took his seat. From my desk I could observe what was going forward. I
saw the mate start and narrowly scan the countenance of the new-comer
with a look of extreme astonishment, while the latter, who did not
appear to remark him, leaned forward and gazed at his brother, whose
manner seemed to irritate him.

"Where in the world have you come from, Roderick?" asked Mr Trunnion.

"From Falmouth last, where I left the `Vulture' to refit. We met with a
somewhat heavy gale, in which she was fearfully knocked about, and had
we not kept the pumps going she would have foundered to a certainty. As
I wanted to see you and other friends; I took horse and rode night and
day to get here. The business I have got to speak of brooks of no
delay, and is such as you and I can talk about best alone."

Turning round as he spoke, he cast a glance at Mr Magor. For a moment,
it seemed to me that his eye appeared to quail, but he quickly recovered
himself.

"Have you finished your business here?" he asked in a bold tone, looking
at the mate. "If so, you will leave me and your employer alone--for I
presume that you are the master of one of his vessels. And that
youngster--you do not wish him to take down our conversation, I
suppose," he added, first looking at me then round at his brother.

"Really, Roderick, you have been so accustomed to command, that you
forget that you are not on your own quarter-deck," observed Mr
Trunnion, who was evidently annoyed at the authoritative tone assumed by
his brother.

The mate rose and looked first at Mr Trunnion then at Captain Roderick.

"I have met that man before," he said, "and it is my duty to tell you
when and how it was. It was not long ago, on the high seas, when he
boarded the `Arrow' at the head of--"

Mr Trunnion, as the mate spoke, looked very much agitated, and I
naturally fancied that something extraordinary was about to be said.
Captain Roderick alone appeared perfectly cool. Fixing his glance on
the mate, he exclaimed in a loud tone, interrupting him--

"You, my good fellow, may have met me half-a-dozen times for what I know
to the contrary, or half-a-dozen men whom you may mistake for me,
although I cannot say that I ever set eyes on you before. However, go
on and tell Mr Trunnion what I did when you fancy that you saw me, and
I shall then know whether you are mistaken as to my identity."

The mate looked greatly confused.

"I can only hope that I am mistaken, and unl