d peaceful blinkers
of his ancient commander; "but now I shall be able to convince you,
though I am not a land-surveyor, nor even a general of land-forces. If
God Almighty prolongs my life--which is not very likely--it will be that
I may meet that scoundrel, Napoleon Bonaparte, on dry land. I hear
that he is eager to encounter me on the waves, himself commanding a
line-of-battle ship. I should send him to the devil in a quarter of an
hour. And ashore I could astonish him, I think, a little, if I had a
good army to back me up. Remember what I did at Bastia, in the land that
produced this monster, and where I was called the Brigadier; and again,
upon the coast of Italy, I showed that I understood all their dry-ground
business. Tush! I can beat him, ashore and afloat; and I shall, if I
live long enough. But this time the villain is in earnest, I believe,
with his trumpery invasion; and as soon as he hears that I am gone,
he will make sure of having his own way. We know, of course, there are
fifty men as good as myself to stop him, including you, my dear Darling;
but everything goes by reputation--the noise of the people--praise-puff.
That's all I get; while the luckier fellows, like Cathcart, get the
prize-money. But I don't want to grumble. Now what do you see?"

"Well, I see you, for one thing," the Admiral answered, at his leisure,
being quite inured to his friend's quick fire, "and wearing a coat that
would be a disgrace to any other man in the navy. And further on I see
some land that I never shall get my rent for; and beyond that nothing
but the sea, with a few fishing-craft inshore, and in the offing a sail,
an outward-bound East Indiaman--some fool who wouldn't wait for convoy,
with war as good as proclaimed again."

"Nothing but the sea, indeed? The sweep of the land, and the shelter
of the bay, the shoaling of the shore without a rock to break it, the
headland that shuts out both wind and waves; and outside the headland,
off Pebbleridge, deep water for a fleet of line-of-battle ships to
anchor and command the land approaches--moreover, a stream of the purest
water from deep and never-failing springs--Darling, the place of all
places in England for the French to land is opposite to your front
door."

"I am truly obliged to you for predicting, and to them for doing it, if
ever they attempt such impudence. If they find out that you are away,
they can also find out that I am here, as commander of the sea defences,