der for a wagon. You
'll present this at Woolwich.' He bowed and turned his back, and I
retreated.

"Sharp to the hour of eleven I found myself at Windsor on the following
Monday. It was past two, however, before his Majesty could see me. There
were audiences and foreign ambassadors, papers to read, commissions to
sign--in fact, when two o'clock came, the king had only got through a
part of his day's work, and then it was luncheon-time. This was over
about three; and at last his Majesty, with the First Lord, two admirals,
and an old post-captain, who, by the way, had once put me in irons
for not saluting his Majesty's guard when coming up to the watch at
midnight, appeared on the terrace.

"The place selected for the trial was a neat little parterre outside one
of the small drawing-rooms. There was a fountain supplied by two running
streams, and this I was to experiment upon with my new pump. It was
trying enough to stand there before such a presence; but the uppermost
thought in my mind was about my invention, and I almost forgot the
exalted rank of my audience.

"After due presentation to his Majesty, and a few common-place questions
about where I had served, and how long, and so on, the king said, 'Come
now, sir. Let us see the pump at work, for we haven't much time to
lose.'

"I immediately adjusted the apparatus, and when all was ready, I looked
about in some dismay, for I saw no one to assist the working. There were
present, besides the king and the three naval officers, only two fellows
in full-dress liveries, a devilish sight more pompous-looking than the
king or the First Lord. What was to be done? It was a dilemma I had
never anticipated; and in my dire distress, I stepped back and whispered
a word to old Admiral Beaufort, who was the kindest-looking of the
party.

"'What is he saying?--what does he want?' said the king, who partly
overheard the whisper.

"'Mr. Sickleton remarks, your Majesty, that he will need assistance to
exhibit his invention--that he requires some one to work the pump.'

"'Then why did n't he bring hands with him?' said the king, testily. 'I
suppose the machine is not self-acting, and that he knew that before he
came here.'

"I thought I 'd have fainted at this rebuke from the lips of royalty
itself, and so I stammered out some miserable excuse about not
knowing if I were empowered to have brought aid--my ignorance of court
etiquette--in fact, I blundered--and so far, that the