g them to believe it was so. He had not told his father
that he had passed his examination for lieutenant before he had been
paid off at Portsmouth; and that his captain, who was very partial to
him, had promised that he should soon be advanced in the service. He had
not told them that all his wishes, all his daily hopes, the most anxious
desire of his existence, which was to become a post-captain, and in
command of a fine frigate, were blighted by this sacrifice he had made
for them and their comfort. He had concealed all this, and assumed a
mirth which he did not feel; but now that he was alone, and the pennant
was once more presented to his view, his regrets could not be
controlled. He sighed deeply, and turning away with his arms folded,
said to himself--"I have done my duty. It is hard, after having served
so long, and now just arrived at the time in which I have reason to
expect my reward--to rise in the service--distinguish myself by my zeal,
and obtain a reputation, which, if it pleased God, I would have
done--very hard, to have to leave it now, and to be hid in the woods,
with an ax in my hand; but how could I leave my father, my mother, and
my brothers and sisters, to encounter so much difficulty and privation
by themselves, when I have a strong arm to help them! No! no!--I have
done my duty to those who ever did their duty to me, and I trust that my
own conscience will prove my reward, and check that repining which we
are too apt to feel when it pleases Heaven to blight what appears to be
our fairest prospects ... I say, my good fellow," said Alfred, after a
while, to a man in a boat, "what is the name of that fifty-gun ship?"

"I don't know which ship has fifty guns, or which has a hundred,"
replied the Irishman; "but if you mean the biggest of the three, she is
called the Portsmouth."

"The Portsmouth! the very ship Captain Lumley was appointed to," cried
Alfred. "I must go on board."

Alfred ran down to the cabin, and requested the captain of the
transport, whose name was Wilson, to allow him the small boat to go on
board the man-of-war. His request was granted, and Alfred was soon up
the side of the Portsmouth. There were some of his old messmates on the
quarter-deck, who welcomed him heartily, for he was a great favorite.
Shortly afterward, he sent down a message by the steward, requesting
that Captain Lumley would see him, and was immediately afterward ordered
to go into the cabin.

"Well, Mr. Campb