turned to the bulwarks for a glance overside at the water which, up to an
hour ago, had been smooth as a pond. I had scarcely reached the bulwarks
when a voice forward sang out that a boat was approaching and hailing us.

Sure enough, a boat there was: and in the stern-sheets, with a couple of
watermen pulling, sat two men of whom the portliss was promptly and
confidently proclaimed by the midshipmen gathered around me to be no other
than His Excellency.

The boat approached and fell alongside the ladder suspended a few yards
aft of the ship's waist. The first lieutenant, having sent word to the
Captain, hurried forward to receive our distinguished guest, who climbed
heavily on his Secretary's arm. Arriving thus at the sally-way, he nodded
graciously in answer to the first lieutenant's salute, pulled out a
handkerchief to mop his brow, and in the act of mopping it cast a glance
across the deck.

"Captain Suckling has asked me to present his excuses to your
Excellency--" began the first lieutenant in his best tone of ceremony;
and, with that, took a step backward as His Excellency flung out a rigid
arm.

"The Dustman! for a fiver!"

"I--I beg your Excellency's pardon--your Excellency was pleased to
observe--"

"The Dustman, for a hundred pounds! Jem Clark, too! Oh, catch me,
Winyates!" and His Excellency staggered back, clutching at a man-rope with
one hand, pointing with the other. His gaze wavered from the prisoners
amidships to the first lieutenant, and from the first lieutenant to the
poop-ladder, at the head of which Captain Suckling at this instant
appeared, hastily buttoning his uniform coat as he came.

"A thousand pardons, your Excellency!"

"A thousand pounds, sir!"

"Hey?"

"If that's not the very pair of scoundrels I've been hunting the length
and breadth of Hampshire. Fareham was the venue, Captain Suckling--if I
am addressing Captain Suckling--"

"You are, sir. I--I think you said Fareham--"

"I did, sir. I don't mind confessing to you--here on the point of
departing from England--that I admire the noble art, sir: so much so that
I have wasted a whole day in the neighbourhood of Fareham, hunting for a
prize-fight which never came off."

"But--but I don't mind confessing to your Excellency," gasped Captain
Suckling, "that _I_ too have been at Fareham and have--er--met with the
same disappointment."

"Disappointment, sir! When you have kidnapped the scoundrels--when you
have the