alse one!!"

"False!" exclaimed Jack. "What! you here, and so angry too?--what's the
matter?"

"What's the matter!--do you think I don't know? What have you been doing
ever since I was away, comforting yourself during my absence with
_Nor-westers_?"

"Why, you an't jealous of a Nor-wester, are you?" replied Littlebrain.
"I confess, I'm rather partial to them."

"What!--this to my face!--I'll never come again,--without you promise me
that you will have nothing to do with them, and never call for one
again. Be quick--I cannot stay more than two minutes, for it is hard
work now, and we relieve quick--say the word."

"Well, then," replied Littlebrain, "you've no objection to
_half-and-half_?"

"None in the world; that's quite another thing, and has nothing to do
with the wind."

"It has, though," thought Jack, "for it gets a man in the wind; but I
wo'n't tell her so; and," continued he, "you don't mind a raw nip, do
you?"

"No--I care for nothing except a Nor-wester."

"I'll never call for one again," replied Jack; "it is but making my grog
a little stronger; in future it shall be _half-and-half_."

"That's a dear!--now I'm off, don't forget me;" and away went the wind
in a great hurry.

It was about three months after this short visit, the fleet being off
Corsica, that our hero was walking the deck, thinking that he soon
should see the object of his affections, when a privateer brig was
discovered at anchor a few miles from Bastia. The signal was made for
the boats of the fleet to cut her out, and the Admiral, wishing that his
nephew should distinguish himself somehow, gave him the command of one
of the finest boats. Now Jack was as brave as brave could be; he did not
know what danger was; he hadn't wit enough to perceive it, and there was
no doubt but he would distinguish himself. The boats went on the
service. Jack was the very first on board, cheering his men as he darted
into the closed ranks of his opponents. Whether it was that he did not
think that his head was worth defending, or that he was too busy in
breaking the heads of others to look after his own; this is certain,
that a tomahawk descended upon it with such force as to bury itself in
his skull (and his was a thick skull, too). The privateer's men were
overpowered by numbers, and then our hero was discovered, under a pile
of bodies, still breathing heavily. He was hoisted on board, and taken
into his uncle's cabin: the surgeon shook his head wh