r, to join our fleet in the Mediterranean.

During the week or two that followed my father's funeral little was
said of our expedition, although I understood from Plinny that the
start would only be delayed until she and the lawyers had proved the
will and put his estate in order for me. My father's pension had, of
course, perished with him; but he left me a small sum in the funds,
bearing interest between fifty and sixty pounds per annum, together
with the freehold of Minden Cottage. Unfortunately, he had appointed
no trustees, and I was a minor; and even more unfortunately his will
directed that Minden Cottage should be sold "within a reasonably
brief time" after his death, and that the sum accruing should be
invested in Government stock for my benefit; and with this little
tangle to work upon, our lawyers--Messrs. Harding and Whiteway, of
Plymouth--and the Court of Chancery, soon involved the small estate
in complications which (as Miss Belcher put it) were the more
annoying because the fools at both ends were honest men and trying to
do the best for me.

Of this business I understood nothing at the time, save that it
caused delay; and I mention it here only to explain the delay and
because (as will be seen) the sale of Minden Cottage, when at length
the Lord Chancellor was good enough to authorize it, had a very
important bearing on the rest of my story.

Meanwhile, Captain Branscome had, of course, returned to Falmouth,
and would book our passages on the Kingston packet as soon as my
affairs allowed. We received letters from him from time to time, and
on Saturdays and Mondays a passing call from Mr. Goodfellow, on his
way to and from Plymouth. He had stipulated that, before sailing
with us, he should take his inamorata into his confidence; and this
was conceded after Miss Belcher had taken the opportunity of a day's
marketing in Plymouth to call at the dairy-shop in Treville Street
and make the lady's acquaintance.

"A very sensible young person," she reported; "and of the two I'd
sooner trust her than Goodfellow to keep a still tongue. There's no
danger in _that_ quarter!"

Nor was there, as it proved. Mr. Goodfellow told us that he could
hardly contain himself whenever he thought of his prospects; "for,"
said he, "I was born a parish apprentice; in place of which here I be
at the age of twenty with two fortunes waiting for me, one at each
end of the world."

At length, in the last week of July, Mess