for their
uncle, one of the leading men in Madras; and, I suppose, to get
husbands, which they will most likely do before they have been there
many weeks. They look very nice girls.

"But you soon get acquainted with them all. It is surprising how soon
people get friendly on board ship, though, as a rule, they quarrel
like cats and dogs before they get to the end of it."

"What do they quarrel about?" Charlie asked, surprised.

"Oh, about anything or nothing," the doctor said. "They all get
heartily sick of each other, and of the voyage, and they quarrel
because they have nothing else to do. You will see, we shall be as
happy a party as possible till we get about as far as the Cape. After
that, the rows will begin, and by the time we get to India, half the
people won't speak to each other.

"Have you been down the river before? That's Gravesend. I see the
captain is getting ready to anchor. So, I suppose the tide has nearly
run out. If this wind holds, we shall be fairly out at sea when you
get up tomorrow.

"You snore, I hope?"

"No, sir, I don't think so," Charlie said.

"I hoped you did," the doctor said, "because I'm told I do, sometimes.
However, as I usually smoke a cigar on deck, the last thing, I hope
you will be fairly asleep before I am. If at any time I get very bad,
and keep you awake, you must shake me."

Charlie said it took a good deal to keep him awake, and that he should
probably get accustomed to it, ere long.

"It's better to do that," he said with a laugh, "than to keep on
waking you, for the next four or five months."

A week later, the Lizzie Anderson was running down the Spanish coast,
with all sail set. She was out of sight of land, and so far had seen
nothing likely to cause uneasiness. They had met many vessels,
homeward bound from the Mediterranean, and one or two big ships which
the captain pronounced to be Indiamen. That morning, however, a vessel
was seen coming out from the land. She seemed, to Charlie's eyes,
quite a small vessel, and he was surprised to see how often the
captain and officers turned their glasses towards her.

"I fancy our friend over there is a French privateer," the doctor
remarked to him; "and I should not be surprised if we found ourselves
exchanging shots with her, before many hours are over."

"But she's a little bit of a thing," Charlie said. "Surely she would
never venture to attack a ship like ours."

"It's the size of the guns, not the size of