if all that's said
about him is true; but he'll either make you or break you. That's
my advice."

Advice that jumps with one's own inclinations hath ever a
comfortable appearance of soundness. I told the captain that he had
hit on the very scheme I had proposed to myself, adding, however,
that I had thought to go a-horseback.

"A-horseback!" he cried. "What want you with a horse? You don't own
a horse, and to hire one you would expend all your guineas and have
nothing to feed either him or yourself. No, go on your shanks;
there's a world of knowledge to be gained by footing it on the open
road."

And so we settled that Captain Galsworthy should himself come to
our house on Pride Hill and break the news to my good friends
there. They were both downcast when they heard it, Mr. Vetch more
than Mistress Pennyquick, which somewhat surprised me. He plied me
with innumerable reasons for remaining with him, spoke of the long
miles I should have to trudge before I reached the port, described
the perils of the road, even foresaw that I should be arrested as a
vagrant and clapped into jail! He conjured up dismal pictures of
the seafaring life, and waxed quite eloquent in drawing a contrast
between the bare windswept deck and the cosy fireside, the dangers
from storm and pirates and the serenity of our quiet town. And then
the captain broke in upon his speech with a great laugh.

"Gad, Mr. Attorney, you have o'ershot your bolt," he cried. "Mark
you the sparkle in the boy's eyes and the catch in his breath? The
bogies you raise are beacons to him. D'you think to frighten him as
you would a girl? Spare your breath, man, to cool your porridge;
what fellow of spirit would be deterred from a life of action by
your vision of slippers and a basin of gruel?"

And indeed the lawyer's eloquence fell on deaf ears; or rather, as
the captain said, all his reasons did but whet my eagerness until I
fairly tingled with the imagined delight of matching myself against
the hostility of the elements and man. And so he at last desisted,
and gave a grudging compliance to my purpose; and Mistress
Pennyquick concluded the discussion with a shot at Captain
Galsworthy.

"This is all along o' you, Captain," she cried. "This is what comes
of teaching little boys to fight. I knew years ago 't'ud have a bad
end, and I told his poor father so, and I'm sure I hope you are
satisfied."

"Abundantly, ma'am," says the captain, bobbing her a bow. "My pupil