so did the matrons in
the third boat; and the godfathers made the seventy-fours a speech--it
sounded as if addressed to the ships rather than to the people on board.
Of course the men in the other boats cheered, and Sam almost sprang his
bow with the vehemence of his playing; but all this was as nothing
compared to the reception the bridal party met with as they reached True
Blue's and Harry's own ship.

Up and down the harbour pulled the bridal squadron; and the crews of
every ship, as they passed, took up the cheer and welcomed the
bridegroom, for True Blue and his deeds were now well-known throughout
the British fleet. He had not aimed high, in one sense of the word, and
yet he had in another sense always aimed high and nobly--to _do his
duty_.

Right well that duty he had done; he had gained all he desired, and
never was there a happier or more contented man.

No pen can do adequate justice to the ball in the barn in the evening.
Never were so many warrant-officers collected together with their wives
and their families; and never, certainly, had such an amount of gilt
buttons and gold lace, and silk and satins and feathers, been seen in
such a place. A crashing band overwhelmed Sam Smatch's fiddle; but he,
for his consolation, was requested to play frequent solos; and he far
out-eclipsed himself when he struck up "Bill's own special hornpipe," as
he called it, which, _nolens volens_, True Blue was compelled to dance.

If the bridegrooms made a tour, it must have been a very short one, as
their leave could not have extended to many days. For a short time they
lived on shore, when their ship was paid off; but war soon called them
afloat.

True Blue had a numerous family of sons, every one of whom served his
country afloat, all becoming warrant-officers; while their sons again,
from their intelligence and steady conduct, although they entered before
the mast, obtained the same rank.

True Blue himself, who lived to enjoy a hearty and hale old age, gave
the same advice to his grandchildren which he received from Paul
Pringle.

"Lads," he used to say, "be content with your lot. Do your duty in
whatever station you are placed, on the quarterdeck or fo'castle, in the
tops aloft or at the guns on the main or lower-deck, and leave the rest
to God. Depend on it, if you obey His standing orders, if you steer
your course by the chart and compass He has provided for you, and fight
your ship manfully, He will give