ive or take
offence, and his general kind bearing towards all. On duty he showed
that he was resolved to merit the good opinion which had been formed of
him. The only person who differed from the majority was Harry Verner, a
midshipman of about his own age. Though Verner had shaken hands with
him, it had been with reluctance and marked coldness. His manner was
now haughty and supercilious in the extreme, and he took every
opportunity of making sneering remarks about men who had risen from the
lower orders always being out of place and never doing any good. "If
such were to become customary in the service, it would drive all the
gentlemen out of it," he remarked one day in. Pearce's hearing. "Not
if those who entered it knew how to behave as gentlemen," Pearce
replied, quietly. Verner said nothing in return, but he gave a look to
show his intense displeasure. Generally Pearce walked away when Verner
spoke in that style, or when at table, and he could not move, pretended
not to hear what was said.

The fleet reached Portsmouth. Great was the satisfaction of the British
nation at the victory won. The good King George the Third and the kind
Queen Charlotte went on board all the ships and visited the wounded;
honours were awarded to the chiefs, and those officers who had
especially distinguished themselves were presented to their Sovereigns.
Among others was Pearce Ripley, as midshipman who had helped to take the
"Impetueux." The "Marlborough's" crew declared on this that he was a
marked man and must get on in the service. The remark greatly excited
Harry Verner's indignation and wrath. "It is high time for me to quit
the service after this," he remarked, when the King patted Pearce on the
head, but did not even glance towards him. Of memorable days in English
history, the 1st of June, 1794, stands justly prominent.

VOLUME THREE, CHAPTER TWO.

The "Marlborough," though victorious, had received so tremendous a
battering from her numerous opponents, that it was very clear the stout
craft could not again go to sea without a thorough repair. Her officers
and crew were therefore distributed among other ships then fitting out,
and thus Pearce, for the first time in his life, was separated from his
father, to whom he had always been accustomed to look up for guidance
and advice. In some respects this might have been an advantage to the
young midshipman, but the parting cost both more pains than either
confe