ed to sleep a single moment till half an hour
before the ladies were assembled in our drawing-room; but their
efforts, too, were conspicuously successful.

On the next day some of us went on board the John Bright for a return
dinner; and very pleasant the officers made it. The living on board
the John Bright is exceedingly good, as I have had occasion to learn
from many dinners eaten there since that day. I little thought when I
sat down at the right hand of Captain Battleax as being the President
of the republic, with my wife on his left, I should ever spend more
than a month on board the ship, or write on board it this account of
all my thoughts and all my troubles in regard to the Fixed Period.
After dinner Captain Battleax simply proposed my health, paying to
me many unmeaning compliments, in which, however, I observed that no
reference was made to the special doings of my presidency; and he
ended by saying, that though he had, as a matter of courtesy, and
with the greatest possible alacrity, proposed my health, he would
not call upon me for any reply. And immediately on his sitting down,
there got up a gentleman to whom I had not been introduced before
this day, and gave the health of Mrs Neverbend and the ladies of
Britannula. Now in spite of what the captain said, I undoubtedly had
intended to make a speech. When the President of the republic has
his health drunk, it is, I conceive, his duty to do so. But here the
gentleman rose with a rapidity which did at the moment seem to have
been premeditated. At any rate, my eloquence was altogether stopped.
The gentleman was named Sir Ferdinando Brown. He was dressed in
simple black, and was clearly not one of the ship's officers; but
I could not but suspect at the moment that he was in some special
measure concerned in the mission on which the gunboat had been sent.
He sat on Mrs Neverbend's left hand, and did seem in some respect
to be the chief man on that occasion. However, he proposed Mrs
Neverbend's health and the ladies, and the captain instantly called
upon the band to play some favourite tune. After that there was
no attempt at speaking. We sat with the officers some little time
after dinner, and then went ashore. "Sir Ferdinando and I," said the
captain, as we shook hands with him, "will do ourselves the honour of
calling on you at the executive chambers to-morrow morning."

I went home to bed with a presentiment of evil running across my
heart. A presentiment