--now I wish to keep him if I possibly can."

"You are right, sir; his father appears his greatest enemy. What a pity
that a man with so good a heart should be so weak in the head! Then,
sir, I shall take no notice of this at present, but leave the whole
affair in your hands."

"Do, Sawbridge; you have obliged me very much by your kindness in this
business."

Mr Sawbridge then took his leave, and Captain Wilson despatched a note
to our hero, requesting the pleasure of his company to breakfast at nine
o'clock the ensuing morning. The answer was in the affirmative, but
verbal, for Jack had drunk too much champagne to trust his pen to paper.

CHAPTER NINE.

IN WHICH MR. EASY FINDS HIMSELF ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BAY OF BISCAY.

The next morning Jack Easy would have forgotten all about his engagement
with the captain, had it not been for the waiter, who thought that,
after the reception which our hero had given the first-lieutenant, it
would be just as well that he should not be disrespectful to the
captain. Now Jack had not, hitherto, put on his uniform, and he thought
this a fitting occasion, particularly as the waiter suggested the
propriety of his appearance in it. Whether it was from a presentiment
of what he was to suffer, Jack was not at all pleased, as most lads are,
with the change in his dress. It appeared to him that he was
sacrificing his independence however, he did not follow his first
impulse, which was to take it off again, but took his hat, which the
waiter had brushed and handed to him, and then set off for the captain's
lodgings. Captain Wilson received him as if he had not been aware of
his delay in joining his ship, or his interview with his
first-lieutenant, but before breakfast was over, Jack himself narrated
the affair in a few words. Captain Wilson then entered into a detail of
the duties and rank of every person on board of the ship, pointing out
to Jack that where discipline was required, it was impossible, when duty
was carried on, that more than one could command; and that that one was
the captain, who represented the king in person, who represented the
country; and that, as the orders were transmitted from the captain
through the lieutenant, and from the lieutenant to the midshipmen, who,
in their turn, communicated them to the whole ship's company, in fact,
was the captain alone who gave the orders, and that every one was
_equally_ obliged to obey. Indeed, as the captain hi