n good stead when you come to present yourself for
examination. I ought, perhaps, to inform you that in the event of
your deciding to act upon my advice it will be necessary for you to
take up your quarters temporarily aboard the receiving hulk, but this
inconvenience will be more than compensated by the knowledge that you
will gain. For myself, I am putting up at the `George' in the High
Street, and it will be well for you to report yourself to me there
upon your arrival. I have written to your father, explaining
everything; I need therefore add nothing to this beyond the expression
of the hope that you may be able to avail yourself to the fullest
extent of this splendid opportunity for gaining a great deal of most
useful knowledge in a very short time.--Yours sincerely, Henry
Vavassour."

When I had finished the perusal of this exceedingly kind and friendly
letter I passed it over to my father, who in his turn read it carefully
through, and then passed it back to me with the question:

"Well, Dick, my boy, what do you think of it?"

"Simply, sir, that if you approve I will at once write to Captain
Vavassour, thanking him heartily for his very great kindness, and
telling him that I will start for Portsmouth to-morrow," I said.

My father regarded me, rather wistfully I thought, for a few moments,
and then said:

"Very well; be it so. Write your letter, by all means, and I will
enclose a few lines in it. And,"--suddenly, in a much more cheerful
tone of voice, as an idea seemed to suggest itself to him--"I'll tell
you what I'll do, Dick, I'll run over to Portsmouth with you, and stay
for a few days. A little change will do me good; and I should like very
much to see this new ship of yours, as well as to meet Vavassour again,
whom I have not seen for quite a number of years. Yes, certainly, I
will go over with you."

Thus it was arranged. We wrote and dispatched our letters, spent the
remainder of the day in making our preparations, and started on our
journey soon after ten o'clock the next morning, posting it all the way
to Portsmouth, where we arrived at six o'clock the same evening, and put
up at the "George," where Captain Vavassour had established himself. Of
course, it was scarcely in accordance with strict naval etiquette for
me, a mere midshipman, to presume to quarter myself in the hotel that my
captain honoured with his patronage, but the circumstances were
exceptional in