de, begged that he might make my clothes.
It was fatal to my appearance as a trim midshipman; and I had to discard
some, and get others altered, before I was fit to present myself on the
quarter-deck.

As I was leaving his shop, Andrew took down a volume from his bookcase.
"Receive this as a parting gift from one who wishes you well, and who,
although his body is chained to his counter, will accompany you in
spirit to those far-off Eastern lands it may be your happy destiny to
visit," he said, as he handed the book to me, with a kind look which
showed the sincerity of his feelings.

It was a grammar and vocabulary, with a portion of the "Arabian Nights"
in Arabic. I promised to keep up the study of the language in which he
had initiated me, and to add others as I might find opportunity.

The next night I set off with the captain to Portsmouth. As he had
promised to make me a sailor, and I wished to become one, I soon picked
up a fair amount of nautical knowledge; and by the time the ship was
ready for sea, I could not only knot and splice, but had acquainted
myself with every portion of her from "truck to keelson."

We had gone out to Spithead, and were expecting to sail in a few days,
when who should come up the side but my old school-fellow, Dick
Halliday.

"When I found that you had actually gone, I could not bear the thought
of remaining behind; and I so worked upon my guardians to let me go to
sea, by telling them that I should be miserable if I didn't, and fit for
nothing else, that I succeeded. Moreover, at my urgent request, they,
as you see, got me appointed to your frigate," he exclaimed in a tone of
triumph. "I have my chest in the boat; what am I to do with it?" he
asked, after I had expressed my pleasure at seeing him.

"We will soon hoist it on board," I answered.

The first lieutenant cast an angry glance at the chest, for it was
unusually large; and before many hours were over, its owner, to his
great dismay, saw it cut down into much smaller proportions.

We were at length at sea, running down Channel with a strong
north-easterly breeze. I had the start of Halliday, and felt myself
already a sailor, while he knew nothing about a ship; but I found that I
had still a good deal to learn. I managed to keep well ahead of him
while the ship remained in commission. Our captain, one of the best
officers in the service, wished his midshipmen to see as much as
possible of the places the ship visit