; and if that wont do, shift some of your shot forward. I
know that craft of yours, well; she is as tender as a fellow with corns,
and the shoe musn't pinch anywhere."

"Very well, Sir Gervaise; the ship shall be brought in trim, as soon as
possible."

"Ay, ay, sir, that is what I expect from every vessel, at _all_ times;
and more especially when we are ready to meet an enemy. And, I say,
_Parker_,"--making a sign to his boat's crew to stop rowing again--"I
say, _Parker_, I know you love brawn;--I'll send you some that Galleygo
tells me he has picked up, along-shore here, as soon as I get aboard.
The fellow has been robbing all the hen-roosts in Devonshire, by his own
account of the matter."

Sir Gervaise waved his hand, _Parker_ smiled and bowed his thanks, and
the two parted with feelings of perfect kindness, notwithstanding the
little skirmish with which the interview had commenced.

"Mr. Williamson," said Captain Parker to his first lieutenant, on
quitting the gangway, "you hear what the commander-in-chief says; and he
must be obeyed. I _don't_ think the Carnatic would have sheered out of
the line, even if she is a little by the head; but have the empty casks
filled, and bring her down six inches more by the stern."

"That's a good fellow, that old Parker," said Sir Gervaise to his
purser, whom he was carrying off good-naturedly to the ship, lest he
might lose his passage; "and I wonder how he let his ship get her nose
under water, in that fashion. I like to have him for a second astern;
for I feel sure he'd follow if I stood into Cherbourg, bows on! Yes; a
good fellow is Parker; and, Locker,"--to his own man, who was also in
the boat;--"mind you send him _two_ of the best pieces of that
brawn--hey!--hey!--hey!--what the d----l has Lord Morganic"--a descendant
from royalty by the left hand,--"been doing now! That ship is kept like
a tailor's jay figure, just to stuff jackets and gim-cracks on
her--Achilles, there!"

A quarter-master ran to the edge of the poop, and then turning, he spoke
to his captain, who was walking the deck, and informed him that the
commander-in-chief hailed the ship. The Earl of Morganic, a young man of
four-and-twenty, who had succeeded to the title a few years before by
the death of an elder brother,--the usual process by which an _old_ peer
is brought into the British navy, the work being too discouraging for
those who have fortune before their eyes from the start,--now advanced
to t