, the Captain made
his ceremonious way to the cabin, disappearing behind the scenes, like
the pasteboard ghost in Hamlet.

But these ceremonies are nothing to those in homage of the Commodore's
arrival, even should he depart and arrive twenty times a day. Upon such
occasions, the whole marine guard, except the sentries on duty, are
marshalled on the quarter-deck, presenting arms as the Commodore passes
them; while their commanding officer gives the military salute with his
sword, as if making masonic signs. Meanwhile, the boatswain
himself--not a _boatswain's mate_--is keeping up a persevering
whistling with his silver pipe; for the Commodore is never greeted with
the rude whistle of a boatswain's subaltern; _that_ would be positively
insulting. All the Lieutenants and Midshipmen, besides the Captain
himself, are drawn up in a phalanx, and off hat together; and the
_side-boys_, whose number is now increased to ten or twelve, make an
imposing display at the gangway; while the whole brass band, elevated
upon the poop, strike up "See! the Conquering Hero Comes!" At least,
this was the tune that our Captain always hinted, by a gesture, to the
captain of the band, whenever the Commodore arrived from shore.

It conveyed a complimentary appreciation, on the Captain's part, of the
Commodore's heroism during the late war.

To return to the gig. As I did not relish the idea of being a sort of
body-servant to Captain Claret--since his gig-men were often called
upon to scrub his cabin floor, and perform other duties for him--I made
it my particular business to get rid of my appointment in his boat as
soon as possible, and the next day after receiving it, succeeded in
procuring a substitute, who was glad of the chance to fill the position
I so much undervalued.

And thus, with our counterlikes and dislikes, most of us
men-of-war's-men harmoniously dove-tail into each other, and, by our
very points of opposition, unite in a clever whole, like the parts of a
Chinese puzzle. But as, in a Chinese puzzle, many pieces are hard to
place, so there are some unfortunate fellows who can never slip into
their proper angles, and thus the whole puzzle becomes a puzzle indeed,
which is the precise condition of the greatest puzzle in the
world--this man-of-war world itself.

CHAPTER XL.

SOME OF THE CEREMONIES IN A MAN-OF-WAR UNNECESSARY AND INJURIOUS.

The ceremonials of a man-of-war, some of which have been described in
the prece