d
a general invitation to the hall.

Emily, to whom Susan had communicated the panacea to which Seymour had
ultimately resorted, blushed deeply as she smiled her adieus; and our
hero, as the carriage whirled away, felt a sensation as new to him as
that of Cymon, when ignited by the rays of beauty which flashed from the
sleeping Iphigenia.

CHAPTER FORTY.

Idiots only will be cozened twice.
DRYDEN.

Seymour did not fail to profit by the invitation extended by Mrs
Rainscourt, and soon became the inseparable companion of Emily. His
attentions to her were a source of amusement to the McElvinas and her
mother, who thought little of a flirtation between a midshipman of
sixteen and a girl that was two years his junior. The two months' leave
of absence having expired, Seymour was obliged to return to the
guard-ship, on the books of which his name had been enrolled. It was
with a heavy heart that he bade farewell to the McElvinas. He had
kissed away the tears of separation from the cheeks of Emily, and their
young love, unalloyed as that between a brother and sister, created an
uneasy sensation in either heart which absence could not remove.

When our hero reported himself to the commanding officer of the
guard-ship, he was astonished at his expressing a total ignorance of his
belonging to her, and sent down for the clerk, to know if his name was
on the books.

The clerk, a spare, middle-sized personage, remarkably spruce and neat
in his attire, and apparently about forty years of age, made his
appearance, with the open list under his arm, and, with a humble bow to
the first-lieutenant, laid it upon the cap-stern-head, and running over
several pages, from the top to the bottom, with his finger, at last
discovered our hero's name.

"It's all right, young gentleman," said the first-lieutenant. "Take him
down to the berth, Mr Skrimmage, and introduce him. You've brought
your hammock, of course, and it is to be hoped that your chest has a
good lock upon it; if not, I can tell you you'll not find all your
clothes tally with your division list by to-morrow morning. But we
cannot help these things here. We are but a sort of a `thoroughfare,'
and every man must take care of himself."

Seymour thanked the first-lieutenant for his caution, and descended with
the clerk, who requested him to step into his private cabin, previous to
being ushered into the gun-room, where the midshipmen's mess was held--
and of whi