length my turn came, the stuff which they offered me was so unmistakably bad, that even my comparative inexperience was not to be imposed upon, and I refused point-blank to accept it. I was thereupon told in a very off-hand way that I was quite at liberty to please myself as to whether I took or left it; but if I declined what was offered me, I should get nothing else; and without waiting for a reply, the storekeepers coolly left me, and began issuing to the midshipman whose turn came after mine. So thorough a snubbing as this clearly showed me that my own unaided efforts would be wholly insufficient to enable me to carry out my instructions to Mr Annesley’s satisfaction, and I was debating within myself whether it would not be better to go on board again and report my non-success, when an officer who was passing stopped, eyed me sharply, and then held out his hand. It was my old skipper, Captain Brisac.

“Ah, Chester!” he exclaimed; “I am glad to see you, my lad—glad too that you are on your pins once more, though you are looking very thin and pale about the gills. How is the wound; pretty well healed up? That’s right; but you ought not to be standing about in this hot sun. Are you here on duty?”

I told him I was, mentioning at the same time the annoyance and inconvenience to which I had just been subjected.

“Where is the stuff they offered you?” said he; “I should like to have a look at it.”

It was still lying on the wharf, close at hand, and I pointed it out to him. It was a quantity of hemp cordage, for use principally as standing-rigging. He turned it over, inspecting it carefully, laying open the strands here and there, and testing its quality both by sight and smell. Finally he turned upon one of the storekeepers who happened to be passing, and said,—

“Here, you sir, is this the best stuff you have in store?”

The man hesitated and looked confused for a moment; then put a bold face upon the matter, and replied, “Yes, sir, it is; and rare good stuff it is, too; it’s the best that’s made.”

“Oh! it is, is it?” retorted the skipper. “Then I think it is about time that the Admiral’s attention should be directed to the quality of the rigging upon which the safety of his Majesty’s ships and the lives of their seamen depend. Just lay that coil aside for half an hour, if you please; and if any one asks why you have done so, you may say it was at the request of Captain Brisac of the ‘Audacious.’”

The man’s visage 

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