on will, it is expected,
effect a--a pwacticable bweach in the wall of the Convention Wedoubt by
sunset this evening, and it is intended to storm the place as soon as--
ah--darkness sets in. The storming-party is to be made up of an equal
number of soldiers and bluejackets,"--here the speaker was interrupted
by an enthusiastic cheer from his audience, the repetition of which was
checked by the skipper's uplifted hand--"the storming-party," he
continued, "is to be composed equally, I say, of soldiers and
bluejackets, and the admiwal has authowized each captain to call for
fifty volunteers--keep steady, men; be silent and--ah--wait until I have
quite finished, if you please. I am authowized to call for fifty
volunteers; but I wish you all distinctly to understand that no man who
has in any way misconducted himself will be accepted. Now let those who
volunteer for the storming-party come abaft the mainmast."

Bob and I, knowing what was coming, had gradually edged to the front--we
were of course, with the rest of the officers, already abaft the
mainmast--and, directly the skipper ceased, we stepped smartly out and
posted ourselves at the foot of the poop-ladder, to show that we were
volunteering; and then faced round to witness the effect of Captain
Hood's speech upon the crew.

The scene was irresistibly comic. In the first place we found that the
group of officers had simply shifted position in a compact body, so that
we all stood pretty much as we were before. The front ranks of the men
had also advanced until they were well abaft the mainmast, when they
halted--that is, they _would_ have baited had it not been for the
pressure behind, which was pretty steady in the front portion of the
mass, but in the rear something very like a panic ensued, and almost
before one could count ten those unfortunates who had not already gained
the coveted position began to clamber over the booms, along the hammock-
rail, and actually out through the ports, along the main-channels, and
in again through the ports farther aft, in their eagerness to volunteer.
The struggling and elbowing increased until it became almost desperate,
when one of the boatswain's mates--a brawny, muscular, old sea-dog, with
a mahogany visage, a gigantic pig-tail, and his chest and arms
elaborately tattooed--stepped out, and, facing round, exclaimed in
stentorian tones,--

"Avast heaving there, ye unmannerly swabs; do you take his Majesty's
quarter-deck,"-