s, in which we presently
sailed for Bantry Bay.

Here my chum found himself once more in his native land, and under a sky
as blue as that of Italy, to which country he had originally claimed to
belong, in spite of the strong `brogue' that readily betrayed his
kinship to the inhabitants when we went ashore at Glengariff.

Mick's complaint now was that he could not find any one rejoicing in his
name; for every one he and I met, strolling along from Castletown to
Waterfall, the landing-place at the foot of Hungry Mountain, half round
the bay, was either a Sullivan or an O'Brien--not a single Donovan being
to be met with for love or money.

"Begorrah, I can't make it out at all, at all!" said my chum to me,
after making inquiries at the various little shebeens on our way and
chatting almost with every one of the groups of country people we
passed, who all seemed mightily pleased at the sight of us bluejackets,
most of them offering us hospitality in the shape of cups of milk at the
corner of nearly every country lane, where some pretty colleen would
stand, clad in her picturesque red cape and with stockingless feet,
wishful to give thirsty folk a drink. "Me fayther s'id, faith, as how
the Donovans wor kings ov Cark at one toime, Tom!"

"Why," I rejoined, giving him a twister, "you told the `Jaunty' when you
came aboard the _Saint Vincent_ that time to join, that your father was
an `Oitalian!'"

"Stow thet, Tom," said he with a grin, digging me in the ribs, much to
the amusement of one of the Irish girls who was near us, at whom Mick
winked. "Sure, thet wor ownly me joke. Th'room pogue, ma colleen
ogue?"

The girl near, to whom he addressed the latter part of his speech, which
sounded like Greek to me, blushed and laughed, turning away shyly.

"Hullo!" I exclaimed. "What does that mean, Mick?"

"Faith, it manes `Give me a kiss, me purty gurl,' Tom," he answered,
bursting into a roar of laughter. "It's a quishton ye'll foind moighty
convanient to axe some-toimes whin ye're in these parts, mabouchal; an'
Oi'd advise ye to larn the languish ez soon ez ye can."

We remained at Bantry, coaling and preparing for action, for about a
week, at the end of which time, `war' being declared between the rival
fleets engaged in the Manoeuvres, we filed out of the bay in single
column line ahead and started off for the fray; the fleet I was with
having some exciting episodes in the chops of the Channel during the
time the m