that he had come to sea for the sake of fighting
for the cause of King William, and that he hoped when he returned home
to present himself in the rank of an officer.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

FIRST SEA-FIGHT.

John Deane had soon the opportunity he had long wished for, of engaging
in a naval fight. As the "Weymouth" was cruising in the Channel, a sail
was seen on the lee bow. Captain Jumper immediately ordered the ship to
be kept away, and clapped on all the canvas she could carry in chase.
The stranger, on seeing this, bore away, but the "Weymouth" was a fast
ship, and rapidly came up with her. The drum beat to quarters, and the
ship was prepared for action. Shot were brought up from below and
placed in the racks ready for use. The powder-magazine was opened, and
the powder-boys were sent up with their tubs and arranged in rows along
the deck, ready to supply the seamen who fought the guns with powder.
The slow-matches were got ready, and pistols, boarding-pikes, and
hangers served out to the men. Jackets and shirts were discarded, and
the crew stood ready, dressed alone in their trousers, with belts round
their waists in which their pistols were stuck, and their hangers
attached. There could be no doubt that the stranger was an enemy,
though he had not yet shown his colours.

Few would have supposed that the crew who now stood at their guns were
about in a short time to be engaged in deadly fight. Jokes of all sorts
were passed along the decks, and peals of laughter were indulged in,
till silenced when they became too uproarious by the officers. Jack
found Smedley standing close to him, both having been appointed to the
same gun. A handkerchief was bound round his head to keep his hair,
which in the fashion of seamen in those days was worn long, away from
his eyes. He was as cool and collected as the rest of his shipmates,
but did not seem inclined to join in the jokes in which they were
indulging.

"You seem somewhat out of spirits, Jem!" said John Deane. "What makes
you so grave? we're sure to thrash the enemy, however big he may be."

"Just the thoughts of home, Jack," answered Smedley. "I was thinking
just now whether I should not have been better off attending to my
father's business, with the prospect of marrying pretty Mary Smithers,
than out here, stripped to the waist, with a chance of having my head
carried off before the day's over!"

"Nonsense, Jem!" answered Deane; "you should not let