and I remembered, too, that she wasalways dressed in black. `I will tell you her history, ' said MrPengelley. `Her father, Mr Hayward, was once a flourishing merchant atBristol, and she, his only daughter, was looked upon as his heiress. Ayoung naval officer, Henry Stafford, met her at Bath, where she wasstaying with some friends; they fell in love with each other, and wereengaged to marry as soon as he got his promotion, for he was then only amate in the service. He and his only sister, Emily, lived with theirwidowed mother at the same place. Henry had good prospects, for he washeir to his uncle Sir Mostyn Stafford, of an old and very proud family, who had an estate in the neighbouring county. When the baronet heardthat his nephew was about to marry without consulting him, he was veryindignant, and declared that if he persisted in connecting himself witha family which he looked upon as inferior to his own, he would stop theallowance he now made him, and not leave him a penny beyond the titleand estate, from which he could not cut him off. Henry did not believethat his uncle would, or indeed could, act as he threatened. He wouldpossibly have, at all events, deferred his marriage; but going one dayto see Miss Hayward, he found her in great distress. She then told himthat her father was on the point of failing, and wished her to marry aman of large means, who would help him out of his difficulties. Onthis, Henry Stafford, fearing that he should lose her altogether, persuaded her to run off with him, promising to raise money, as hethought he could, to assist her father. They married, and Henry, whowas the idol of his mother, took his young wife to live with her and hissister. He soon discovered that he was utterly unable to help MrHayward as he intended; and though the merchant was at first muchannoyed at his daughter's clandestine marriage, he was quicklyreconciled to her, especially when she told him of Harry's intentions. He soon afterwards failed, when, without making any attempt to retrievehis fortunes, he went to live at the retired house where he stillresides. When Sir Mostyn Stafford heard that his nephew had actuallymarried, he was highly incensed, and carried out his threats, deprivingeven Mrs Stafford of a portion of her income over which he had power. As he was not a badly-disposed man, I believe that he would not haveacted thus severely towards his nephew and sister-in-law had he not beengreatly influenced by a cousin of his, Biddulph Stafford, who was heirto the estate after Henry. Biddulph Stafford's whole soul was set onmaking money, and he had been heard to express his satisfaction when warbroke out, as Harry was in the navy, that the enemy's shot might givehim possession of the estate and title. His vexation and disappointmentwas therefore very great when young Mrs Stafford gave birth to a son, and from that moment he had redoubled his efforts to induce the baronetto take harsher measures towards his nephew. Harry was compelled to goto sea as the only means of finding support for his young wife andchild. He had been afloat about a year or more, when Mr Hayward fellill, and his daughter hurried off to see him, leaving her child incharge of Mrs Stafford and Emily. What Biddulph Stafford's object wasI don't know, but, being well informed of all that occurred, hepersuaded Sir Mostyn to offer not only to restore to Mrs Stafford herincome, but to increase it, provided she would consent not again toreceive her daughter-in-law, and to bring up the child herself. Thiswas a hard trial to the poor young mother, but she could not hold outwhen old Mrs Stafford persuaded her son to consent to the arrangementunder the belief that it was likely to prove advantageous to the boy. Both Mrs Stafford and her daughter had, however, cause to regret thisarrangement, for they found that they were constantly watched, theybelieved, by some agent of Biddulph, and they were persuaded his objectwas to get possession of the child; however, by constant vigilance, theywere able to defeat it. Now comes the mysterious part of the business. Old Mrs Stafford, who had been for some time in declining health, died;and the day after her funeral Emily and the child disappeared. The ideawas that either Biddulph had won her over, or that she, frightened byhis threats, had gone off secretly to escape from him, thinking that bysome means or other he would get hold of the boy. The latter opinion Ibelieve to be the true one; indeed, Biddulph Stafford, having been seenat Bath the day before, it is possible that he might have followedEmily, and by some means or other got possession of the child--perhapshave carried the aunt and her nephew off abroad. That there was foulplay no one doubted. Young Mrs Stafford was as much in the dark asanyone; she had not heard from Emily, nor had she been aware of herintention of leaving Bath. Living so completely out of the world as shedid, it was not till some time after that she heard her child andsister-in-law were missing. When the account of the loss of the _RoyalGeorge_ reached her, she knew that it was the ship aboard which herhusband was serving, and she was for some days left in doubt whether hewas among the many who perished or the few which escaped. In vain shewaited to hear from him; at last she saw his name among the list ofthose who were lost. It was a wonder that she did not sink under hermisfortunes, and she would probably have done so had she not undertakenthe sacred task of watching over her invalid father. Another strangecircumstance occurred: Biddulph Stafford, who knew all along where shewas living, unexpectedly called on her, and expressed the greatestsympathy with her at the loss of her husband, and offered to assist herin obtaining a portion of the subscriptions raised for the widows ofthose who perished. She, knowing less about him than her sister-in-lawdid, accepted his offer. He assured her also that he had made everyinquiry for Emily and the little boy, but could not trace in whatdirection they had gone. It was remarkable that all the information sheobtained about the wreck of the _Royal George_ was from her cousin, andhe seems thoroughly to have won her confidence by his apparently frankand pleasing manners. '"

"Such was the account I received from Mr Pengelley. I wish I couldtell you more; but I cannot help thinking that something will come ofit, and you may depend on me for doing my best to ferret out the truth, as I think you may also on my good brother-in-law. Good-bye for thepresent, Ben; I don't know whether it will be wise to tell this to youryoung friend. "

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I thought the matter over, and at last resolved to make a copy of theletter, and to give it, sealed up, into Harry's keeping. I did so, charging him not to open it, except in the case of my death. Recollecting Susan's natural curiosity to know the contents of theletter, and also in case the original and the first copy should be lost, I made a second, which I sent on shore at Falmouth, charging Susan notto show it to anyone. I also wrote to Jerry, thanking him for hisexertions, and begging him to send Susan all the information he couldcollect. 

We had been at sea some time, and had taken a French privateer and threeSpanish merchantmen, though we had met with no enemy which offeredopposition. We were cruising in the Bay of Biscay, when one evening, Cape Ortegal bearing south-west, distant eight or nine leagues, wediscovered a large fleet to windward, which our captain believedconsisted of Spanish merchant vessels under convoy of some men-of-war. 

"We will pick up some of those fellows before long, " he exclaimed; andwe stood towards the enemy. As we drew near we made out five frigatesand two men-of-war brigs, with full eighty merchant vessels, steering tothe northward, having apparently come from Cadiz. In spite of theirnumber, our captain kept to his resolution of attacking them, and stoodon till we weathered the leading frigate, which was ahead and somedistance from the convoy. The darkness of night had come on when we gotup alongside the enemy. Our captain hailed and asked her name. Theanswer was--

"The Spanish frigate _Ceres_. "

"Then strike your colours, " cried our captain. 

The enemy did not obey the order, and we immediately poured a broadsideinto her. The Spaniards returned it, doing us little damage. While wewere loading our guns, to give her a second dose, she put up her helm, and endeavoured to join her consorts to leeward. We immediately keptaway and engaged her to leeward, and in about twenty minutes we hadsilenced her fire, having had only a couple of men hit; we were about totake possession, when we saw the other four frigates close to us. Whilehauling up, to avoid being raked by the leading frigate which had openedher fire on us, we fell aboard her, carrying away her main-topsail-yard. We had handled her pretty roughly, when two more frigates coming up, one on each side of us, we kept blazing away at both of them, till thefourth arrived, followed by the two brigs. We were now surrounded bymore enemies than even our fire-eating captain thought it prudent tocontend with. However, either the Spaniards forgot to put shot in theirguns, or fired them wildly, for we received but little damage, only twomore men having been hit; we quickly hauled to the wind and stood outfrom among them, unharmed, although they were blazing away as fast asthey could get their guns to bear on us. We then steered for a part ofthe convoy which had been somewhat scattered during the action, andsucceeded in cutting off a large brig; but as the frigates were closeupon our heels, we had only time to send a couple of boats on board, under the command of Harry and Mr Leslie, who, having taken out hercrew, set her on fire fore and aft. So rapidly had they executed theirorders, that they were back again in a little more than five minutes, and we again made all sail, just as the four Spanish frigates coming upgot us within range of their guns. As we had no longer any chance ofcapturing either of them, we continued our course, and soon ran them outof sight, they evidently having no inclination to follow us. Though itwas not to be compared to our escape from Toulon, still it was a dashingpiece of business, which required good seamanship to accomplish, and Itherefore think it worthy of being mentioned. 

Both Harry and Reginald were naturally anxious to do something todistinguish themselves, by which they might make sure of theirpromotion. They had behaved admirably on every occasion, and all theywanted was the opportunity which, as is well known, does not fall to thelot of every man. 

We had been cruising in the northern part of the Bay of Biscay, when, standing towards Brest, we made out under the batteries in Camaret Bay abrig-of-war at anchor, with springs on her cable. One of ourlieutenants was ill, and another away in a prize. Harry, to his greatsatisfaction, having got leave to lead an expedition to cut her out, asked for me to accompany him; Reginald had command of one boat, and amidshipman had charge of a third. We knew that there were severalships-of-war at anchor scarcely a mile off, which might have sent theirboats to stop us if they had known what we were about. We stood inshoreas soon as it was dark, and when about two miles from the place hove-to. The boats were lowered, and we shoved off. Harry and I were in thecutter, a fast-pulling boat, and kept ahead of the other two boats. Wecould tell the position of the brig by the lights on shore, and, after ahard pull, we caught sight of her. We guessed by the sounds thatreached us that her crew were at quarters, but, though the other boatswere still some way astern, Harry was eager to board at once; we madefor her quarter, and hooking on, we sprang over her bulwarks with ourcutlasses in hand. The Frenchmen made a desperate rush at us; I lookedround, but nowhere could I see Harry. The next instant I found myselfhurled back into the boat among several of our men who had boarded withme. I sang out for Harry, but he was not in the boat, and I feared thathe had been cut down; just then I heard his voice, and found that he hadsprung into a trawl-net which hung over the brig's quarter. We madeanother attempt to gain the deck, and kept back the Frenchmen; whileHarry extricated himself, with the help of two of the men, from hisdangerous position, and leapt back into the boat, into which we wereagain driven. 

"Haul the boat more ahead, and we will try it again!" he shouted out. 

Though I had had a thrust with a pike in my side, and I guessed thatseveral other men were wounded, not being aware, however, that Harryhimself had been hurt, we again sprang on board. I kept close to himthis time, and warded off a heavy blow aimed at his head; pistols wereflashed in our faces, pikes thrust at us, and cutlasses were whirledround our heads, and again we were driven back with more men hurt, whileI had received another wound from a cutlass. I began to fear that weshould not succeed. It was but for a moment. Harry's voice cheered meup:--

"At them again, lads!" he shouted; and once more we sprang up the side, cutting down every one of the Frenchmen within reach of our weapons. Six or eight of us having gained the deck, the rest followed; andcharging the Frenchmen we drove them aft, killing or wounding everyonewho attempted to withstand us. In less than three minutes the brig wasours, and the enemy cried out for quarter, even before the other twoboats came up. The men in them not required at the oars jumped on boardto assist in securing the prisoners, the cable was cut, and, while wewere making sail, the boats took the prize in tow; and before the peoplein the forts knew what had happened, we were standing away from theland. We found that six Frenchmen had been killed, and twenty wounded, some of them pretty badly. We had lost one man, and eight of us werewounded, Harry in two places, and I in no less than six. As soon as wegot the breeze, we took the boats in tow, and stood towards the frigate. The captain was highly pleased at the success of the enterprise, andtold Harry that he might be sure of his promotion. 

We had been on the point of returning home, and we now made the best ofour way with our prize up Channel. I was not aware, till the doctorcame to overhaul me, how much I had been hurt, and the next day I wasunable to leave my cabin. Harry, who had the cabin of the absentlieutenant, was also confined to his. As soon as he could, he came tosee me. 

"I would willingly have been much more hurt rather than have missedtaking the prize, " he said, after he had inquired how I was getting on. "I hope that Captain Leslie will at least see that I am worthsomething. "

"No doubt about that, Harry, " I answered. "You did well, and I am proudof you; still be wise, and don't presume on what you have done. "

I don't think Harry quite liked my advice; however, he said nothing. Ithink that Reginald must have been a little jealous of him, though itwas not his fault that he had not been up in time to board the brigbefore we had possession of her; at all events, he did not show what hefelt, and spoke as if he admired Harry more than ever. 

As soon as we arrived at Spithead, Harry, Reginald, and I got leave togo on shore; Harry had by this time nearly recovered, but the doctorsaid that I must not expect to be fit for duty for many weeks to come. Reginald at once went home, and Harry accompanied me. If nobody elsewas proud of him, Susan at all events was, and I had good reason to bethankful that I had such a wife to look after me. The same eveningReginald came down and begged Harry to come to the house, as his fatherand mother and all the ladies were anxious to see him. Reginald hadbeen giving a full account of Harry's gallantry, and I suspect from whatSusan heard, that Miss Fanny had somewhat betrayed her feelings. Harrycame back in high spirits, accompanied by Reginald, to help him along; Iwas altogether laid up, and, though Harry could not walk far, he managedto get every day to the captain's house. In less than ten days hereceived his commission as lieutenant. 

"I knew you would!" I exclaimed as he held it up proudly to me. "Allyou wanted was the opportunity, and you got that. "

"I hope that Reginald will get his too!" he exclaimed, "for he deservesit, as he would have done the same had he had the chance I got. I mustgo up to the captain's, and tell them, " he said. 

"I was on the point of cautioning him about his behaviour to Miss Fanny, but I had not the heart just then to do it, he looked so proud andhappy. Off he went, and didn't come back till late in the evening, ashe had been asked to stop and dine. Next day he had to go over toPortsmouth to order his uniform. 

"I must go up and see Miss Fanny first, " he said; "she told me that thecaptain spoke so highly of me that she is satisfied he would not objectto our marriage. I shall have, as you know, a good share ofprize-money, and we think that we shall have enough to keep house; soshe was to tell the captain this morning, and we hope to have it allsettled. 

"I don't like to damp your spirits, Harry, " I said, "but, my dear boy, don't be too sure; the captain could do nothing else than speak highlyof your conduct; but that makes me think, as I have all along, that henever dreamt of his daughter and you falling in love with each other. However, you are bound to go up and hear what he has to say, and if heis not pleased, don't show any anger, but say that you will waitpatiently till you have gained another step in rank, or have discoveredwho are your parents; and that if it should be proved that your familyis not inferior to his, that you hope he will then withdraw anyobjections he may at present entertain. "

"I trust that I shall not have to say that, " answered Harry; "I wouldrather be accepted on my own merits. "

"So you are by the young lady; and that is the chief matter. Parentsare apt to look at things in a different light to young people, " Iobserved. 

Susan and I sat anxiously waiting Harry's return. I forgot to say thatI had been hoping, day after day, to hear from Jerry, and had writtentelling him of Harry's gallantry, and that he and I were at home again. I had, however, received no answer. Harry had been absent fully threehours. I saw, as soon as he appeared, that all had not gone well. Hethrew himself into a chair. Susan waited for him to speak. At last shesaid, in her gentle way--

"I am afraid, dear Harry, that the captain does not see things in thelight you expected. "

"No, mother, he does not, " he answered. "He spoke as if he wished to beas kind as possible, but what he said went to my heart. 

"`I have regarded you with sincere affection, having known you from yourchildhood, and as the friend of my son, ' he began; `but I did not expectthat you would have thus returned any service I may have rendered you. I have been wrong, I confess, to permit the intimacy which has existedbetween you and all the members of my family; but I tell you at oncethat I have an insuperable objection to any one of my daughters marryinga man whose family is unknown to me. For yourself I shall alwaysentertain the truest regard, and I must beg you to receive this answeras final. Though Mrs Leslie and I shall regret the loss of yoursociety, you will see that, under the circumstances, it is better thatyou should not again come to my house. '"

"I tried to argue the point, and spoke to the captain as you advised, father; but all I said had no effect, and showed me he had made up hismind how to act. He would not even allow me to see Fanny; and frombeing the happiest of human beings, I am now one of the most miserable. "

Susan and I did what we could to comfort Harry, though without muchavail. I was therefore thankful when the next day a letter from theAdmiralty came appointing him as third lieutenant to the _Vestal_, anddirecting him to join at once. Reginald came down immediatelyafterwards, as he had also been ordered to join his ship; and heproposed that they should go over to Portsmouth that afternoon. Harryagreed; and though Susan and I were sorry to lose him so suddenly, wesaw that it was the best thing he could do. 

A week afterwards the _Vestal_ sailed down Channel, and, judging byHarry's last letter, I hoped that he had somewhat regained his spirits. 

CHAPTER NINE. 

I had been some time at home, and had pretty nearly recovered from mywounds. Susan frequently went up to see Jane; and the ladies treatedher, notwithstanding what had occurred, as kindly as ever; but thecaptain ceased to inquire after me, and he evidently had not got overhis annoyance, and still believed that Susan and I, if we had notencouraged Harry, might have at all events prevented him from falling inlove with Miss Fanny. The poor young lady had not recovered herspirits; and Susan said she was afraid that if anything should happen toHarry it would bring her to her grave. This of course made us more thanever anxious to hear again from Jerry. At last one day the postmanbrought a letter to our door and demanded three shillings for it, whichI willingly paid, for I saw at a glance that it was from my oldshipmate. I have it still by me; here it is:--

"Dear old Ship--

"What I told you in my last has prepared you for the news I have now togive. I thought over what Mr Pengelley had told me, and could not helphoping that we should at last find out all about Harry Saint George. 

"The very first time that I saw Mrs Stafford (though I did not know hername then) she told me that her husband had been an officer on board the_Royal George_, and that he was lost when the ship went down; but shesaid nothing more at that time. When, however, I heard that she had hada little boy who had disappeared with her young sister-in-law, I at oncejumped to the conclusion that the young lady who had come to your housewas Miss Stafford, and that the little boy was her nephew. It struck methat nothing was more likely than that Miss Stafford should have set offto see her brother, and consult with him what was best to be done forthe safety of his son; but, as you know, it's a very different matter toguess a thing and to prove it. Still I am almost as certain as I am ofmy own existence, that the little boy you saved from the wreck was HarryStafford's son; but my thinking so won't get him his rights. BiddulphStafford and I were young men together before I went off to sea, andmany a wild prank we played; some of them such as I don't like to thinkabout. There was an act of his, indeed, which, if known, would bringhim under the power of the law; and I feel sure that if I were tointroduce myself to him, and let him know that I was acquainted with it, and could bring witnesses to prove his guilt, long ago as it happened, Imight gain an influence over him, which I might exercise for Harry'sbenefit. Sir Mostyn Stafford, you will understand, is still alive, andall Biddulph's scheming and plotting has hitherto gained him noadvantage. My first idea was to go and give him his choice, either toacknowledge Harry, or to take the consequences of having his crime madeknown; he might, however, set me at defiance. The difficulty would beto prove that the young lady you saw was Miss Stafford, and then thatthe child saved from the wreck was the same little boy she had broughtwith her. The first thing to be done, as it seemed to me, was to learnfrom Mrs Stafford if she knew how her little boy was likely to havebeen dressed; and if she described him as you had seen him, it wouldsettle the matter in our minds, and we might possibly get Mr Pengelley, or some other lawyer, to take up the case, and try to gain his rightsfor your young Harry. As soon as this idea occurred to me, I went backto Mr Pengelley; he thought that I might be right, but told me to waittill he had obtained some more certain information as to how theStafford estates were settled. This took up some time, for lawyers seemto me to have a peculiarly slow way of setting about a business;probably they find from experience that `Slow and steady wins the race. 'At last he sent for me, and told me that I might go off and see MrsStafford, and gain all I could from her. I of course lost not a moment. She recognised me at once, though she was naturally surprised to findhow I was changed. I introduced the subject cautiously. I then askedher if she thought it possible that her son was still alive? She saidthat sometimes she had hopes, but then she could not understand how itwas that her sister-in-law had never written to her. At last I askedher if she could describe what her son was like? `Yes, ' she said, `forI have his portrait, which Emily sent me a few days only before hermother's death. ' `Will you allow me to see it?' I asked; and going toher room she returned with a small well-done drawing of a little boy, exactly like what Harry might have been, and dressed as you describedhim, in a sailor's jacket and trousers and round hat. 

"`You see him in a dress I made for him myself, and sent only a shorttime before. I also made a copy of it, which I forwarded to my poorhusband on board the _Royal George_. '

"`Did it ever occur to you, ma'am, ' I asked, `that your sister may havegone to see her brother on board the _Royal George_, and taken thelittle boy with her?'

"`Yes, indeed, ' she answered, `I thought that possible; but when I heardthat all the women and children on board had perished, I knew that ifsuch were the case, both Emily and my child must have been lost also. '

"`Did you ever hear, ma'am, that a little boy was saved from the wreck?'I said. 

"`No, ' she answered. `Mr Biddulph Stafford, who kindly came here atthe time, and told me all about it, did not mention that any child wassaved; but oh! say, was such really the case? Could my boy have been onboard and escaped the fate which overtook his father?'

"I thought it time to describe to the poor mother how a young lady camewith a little boy, exactly like the picture she had just shown me, toyour cottage, and how you had saved the same child after the ship hadgone down, and that the same boy was now an officer in the navy. 

"`Oh, merciful Providence, he must be my own boy! I should know himeven now, he cannot be so changed, ' she exclaimed. 

"I told her, though I did not wish to raise her hopes to disappointthem, that I felt sure she was right. But then I suggested that thoughshe might be confident that Harry Saint George was her son, it might bevery difficult to prove it so as to enable him to obtain his rights. 

"`If we could prove that Miss Stafford went to Ryde with her nephew, itwould greatly assist the case, ' I observed. 

"`I will look over all her letters to me, and see if she ever mentionedthat she thought of so doing, ' she said. `I have some also which myhusband wrote to her during their mother's illness, and he may possiblyhave expressed a wish to see her and our boy. But surely, even should Inot discover anything of the sort, Sir Mostyn Stafford will be convincedthat my son is his nephew, and would not refuse to acknowledge him. '

"About that, I said, I could not be sure; but I advised her not on anyaccount to let Mr Biddulph Stafford know that she had gained tidings ofher son, lest he might influence Sir Mostyn. I told her that I was suremy brother-in-law, Mr Pengelley, would, with the evidence she was ableto bring forward, undertake her case; and I offered, should Harry SaintGeorge be in England, to go to Ryde and bring him back with me. 

"`I am indeed most grateful, ' she answered. `I must not leave my poorfather, or I would go myself to see my son, for that he is my boy I havenot a doubt on my mind. '

"Just as I was about to leave the room, my eye fell on a small portraitof a lady hanging against the wall, and it occurred to me that it mightbe that of Miss Stafford. I asked the question. Mrs Stafford said itwas; and I proposed taking it with me to know whether you and your wifecould recognise it, and perhaps others might be found who may have seenher on board the _Royal George_ to do so likewise. 

"She at once took down the portrait, which with that of her son shecarefully packed up and entrusted to my care. After again cautioningher against Mr Biddulph Stafford, I wished her good-bye, and returnedwith the information I had gained to my worthy brother-in-law, who, onhearing it, said that he was convinced in his own mind that Harry SaintGeorge was the son of Henry Stafford, and that he would undertake hiscase, though he advised me to caution you and him not to be too sanguineabout gaining it; at the same time you might be sure that Mrs Staffordwould acknowledge him, and that he would thus, which he would probablyvalue more than fortune, be able in the eyes of his friends to establishhis right to bear his father's name. 

"Mr Pengelley hopes that you will on no account let anyone learn thehistory I have now given you till everything is prepared. ShouldBiddulph Stafford bear that young Harry is discovered, he will stirheaven and earth to prevent him from establishing his rights. I might, as I before said, by threatening to expose the crime of his early days, gain a power over him; but as it occurred so long ago, he might feelhimself safe and set me at defiance. At all events be cautious, and letno one but Harry and your wife, who, from what I saw of her, is, Ishould judge, a discreet woman, know anything of the matter. "

This letter, as may be supposed, threw Susan and me into a great stateof agitation. We could talk of nothing else, and kept looking out everymoment for Jerry's arrival; we could not help grieving that Harry wasnot at home, for we could take no steps without him. We were sorry, too, that we could not consult with Captain Leslie, as Jerry hadforbidden us to speak to anyone on the subject. He, I was sure, couldbe trusted, though he had been so much offended with Harry for venturingto look up to Miss Fanny; but the state of the case was now greatlyaltered; and should Harry be able to prove that he was heir to SirMostyn Stafford, instead of being without name or family, I knew ofcourse that the captain would no longer think of forbidding him to marryhis daughter. 

I had one day walked down to the beach, when a wherry from Portsmouthcame to an anchor, and soon after a boat reached the shore with severalpeople in her. Among them was a one-legged man, with white hair, wholooked to my eyes like an old post-captain or admiral. I went up tohim, at first with some doubt in my mind, but soon saw that it was noother than my old shipmate Jerry. 

He put out his hand and shook mine cordially, saying as he did so, "Youare less changed than I am, Ben, but years make a difference in a man. Stay, I must not lose sight of my valise. Once upon a time I shouldhave made nothing of carrying it myself, but I am not as strong on mypins as I used to be. Can you get someone to take it up to your house?We will keep him in sight, however; because, as you may guess, I shouldnot like to lose it. "

I said that I would carry it myself, and, taking it out of the boat, shouldered it and walked up alongside Jerry, who stumped along with muchless briskness than formerly; indeed I saw that he was greatly agedsince we last met. On reaching home, after Susan had welcomed him, hecaught her eye turned towards the valise. 

"You are anxious to see the portraits I wrote about, " he observed, getting up and opening it. The first he took out was that of the littleboy. 

"That's like him all over, " exclaimed Susan. "I should have known iteven if I had not expected to see it; and it's just the same as the oneI have upstairs, though that is terribly faded. "

"Please get it, Mrs Truscott, and we will compare the two, " said Jerry. She quickly brought the little picture we had so carefully preserved;though the colours were almost gone, the lines were sufficiently clearto remove any manner of doubt in our minds that the one was a copy ofthe other. 

"And now, what do you think of this?" producing a portrait of MissStafford. 

"The very young lady who came to our house, " exclaimed Susan. "Owing tothe sad circumstances of her death, her features are more impressed onmy mind than those of anyone I ever met, and I am sure those who knowHarry would say that he is wonderfully like her. "

I agreed with my wife, and Jerry said that he thought so likewise fromwhat he recollected of him; indeed we had not a shadow of doubt on ourminds that our dear Harry was the son of Henry Stafford. 

"Oh, how I wish he was at home!" cried Susan; "he cannot fail to gainhis rights; and then he might marry dear Miss Fanny and be so happy. Ben, I must go and tell her what we have found out about his family, andthat she may be sure all will come right. It will do her all the goodin the world, for she has been very sadly since her father forbid Harryto come to the house and got him sent off to sea; sometimes I havethought that the poor dear would break her heart. "

I asked Jerry what he thought. 

"There might be no harm in letting Miss Fanny know, but it must dependupon whether she has got discretion or not, " said Jerry. "If she is awise girl she will hold her tongue, and I daresay it will make herhappier to hear what you wish to tell her. "

Susan at length gained her way, and, promising duly to caution MissFanny to be prudent, set off. 

Jerry and I sat talking over matters till Susan came back. 

"I am thankful I went, " she said. "I found Miss Fanny very ill, and Ihave hopes that the news I gave her will restore her to health fasterthan any doctor's stuff. "

I told Jerry how I had hunted for the young lady's luggage, and had beenunable to find it, though she had told me the name of the inn where shehad left it; and I was sure she would not have spoken falsely. 

"Is the landlord still alive?" asked Jerry. 

"Yes; though well in years, " I answered. 

"Well, then, we will go along together, and see if we can make anythingout of him, " said Jerry; and off we set. We went into the bar-room. Fortunately no one was there, so we asked the landlord to come in andhave a quiet glass with a couple of old salts. He, nothing loath, cameat once, for he had been a sailor himself. I never saw anybody likeJerry for leading on to a point he wanted to reach; he soon got talkingabout the _Royal George_, then he asked the landlord if he rememberedthe name of the young lady who came to his house the day before thewreck with a little boy. 

"No, " said the landlord, "I don't remember her name, though I do her andthe little boy. "

"Then you heard it?" said Jerry. 

"Can't say but what I did, " answered the landlord. 

"Then can you tell me what the gentleman did with her luggage?" heasked, looking the landlord full in the face. "Come, you know he bribedyou to stow it away, and say nothing about it if questions were asked. "

I never saw anybody look so astonished as the landlord did when Jerrysaid this. 

"How should you know anything about it?" he asked. 

"I know a good many things, " answered Jerry, with a knowing look. "Come, mate, tell us what Mr Biddulph Stafford paid you for stowing thethings away, and I will promise that it shall be doubled if you can findthem. "

I did not know at the time that this was all a guess of Jerry's, but hehad hit the right nail on the head. 

"Is it a bargain?" asked the landlord. "I suppose that Mr Biddulphcan't do me any harm?"

"It's a bargain, and I will see that you are not the sufferer, " saidJerry. "Come, what did he give you?"

"Ten pounds, " answered the landlord. 

"You shall have twenty; and that you may be sure of it, I will write outthe promise to pay you. "

The landlord, thus taken by surprise, agreed; and Jerry, who followedthe wise plan of "striking while the iron is hot, " made him then andthere bring pen and paper, when he wrote out an order on hisbrother-in-law for twenty pounds. The landlord then begged that wewould come upstairs, and, going through a trapdoor in the roof, he letdown two small trunks, such as ladies might use for travelling. Theywere both locked. 

"There they are, " said the landlord; "and the sooner you take them thebetter. They have made me uncomfortable ever since they have been inthe house; I didn't like to destroy them, and I didn't know where to putthem. As it is so long since Mr Biddulph Stafford came here, I don'tsuppose that he will trouble me again about them. "

We waited till dark, and the landlord then getting us a boy to carry oneof the trunks, I shouldered the other, and we set off back to my house. 

Though Susan was naturally curious to see their contents, we agreed thatwe would not open them ourselves, but wait till Mrs Stafford could doso, as she was more likely than anyone else to recognise their contents. We then talked over what was best to be done. I was for tellingCaptain Leslie, for I was sure that he had still as kind a feelingtowards Harry as ever, and that he had acted as he had done to preventhim and his daughter from making what he considered an imprudent match. Jerry at last came to agree with me, and he consented to write to MrPengelley and ask his advice. Mr Pengelley thought as I did, that asan old friend of Harry's the captain might be trusted; indeed, withouthis assistance it would have been difficult to get Harry sent home. Ilost no time in hastening up to the captain, and told him everything; hewas, as I expected he would be, highly delighted. 

"He is a noble young fellow, and I all along thought he was of gentlebirth, though he might not have a right to his father's name, " heexclaimed. "We will get him home without delay, for of course nothingcan be done till he arrives. "

He promised to be cautious, so that Mr Biddulph Stafford should not getan inkling of what we were about. 

"I will accompany him myself and give him all the support in my power, as the whole matter is as clear to me as noonday, and, whether his uncleacknowledges him or not, he must win his case. "

I told him that Jerry hoped he would not say anything to the rest of hisfamily. 

"I will be discreet, " he answered, "depend upon that. "

I had a strong suspicion that the ladies soon knew all about it, thoughfor my part I was sure they would act wisely. 

Jerry received a letter from Mr Pengelley, saying that he wished to seehim, and to bring the information he had gained. Bidding us, therefore, good-bye, he set off to return home, taking the portraits of the younglady and Harry with him. 

After this there seemed nothing to be done but to wait till Harry'sreturn; Captain Leslie had written to request that he might be allowedto come home on urgent family affairs, and there was no doubt but thathe would obtain leave to do so, and he would of course guess the object. 

I spent a good part of each day with spyglass in hand, looking out forfresh arrivals at Spithead. When either Susan or I went up to thecaptain's, we were sure to find Miss Fanny at the telescope, which stoodon a stand in the bay window of the drawing-room, turned in the samedirection. At last one day I saw two frigates coming in round SaintHelen's; the leading one had her fore-topmast shot away and her sailsand rigging much cut up; the second, which had the English coloursflying over the French, was in a far worse condition, her mainmast andmizzen-topmast were gone, and her hull was severely battered. She wasevidently a prize to the first. 

"I can't help hoping that yonder frigate is the _Vestal_; it's hard tosay positively, but she is, as far as I can judge from this distance, wonderfully like her, " I exclaimed to Susan. I hurried down to the"hard, " and, engaging a boat, put off and got alongside before any ofthe Portsmouth boats. I soon found that I was right. The first personI saw on stepping on deck was Harry himself; he hurried forward to shakeme by the hand. 

"Father, " he said, "we have had a glorious fight, and the captain hasbeen good enough to speak highly of me; after an hour's fighting, broadside to broadside, we got foul of the enemy, and I had the honourof leading the boarders. "

I asked him if he had received Captain Leslie's letter; he had not. 

"I am then the first to bring you the good news, " I said; and I told himin as few words as I could how Jerry had discovered who his parentswere, and that he might before long see one of them. He was naturallyeager to go on shore at once, but he could not desert his duty; so, sending the boat back with a message to Susan, I remained on board tillthe frigate with her prize went into harbour. Reginald was as muchrejoiced at his friend's prospects as Harry was himself. As soon asthey could get leave they accompanied me over to Ryde. 

We landed at the very spot where, about twenty years before, I hadstepped on shore with Harry in my arms, all wet and draggled, followedby the sheep which had saved his life. And now he stood by my side, afine, well-dressed young man, with the thorough cut of a naval officer. He had had time to get rigged out in a new uniform, and lookedhandsomer, I thought, than ever. Somebody else would think so, too, Ihad a notion. 

We hurried up to our cottage, where Susan was on the look-out for him. He took her in his arms and kissed her, just as he would have donebefore he went to sea. 

"Mother, " he said, "you are looking well, and thankful I am to come backto you. "

"You've another mother now, Harry, " she said, gazing in his face, andthe tears fell from her eyes. 

"I shall not love you the less, " he answered, "though I had a dozenmothers. "

"There are more than her to share your love, Harry, " she replied. 

"Well, mother, " he said, smiling, "I hope my heart is large enough forall. "

"That it is, I am sure, Harry, " she answered; "and I'll not grudge whatyou give to others. "

Reginald had stayed outside the garden; when I looked out, I found thathe had gone off home. Harry cast a wistful glance in the samedirection; still he did not like to leave Susan in a hurry. She guessedwhat was passing in his mind. 

"I mustn't be keeping you here, Harry, " she said, "so do you go afterMr Reginald. Miss Fanny will be looking for you, and she won't thankme if I keep you here. Now go, Harry, and bless you--bless you; myheart's very happy at seeing you back, for I'm sure that all will turnout as we wish it at last. You've had a sore trial, but you actedrightly. "

Harry, having given Susan another embrace and shaken me warmly by thehand, bounded away after Reginald. I didn't offer to accompany him, for, in truth, I could not have moved as fast as he did; but I followedat my leisure, as the captain had told Susan he wanted to see me as soonas I came on shore. As I got near the house, I caught sight of Harryand Miss Fanny in the shrubbery, and from what I saw he had no reason todoubt that she loved him as much as ever; and I am sure that she wouldnot have met him as she did, unless she had had the captain's leave toreceive him as her intended husband. Mr Reginald reached the house, and got through the greetings with the captain and his mother, and othersisters. A very happy party they looked, for he had a good account togive of himself, though maybe he hadn't quite as much to boast of as hadHarry. From the way Harry was received when he at last made hisappearance with Miss Fanny by his side, I felt sure that all was right. 

I had afterwards a long talk with the captain. He told me that he wasready for a start as soon as Harry was at liberty. There was no time tobe lost, for we could not tell what tricks Mr Biddulph Stafford mightbe playing in the meantime. As far as we knew, he had as yet no inklingof what had occurred; but he was deep and cunning, according to Jerry'saccount, and would move heaven and earth, if his suspicions werearoused, to defeat our object. Some days, however, must pass before wecould begin our journey, as Harry could not quit his ship till she waspaid off. It was a question with us whether Mr Biddulph Stafford knewthat his nephew had been saved when the ship went down, or had found outthe name we had given him; if he did, he would soon learn that he hadcome home again, and might possibly be on the look-out for him, thinking, of course, that Harry was still ignorant of who he really was. This idea came into the captain's head. He said that he thought itwould be well to tell Harry, that he might be on his guard against anytreacherous trick his uncle might endeavour to play him. I had not manyfears on the subject; still I agreed that it would be better to be onthe safe side. 

Harry and Reginald spent that night on shore, and the next day returnedto Portsmouth. It was on the evening of that day, as I happened to bepassing the inn where Miss Stafford had left her boxes, when I caughtsight of a strange gentleman coming along the road, and looking abouthim as if in search of some house or other. As I passed close to him Ilooked in his face, and could not help fancying that he was very likeHarry, only much older, with a very different expression of countenance. After I had passed him I turned round, when I saw him looking up at thesign of the inn, and then go without further hesitation up to the door. I walked on some little way, and stood watching the inn till he came outagain. As I again passed him I felt sure that he was no other than MrBiddulph Stafford, from the dark and troubled look I saw on hiscountenance. He then went on into the town. As the wind was from thenorth-east, and the tide was ebbing, I knew that no wherry was likely toput off for some time to come, and that I should be able to fall in withhim again before he left the island. I accordingly entered the inn tolearn what I could from the landlord. He presently, taking me into hisprivate room, confessed that the stranger was no other than the man Isuspected. He had at once made himself known, and asked what had becomeof the young lady's trunks, and seemed anxious to have them. Thelandlord at once told him that he could not give them, seeing that theywere no longer in his possession, and that, for what he knew to thecontrary, they had long since been destroyed. At last, when he pressedhim, he told him that he had given them to two sailors to carry off intothe middle of the Channel and sink them, thinking that was the best wayof disposing of them. This seemed to satisfy him, and giving thelandlord a guinea, and telling him not to say anything about the matter, he went off. 

"That was not the truth, my friend, " I observed. 

"It was partly true, " answered the landlord, "for you and the oldgentleman who came with you were seamen--I could swear to that; and howshould I know that you didn't sink them away there 'twixt this andPortsmouth?"

I had no time to argue, the point with the landlord, though of course hewas wrong, as I had to look after Mr Biddulph Stafford. I found him onthe shore, trying to engage a wherry to carry him across to Portsmouth;but none of the men would go, as it was blowing harder than ever, with anasty sea running. At last I heard him offer five guineas to anyone whowould cross. I knew by this that he must be in a desperate hurry. 

"If you'll wait half an hour, sir, I'll do it, " said the owner of alarge wherry, coming up to him; "we shall get across just as soon as weshould if we were to start now. "

To this Mr Biddulph Stafford agreed, and I saw him go into an inn nearthe beach, to get some refreshment I suppose, telling the man to callhim when he was ready. I now knew that I should have no difficulty inascertaining whether he had really gone, so I hastened back to thecaptain, to tell him what I had discovered. He immediately wrote toHarry, to tell him to get ready for a start, and to meet himself and meat "The George, " where we would call for him next morning, if we couldget across, on our way to Mr Pengelley's; adding, that the sooner wecould get him recognised by his mother and uncle the better, lest MrBiddulph Stafford should be taking steps to defeat us. The letter wassent off by the mail-packet that night. 

The captain agreed that it would be better that Susan should accompanyus, as her evidence was sure to be wanted; so, calling at our cottage onmy way back to the shore, I told her to pack up her traps and get awoman to take care of the house during her absence. Though she didn'tlike leaving home, she was willing to do anything for Harry's good, andpromised to be ready in time. 

On returning to the beach I found that Mr Biddulph Stafford had justput off from the shore, but, with the wetting and tossing he would get, I felt pretty sure he wouldn't be ready to start till the next morning, if even then. 

I daresay Miss Fanny would rather have had Harry come back at once toRyde, but she was too wise to say anything about the matter. The nextmorning was fine, and the captain, Susan, and I crossed to Portsmouth, taking with us Miss Stafford's trunks, which I had had done up incanvas, and painted in such a way that even should Mr Biddulph Staffordget sight of them they might not be recognised by him. We found Harrywaiting for us at "The George. " The ship had been paid off the previousday, and he and Reginald were now free. The latter went back to Ryde"to console Miss Fanny, " as he said. 

On making inquiries I found that Mr Biddulph Stafford was sleeping atthe hotel, and had not yet come out of his room, which convinced me thathe had been knocked up the previous day by sea-sickness, and also thathe did not know that we were trying to get ahead of him. The postchaisebeing ordered, we at once started, and, travelling as fast as the horsescould get along, without any accident reached Mr Pengelley's. Harrywas of course very anxious to see his mother; and accordingly, leavingCaptain Leslie with Mr Pengelley, he and Jerry, with Susan and I, setoff for the old house where she and her father lived. Mr Pengelley, Jerry told us, had already somewhat prepared her for the recovery of herson. 

As we approached the house we saw in the garden a fair lady dressed inblack, who, though thin and careworn, was still very handsome, attendingto an old gentleman seated under a tree in an arm-chair. I guessed atonce she must be Mrs Stafford. Harry, who had been on the box, gotdown, while Jerry stumped forward, as fast as his wooden leg would lethim, to announce us. He had scarcely begun to speak when, the lady, fixing her eyes on Harry, rushed forward. 

"You are indeed my son!" she exclaimed, as Harry supported her in hisarms--for, as may be supposed, she was well-nigh overcome withagitation. However, it is more than I can do to describe, all theparticulars of the meeting. Harry was also not a little agitated, but, after some time, both he and Mrs Stafford became calm, and she then ledhim forward towards the old gentleman in the chair, who was, as I ofcourse knew, her father, Mr Hayward. He glanced up at Harry, with alook of astonishment in his countenance. 

"Why, " he said, "I thought he had been drowned long, long ago!"

It was evident that he took Harry for his father. It satisfied me thatHarry must be very like him. That he was so was further proved whenMrs Stafford produced a miniature of her husband, which might have beenthat of Harry--though, according to Susan's notion, it was not sohandsome. In the trunks, which Mrs Stafford opened in our presence, she recognised, with many a sigh, various articles, and among themanother miniature was discovered still more resembling Harry. When MrsStafford heard who Susan was, she embraced her as if she were hersister, and the tears fell down from her eyes as she thanked her overand over again for her loving treatment of Harry. 

We left Harry with his mother, and returned to the house of MrPengelley, who, with Captain Leslie, had been busy in collecting suchother evidence as was thought necessary. The next day Mr Pengelleywent for Harry, and took him and his mother to see Sir Mostyn Stafford, whose intellects, though he was an old man, were still perfectly clear. On Harry being introduced to him, after regarding him fixedly for a fewminutes he exclaimed, "There stands my nephew; had I not been told thathe was Henry's son, I should have known him instantly. "

Mr Pengelley asked if he was ready to acknowledge him; he replied thathe should certainly do so. It appeared that he had been for some timesuspicious of Mr Biddulph Stafford, and was very glad to find an heirwho was likely to do more credit than that person to his name and title. 

I have already spun my yarn to a greater length than I intended. I knownothing of the law, and therefore cannot describe the legal proceedingswhich took place; but all I know is, that the evidence we broughtforward was so overwhelming that Mr Biddulph Stafford was defeated, andthat Harry fully established his claim as heir to Sir Mostyn Stafford. 

As may be supposed, Captain Leslie no longer objecting, Harry shortlyafterwards married Miss Fanny. A few weeks more passed, when, old MrHayward dying, Mrs Stafford came to live with her son, who, before ayear was over, by the death of his uncle, succeeded to the estate andtitle. No one was more pleased than Jerry with the result of hisexertions. It seemed as if his last task had been accomplished; he wassuddenly taken ill, and, though he lingered for some weeks, he graduallysank. Whatever the sins and failings of his youth, he had sincerelymourned for them, and now, enjoying the strong hope of a true Christian, he died. Harry and I followed the old man to his grave; Susan, who hadbeen summoned to give evidence at the trial, returned with me after sometime to Ryde, where we have since lived on, having seen another long warbrought to a glorious conclusion. 

One of my chief amusements is to describe to the members of anothergeneration the battles I have seen fought, the adventures I have gonethrough, and, what I find interests them more than anything else, torepeat the account I have given in this book of "The Loss of the _RoyalGeorge_. "

THE END.