s a good deal of
sea running, two of our boats were soon alongside her to obtain water,
and some casks of bread and beef, for, as far as we could tell to the
contrary, we might be another month knocking about where we were. In
the meantime, one of her boats brought a lieutenant on board us.

"Peace has been signed between Great Britain and France," were almost
the first words he uttered when he stepped on deck. "I can't give
particulars, but all I know is, that everything we have been fighting
for is to remain much as it was before. We are to give up what we have
taken from the French, and the French what they have taken from us, and
we are to shake hands and be very good friends. There has been great
rejoicing on shore, and bonfires and feasts in honour of the event."

I can't say that the news produced any amount of satisfaction to those
on board the _Maidstone_.

"Then my hope of promotion has gone," groaned Nettleship; "and you,
Paddy, will have very little chance of getting yours, for which I'm
heartily sorry; for after the creditable way in which you have behaved
since you came to sea, I fully expected to see you rise in your
profession, and be an honour to it."

"What's the use of talking to sucking babies like Paddy and Tom here
about their promotion, in these piping times of peace which are coming
on us," cried old Grumpus, "if we couldn't get ours while the war was
going on?"

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

FESTIVITIES AT HOME.

The news of peace was received perhaps with more satisfaction by the men
who had no promotion to look for, and who now expected to visit their
families, or enjoy themselves in spending their prize-money according to
their own fashion on shore.

Parting from the _Thetis_, we continued beating backwards and forwards
for another week, when the wind shifting suddenly to the southward, we
ran up to Plymouth, and at last dropped anchor in Hamoaze. We lived on
board till the ship was paid off. In the meantime, I wrote home to say
that Larry and I would return as soon as we could manage to get a
passage to Cork. Tom Pim was uncertain of the whereabouts of his
family, so he also waited till he could hear from them. Nettleship had
told us that his mother and sister lived near Plymouth, and he got leave
to run over and see them.

"It won't be a good thing for you youngsters to be knocking about this
place by yourselves," he said, on his returning; "and so, having told my
mother this