Sir John,' said I. 'Aye, by ----, that will never lose its
moorings while it has a flap left.'"

Well, I examined him, and I found his own account not very far from the
truth. I went over him carefully from head to foot, and there was not
much left as Nature made it. He had mitral regurgitation, cirrhosis of
the liver, Bright's disease, an enlarged spleen, and incipient dropsy.
I gave him a lecture about the necessity of temperance, if not of total
abstinence; but I fear that my words made no impression. He chuckled,
and made a kind of clucking noise in his throat all the time that I was
speaking, but whether in assent or remonstrance I cannot say.

He pulled out his purse when I had finished, but I begged him to look on
my small service as a mere little act of friendship. This would not do
at all, however, and he seemed so determined about it that I was forced
to give way.

"My fee is five shillings, then, since you insist upon making it a
business matter."

"Dr. Munro, sir," he broke out, "I have been examined by men whom I
wouldn't throw a bucket of water over if they were burning, and I never
paid them less than a guinea. Now that I have come to a gentleman and a
friend, stiffen me purple if I pay one farthing less."

So, after much argument, it ended in the kind fellow going off and
leaving a sovereign and a shilling on the edge of my table. The money
burned my fingers, for I knew that his pension was not a very large one;
and yet, since I could not avoid taking it, there was no denying that it
was exceedingly useful. Out I sallied and spent sixteen shillings of it
upon a new palliasse which should go under the straw mattress upon my
bed. Already, you see, I was getting to a state of enervating luxury
in my household arrangements, and I could only lull my conscience by
reminding myself that little Paul would have to sleep with me when he
came.

However, I had not quite got to the end of Whitehall's visit yet. When
I went back I took down the beautiful lava jug, and inside I found his
card. On the back was written, "You have gone into action, sir. It may
be your fate to sink or to swim, but it can never be your degradation
to strike. Die on the last plank and be damned to you, or come into port
with your ensign flying mast-high."

Was it not fine? It stirred my blood, and the words rang like a bugle
call in my head. It braced me, and the time was coming when all the
bracing I could get would not be too much.