nd I was
permitted to leave the court. We went down by the coach, but as they
went inside and I was out, I had not many questions asked until my
arrival at Mr Drummond's house, when I gave them a detailed account of
all that had happened.

"Proh! Deus!" exclaimed the Dominie, when I had finished my story.
"What an escape! How narrowly, as Propertius hath it femininely,
`_Eripitur nobis jumpridem carus puer_.' Well was it that thou hadst
learnt to swim--verily thou must have struggled lustily. _`Pugnat in
adversas ire natator aquas_,' yea, lustily for thy life, child. Now,
God be praised!"

But Mr Drummond was anxious that the lighter should be brought back to
the wharf; he therefore gave me my dinner, for I had eaten nothing that
day, and then despatched me in a boat with two men, to bring her up the
river. The next morning we arrived; and Mr Drummond, not having yet
selected any other person to take her in charge, I was again some days
on shore, dividing my time between the Dominie and Mr Drummond's, where
I was always kindly treated, not only by him, but also by his wife and
his little daughter Sarah.

A master for the lighter was soon found; and as I passed a considerable
time under his orders, I must describe him particularly. He had served
the best part of his life on board a man-of-war, had been in many
general and single actions, and, at the battle of Trafalgar, had wound
up his servitude with the loss of both his legs and an out-pension from
the Greenwich Hospital, which he preferred to being received upon the
establishment, as he had a wife and child. Since that time he had
worked on the river. He was very active, and broad-shouldered, and had
probably, before he lost his legs, been a man of at least five feet
eleven or six feet high; but as he found that he could keep his balance
better upon short stumps than long ones, he had reduced his wooden legs
to about eight inches in length, which, with his square body, gave him
the appearance of a huge dwarf. He bore, and I will say most
deservedly, an excellent character. His temper was always cheerful, and
he was a little inclined to drink: but the principal feature in him was
lightness of heart; he was always singing. His voice was very fine and
powerful. When in the service he used to be summoned to sing to the
captain and officers, and was the delight of the forecastle. His memory
was retentive, and his stock of songs incredible, at the same time