o ask me. I should have
no objection to the army; but if I'm to choose my profession, I'll go to
sea, by all means. I've no fancy for any but a sea life; but I'll just
go and talk the matter over with Larry, and hear what he thinks about
it."

The Doctor said nothing. He considered, I conclude, that he had obeyed
my uncle's wishes in proposing the matter to me, and his conscience was
at rest. I forthwith ran off and broached the subject to Larry; not
that I doubted what his advice would be. The old seaman gave a hitch to
the waistband of his trousers, as he replied, with no little animation--

"Why, you see, Master Neil, to my mind there's only one calling which a
man, who is anything of a man, would wish to follow. The others are all
very well in their way: the parsons, and the soldiers, and the
big-wigged lawyers, and the merchants, and the doctors, and the
`'plomatics'--them who goes abroad to desave the furriners, and takes up
so much room and gives themselves such airs aboard ship; but what, just
let me ax, is the best on 'em when you puts him alongside a right
honest, thorough-bred seaman? What's the proudest on 'em, when it comes
to blow half a capful of wind? What's the boldest on 'em in a dark
night, on a lee shore? Not one on 'em is worth that!" and he snapped
his fingers to show his contempt for landsmen of every degree. "On
course, Master Neil, dear, you'll be a seaman. With my will, the navy
is the only calling your blessed mother's son should follow. Your
grandfather died in it, and your great-grandfather before him; and I
hope to see you in command of one of His Majesty's ships before I die--
that I do. But I was forgetting that you were growing so big, and that
you would be going off to sea so soon," continued the old man, in an
altered tone. "You'll remember, for his sake, all the lessons Larry
gave you, Master Neil? And you'll think of your old friend sometimes in
a night watch, won't you, now?"

I assured him that I would often think of him, and try not to forget any
of his lessons. I then went back to the Doctor, to inform him that
Larry agreed with me that the navy was the only profession likely to
suit me.

My future calling being thus speedily settled, Doctor Driscoll, who was
aware that knowledge would not come by intuition, sent me to an old
master in the navy, who fortunately resided in the neighbourhood, to be
instructed in the rudiments of navigation. As I was as wide awa