after this last report had been made--"I have heard it said, that this
Raoul Yvard has actually gone boldly into several of our ports, under
English or neutral colors, and lain there a day or two at a time
unsuspected, until it has suited him to go out again. Can it be possible
he is up, off the town? There is such a fleet of craft in and about the
mole that a little lugger, with her paint and marks altered, _might_ be
among them. What think you, Lyon?"

"It is sartainly a law of nature, Captain Cuffe, that smaller objects
should be overlooked, in the presence of greater; and such a thing
_might_ happen, therefore; though I should place it among the
improbables, if not absolutely among the impossibles. 'Twould be far
safer, nevertheless, to run in, in the manner you designate, among the
hundred or two of ships, than to venture alone into a haven or a
roadstead. If you wish for retirement, Sir Frederick, plunge at once
into the Strand, or take lodgings on Ludgate Hill; but if you wish to be
noticed and chased, go into a Highland village and just conceal your
name for a bit! Ah--he knows the difference well who has tried both
modes of life!"

"This is true, Cuffe," observed the Baronet, "yet I hardly think a
Frenchman, big or little, would be apt to come and anchor under
Nelson's nose."

"'Twould be something like the lion's lying down with the lamb,
certainly, and ought not to be counted on as very likely. Mr.
Winchester, is not that our boat coming round the sloop's quarter?"

"Yes, sir--she has got back from Naples--quartermaster----"

"Aye, quartermaster," interrupted Cuffe, sternly, "a pretty lookout is
this! Here is our own boat close in upon us, and not a word from your
lips on the interesting subject, sir?"

This word, _sir_, is much used on board a man-of-war, and in all its
convertible significations. From the inferior to the superior, it comes
as natural as if it were a gift from above; from equal to equal, it has
a ceremonious and be-on-your-guard air that sometimes means respect,
sometimes disrespect; while from a captain to a quartermaster, it always
means reproof, if it do not mean menace. In discussions of this sort, it
is wisest for the weaker party to be silent; and nowhere is this truth
sooner learned than on shipboard. The quartermaster, consequently, made
no answer, and the gig came alongside, bringing back the officer who had
carried the proceedings of the court up to Naples.

"Here we have