lor, whose eye just then falling
on me, he recognised me at once as a brother salt.

"What, Jerry Dix!" I exclaimed; he looked at me very hard. "Don't you
know me, old ship? have you forgotten little Ben Truscott?"

"What, Ben, my boy! Give us your flipper, old chum. I thought as how I
had seen you afore when my blinkers first caught sight of you, but I
didn't like to make a wrong landfall," he exclaimed.

We shook hands heartily. I was truly glad to see the old man again.

"I see that you have become a warrant officer," he said, eyeing my
uniform. "That's better nor nothing, though I did think as how you'd
have been higher up the ratlines. And are you at anchor hereabouts?"

I told him that I was living in the neighbourhood, and begged him to
come at once to my cottage and see my missus, and have a talk about old
times.

"In course I will, Ben," he answered. Then recollecting his audience,
he thought that some apology was necessary for leaving them so abruptly;
turning round, therefore, and eyeing his model of the _Royal George_, as
he called her, though she was more like a frigate than a line-of-battle
ship, he said--

"You'll excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but you see as how I've fallen
in with an old ship, who I've known as man and boy these twenty years,
so I must just now keep him company; but I'll come back to-morrow and
finish that there stave I was a-singing, and spin you more of my
wonderful yarns, if you'll just be good enough to come here and meet me;
now mind, my little dears, bring plenty of coppers; and you, my pretty
girls, bring something in your purses for poor Jack; I never takes no
money from ugly ones--it's a rule of mine, it's wonderful too how few I
ever see's; so good-bye, and blessings on all of you; and now, Ben,
we'll up anchor and make sail."

Jerry on this unshipped his model from the stand, which he took under
his arm, while he placed the vessel on his shoulder, and with a stout
stick in his hand came stumping on alongside me.

"Well, Jerry, I am truly glad to see you," I said; "what have you been
doing with yourself since we parted?"

"That would be a hard matter to say, Ben, except as how I've been
knocking about the country from east to west, and north to south,
spinning yarns without end, and singing and fiddling, and doing all
sorts of odd dodges to pick up a living. They were honest ones though,
so don't be afraid."

"And the yarns were all quite true, Jerry, e