d suddenly cold, hot as was
the morning, and was seized with a plaguy doubt as to whether I should
be able to carry myself as an Englishman and a Devon man should in the
coming fight; but when the battle began I forgot all about my doubts,
and thought no more of them until the fight was over and done with.
Indeed, to be quite frank with ye, Phil, I was never happier, nor
enjoyed myself more, than during the few minutes that the fight lasted.
You know not what it feels like, for you were down in the cockpit, which
was your proper place; but you may take my word for it that there is
nothing in this world half so exhilarating as a good brisk fight."

Stukely laughed. "True, lad," he said; "I do not know from actual
experience what it feels like to be engaged in a life-and-death
struggle; for I have never yet taken part in such. Yet I can well
believe that it is as you say; for even down in the cockpit I felt the
thrill and tingle of it all as I listened to the booming of the ordnance
and heard the shouts of the men and the commands of the Captain; nay, I
will go even farther than that, and confess that I had much ado to
restrain myself from deserting my post and rushing up on deck to take my
part in it all. And, a word in your ear, Dick--I believe I should make
a far better leader than I am ever like to be a surgeon; for as I stood
there, listening to the sounds of the conflict, the strangest feeling of
familiarity with it all came to me. I suddenly felt that I had fought
many's the time before; fleeting, indistinct visions of contending
hosts, strangely armed and arrayed, floated before me; cries in a
strange language, which still I seemed to understand, rang in my ears;
and for a moment I completely lost sight of my surroundings, being
transported to a land of cloudless skies, even as this, clothed with
vegetation very similar to what we now behold around us, although the
land of my vision was mountainous, with lakes that shone like mirrors
embosomed among the mountains and were dotted with islands, some of them
palm-crowned, while others bore stately temples of strange but beautiful
architecture. And the strangest part of it all was that, while it
lasted, it was like a vivid memory of some scene that my eyes had rested
upon often enough to grow familiar with, ay, as familiar as I am with
the streets of Devonport and Plymouth!"

"Ay; you were ever a fanciful fellow and a dreamer, Phil," replied Dick,
who was one of