tropolis of the West Country, even in mid-
winter, under the beneficent influence of the Gulf Stream combined with
a soft but enduring breeze from the south-south-east charged with warm
air from the Saharan desert and the Mediterranean.

So mild and genial was the weather that certain lads, imbued with that
spirit of lawlessness and adventure which seems inherent in the nature
of the young Briton, had conspired together to defy the authority of
their schoolmaster by playing truant from afternoon school and going to
bathe in Firestone Bay. And it was while these lads were dressing,
after revelling in their stolen enjoyment, that their attention was
attracted by the appearance of a tall ship gliding up the Sound before
the soft breathing of the languid breeze.

That she was a foreign-going ship was evident at a glance, first from
her size, and, secondly, from the whiteness of her canvas, bleached by
long exposure to a southern sun; and as she drew nearer, the display of
flags and pennons which she made, and the sounds of trumpet, fife,
hautboy, and drum which floated down the wind from her seemed to
indicate that her captain regarded his safe arrival in English waters as
something in the nature of a triumph.

By the time that she had arrived abreast of Picklecombe Point the
bathers had completely resumed their clothing and, having climbed to the
highest point within easy reach, now stood interestedly watching the
slow approach of the ship, her progress under the impulse of the gentle
breeze being greatly retarded by the ebb tide. Speculation was rife
among the little group of boys upon the question of the ship's identity,
some maintaining that she must necessarily be a Plymouther, otherwise
what was she doing there, while others, for no very clearly denned
reason, expressed the contrary opinion.

At length one of the party who had been intently regarding the craft for
several minutes, suddenly flung his cap into the air, caught it as it
fell, and exclaimed excitedly as he replaced it on his head:

"I know her, I du; 'tis my Uncle Marshall's _Bonaventure_, whoam from
the Mediterranean and Spain; I'm off to tell my uncle. 'Twas only
yesterday that I heard him say he'd give a noble to know that the
_Bonaventure_ had escaped the Spaniards; and a noble will pay me well
for the flogging that I shall get from old Sir John, if Uncle Richard
tells him that I played truant to go bathing. But I don't believe he
will; he'll