ng zeal, who suffered; and among "the
plucked," it was known there were much cleverer fellows than many of
those who had come off with flying colours.

There was one circumstance which amused me. When the captains came on
deck, the little Chili Vinegar called me to him, and inquired whether I
was any relation to Mr ---. I replied that he was my uncle.

"Bless my soul, sir! why he is my most intimate friend. Why did you not
tell me you were his nephew?"

I answered with an affected humility, very nearly allied to
impertinence, that I could not see by his face that he knew my uncle;
nor, indeed, had I known it, should I have thought it delicate to have
mentioned it at such a time; as it might not only have implied a want of
confidence in my own abilities, but also a suspicion that he might, by
such a communication, have been induced to deviate from the rigid path
of his duty, and might therefore have received it as a personal affront.

"All that is very fine, and very true," said the veteran: "but when you
have an older head upon your shoulders, and have seen a little more of
our service, you will learn to trust at least as much to friends as to
merit; and rely on it, that if you could make yourself out cousin-german
to the old tom-cat at the Admiralty, you would fare all the better for
it. However, it's all over now, and there's an end of it; but make my
compliments to your uncle, and tell him that you passed your examination
in a manner highly creditable to you."

So saying, he touched his hat to the sergeant's guard, and slipped down
the side into his gig. As he descended, I said to myself, "Damn your
monkey face, you coffee-coloured little rascal--no thanks to you if I
have passed. I suppose your father was a breeches-mender to the first
lord's butler, or else you shared your mother's milk with a lord in
waiting, and that's the way you got the command of the ---."

Elated with the result of the day, I threw myself into the mail that
evening, and reached my father's house in a short time after. My
reception was kind and affectionate; but death had made sad havoc in my
family during my late absence. My elder brother and two sisters had
been successively called to join my poor mother in heaven, and all that
remained now to comfort my father was a younger sister and myself. I
must confess that my father received me with great emotion; his own
heavy afflictions from the loss of his children, and the dangers I