hall to-day, my vourneen,' replied my
father, `but in future you must do something to get your own dinner;
there's not praties enow for the whole of ye. Will you go to the
_say_?' `I'll just step down and look at it,' says I, for we lived but
sixteen Irish miles from the coast; so when I had finished my meal,
which did not take long, for want of ammunition, I trotted down to the
Cove to see what a ship might be like, and I happened upon a large one
sure enough, for there lay a three-decker with an admiral's flag at the
fore. `Maybe you'll be so civil as to tell me what ship that is,' said
I to a sailor on the pier. `It's the _Queen Charlotte_,' replied he,
`of one hundred and twenty guns.' Now when I looked at her size, and
compared her with all the little smacks and hoys lying about her, I very
naturally asked how old she was; he replied, that she was no more than
three years old. `But three years old,' thought I to myself; `it's a
fine vessel you'll be when you'll come of age, if you grow at that rate:
you'll be as tall as the top of Bencrow,' (that's a mountain we have in
our parts). I went back to my father, and told him all I had seen, and
he replied, that if I liked it, I might be a midshipman on board of her,
with nine hundred men under my command. He forgot to say how many I
should have over me, but I found that out afterwards. I agreed, and my
father ordered his pony and went to the lord lieutenant, for he had
interest enough for that. The lord lieutenant spoke to the admiral, who
was staying at the palace, and I was ordered on board as midshipman. My
father fitted me out pretty handsomely, telling all the tradesmen that
their bills should be paid with my first prize-money, and thus, by
promises and blarney, he got credit for all I wanted. At last all was
ready: Father McGrath gave me his blessing, and told me that if I died
like an O'Brien, he would say a power of masses for the good of my soul.
So, after a deal of bother, I was fairly on board, and I parted company
with my chest, for I stayed on deck, and that went down below. I stared
about with all my eyes for some time, when who should be coming off but
the captain, and the officers were ordered on deck to receive him. I
wanted to have a quiet survey of him, so I took up my station on one of
the guns, that I might examine him at my leisure. The boatswain
whistled, the marines presented arms, and the officers all took off
their hats as the capt