e done; and, soon, Teddy was in such a whirl of
excitement, with everything new and strange around him, that he had no
time left to be melancholy in.

First, Uncle Jack hailed a hansom, all Teddy's belongings in the shape
of luggage being left in the cloak-room at the terminus, and the two
jumping in were driven off as rapidly as the crowded state of the
streets would allow, to Tower Hill, where the offices of the shipping
agents owning the _Greenock_ were situated.

Here Uncle Jack deposited a cheque which the vicar had given him, and
Master Teddy was bound over in certain indentures of a very imposing
character as a first-class apprentice to the said firm, the lad then
signing articles as one of the crew of the _Greenock_, of which vessel,
it may be mentioned, Uncle Jack had already been appointed chief
officer, so that he would be able to keep a watchful eye over his nephew
in his future nautical career.

"Now that job's done," said Uncle Jack when all the bothersome writing
and signing were accomplished and the vicar's cheque paid over, "we'll
have a run down to look at the ship; what say you to that, eh?"

"All right!" responded Teddy, much delighted at the idea; and the pair
then were driven from Tower Hill to the Fenchurch Street railway-
station, where they dismissed their cab and took train for the docks,
the state of locomotion in the neighbourhood of which does not readily
permit of the passage of wheeled vehicles, a hansom running the risk of
being squashed into the semblance of a pancake against the heavy drays
blocking the narrow streets and ways, should it adventure within the
thoroughfares thereof.

On their arrival at Poplar, Uncle Jack threaded his way with amazing
ease and familiarity through a narrow lane with high walls on either
hand, and then into a wide gateway branching off at right angles.
Entering within this Teddy found himself in a vast forest of masts, with
ships loading and unloading at the various quays and jetties alongside
the wharves, opposite to lines of warehouses that seemed to extend from
one end of the docks to the other.

Uncle Jack was not long in tumbling across the _Greenock_, which had
nearly completed taking in her cargo and was to "warp out next morning,"
as he told Teddy, who didn't know what on earth he meant by the phrase,
by the way.

There appeared to be a great deal of confusion going on in front of the
jetty to which she was moored; but Uncle Jack took him on