her, Mr Rayner, was a half-pay lieutenant; but at the end of the
war, having no expectation of promotion, he had left the service and
joined his elder brother, our Uncle Godfrey (after whom I was named), in
a mercantile business at Bristol, near which city we lived. He knew
nothing of office work, but hoped by diligence and attention to be of
assistance. Our uncle, however, died before he had gained a thorough
knowledge of the business; and, besides the sorrow he felt at losing one
he loved, much responsibility in consequence devolved upon him. I
believe that his affairs were not as prosperous as he could have
desired; and he sometimes expressed his regret that he had engaged in an
undertaking for which he was not fitted.

I had shown no predilection for a seat in the counting-house; and
consequently, when his old shipmate Captain Bracewell, who had just been
appointed to the command of the _Heroine_ sloop-of-war, offered to take
one of his sons as a midshipman, he allowed me, greatly to my delight,
to enter the navy.

My sea-chest, already packed, stood at one end of the room, with my dirk
and the uniform I was to put on next day lying upon it; in which, as may
be supposed, I had already exhibited myself to Pierce and our sister
Edith, who was younger than either of us, and naturally thought it, as
she told me, very becoming; an opinion I also entertained, as did our
mother, and--I flattered myself--the rest of the household.

At last Pierce's voice grew more and more inarticulate, and he dropped
off to sleep. I, after some time, was following his example, when the
door opened, and our mother glided into the room, afraid of awakening
me. I was conscious that she was bending over me: a tear dropped on my
cheek, and I felt her loving kiss on my brow. I started up and passed
my arm round her neck. She perhaps thought that it was the last time I
should be with her alone on earth.

"Godfrey, my dear boy," she said, "fear to offend God, and be faithful
and true to him and to all men. He will ever prove your best Friend,
here and throughout eternity."

"I will, mother; indeed I will," I answered, as soon as the beatings of
my heart and the sobs which burst from my breast allowed me to speak.

"Hush," she said at length; "we must not awaken Pierce. And you too,
Godfrey, must go to sleep, to be ready for your journey to-morrow."

She left me, but I could hear her breathing outside the door till she
thought I had