Britannic Majesty's gun-brig "Scourge"
weighed, and stood out to sea from the anchorage at Spithead, under
single-reefed topsails, her commander having received orders to cruise
for a month in the chops of the Channel. The "Scourge" was a 16-gun
brig, but having been despatched to sea in a great hurry, after
receiving somewhat extensive repairs at the dockyard, she had only eight
long 6-pounders mounted, and, for the same reason, she was considerably
short-handed, her _crew_ amounting only to seventy men and boys, of whom
quite one half were eminently "green" hands. War with France had just
been once more declared, the various dockyards were busy night and day
preparing and turning out ships for service, and the officers were glad
to get hold of almost any class of men for their ships, provided only
that they were strong and able-bodied.

In this dashing little brig, I--Ralph Chester--held the exalted and
responsible post of midshipman; my appointment, on the morning in
question, being exactly one week old. I had only joined the ship,
however, three days before, and in the interval had been made the victim
of almost every practical joke which the ingenuity of my fellow-mids
could devise. It is not my purpose to recount these tricks, for
stirring times were at hand, and adventures of a sterner and far more
interesting nature were to meet me at the very outset of my career,
crowding thick and fast upon each other's heels; and it is in the
recital of these adventures that I hope to excite and gratify the
curiosity of my readers. A few--and _only_ a few--words are necessary
by way of personal introduction. My father--the Reverend Henry
Chester--was rector of the parish of --, which, as everybody knows,
enjoys the advantage of being located in the heart of the loveliest
scenery in Hampshire. Our family was not a large one; there were only
four of us--two boys and two girls--exclusive of my parents; which was a
decidedly fortunate circumstance, for if my father's family was
moderate, his income was still more so, and my poor mother's ingenuity
was often taxed to the utmost to make both ends meet, and at the same
time maintain for us all such outward tokens of respectability as became
the rector's family.

My elder brother, Henry, was destined to follow in the paternal
footsteps by entering the church. My sisters Florence and Amy (my
juniors respectively by two and four years) would, it was hoped,
contract in due ti