.
Meantime the suspicions of the French captain had been aroused. He had
observed the small size of our guns. The appearance of the Indiaman's
cuddy and the gentlemen and lady passengers--not that there were many of
the latter--must have raised curious doubts in his mind. Suddenly he
jumped up and asked to what ship he had struck.

"`To the Honourable East India Company's ship _Exeter_,' answered
Captain Meriton, with a bow which beat the Frenchman's.

"`What, to a merchantman?' exclaimed the Frenchman, with a look of
dismay.

"`Yes, monsieur, to a merchantman,' said Captain Meriton, with a gentle
smile, which it would have been difficult to repress.

"`It is not fair; it is vile! it is a cheat!' exclaimed the Frenchman,
beginning to stalk up and down the cabin, to grind his teeth, and to
pull out his hair. `I say it is a cheat; give me back my ship, send on
board my men, and I will fight you bravely. You will soon see if you
take me again.'

"`I am ready to acknowledge that you would very likely take me, as I
should certainly deserve to be taken for my folly in agreeing to your
proposal. You will excuse me if I therefore decline it,' was the
answer. Though we pitied the feelings of the poor man, it was very
difficult to keep our countenance as he uttered his expressions of
indignation and anger. He did not recover his spirits till his frigate
was out of sight."

This anecdote was followed by several others. Those were pleasant hours
I spent on board the old Indiaman. My visits to her were indeed an
agreeable change from the sea-life routine of my own ship. I was amused
by the progress in intimacy made among themselves by the younger portion
of the passengers since I first went aboard at Spithead. The captain
confided to me the fact that it cost him much more trouble to maintain
discipline in the cuddy than among his crew. "What with my young ladies
and my chronometers, it is as much as an elderly gentleman can well
accomplish to keep all things straight," he observed, glancing at
several young couples who were pacing the deck, the gentlemen being
cadets or writers. "The friends of those girls now--nice young
creatures they are too,--have sent them out fully expecting that they
would marry nabobs or colonels at least, and in spite of all my
precautions, they have gone and engaged themselves to those young
fellows who have only just got their feet on the ratlines. Small blame
to the gentlemen, howe