he day after his arrival,
while the conversation turned on this last subject, the commodore,
taking the pipe out of his month, "I'll tell ye what, brother," said he;
"five-and-forty years ago, when I was third lieutenant of the Warwick
man-of-war, there was a very stout young fellow on board, a subaltern
officer of marines; his name was not unlike your own, d'ye see, being
Guntlet, with a G. I remember he and I could not abide one another at
first, because, d'ye see, I was a sailor and he a landsman; till we fell
in with a Frenchman, whom we engaged for eight glasses, and at length
boarded and took. I was the first man that stood on the enemy's deck,
and should have come scurvily off, d'ye see, if Guntlet had not jumped
to my assistance; but we soon cleared ship, and drove them to close
quarters, so that they were obliged to strike; and from that day Guntlet
and I were sworn brothers as long as he remained on board. He was
exchanged into a marching regiment, and what became of him afterwards,
Lord in heaven knows; but this I'll say of him, whether he be dead or
alive, he feared no man that ever wore a head, and was, moreover, a very
hearty messmate."

The stranger's breast glowed at this eulogium, which was no sooner
pronounced than he eagerly asked if the French ship was not the
Diligence? The commodore replied, with a stare, "The very same, my
lad."--"Then," said Gauntlet, "the person of whom you are pleased to
make such honourable mention was my own father."--"The devil he was!"
cried Trunnion, shaking him by the hand: "I am rejoiced to see a son of
Ned Guntlet in my house."

This discovery introduced a thousand questions, in the course of which
the old gentleman learned the situation of his friend's family, and
discharged innumerable execrations upon the ingratitude and injustice
of the ministry, which had failed to provide for the son of such a
brave soldier. Nor was his friendship confined to such ineffectual
expressions; he that same evening signified to Peregrine a desire of
doing something for his friend. This inclination was so much praised,
encouraged, and promoted by his godson, and even supported by his
councilor Hatchway, that our hero was empowered to present him with a
sum of money sufficient to purchase a commission.

Though nothing could be more agreeable to Pickle than this permission,
he was afraid that Godfrey's scrupulous disposition would hinder him
from subjecting himself to any such obligatio