rave, and the poor midshipmen,
with all their own little comforts to attend to, are harassed and driven
about like post-horses. "Mr Simple," inquired the first lieutenant,
"where do you come from?"

"From the gun wharf, sir, with the gunner's spare blocks, and
breechings."

"Very well--send the marines aft to clear the boat, and pipe away the
first putter. Mr Simple, jump into the first cutter, and go to Mount
Wise for the officers. Be careful that none of your men leave the boat.
Come, be smart."

Now, I had been away the whole morning, and it was then half-past one,
and I had had no dinner: but I said nothing, and went into the boat. As
soon as I was off, O'Brien, who stood by Mr Falcon, said, "Peter was
thinking of his dinner, poor fellow!"

"I really quite forgot it," replied the first lieutenant, "there is so
much to do. He is a willing boy, and he shall dine in the gun-room when
he comes back." And so I did--so I lost nothing by not expostulating,
and gained more of the favour of the first lieutenant, who never forgot
what he called _zeal_. But the hardest trial of the whole, is to the
midshipman who is sent with the boat to purchase the supplies for the
cabin and gun-room on the day before the ship's sailing. It was my
misfortune to be ordered upon that service this time, and that very
unexpectedly. I had been ordered to dress myself to take the gig on
shore for the captain's orders, and was walking the deck with my very
best uniform and side arms, when the marine officer, who was the
gun-room caterer, came up to the first lieutenant, and asked him for a
boat. The boat was manned, and a midshipman ordered to take charge of
it; but when he came up, the first lieutenant recollecting that he had
come off two days before with only half his boat's crew, would not trust
him, and called out to me, "Here, Mr Simple, I must send you in this
boat; mind you are careful that none of the men leave it; and bring off
the sergeant of marines, who is on shore looking for the men who have
broken their liberty." Although I could not but feel proud of the
compliment, yet I did not much like going in my very best uniform, and
would have run down and changed it, but the marine officer and all the
people were in the boat, and I could not keep it waiting, so down the
side I went, and we shoved off. We had, besides the boat's crew, the
marine officer, the purser, the gun-room steward, the captain's steward,
and the purser's steward;