panied
by two or three very ragged little boys from the town. Our sport was
generally good, and rendered extremely interesting by our uncertainty as
to which of the monsters of the deep would first attack our hooks.
Rock-codlings and flounders appeared the most voracious, and
occasionally a skate or long-legged crab came struggling to the surface.

Just before leaving this peaceful little spot, our captain gave a grand
ball on board, to which were invited the _elite_ of Stornoway. Great
preparations were made for the occasion. The quarter-deck was well
washed and scrubbed; an awning was spread over it, which formed a
capital ceiling; and representatives of almost every flag that waves
formed the walls of the large and airy apartment. Oil lamps, placed
upon the skylights, companion, and capstan, shed a mellow light upon the
scene, the romantic effect of which was greatly heightened by a few
flickering rays of the moon, which shot through various openings in the
drapery, and disported playfully upon the deck. At an early and very
unfashionable hour on the evening of the appointed night the guests
arrived in detachments; and while the gentlemen scrambled up the side of
the vessel, the ladies, amid a good deal of blushing and hesitation,
were hoisted on board in a chair. Tea was served on deck; and after
half an hour's laughing and chatting, during which time our
violin-player was endeavouring to coax his first string to the proper
pitch without breaking, the ball opened with a Scotch reel. Every one
knows what Scotch reels are, but every one does not know how the belles
of the Western Isles can dance them.

"Just look at that slip of thread-paper," said the doctor to the
captain, pointing to a thin, flat young lady, still in her teens. "I've
watched her from the first. She's been up at six successive rounds,
flinging her shanks about worse than a teething baby; and she's up again
for another, just as cool and serene as a night in the latter end of
October. I wonder what she's made of?"

"Leather, p'r'aps, or gutta-percha," suggested the captain, who had
himself been "flinging his legs" about pretty violently during the
previous half-hour. "I wish that she had been my partner instead of the
heavy fair one that you see over there leaning against the mizzen
belaying-pins."

"Which?" inquired the doctor. "The old lady with the stu'n-sails set on
her shoulders?"

"No, no," replied the captain--"the _young_ lad