n interview with
the admiral I found the old gentleman on the quarter-deck of the _Mars_,
up and down which he was stumping in evidently no very amiable mood.
Something or other, I forget what, had put his temper out of joint; and
he was expressing himself with a freedom, vigour, and fluency of
language which I have seldom heard equalled, certainly never surpassed.
He was inclined to be ironical, too; for on my presenting myself before
him he brought up abruptly, and, surveying me fiercely for a moment,
exclaimed:

"Well, young gentleman, pray, who may you be, and what do you want, if I
may venture so far as to make the inquiry?"

"I am Mr Lascelles, sir, of the schooner _Foam_, just arrived; and I
have come on board to make my report," I replied.

"Oh!" said he, somewhat less sternly, "you are Mr Lascelles, of the
schooner _Foam_, are you? And pray, sir, where is Mr O'Flaherty, that
you should find it necessary to discharge his functions? He is not
wounded, I hope?"

"I regret to say, sir, that he is dead," said I.

"Dead!" he repeated; "tut, tut; that is bad news, indeed. Here, come
into my cabin with me, and sit down; you look as pale as a ghost, and
have been wounded yourself, if that fag-end of sticking-plaster which I
see projecting beneath the rim of your hat has any significance. There,
take a chair, help yourself to a glass of wine, and make yourself
comfortable," he continued, as we reached his cool, roomy cabin. "Give
me your report, and let me have a short verbal account of how you got on
and what has befallen you. You brought in a prize with you, I see, and
a very fine craft of her class she seems to be. There, now, fire away
with your yarn."

I refreshed myself with a sip of the old gentleman's very excellent
Madeira, and then proceeded to give him an outline of the principal
events of our cruise, my narrative being frequently broken in upon by
him with questions of a decidedly searching character in reference to
such matters as seemed to him to require further elucidation.

At the close of my narrative the old gentleman rose from his seat and
shook me warmly by the hand, exclaiming:

"Well done, my dear boy; well done! You have behaved admirably, and
with a discretion far beyond your years. Had I known as much at the
outset as I do now I need not have sent Mr O'Flaherty at all. Poor
fellow! he was a good officer and a brave man, none braver, but he was
rash. He had seen a great deal o