od; the poor old fellow simply shook his head and ejaculated--"Ay--the
fortune of war! It is all very well for you, young sir, who depend upon
war to provide you with a career, to talk like that; but think of the
thousands who are ruined and whose hearts are left desolate by war;
think of the parents who have to mourn the loss of sons cut down by war
in the very flower of their manhood, and all because our rulers cannot
agree! I tell you, sir, that if all men were what they should be--
honourable, honest, upright, and faithful followers of Christ--there
need be no war."

To which I replied that doubtless this was true; but that if we should
be compelled to wait for the abolition of war until mankind became
perfect, I had a conviction that neither he nor I would live to see it.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

WESTWARD HO!

When, through the captain of the _Haarlem_, as interpreter, I explained
to the Dutch crew that it was my intention to call upon them to continue
to work the ship, they seemed disposed at the outset to refuse; but I
soon brought them to a more reasonable frame of mind by giving them the
choice of remaining in their own forecastle and enjoying the liberty of
the _Haarlem's_ deck, on the one hand, and being transferred to the
frigate and confined below, on the other, when it took them but a few
minutes to make up their minds that the first alternative was by far the
more desirable of the two.

Having arrived at this understanding I filled away, and, with the cutter
in tow, stood after the _Europa_, which was now in full pursuit of the
second Indiaman--the _Schelde_, of 950 tons, also from Batavia, and with
an even more valuable cargo than that carried by the _Haarlem_, as I now
learned from the chief mate of the latter. But oh, it was weary work to
attempt to turn to windward in a light breeze in the deep, bluff-bowed,
squat-sterned, Dutch-built _Haarlem_, after my experience of the smart,
lively, swift-sailing British frigate; it was, therefore, with a feeling
of the utmost satisfaction that shortly before the end of the second
dog-watch I heard the _Europa_ once more booming out her summons to
surrender, and saw the mainyard of the _Schelde_ swing slowly aback in
response. For now, the business of taking possession of this third
prize once over, we could at least bear up and crowd sail for home, with
a free wind to help us over the ground; for by this time Mr Percival
had so far made good the damage susta