old block, and a credit to your country!"

They had a laugh at this, of course; and, then, on Mrs Gilmour
suggesting their taking advantage of the high tide to visit Porchester
Castle, as the harbour looked its best, the watermen in charge of their
wherry were directed to row up stream towards the creek on the northern
side, where the old fortress, embowered in trees, nestled under the
shelter of the Portsdown hills, a monolith of past grandeur and present
decay!

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

A STEAM TRIAL, AND A GUN-BURST.

On their way up the harbour, the Captain pointed out the long line of
old hulks moored on either side of the stream that had once, when in
their prime, been esteemed the pride of the Navy.

With towering masts and gallant rig they had flown the flag that has
borne the battle and the breeze for many a long year.

But, within the last decade, their glory has departed, alas, like the
glories of "Rotten Row," as this anchorage of broken-down ships is
called; many of the old historic vessels having been sold out of the
service and their places know them no more!

"Ah, these are something like `Roman remains'!" exclaimed Captain
Dresser, when their wherry ultimately glided up to the ruins of
Porchester Castle, the base of whose swelling walls was laved by the
rippling tide. "That `villa' at Brading was a regular take-in, and I
shall always regret that half-crown in hard cash, out of which I was
swindled!"

"Sure, I don't think you'll ever forget that day," cried Mrs Gilmour,
laughing as she explained the matter more lucidly to her brother and
sister-in-law. "Just as Queen Mary said that Calais would be found
engraved on her heart after she was dead, the Roman villa at Brading
will be found graven on yours, Captain, sure!"

"I don't mind," said he resignedly, "I like something for my money; and,
here, there is something to see and nothing to pay for it either!"

The boatmen rowed the boat close inshore in order to allow them to
inspect the place nearer, as they did not have sufficient time to land
and examine it properly. Mrs Gilmour, while they laid off making thus
a cursory inspection of the ruins, became the castle's historian--
telling how the Romans originally built the fortress on their invasion
of England over eighteen hundred years ago, styling it "Portus Magnus,"
or "the great port," it being situated on a tongue of land commanding
the approaches to their encampments in the interior of th