suddenly left it, and was then bound apprentice to a lawyer in
this town. I did not much like the profession which had been chosen
for me; but there was no help for it. I knew that my father had no
interest, and that I must trust entirely to my own exertions for a
provision for my future life. I therefore applied myself diligently to
my duties, and soon had the good fortune to gain the confidence of my
employer. I had been with him about three years, when he sent me to a
neighbouring village to wait upon a client of his. This gentleman was
a retired post-captain, a man who had seen much service, and had been
often and severely wounded.

He was, as I had been before informed, as smart an officer as ever
trod a ship's deck; his whole heart was in his profession; and his
long residence on shore had not broken him of his habit of
interlarding his conversation with sea-phrases; and he delighted in
talking over the adventures of his past life to all who would listen
to him. Notwithstanding his little peculiarities, he was universally
loved and respected. He was a hospitable, kind-hearted man, and a
"gentleman of Nature's own making;" for, though he was a little
wanting in external polish, his actions proved him worthy of the
title. I had often heard of him before, but had never chanced to meet
him. I was much pleased with him at first sight: there was so much
warmth and frankness in his reception of me; and I felt at home with
him in a minute. He was a man of short stature, upright as a dart,
with iron-grey hair, and a keen, quick eye; and had on, when I met him
in the avenue to his house, an old rusty hat, pinched up in the rims,
and placed transversely on his head, so as to look like a "fore and
after," as he called it, or, as we would say, a cocked hat.

"Oh," interrupted Musgrave, "you need not take the trouble of
explaining sea terms to _me_; they are as natural to me as my native
tongue almost."

"I forgot," replied I, "that you are a chip of the same block; so I
will continue my _yarn_--you see I have picked up a little sea-lingo
too. After I had transacted my business with Captain Trimmer, he
pressed me to stay and partake of family fare."

"We pipe to dinner at six-bells," said he; "three o'clock, I mean. You
will have plain fare and a sailor's welcome; which, you know, is a
warm one either to friend or foe."

I accepted his frank invitation with pleasure; and, as it still wanted
an hour to dinner-time, he pro