shall not lose sight of you. How
many months have you yet to serve before your time is out?"

"I have served five years and seven months, as far as I can recollect."

"So I thought. Now, Mr Keene, it was because I thought of you that I
did not fill up the lieutenant's vacancy which was made by the death of
Captain W and the promotion of the commander and my first lieutenant.
As soon as you are well, I will give you an acting order as lieutenant
of this ship; and, as we are now on a sort of roving commission, I have
no doubt but that you will have served your time, and found the means of
passing, before we join the admiral; your promotion will, under such
circumstances, be, I have no doubt, confirmed; so all you have to do now
is to get well as fast as you can. Good-bye."

The captain gave me a most gracious nod, and then went outside of the
screen, giving me no time for thanks. I was, indeed, overjoyed; not so
much at the promotion as at the change in the captain's manner towards
me: a change so palpable that it filled me with the fondest
anticipations. I remained for a long while reflecting upon my future
prospects. As a lieutenant of the same ship I should be more in contact
with him: he could now converse and take notice of me without its being
considered remarkable; nay, he could be intimate with me. I resolved to
be most careful of my conduct, so as not to alarm his pride by the least
familiarity, and hoped, eventually, to play my cards so as to obtain my
earnest wish; but I felt that there was a great deal of ground to go
over first, and that the greatest circumspection was necessary. I felt
that I had still to raise myself in his opinion and in the opinion of
the world to a much higher position than I was in at present, before I
could expect that Captain Delmar would, virtually, acknowledge me as his
son. I felt that I had to wade through blood, and stand the chance of
thousands of balls and bullets in my professional career, before I could
do all this; a bright vista of futurity floated before me and, in the
far distance, I felt myself in the possession of my ambition, and with
my eyes still fixed upon it I dropped fast asleep, revelling still in
the same dreams which I had indulged in when awake.

In a fortnight I was quite recovered; my wounds had healed up, and I now
walked about. Having had my uniform altered by the ship's tailor, and
procured an epaulet from one of the lieutenants, I took posses