e lies," pointing to
the smart craft he had been inspecting; "and they gave me the offer, and
I took it. And I'm on the look-out for a few smart hands, especially a
first officer."

"Nothing would suit me better," said I, "if I can get the proper step.
I'm only a boatswain, you know."

"That will not be difficult with the papers you have got and your
record. At a time like this they are not stiff about promotion,
provided they get the proper men. So come along and beard the lions at
once."

"There's one thing, sir," said I, "that I must do before I can join any
ship--I must take a run home to Donegal, to--"

"Donegal! why, that's where we're ordered to, man. There's a gang of
smugglers on the coast between Inishowen and Fanad that we've got to
catch; and if that's near your home--"

"Near!" I exclaimed; "sure it _is_ my home. I know every creek and
shoal of the coast in the dark."

"That settles it," said Captain Felton, thumping me on the back; "you
are the man I want, and I'm the man you want. Come away!"

As he had predicted, my papers, and especially Admiral Duncan's letter,
added to the previous favourable reports of Captain Swift and Mr
Felton, stood me in good stead with the authorities, especially just
then when there was a dearth of men to fill all the vacancies caused by
the war. I was told to call again on the following day, when, to my
astonishment, I was handed a commission appointing me a lieutenant in
his Majesty's navy, and a letter of recommendation to the Customs for
appointment to the _Gnat_, Captain Felton's cutter.

With a bound of joy I found myself, by some strange shifting of the
luck, a gentleman and an officer after all--humble and poor indeed, but
entitled to hold my head with the best; and what was more--and that sent
the blood tingling through my veins--no longer beyond the range of my
little mistress's recognition as a suitor. A paltry distinction if you
will, and one in name only; for the gentleman is born, not made by
Admiralty warrants; and had I been a cur at heart, no promotion could
have made me otherwise. But if at heart I was a gentleman, this new
title gave me the right to call myself one, and opened a door to me
which till now I had thought fast shut.

The week that followed was one of busy work; so busy that I had scarce
time to wander through my old haunts in Dublin and notice the air of
sullen mischief which brooded over the city. Men were watched and
wat