, young gentlemen," said Lord Robert in a
subdued tone, differing greatly from that which he had lately used.
"I'm determined to maintain discipline aboard my ship; and you'll
understand that though I wish to treat you all with consideration, I
will certainly punish any disobedience to orders."

We looked at each other, and then at the captain, and, supposing that we
were not required to stay longer, I led the way out of the cabin,
followed by the rest, my feelings boiling over with indignation, for I
had never before seen a midshipman flogged. Still I could not but
acknowledge that De Lisle merited punishment, and he confessed as much
to me afterwards, though he did not expect to receive it in that
fashion. He harboured no ill-will towards the captain in consequence,
and became far smarter than he had ever been before in attending to his
duties. The lesson was not thrown away on any of us, and we took good
care not to run the risk of incurring the captain's displeasure.
Notwithstanding the captain's effeminate looks and manners, he managed
to gain the respect of the men, who liked to have a lord to rule over
them, though they knew well enough that it was old Rough-and-Ready who
had got the ship into such prime order; and for him they would have gone
through fire and water, though they might not have wished to have him in
supreme command. The captain having abundance of stores on board, our
cruise continued for a longer period than we had expected, and we in the
midshipmen's berth had run short of all our luxuries, and were condemned
to exist on salt junk and hard biscuits. This gave old Grumpus,
Nettleship, and other oldsters the opportunity of grumbling, which made
them, as Tom said, perfectly happy. We enjoyed, however, an occasional
blow-out, when we breakfasted or dined with the captain. We were
beginning to wish, however, that another war would break out, or that we
might return into port and have a spree on shore.

Besides making and shortening sail, we were constantly exercised at the
guns, as well as the small arms. Our chief employment was firing at a
cask with a flag at the top of it, in doing which we expended as much
powder and shot as would have enabled us to fight a couple of pitched
battles; but it made the men expert gunners, and would have enabled
them, as old Rough-and-Ready observed, to take an enemy's frigate in
half the time they would otherwise have done.

At length we sighted the coast