very creditable `all,' too," answered the Admiral, evidently well
pleased. "And what about your seamanship?" he continued.

"I believe I am pretty good at that too, sir," I said. "I was at
Portsmouth, in the dockyard, every day during the fitting-out of the
frigate, and watched the whole process of rigging her. When I first saw
her she had nothing standing but her three lower-masts."

"Well," remarked Sir Peter, "you ought to have picked up a little
knowledge relative to the spars and rigging of a ship during that time.
But _did_ you? That is the question. Come, I'll put you through your
facings a bit, if you are not too sleepy. Supposing that it became
necessary for you to get the maintop over the masthead, how would you go
to work?"

I considered a moment, recalled the operation as I had witnessed it, and
then proceeded to describe what I had seen.

"Yes; very good," commented my companion. "Now, get your lower rigging
into place, and set it up."

I described how I would do that; and also answered several other
questions, apparently to his satisfaction.

"Very well," he said, "that's all rigger's work; exceedingly important
to know, of course, but still not exactly seamanship. Now, young
gentleman, suppose yourself to be in command of a fine frigate--as I
hope you will be some day, please God. You are turning to windward in a
fresh breeze, under all plain sail, and it becomes necessary to tack.
Describe the various evolutions."

I did so; and then the old gentleman gradually took me, still aboard my
suppositious frigate, through a rapidly freshening breeze into a regular
hurricane, until I had got the ship hove-to under bare poles, with a
tarpaulin lashed in the weather mizen rigging, and then he shook hands
with me and dismissed me to my room.

The next morning, immediately after first breakfast, we got under way in
the Admiral's ketureen--a sort of gig with a roof to it--and drove down
to the wharf at Kingston, where the barge, a fine boat, was waiting for
us. The sea-breeze had set in and was piping up merrily, and in about
three-quarters of an hour we were alongside the dockyard wall at Port
Royal. Here the Admiral left me, with instructions to go off aboard the
guardship at once, and bring my log-books ashore for his inspection.
This I did, but it was nearly noon before Sir Peter was ready to attend
to me, and even then it was after all but a cursory glance that he
bestowed upon my books. But