!"

"You're more than a conjurer, Mick," I replied to this, laughing.
"You're a prophet!"

"Begorrah!" he rejoined with his usual grin, "it ain't mooch profit
Oi'll git oot ov it, me darlint, or yersilf ayther, fur thet matther--
aboot ez mooch, faith, ez Pat O'Connor got whin he shaved his pig!"

The squadron remained but a couple of days at anchor at Spithead;
proceeding thence to Portland, whence, the _Calypso_ and _Ruby_, ships
belonging to the eastern division, having joined us, we all set sail in
company for our cruise, bound for the West Indies.

Passing down Channel, through those `chops' which our late cruiser had
so watchfully guarded during the Manoeuvres, we gave Ushant a wide berth
and entered the celebrated Bay of Biscay; the subject of a song as
popular with us sailors as that of which my great-great-great-ancestor,
Tom Bowling of pious and historic memory, was the hero.

Now, at last, I could say that I really was at sea!

A good many of my shipmates had no necessity, however, to do this; for
they _felt_ it--especially crossing the Bay!

The weather was dirty, as it usually is in this region.

This occurs through the influence of the Gulf Stream, which, after being
wooed by the incurving and more hospitable coast of France, suddenly
finds itself violently repulsed by the projecting Spanish peninsula;
when, naturally angry, the current, like some folk who, on their not
being able to vent their spleen on the people who may offend them, `pass
it on' to the nearest, tries to `make it warm' for such unfortunate
mariners as may cross its turbid bosom!

It is always rough there, and the winds as uncertain as a lady's smile;
and, I may say that on this occasion both Boreas and Neptune seemed to
have arranged to render our passage over this special broken-water
domain of theirs as disagreeable as possible.

We were well handled, our commanding officer being, as I have already
said, one of the smartest sailors in the service; but, notwithstanding
this, the _Active_ had very bad weather of it, while those of our
consorts whom we could see in the distance appeared to experience worse.

The ship plunged and rolled to such an extent that it was almost
impossible to go up and down the hatchways carrying anything; for a chap
wanted more hands than he possessed to hold on with, let alone dunnage!

We boys had, as might be expected, most of the dirty work to do; and it
was our task, when dinner was finished b