ather pretty, and her skin very fair. As soon as the
preliminaries had been entered into, and arrangements made in a small
room with bare walls, which Mr Hicks denominated his office, they were
asked to walk into the parlour to be introduced to the vice-consul's
sister. Miss Hicks tossed her head at the two midshipmen, but smiled
most graciously at Captain Hogg. She knew the relative ranks of
midshipman and captain. After a short time she requested the honour of
Captain Hogg's company to dinner, and begged that he would bring his
midshipmen with him, at which Jack and Gascoigne looked at each other
and burst out in a laugh, and Miss Hicks was very near rescinding the
latter part of her invitation. As soon as they were out of the house,
they told the captain to go on board and get all ready whilst they
walked round the town. Having peeped into every part of it, and stared
at Arabs, Moors, and Jews, till they were tired, they proceeded to the
landing-place, where they met the captain, who informed them that he had
done nothing, because the men were all drunk with Jack's doubloon. Jack
replied that a doubloon would not last for ever, and that the sooner
they drank it out the better. They then returned to the vice-consul's,
whom they requested to procure for them fifty dozen of fowls, twenty
sheep, and a great many other articles, which might be obtained at the
place; for, as Jack said, they would live well going up to Toulon, and
if there were any of the stock left, they would give them to the
admiral, for Jack had taken the precaution to put his _father's
philosophy_ once more to the proof, before he quitted Mahon. As Jack
gave such a liberal order, and the vice-consul cheated him out of at
least one-third of what he paid, Mr Hicks thought he could do no less
than offer beds to our midshipmen as well as to Captain Hogg; so, as
soon as dinner was over, they ordered Captain Hogg to go on board and
bring their things on shore, which he did. As the time usual for
transports remaining at Tetuan before they could be completed with
bullocks was three weeks, our midshipmen decided upon staying at least
so long if they could find anything to do, or if they could not, doing
nothing was infinitely preferable to doing duty. So they took up their
quarters at the vice-consul's, sending for porter and other things which
were not to be had but from the transport; and Jack, to prove that he
was not a swindler, as Captain Tartar h