demand a
court of inquiry. Mr Rattlin had charge of the forecastle at the time.
Mr Rattlin, come here, sir. You sang out, just before this calamity
happened, to port the helm."

"I did, sir."

"Quarter-master," continued Reud, "did you port the helm? Now, mind
what you say; did you, sir? because if you _did not_; six dozen."

"We did, sir--hard a-port."

"And the ship immediately after struck?"

"Yes, sir."

"Pooh! the case is clear--we need not talk about it any longer. A clear
case, Mr Farmer. Mr Rattlin has charge of the forecastle--he descries
a vessel ahead--he takes upon himself to order the helm hard a-port, and
we run over and sink her accordingly. He is responsible, clearly."

"Clearly," was the answering echo from all the rejectors of
responsibility.

"Mr Rattlin, I am sorry for you. I once thought you a promising young
man; but, since your desertion at Aniana--we must not mince matters
now--you have become quite an altered character. You seem to have lost
all zeal for the service. Zeal for the service is a thing that ought
not to be lost; for a young gentleman without zeal for the service is a
young gentleman, surely--you understand me--who is not zealous in the
performance of his duty. I think I have made myself tolerably clear.
Do you think, sir, I should hold now the responsible commission I do
hold under his Majesty, if I had been without zeal for the service? I
am sorry that I have a painful duty to perform. I must place you under
an arrest, till I know what may be the port admiral's pleasure
concerning this unpleasant business; for--for the loss of the _Mary
Anne_ of London you are clearly responsible."

"Clearly" (_omnes rursus_).

"Had you sung out hard a-starboard, instead of hard a-port, the case
might have been different."

"Clearly."

"Go down below to your berth, and consider yourself a prisoner. The
young gentlemen in his Majesty's service are not permitted to run down
West Indiamen with impunity."

"Clearly."

In these kind of capstan-head court-martials, at which captains will
sometimes administer reefers' law, "Woe to the weakest!" A defence was
quite a work of superfluity; so, consoling myself with the vast
responsibility with which, all at once, I found myself invested, I went
and turned in, anathematising every created thing above an inch high and
a foot below the same dimensions. However, in a very sound sleep I soon
forgot everything--even the horrible