he First Lord is sure to ask me to name some deserving
officers for promotion, and I'll not forget you."

We had contrary winds, and then we were hove-to for two or three days,
during a heavy gale in the Bay of Biscay. After that we were kept
knocking about in the Chops of the Channel for a week, when, the wind
shifting, we ran for Plymouth Sound, and came to an anchor in Hamoaze.

Lord Robert immediately went on shore, and we all wondered what would
next happen to us.

We had no reason to complain. We got plenty of leave. Tom and I
accompanied Nettleship to pay a visit to his family. I won't describe
it just now, except to say that we were received in as kind a way as
before.

We guessed that if Lord Robert was returned to Parliament we should have
no further chance of seeing any foreign service while the ship remained
in commission. Nettleship, indeed, was of opinion that before long she
would be paid off.

I wrote home to say where we were, and in the course of a fortnight
received a letter from the major, telling me to come to Ballinahone if I
wished to see my father alive. I with difficulty obtained leave on
urgent family affairs, and next day, going to the Catwater, I found a
small hooker belonging to Cork, just about to return there. Although
she was not the sort of craft aboard which I should have chosen to take
a passage, yet as she was likely to afford the most speedy way of
getting to my destination, I forthwith engaged berths for myself and
Larry, for whom I also got leave.

Nettleship and Tom went on board with me. There was a little cabin aft,
about eight feet square, with a sleeping place on either side, one of
which was occupied by the skipper, while I was to enjoy the comforts of
the other. The crew, consisting of three men and a boy, were berthed
forward, in a place of still smaller dimensions, and only just affording
room for Larry.

"I would rather you had gone to sea in a stouter craft," said
Nettleship; "but as the skipper tells me he has made the passage a dozen
times a year for the last twenty years, I hope he'll carry you across in
safety."

The wind was light, and my messmates remained on board, while the hooker
towed their boat some way down the Sound.

Wishing me farewell, they then pulled back to Hamoaze, and we stood on,
fully expecting to be well on our voyage by the next morning. During
the night, however, a strong south-westerly breeze sprang up, and the
skipper con