He thought little of personal comforts at any time, unless indeed when personal discomforts obtruded themselves on his attention; he knew little, or nothing, of the table, whereas his friend was a knowing cook, and in his days of probation had been a distinguished caterer; but he was addicted to a sort of dreaming of his own, even when the sun stood in the zenith, and he was walking the poop, in the midst of a circle of his officers.

Still, he could not refrain from glancing back at the past, that morning, as plash after plash was heard, and recalling the time when _magna pars quorum_ FUIT.

At this delectable instant, the ruddy face of a "young gentleman" appeared in his state-room door, and, first ascertaining that the eyes of his superior were actually open, the youngster said-- "A note from Sir Gervaise, Admiral Bluewater." "Very well, sir,"-- taking the note.--"How's the wind, Lord Geoffrey ?" "An Irishman's hurricane, sir; right up and down.

Our first says, sir, he never knew finer channel weather." "Our first is a great astrologer.

Is the fleet riding flood yet ?" "No, sir; it's slack-water; or, rather, the ebb is just beginning to make." "Go on deck, my lord, and see if the Dover has hove in any upon her larboard bower, so as to bring her more on our quarter." "Ay-ay-sir," and this cadet of one of the most illustrious houses of England, skipped up the ladder to ascertain this fact.
In the mean while, Bluewater stretched out an arm, drew a curtain from before his little window, fumbled for some time among his clothes before he got his spectacles, and then opened the note.