onduct this morning?"

"Nothing, sir," I replied, "except that I felt you were about--under the
influence of a grave misapprehension--to inflict punishment upon men who
had not deserved it; and that if you did so you would certainly regret
the act most deeply. It was from no motive of disrespect that I acted
as I did, I assure you, sir; it was done on the impulse of the moment,
and because I felt that if the evil was to be prevented it must be done
instantly. I acted as I should have wished another to act had I been in
your place, sir."

This I felt was but a lame explanation, and not likely to help me to any
great extent out of my difficulty; but there was really nothing else I
could say without directly charging the skipper with wanton tyranny,
which it was certainly not the place of a reefer on his first cruise to
do; if Mr Reid and the rest of the officers were content with the
position of affairs it was not for me to gainsay them.

"Very well, young gentleman," answered the skipper, after a somewhat
lengthy pause, "I am willing to accept your explanation, and to believe
that you acted upon a good motive the more readily that Mr Reid here
has been most eloquent pleading your cause, and giving you the best of
characters. But, hark ye, Mr Lascelles, never, for the future, presume
to form _any_ opinion--good or bad--upon your captain's conduct; nor,
under any circumstances, attempt to put him right. You are too young
and too inexperienced to be capable of forming a just judgment of the
actions of your superiors; moreover, a midshipman's duty is to _obey_,
not to judge or advise his superior officers. You may return to your
duty, sir; and let the unpleasant incident of to-day be a warning to you
throughout the remainder of your career."

Highly delighted, and, I must confess, equally surprised in so easy an
escape from what threatened at the outset to be an exceedingly awkward
scrape, I stammered out a few confused words of thanks and assurances of
good behaviour for the future, bowed, and executed a somewhat hasty
retreat.

CHAPTER FIVE.

A "CUTTING-OUT" EXPEDITION.

On going on deck to stand my watch that night shortly after my dismissal
by Captain Pigot, found the squadron heading to the northward on an easy
bowline, under reefed topsails, with the island of Tortuga bearing
south-east, about ten miles distant. We continued on the starboard tack
during the whole of that night, tacking at eight o'cloc