e, after
endeavouring to decipher the scrawl in vain. "What is this first word,
Mr. Rotherham--'Irish,' is it not,--hey! Atwood?"

"I believe it is no move than 'I-n,' stretched over much more paper than
is necessary."

"You are right enough, vicar; and the next word is 'the,' though it
looks like a _chevaux de frise_--what follows? It looks like
'man-of-war.' Atwood?"

"I beg your pardon, Sir Gervaise; this first letter is what I should
call an elongated n--the next is certainly an a--the third looks like
the waves of a river--ah! it is an m--and the last is an
e--n-a-m-e--that makes 'name,' gentlemen."

"Yes," eagerly added the vicar, "and the two next words are, 'of God.'"

"Then it is religion, after all, that was on the poor man's mind!"
exclaimed Sir Gervaise, in a slight degree disappointed, if the truth
must be told. "What's this A-m-e-n--'Amen'--why it's a sort of prayer."

"This is the form in which it is usual to commence wills, I believe, Sir
Gervaise," observed the secretary, who had written many a one, on board
ship, in his day. "'In the name of God, Amen.'"

"By George, you're right, Atwood; and the poor man was trying, all the
while, to let us know how he wished to dispose of his property! What
could he mean by the _nullus_--it is not possible that the old gentleman
has nothing to leave?"

"I'll answer for it, Sir Gervaise, _that_ is not the true explanation,"
the vicar replied. "Sir Wycherly's affairs are in the best order; and,
besides the estate, he has a large sum in the funds."

"Well, gentlemen, we can do no more to-night. A medical man is already
in the house, and Bluewater will send ashore one or two others from the
fleet. In the morning, if Sir Wycherly is in a state to converse, this
matter shall be attended to."

The party now separated; a bed being provided for the vicar, and the
admiral and his secretary retiring to their respective rooms.

CHAPTER X.

"Bid physicians talk our veins to temper,
And with an argument new-set a pulse;
Then think, my lord, of reasoning into love."

YOUNG.

While the scene just related, took place in the chamber of the sick man,
Admiral Bluewater, Mrs. Dutton, and Mildred left the house, in the old
family-coach. The rear-admiral had pertinaciously determined to adhere
to his practice of sleeping in his ship; and the manner in which he had
offered seats to his two fair companions--for Mrs. Dutton still deserved
to be