tious small-talk knew no bounds; he
leaned over the frame, and looking down, said,--"I say, something
devilish good going on there below!"

The hint was taken, and the first lieutenant invited him down.

"I don't care if I do; I am rather peckish."

So saying, he was down the hatchway in the twinkling of one of his own
funny eyes, as he feared the choice bits would be gone before he could
get into action. We all followed him; and as he seated himself, he
said--

"I trust, gentlemen, this is not the last time I shall sit in the
gun-room, and that you will all consider my cabin as your own. I love
to make my officers comfortable: nothing more delightful than an
harmonious ship, when every man and boy is willing to go to hell for his
officers. That's what I call good fellowship--give and take--make
proper allowances for one another's failings, and we shall be sorry when
the time comes for us to part. I am afraid, however, that I shall not
be long with you; for though I doat upon the brig, the Duke of N--- and
Lord George --- have given the first Lord a damned _whigging_ for not
promoting me sooner; and between ourselves--I don't wish it to go
further--my post commission goes out with me to Barbadoes."

The first lieutenant cocked his eye; and quick as were the motions of
that eye, the captain, with a twist of one of his own, caught a glimpse
of it, before it could be returned to its bearing on the central object,
the beef-steaks, kidneys, and onions. But it passed off without a
remark.

"A very capital steak this! I'll trouble you for some fat and a little
gravy. We'll have some jollification when we get to sea; but we must
get into blue water first; then we shall have less to do. Talking of
broiling steaks--when I was in Egypt we used to broil our beef-steaks on
the rocks--no occasion for fire--thermometer at 200--hot as hell! I
have seen four thousand men at a time cooking for the whole army as much
as twenty or thirty thousand pounds of steak at a time, all hissing and
frying at once--just about noon, of course, you know--not a spark of
fire! Some of the soldiers, who had been brought up as glass-blowers at
Leith, swore they never saw such heat. I used to go to leeward of them
for a whiff, and think of old England! Ah, that's the country, after
all, where a man may think and say what he pleases! But that sort of
work did not last long, as you may suppose; their eyes were all fried
out, damn me, in th