o you, sir, if you
would, in the first place, point it out;--and, in the next, bring me to
a court-martial if I do not correct it."

"I am no court-martial man, sir," replied he, "but I am not to be
dictated to by an inferior officer, so you'll oblige me by holding your
tongue. The sergeant of marines, as master-at-arms, is bound to report
to me any deviation from the regulations I have laid down for the
discipline of the ship."

"Granted, sir; but that report, according to the custom of the service,
should come through the first lieutenant."

"I prefer it coming direct, sir;--it stands less chance of being
garbled."

"Thank you, Captain Hawkins, for the compliment." The captain walked
away without further reply, and shortly after went down below. Swinburne
ranged up alongside of me as soon as the captain disappeared.

"Well, Mr Simple, so I hear we are bound to the Baltic. Why couldn't
they have ordered us to pick up the convoy off Yarmouth, instead of
coming all the way to Portsmouth? We shall be in to-morrow with this
slant of wind."

"I suppose the convoy are not yet collected, Swinburne; and you
recollect there's no want of French privateers in the channel."

"Very true, sir."

"When were you up the Baltic, Swinburne?"

"I was in the old _St George_, a regular old ninety-eight; she sailed
just like a hay-stack, one mile ahead and three to leeward. Lord bless
you, Mr Simple, the Cattegat wasn't wide enough for her; but she was a
comfortable sort of vessel after all, excepting on a lee-shore, so we
used always to give the land a wide berth, I recollect. By the bye, Mr
Simple, do you recollect how angry you were because I didn't peach at
Barbadoes, when the men _sucked the monkey?_"

"To be sure I do."

"Well, then, I didn't think it fair then, as I was one of them. But now
that I'm a bit of an officer, I just tell you that when we get to
Carlscrona there's a method of _sucking the monkey_ there, which, as
first lieutenant, with such a queer sort of captain, it is just as well
that you should be up to. In the old _St George_ we had seventy men
drunk one afternoon, and the first lieutenant couldn't find it out
nohow."

"Indeed, Swinburne, you must let me into that secret."

"So I will, Mr Simple. Don't you know there's a famous stuff for cuts
and wounds, called balsam?"

"What, Riga balsam?"

"Yes, that's it; well, all the boats will bring that for sale, as they
did to us in the old _St George_. De