nt of classical dialect, to maintain the honour of his profession.
Nor was the lady by any means deficient. Although she had not taken
her degree, her tongue from constant use had acquired a fluency which
nature only concedes to practice.

It will not be expected, nor would it be proper, that I should repeat
all that passed in this concluding scene, in which the housekeeper
gave us good reason to suppose that she was not quite so ignorant of
the nature of the transaction as she would have had us believe.

The battle having raged for half an hour with great fury, both parties
desisted, for want of breath, and consequently of ammunition. This
produced a gradual cessation of firing, and by degrees the ships
separated--the admiral, like Lord Howe on the first of June,
preserving his position, though very much mauled; and the housekeeper,
like the Montague, _running down_ to join her associates. A few random
shots were exchanged as they parted, and at every second or third step
on the stairs, Mrs Margaret brought to, and fired, until both were
quite out of range; a distant rumbling noise was heard, and the
admiral concluded, by muttering that she might go--, somewhere, but
the word died between his teeth.

"There, admiral," said I, "did not I tell you that you would have a
squall?"

"Squall! yes--d----n my blood," wiping his face; "how the spray flew
from the old beldam! She's fairly wetted my trousers, by God. Who'd
ever thought that such a purring old b----h could have shown such a
set of claws!--War to the knife! By heavens, I'll make her remember
this."

Notwithstanding the admiral's threat, hostilities ceased from that
day. The cock-and-hen admiral found it convenient to show a white
feather; interest stood in the way, and barred him from taking his
revenge. Mrs Jellybag was a faithful servant, and our host neither
liked that she should be interfered with, or that his house should
become an arena for such conflicts; and the admiral, who was
peculiarly tenacious of undrawing the strings of his purse, found it
convenient to make the first advances. The affair was, therefore,
amicably arranged--the tom cat was, in consideration of his
sufferings, created a baronet, and was ever afterwards dignified by
the title of _Sir H. Humbug_; who certainly was the most eligible
person to select for god-father, as he had taken the most effectual
means of weaning him from "the pomps and vanities of this wicked
world."

It was n