appointment in love, when quite a young
man, and that he has ever since been considered a confirmed bachelor. So
you will take heed, my love."

"The warning was unnecessary, dear mother," returned Mildred, laughing;
"I could dote on the admiral as a father, but must be excused from
considering him young enough for a nearer tie."

"And yet he has the much admired profession, Mildred," said the mother,
smiling fondly, and yet a little archly. "I have often heard you speak
of your passion for the sea."

"That was formerly, mother, when I spoke as a sailor's daughter, and as
girls are apt to speak, without much reflection. I do not know that I
think better of a seaman's profession, now, than I do of any other. I
fear there is often much misery in store for soldiers' and sailors'
wives."

Mrs. Dutton's lip quivered again; but hearing a foot at the door, she
made an effort to be composed, just as Admiral Bluewater entered.

"I have run away from the bottle, Mrs. Dutton, to join you and your fair
daughter, as I would run from an enemy of twice my force," he said,
giving each lady a hand, in a manner so friendly, as to render the act
more than gracious; for it was kind. "Oakes is bowsing out his jib with
his brother baronet, as we sailors say, and I have hauled out of the
line, without a signal."

"I hope Sir Gervaise Oakes does not consider it necessary to drink more
wine than is good for the mind and body," observed Mrs. Dutton, with a
haste that she immediately regretted.

"Not he. Gervaise Oakes is as discreet a man, in all that relates to the
table, as an anchorite; and yet he has a faculty of _seeming_ to drink,
that makes him a boon companion for a four-bottle man. How the deuce he
does it, is more than I can tell you; but he does it so well, that he
does not more thoroughly get the better of the king's enemies, on the
high seas, than he floors his friends under the table. Sir Wycherly has
begun his libations in honour of the house of Hanover, and they will be
likely to make a long sitting."

Mrs. Dutton sighed, and walked away to a window, to conceal the paleness
of her cheeks. Admiral Bluewater, though perfectly abstemious himself,
regarded license with the bottle after dinner, like most men of that
age, as a very venial weakness, and he quietly took a seat by the side
of Mildred, and began to converse.

"I hope, young lady, as a sailor's child, you feel an hereditary
indulgence for a seaman's gossip," he sa