ave been taken under such circumstances, would have
subjected us to be hanged like dogs on the first tree; to have gone
unarmed would have been an act of insanity, and I therefore took upon me
to disobey an unjust and absurd order. This, however, must not be
pleaded as an example to juniors, but a warning to seniors how they give
orders without duly weighing the consequences:

The safest plan is always to obey. Thus did his Majesty's service lose
eighteen fine fellows, under much severe suffering, for a boat, "the
_private_ property" of the captain, not worth twenty pounds.

The next day, as soon as I was dressed, the first lieutenant sent to
speak to me. I then recollected the little affair of the challenge. "A
delightful after-piece," thought I, "to the tragedy, to be shot by the
first lieutenant only for calling him as clever a fellow as the
captain." The lieutenant, however, had no such barbarous intentions; he
had seen and acknowledged the truth of my observation, and, being a
well-meaning north-countryman, he offered me his hand, which I took with
pleasure, having had quite enough of stimulus for that time.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

BELL. You have an opportunity, now, madam, to revenge yourself upon
him for affronting your squirrel.

BELIN. O, the filthy, rude beast.

ARAM. 'Tis a lasting quarrel.

CONGREVE.

We sailed the next day, and, after one month more of unsuccessful
cruising, arrived safe at Halifax, where I was informed that an old
friend of my father's, Sir Hurricane Humbug, of whom some mention has
already been made in this work, had just arrived. He was not in an
official character, but had come out to look after his own property. It
is absolutely necessary that I should here, with more than usual
formality, introduce the reader to an intimate acquaintance with the
character of Sir Hurricane.

Sir Hurricane had risen in life by his own ingenuity, and the patronage
of a rich man in the south of England: he was of an ardent disposition,
and was an admirable justice of peace, when the _argumentum baculinum_
was required, for which reason he had been sent to reduce two or three
refractory establishments to order and obedience; and, by his firmness
and good humour, succeeded. His tact was a little knowledge of
everything, not like Solomon's from the hyssop to the cedar, but from
the boiler of a potato to the boiler of a steamboat, and from catching a
sprat to catching a whal