ceived our full share of congratulations and condolences
from all and sundry, from the admiral downward; the congratulations, of
course, being upon our good luck in having effected the capture of so
valuable a prize as the _Dolores_, while the condolences were offered
pretty equally upon our having met with the accident, and our having
failed to capture Morillo and his wonderful brigantine.

CHAPTER TEN.

SENOR JOSE GARCIA.

Meanwhile, my wounded shoulder had been giving me a great deal of
trouble, becoming very inflamed, and refusing to heal; so that upon my
arrival in Port Royal I was compelled to at once go into the hospital,
where for a whole week it remained an open question whether it would not
be necessary to amputate the arm. Fortunately for me, the head
surgeon--Sandy McAlister--was a wonderfully clever fellow, of infinite
patience and inflexible determination; and, having expressed the opinion
that the limb could be saved, he brought all the skill and knowledge of
which he was possessed to the task of saving it, with the result that,
in the end, he was successful. But it meant for me three weeks in the
hospital, at the end of which time I was discharged, not as cured, but
as in a fair way to be, provided that I took the utmost care of myself
and strictly adhered to the regimen which the worthy McAlister
prescribed for me.

By the time that I was free of the hospital the saucy little _Tern_ was
beginning, under the hands of the repairers, to look something like her
old self again, and I was kept busy from morning to night attending to a
hundred and one details connected with her refit. Nevertheless I found
time to present myself for examination, and, having passed with flying
colours, next day found myself a full-fledged lieutenant, thanks to the
very kindly interest taken in me by my genial old friend the admiral.
To that same kindly interest I was also indebted for the friendly
overtures made by, and the hospitable invitations without number
received from, the planters and other persons of importance belonging to
the island; but I had my duty to attend to and my wound to think of, and
I therefore very sparingly accepted the invitations that came pouring in
upon me. Nevertheless I made many new friends, and enjoyed my short
spell ashore amazingly.

The admiral was, as I have already said, particularly kind to me in
every way, and in nothing more so than in the unstinting commendation
which he bes