d that I was not altogether to escape,
for the old gentleman commenced opening a broadside upon me, for not
wearing the Admiralty uniform. Lieutenant Farmer, however, came very
kindly to my rescue, and offered the admiral a sufficient explanation.

I was then directed to the _Eos'_ boat, the coxswain and a couple of men
went with me for my luggage, and in less than half an hour I was being
rowed down the Medway towards the ship. As we passed by what I looked
upon as an immense and terrifically lofty seventy-four, I looked up, and
descried Major-General Cheeks slowly climbing up the newly-tarred main
topmast rigging, "like a snail unwillingly," to the topmast cross-trees.
It was a bitterly cold day, at the end of November, and there is no
doubt but that his reflections were as bitter as the weather. Practical
jokes have sometimes very bad practical consequences.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

RALPH IS SHIPPED, HULKED, AND OVERCOME--A DARK HALL AND AN EBONY
SERVITOR--A TAILOR'S POLITENESS, AND A MASTER'S MATE, WHO SIGHS TO BE
MATED YET DOES NOT SEE THAT HE IS OUTMATCHED.

I found the _Eos_ all rigged and strong in the breeze, with the not very
agreeable aroma of dockyard paint. The ship's company was not, however,
on board of her. They were hulked on board of the _Pegasus_. A very
brief introduction to the officers of the watch, and I was shown down
with my sea-chest, my shore-going trunk, and quadrant, cocked-hat,
etcetera, to the midshipmen's berth in the hulk. One of the after-guard
performed for me the office of gentleman-usher. It was a gloomy, foggy,
chilly day, and the damp of the atmosphere was mingled with the reeking,
dank, animal effluvia that came up, thick and almost tangible, from the
filthy receptacle of crowded hundreds.

As I descended into darkness, and nearly felt overpowered by the
compound of villainous smells, I was something more than sick at heart.
My pioneer at length lifted up the corner of a piece of dirty canvas,
that screened off a space of about six feet square from the rest of the
ship's company. This I was given to understand was the _young
gentlemen's_ quarters, their dining-room and their drawing-room
combined. Even I, who had not yet attained my full growth, could not
stand erect in this saloon of elegance. I am stating nothing but
literal facts. On an oaken table, still more greasy than the greasy
decks over which I had slipped in my passage to this den, stood a
flickering,