> /'BERKELEY \ LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF S. CALIFORNIA THE TWO ADMIRALS -^sgg-. 3IUuatrat^& Qlabinrt lEiUifltt THE TWO ADMIRALS By James Fenimore Cooper Boston Dana Estes & Company Publishers MOFFITT - UGH PS/41^ / 3 UNOERGRAO. LIBRARY LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TWO ADMIRALS PAGE Kiss me, Oakes Frontispiece Photogravure from Barley steel plate It required a prodigious effort 35 Photogravure from Barley steel plate The flash, the roa:^. ... .... 456 Photogravure from drawing by W. H. Overend PREFACE; It is a strong proof of the diffuse tendency of everything in this country that America never yet collected a fleet. Noth- ing is wanting to this display of power but the will. But a fleet requires only one commander, and a feeling is fast spreading in the country that we ought to be all comman- ders; unless the spirit of unconstitutional innovation and usurpation that is now so prevalent at Washington be con- trolled, we may expect to hear of proposals to send a com- mittee of Congress to sea, in command of a squadron. We sincerely hope that their first experiment may be made on the coast of Africa. It has been said of Napoleon that he never could be made to understand why his fleets did not obey his orders with the same accuracy, as to time and place, as his corps (Tarmee. He made no allowances for the winds and cur- rents, and least of all did he comprehend that all-important circumstance, that the efficiency of a fleet is necessarily con- fined to the rate of sailing of the dullest of its ships. More may be expected from a squadron of ten sail, all of which shall be average vessels, in this respect, than from the same number of vessels, of which one-half are fast and the remain- der dull. One brigade can march as fast as another, but it is not so with vessels. The efficiency of a marine, therefore, depends rather on its working qualities than on its number of ships. Perhaps the best fleet that ever sailed under the English 6 PREFACE. flag was that with which Nelson fought the battle of the Nile. It consisted of twelve or thirteen small seventy-fours, each of approved qualities, and commanded by an officer of known merit. In all respects it was efficient and reliable. With such men as Hallowell, Hood, Trowbridge, Foley, Ball, and others, and with such ships, the great spirit of Nelson was satisfied. He knew that whatever seamen could do, his comparatively little force could achieve. When his enemy was discovered at anchor, though night was ap- proaching and his vessels were a good deal scattered, he at once determined to put the qualities we have mentioned to the highest proof, and to attack. This was done without any other order of battle than that which directed each comman- der to get as close alongside of an enemy as possible — the best proof of the high confidence he had in his ships and in their commanders. It is now known that all the early accounts of the ma- noeuvring at the Nile, and of Nelson's reasoning on the sub- ject of anchoring inside and of doubling on his enemies, are pure fiction. The " Life," by Southey, in all that relates to this feature of the day, is pure fiction, as, indeed, are other portions of the work of scarcely less importance. This fact came to the writer through the late Commodore (Charles Valentine) Morris, from Sir Alexander Ball, in the early part of the century. In that day it would not have done to proclaim it, so tenacious is public opinion of its errors; but since that time naval officers of rank have written on the subject, and stripped the Nile, Trafalgar, etc., of their poetry, to give the world plain, nautical, and probable ac- counts of both those great achievements. The truth, as re- lates to both battles, was just as little like the previously published accounts as well could be. Nelson knew the great superiority of the English seamen, their facility in repairing damages, and, most of all, the high advantage possessed by the fleets of his country, in the ex- ercise of the assumed right to impress, a practice that put PREFACE. 7 not only the best seamen of his own country, but those of the whole world, more or less, at his mercy. His great merit, at the Nile, was in the just appreciation of these ad- vantages, and in the extraordinary decision which led him to go into action just at nightfall, rather than give his enemy time to prepare to meet the shock. It is now known that the French were taken, in a great measure, by surprise. A large portion of their crews were on shore, and did not get off to their ships at all, and there was scarce a vessel that did not clear the decks by tumbling the mess-chests, bags, etc., into the inside batteries, render- ing them, in a measure, useless, when the English doubled on their line. It was this doubling on the French line, by anchoring inside, and putting two ships upon one, that gave Nelson so high a reputation as a tactician. The merit of this ma- noeuvre belongs exclusively to one of his captains. As the fleet went in without any order, keeping as much to wind- ward as the shoals would permit, Nelson ordered the Van- guard hove-to, to take a pilot out of a fisherman. This enabled Foley, Hood, and one or two more to pass that fast ship. It was at this critical moment that the thought oc- curred to Foley (we think this was the officer) to pass the head of the French line, keep dead away, and anchor inside. Others followed, completely placing their enemies between two fires. Sir Samuel Hood anchored his ship (the Zealous) on the inner bow of the most weatherly French ship, where he poured his fire into, virtually, an unresisting enemy. Notwithstanding the great skill manifested by the English in their mode of attack, this was the only two-decked ship in the English fleet that was able to make sail on the fol- lowing morning. Had Nelson led in upon an American fleet, as he did upon the French at the Nile, he would have seen reason to repent the boldness of the experiment. Something like it was attempted on Lake Champlain, though on a greatly 8 PREFACE. diminished scale, and the English were virtually defeated before they anchored. The reader who feels an interest in such subjects will probably detect the secret process of the mind, by which some of the foregoing facts have insinuated themselves into this fiction. THE TWO ADMIRALS. CHAPTER I. " Then, if he were my brother's, My brother might not claim him ; nor your father, Being none of his, refuse him : This concludes — My mother's son did get your father's heir ; Your father's heir must have your father's land," King John, The events we are about to relate occurred near the middle of the last century, previously even to that struggle which it is the fashion of America to call " the old French War." The opening scene of our tale, however, must be sought in the other hemisphere, and on the coast of the mother coun- try. In the middle of the eighteenth century, the American colonies were models of loyalty; the very war to which there has just been allusion causing the great expenditure that induced the ministry to have recourse to the system of taxation which terminated in the Revolution. The family quarrel had not yet commenced. Intensely occupied with the conflict, which terminated not more gloriously for the British arms than advantageously for the British American possessions, the inhabitants of the provinces were perhaps never better disposed to the metropolitan state than at the very period of which we are about to write. All their early predilections seemed to be gaining strength, instead of be- coming weaker; and, as in nature the calm is known to suc- ceed the tempest, the blind attachment of the colony to the parent country was but a precursor of the alienation and violent disunion that were so soon to follow. lO THE TWO ADMIRALS. Although the superiority of the English seaman was well established, in the conflicts that took place between the years 1740 and that of 1763, the naval warfare of the period by no means possessed the very decided character with which it became stamped a quarter of a century later. In our own times, the British marine appears to have improved in quality, as its enemies deteriorated. In the year 18 12, however, " Greek met Greek," when, of a verity, came " the tug of war." The great change that came over the other navies of Europe was merely a consequence of the revolu- tions, which drove experienced men into exile, and which, by rendering armies all- important even to the existence of the different states, threw nautical enterprises into the shade, and gave an engrossing direction to courage and tal- ent in another quarter. While France was struggling, first for independence, and next for the mastery of the continent, a marine was a secondary object; for Vienna, Berlin, and Moscow were as easily entered without as with its aid. To these, and other similar causes, must be referred the expla- nation of the seeming invincibility of the English arms at sea, during the late great conflicts of Europe; an invincibil- ity that was more apparent than real, however, as many well- established defeats were, even then, intermingled with her thousand victories. From the time when her numbers could furnish succor of this nature, down to the day of separation, America had her full share in the exploits of the English marine. The gen- try of the colonies willingly placed their sons in the royal navy, and many a bit of square bunting has been flying at the royal mastheads of king's ships, in the nineteenth cen- tury, as the distinguishing symbols of flag-officers who had to look for their birthplaces among ourselves. In the course of a checkered life, in which we have been brought in col- lision with as great a diversity of rank, professions, and characters as often falls to the lot of any one individual, we have been throxMi into contact with no less than eight Eng- THE TWO ADMIRALS. II lish admirals of American birth; while it has never yet been our good fortune to meet with a countryman who has had this rank bestowed on him by his own government. On one occasion, an Englishman, who had filled the highest civil office connected with the marine of his nation, ob- served to us that the only man he then knew, in the British navy, in whom he should feel an entire confidence in en- trusting an important command, was one of these translated admirals; and the thought unavoidably passed through our mind, that this favorite commander had done well in adher- ing to the conventional, instead of clinging to his natural allegiance, inasmuch as he might have toiled for half a century in the service of his native land, and been rewarded with a rank that would merely put him on a level with a colonel in the army! How much longer this short-sighted policy and grievous injustice are to continue, no man can say; but it is safe to believe that it is to last until some legislator of influence learns the simple truth, that the fan- cied reluctance of popular constituencies to do right oftener exists in the apprehensions of their representatives than in reality. — But to our tale. England enjoys a widespread reputation for her fogs; but little do they know how much a fog may add to natural scenery w^ho never witnessed its magical effects, as it has caused a beautiful landscape to coquette with the eye, in playful and capricious changes. Our opening scene is in one of these much-derided fogs; though, let it always be remembered, it was a fog of June, and not of November. On a high headland of the coast of Devonshire stood a little station-house, which had been erected wdth a view to com- municate by signals with the shipping that sometimes lay at anchor in an adjacent roadstead. A little inland, was a village, or hamlet, that it suits our purposes to call Wyche- combe; and at no great distance from the hamlet itself, sur- rounded by a small park, stood a house of the age of Henry VII., which was the abode of Sir Wycherly Wychecombe, a 12 THE TWO ADMIRALS. baronet of the creation of King James I., and the possessor of an improvable estate of some three or four thousand a year, which had been transmitted to him through a line of ancestors that ascended as far back as the times of the Plantagenets. Neither Wychecombe, nor the headland, nor the anchorage, was a place of note; for much larger and more favored hamlets, villages, and towns lay scattered about that fine portion of England ; much better roadsteads and bays could generally be used by the coming or the part- ing vessel ; and far more important signal-stations were to be met with, all along that coast. Nevertheless, the road- stead was entered when calms or adverse winds rendered it expedient; the hamlet had its conveniences, and, like most English hamlets, its beauties; and the hall and park were not without their claims to state and rural magnificence. A century since, whatever the table of precedency or Black- stone may say, an English baronet, particularly one of the date of 1611, was a much greater personage than he is to- day; and an estate of ^4,000 a year, more especially if not rack-rented, was of an extent, and necessarily of a local consequence, equal to one of near or quite three times the same amount in our own day. Sir Wycherly, however, en- joyed an advantage that was of still greater importance, and which was more common in 1745 than at the present mo- ment. He had no rival within fifteen miles of him, and the nearest potentate was a nobleman of a rank and fortune that put all competition out of the question ; one who dwelt in courts, the favorite of kings; leaving the baronet, as it might be, in undisturbed enjoyment of all the local homage. Sir Wycherly had once been a member of Parliament, and only once. In his youth he had been a fox-hunter; and a small property in Yorkshire had long been in the family, as a sort of foothold on such enjoyments ; but, having broken a leg in one of his leaps, he had taken refuge against enn?/:', by sitting a single session in the House of Commons, as the member of a borough that lay adjacent to his hunting-box. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 3 This session sufficed for his whole life; the good baronet having taken the matter so literally as to make it a point to be present at all the sittings; a sort of tax on his time which, as it came wholly unaccompanied by profit, was very likely soon to tire out the patience of an old fox-hunter. After resigning his seat, he retired altogether to Wyche- combe, where he passed the last fifty years, extolling Eng- land, and most especially that part of it in which his own estates lay; in abusing the French, with occasional innuen- does against Spain and Holland; and in eating and drink- ing. He had never travelled; for, though Englishmen of his station often did visit the continent a century ago, they of tener did not. It was the courtly and the noble, who then chiefly took this means of improving their minds and man- ners; a class to which a baronet by no means necessarily belonged. To conclude, Sir Wycherly was now eighty-four; hale, hearty, and a bachelor. He had been born the oldest of five brothers; the cadets taking refuge, as usual, in the inns of court, the church, the army, and the navy; and pre- cisely in the order named. The lawyer had actually risen to be a judge, by the style and appellation of Baron Wyche- combe; had three illegitimate children by his housekeeper, and died, leaving to the eldest thereof all his professional earnings, after buying comrnissions for the two younger in the army. The divine broke his neck, while yet a curate, in a fox-hunt; dying unmarried, and, so far as is generally known, childless. This was Sir Wycherly's favorite brother ; who, he was accustomed to say, "lost his life, in setting an example of field-sports to his parishioners." The soldier was fairly killed in battle, before he was twenty; and the name of the sailor suddenly disappeared from the list of His Majesty's lieutenants, about half a century before the time when our tale opens, by shipwreck. Between the sailor and the head of the family, however, there had been no great sympathy; in consequence, as it was rumored, of a certain beauty's preference for the latter, though this preference 14 THE TWO ADMIRALS. produced no suites^ inasmuch as the lady died a maid. Mr. Gregory Wychecombe, the lieutenant in question, was what is termed a " wild boy" ; and it was the general impression, when his parents sent him to sea, that the ocean would now meet with its match. The hopes of the family centred in the judge, after the death of the curate, and it was a great cause of regret, to those who took an interest in its perpetu- ity and renown, that this dignitary did not marry; since the premature death of all the other sons had left the hall, park, and goodly farms without any known legal heir. In a word, this branch of the family of Wychecombe would be extinct, when Sir Wycherly died, and the entail become useless. Not a female inheritor, even, or a male inheritor through females, could be traced; and it had become im- perative on Sir Wycherly to make a will, lest the property should go off, the Lord knew where ; or, what was worse, it should escheat. It is true, Tom Wychecombe, the judge's eldest son, often gave dark hints about a secret and a timely marriage between his parents, a fact that would have super- seded the necessity for all devises, as the property was strictly tied up, so far as the lineal descendants of a certain old Sir Wycherly were concerned; but the present Sir Wycherly had seen his brother, in his last illness, on which occasion the following conversation had taken place. "And now brother Thomas," said the baronet, in a friendly and consoling manner, "having, as one may say, prepared your soul for heaven, by these prayers and admis- sions of your sins, a word may be prudently said concern- ing the affairs of this world. You know I am childless — that is to say " " I understand you, Wycherly," interrupted the dying man ; " you're a bachelor^ "That's it, Thomas; and bachelors ought not to have children. Had our poor brother James escaped that mishap, he might have been sitting at your bedside at this moment, THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 5 and he could have told us all about it. St. James I used to call him; and well did he deserve the name!" " St. James the Least, then, it must have been, Wycherly." " It's a dreadful thing to have no heir, Thomas ! Did you ever know a case in your practice, in which another estate was left so completely without an heir, as this of ours?" "It does not often happen, brother; heirs are usually more abundant than estates." " So I thought. Will the king get the title as well as the estate, brother, if it should escheat, as you call it?" " Being the fountain of honor, he will be rather indiffer- ent about the baronetcy." "I should care less if it went to the next sovereign, who is English born. Wychecombe has always belonged to Englishmen." ^'That it has; and ever will, I trust. You have only to select an heir, when I am gone, and by making a will, with proper devises, the property will not escheat. Be careful to use the full terms of perpetuity." " Everything was so comfortable, brother, while you were in health," said Sir Wycherly, fidgeting; "you were my natural heir " " Heir of entail," interrupted the judge. "Well, well,/^(?/>, at all events; and M^/was a prodigious comfort to a man like myself, who has a sort of religious scruples about making a will. I have heard it whispered that you were actually married to Martha; in which case, Tom might drop into our shoes, so readily, without any more signing and sealing." " h^filius nullius^^ returned the other, too conscientious to lend himself to a deception of that nature. " Why, brother, Tom often seems to me to favor such an idea, himself." " No wonder,^ Wycherly, for the idea would greatly favor him. Tom and his brothers are 2\\Jilii nullorum^ God for- give me for that same wrong." l6 THE TWO ADMIRALS. " I wonder neither Charles nor Gregory thought of marry- ing before they lost their lives for their king and country," put in Sir Wycherly, in an upbraiding tone, as if he thought his penniless brethren had done him an injury in neglecting to supply him with an heir, though he had been so forgetful himself of the same great duty. " I did think of bringing in a bill for providing heirs for unmarried persons, without the trouble and responsibility of making wills." " That would have been a great improvement on the law of descents — I hope you wouldn't have overlooked the an- cestors." " Not I — everybody would have got his rights. They tell me poor Charles never spoke after he was shot ; but I dare say, did we know the truth, he regretted sincerely that he never married." "There, for c ce, Wycherly, I think you are likely to be wrong. KfeiJime sole without food is rather a helpless sort of a person." " Well, well, I wish he had married. What would it have been to me, had he left a dozen widows .''" " It might have raised some awkward questions as to dowry ; and if each left a son, the title and estates would have been worse off than they are at present, without widows or legitimate children." " Anything would be better than having no heir. I be- lieve I'm the first baronet of Wychecombe who has been obliged to make a will!" "Quite likely," returned the brother, drily; "I remember to have got nothing from the last one, in that way. Charles and Gregory fared no better. Never mind, Wycherly, you behaved like a father to us all." "I don't mind signing checks, in the least; but wills have an irreligious appearance, in my eyes. There are a good many Wychecombes in England; I wonder some of them are not of our family! They tell me a hundredth cousin is just as good an heir as a first-born son." THE TWO ADMIRALS. I7 " Failing nearer of kin. But we have no hundredth cou- sins of the whole blood.'''' "There are the Wychecombes of Surrey, brother Thomas ?" " Descended from a bastard of the second baronet, and out of the line of descent, altogether." " But the Wychecombes of Hertfordshire, I have always heard, were of our family, and legitimate." "True, as regards matrimony — rather too much of it, by the way. They branched off in 1487, long before the crea- tion, and have nothing to do with the entail ; the first of their line coming from old Sir Michael Wychecombe, Kt. and Sheriff of Devonshire, by his second wife Margery; while we are derived from the same male ancestor, through Wycherly, the only son by Joan, the first wife. Wycherly and Michael, the son of Michael and Margery, were of the half-blood, as respects each other, and could not be heirs of blood. What was true of the ancestors is true of the de- scendants." " But we came of the same ancestor, and the estate is far older than 1487." "Quite true, brother; nevertheless, the half-blood can't take; so says the perfection of human reason." "I never could understand these niceties of the law," said Sir Wycherly, sighing; "but I suppose they are all right. There are so many Wychecombes scattered about England that I should think some one among them all might be my heir!" " Every man of them bears a bar in his arms, or is of the half-blood." " You are quite sure, brother, that Tom is 2,filius 7mllus ? " for the baronet had forgotten most of the little Latin he ever knew, and translated this legal phrase into "no son." '''' Films fiullius, Sir Wycherly, the son of nobody: your reading would literally make Tom nobody; whereas, he is only the son of nobody." 2 1 8 THE TWO ADMIRALS. *' But, brother, he is your son, and as like you as two hounds of the same litter." " I am nullus, in the eye of the law, as regards poor Tom ; who, until he marries and has children of his own, is alto- gether without legal kindred. Nor do I know that legiti- macy would make Tom any better; for he is presuming and confident enough for the heir apparent to the throne, as it is." "Well, there's this young sailor, who has been so mucii at the station lately, since he was left ashore for the cure of his wounds. 'Tis a most gallant lad; and the First Lord has sent him a commission, as a reward for his good con- duct, in cutting out the Frenchman. I look upon him as a credit to the name ; and I make no question he is, some way or other, of our family." "Does he claim to be so?" asked the judge, a little quickly, for he distrusted men in general, and thought, from all he had heard, that some attempt might have been made to practise on his brother's simplicity. " I thought you told me that he came from the American colonies?" " So he does; he's a native of Virginia, as was his father before him." " A convict, perhaps ; or a servant, quite likely, who has found the name of his former master more to his liking than his own. Such things are common, they tell me, be- yond seas." " Yes, if he were anything but an American, I migHt wish he were my heir," returned Sir Wycherly, in a melancholy tone ; " but it would be worse than to let the lands escheat, as you call it, to place an American in possession of Wyche- combe. The manors have always had English owners, down to the present moment, thank God!" " Should they have any other, it will be your own fault, Wycherly. When I am dead, and that will happen ere many weeks, the human being will not be living who can take that property, after your demise, in any other manner THE TWO ADMIRALS. I9 than by escheat or by devise. There will then be neither heir of entail, nor heir at law; and you may make whom you please master of Wychecombe, provided he be not an alien." "Not an Am.erican, I suppose, brother; an American is an alien, of course." *' Humph! — why, not in law, whatever he may be accord- ing to our English notions. Harkee, brother Wycherly; I've never asked you, or wished you to leave the estate to Tom, or his younger brothers; for one, and all, zx^ Jilii 7iul- lorum — as I term 'em, though my brother Record will have it, it ought to h&jftlii nullius^ as well z.^ filius nulHus. Let that be as it may ; no bastard should lord it at Wychecombe ; and rather than the king should get the lands, to bestow on some favorite, I would give it to the half-blood." " Can that be done without making a will, brother Thomas?" " It cannot. Sir Wycherly; nor with a will, so long as an heir of entail can be found." " Is there no way of making Tom 2iJiUus somebody^ so that he can succeed?" " Not under our laws. By the civil law, such a thing might have been done, and by the Scotch law; but not under the perfection of reason." "I wish you knew this young Virginian! The lad bears both of my names, Wycherly Wychecombe." "He is not 2.fiUus Wycherly — is he, baronet?" " Fie upon thee, brother Thomas ! Do you think I have less candor than thyself, that I would not acknowledge my own flesh and blood. I never saw the youngster, until within the last six months, when he was landed from the roadstead, and brought to Wychecombe, to be cured of his wounds; nor ever heard of him before. When they told me his name was Wycherly Wychecombe, I could do no less than call and see him. The poor fellow lay at death's door for a fortnight; and it was while we had little or no hope 20 THE TWO ADMIRALS. of saving him that I got the few family anecdotes from him. Now, that would be good evidence in law, I believe, Thomas.'' " For certain things, had the lad really died. Surviving, he must be heard on his voire dire^ and under oath. But what was his tale?" " A very short one. He told me his father was a Wych- erly Wychecombe, and that his grandfather had been a Vir- ginia planter. This was all he seemed to know of his ancestry." " And probably all there was of them. My Tom is not the only filius nuUius that has been among us, and this grandfather, if he has not actually stolen the name, has got it by these doubtful means. As for the Wycherly, it should pass for nothing. Learning that there is a line of baronets of this name, every pretender to the family would be apt to call a son Wycherly." "The line will shortly be ended, brother," returned Sir Wycherly, sighing. "I wish you might be mistaken; and, after all, Tom shouldn't prove to be \h2X filius you call him." Mr. Baron Wychecombe, as much from esprit de corps as from moral principle, was a man of strict integrity, in all things that related to meum and tuiim. He was particularly rigid in his notions concerning the transmission of real estate, and the rights of primogeniture. The world had taken little interest in the private history of a lawyer, and, his sons having been born before his elevation to the bench, he passed with the public for a widower, with a family of promising boys. Not one in a hundred of his acquaint- ances, even, suspected the fact; and nothing would have been easier for him than to have imposed on his brother, by inducing him to make a will under some legal mystifica- tion or other, and to have caused Tom Wychecombe to suc- ceed to the property in question, by an indisputable title. There would have been no great difficulty even, in his son's assuming and maintaining his right to the baronetcy, in- THE TWO ADMIRALS. 21 asmuch as there would be no competitor, and the crown officers were not particularly rigid in inquiring into the claims of those who assumed a title that brought with it no political privileges. Still, he was far from indulging in any such project. To him it appeared that the Wychecombe estate ought to go with the principles that usually governed such matters; and, although he submitted to the dictum of the common law, as regarded the provision which excluded the half-blood from inheriting, with the deference of an English common-law lawyer, he saw and felt that, failing the direct line, Wychecombe ought to revert to the descen- dants of Sir Michael by his second son, for the plain reason that they were just as much derived from the person who had acquired the estate as his brother Wycherly and him- self. Had there been descendants of females, even, to in- terfere, no such opinion would have existed; but, as between an escheat, or a devise in favor of z.JiHus niillius, or of the descendant of 2^filius nidlius^ the half-blood possessed every possible advantage. In his legal eyes, legitimacy was every- thing, although he had not hesitated to be the means of bringing into the world seven illegitimate children, that being the precise number Martha had the credit of having borne him, though three only survived. After reflecting a moment, therefore, he turned to the baronet, and addressed him more seriously than he had yet done, in the present dialogue; first taking a draught of cordial to give him strength for the occasion. " Listen to me, brother Wycherly,'^ said the judge, with a gravity that at once caught the attention of the other. " You know something of the family history, and I need do no more than allude to it. Our ancestors were the knightly possessors of Wychecombe, centuries before King James es- tablished the rank of baronet. When our great-grandfather, Sir Wycherly, accepted the patent of 1611, he scarcely did himself honor; for, by aspiring higher, he might have got a peerage. However, a baronet he became, and, for the first 22 THE TWO ADMIRALS. time since Wychecombe was Wychecombe, the estate was entailed, to do credit to the new rank. Now, the first Sir Wycherly had three sons, and no daughter. Each of these sons succeeded ; the two eldest as bachelors, and the young- est was our grandfather. Sir Thomas, the fourth baronet, left an only child, Wycherly, our father. Sir Wycherly, our father, had five sons, Wycherly, his successor, yourself, and the sixth baronet; myself; James; Charles; and Gregory. James broke his neck at your side. The two last lost their lives in the king's service, unmarried, and neither you nor I have entered into the holy state of matrimony. I cannot survive a month, and e hope of perpetuating the direct line of the family rests with yourself. This accounts for all the descendants of Sir Wycherly, the first baronet; and it also settles the question of heirs of entail, of whom there are none after myself. To go back beyond the time of King James I. : Twice did the elder lines of the Wychecombes fail, between the reign of King Richard II. and King Henry VII., when Sir Michael succeeded. Now, in each of these cases, the law disposed of the succession; the youngest branches of the family, in both instances, getting the estate. It follows that agreeably to legal decisions had at the time, when the facts must have been known, that the Wychecombes were reduced to these younger lines. Sir Micahel had two wives. From the first loe are derived — from the last, the Wychecombes of Hertfordshire — since known as baronets of that county, by the style and title of Sir Reginald Wychecombe of Wychecombe-Regis, Herts." " The present Sir Reginald can have no claim, being of the half-blood," put in Sir Wycherly, with a brevity of man- ner that denoted feeling. " The half-blood is as bad as a nullius, as you call Tom." " Not quite. A person of the half-blood may be as legiti- mate as the king's majesty; whereas, a nullius is of no blood. Now, suppose for a moment, Sir Wycherly, that you had been a son by a first wife, and I had been a son by a THE TWO ADMIRALS. 23 second — would there have been no relationship between us?" "What a question, Tom, to put to your own brother!" "But I should not be your own brother, my good sir; only your /^^//-brother ; of the half, ^nd not of the whole blood." "What of that — what of that? — your father would have been my father — we would have had the same name — the same family history — the same family/^^//;z^i- — poh! poh! — we should have been both Wychecombes, exactly as we are to-day." " Quite true, and yet I could not have been your heir, nor you mine. The estate would escheat to the king, Hano- verian or Scotchman, before it came to me. Indeed, to 7?ie it could never come." "Thomas, you are trifling with my ignorance, and mak- ing matters worse than they really are. Certainly, as long as you lived, you would be my heir!" "Very true, as to the /^2o,ooo in the funds, but not as to the baronetcy and Wychecombe. So far as the two last are concerned, I am heir of blood, and of entail, of the body of Sir Wycherly Wychecombe, the first baronet, and the maker of the entail." " Had there been no entail, and had I died a child, who would have succeeded our father, supposing there had been two mothers?" " I, as the next surviving son." "There! — I knew it must be so!" exclaimed Sir Wych- erly, in triumph; "and all this time you have been joking with me!" " Not so fast, brother of mine — not so fast. I should be of the whole blood, as respected our father, and all the Wychecombes that have gone before him; but of the half- blood, as respected you. From our father I might have taken, as his heir-at-law: but from you, never, having been of the hal/-h\ood.^^ 24 THE TWO ADMIRALS. " I would have made a will, in that case, Thomas, and left you every farthing," said Sir Wycherly, with feeling. " That is just what I wish you to do with Sir Reginald Wychecombe. You must take him; 2i Jtlius fiulHus, in t\iQ person of my son Tom ; a stranger ; or let the property es- cheat; for we are so peculiarly placed as not to have a known relative, by either the male or female lines; the maternal ancestors being just as barren of heirs as the paternal. Our good mother was the natural daughter of the third Earl of Prolific; our grandmother was the last of her race, so far as human ken can discover; our great-grand- mother is said to have had semi -royal blood in her veins, without the aid of the church, and beyond that it would be hopeless to attempt tracing consanguinity on that side of the house. No, Wycherly; it is Sir Reginald who has the best right to the land; Tom, or one of his brothers, an utter stranger, or His Majesty, follow. Remember that estates of ^4,000 a year don't often escheat, now-a-days." "If you'll draw up a will, brother, I'll leave it all to Tom," cried the baronet, with sudden energy. " Nothing need be said about the nidliiis ; and when I'm gone he'll step quietly into my place." Nature triumphed a moment in the bosom of the father; but habit, and the stern sense cf right, soon overcame the feeling. Perhaps certain doubts, and a knowledge of his son's real character, contributed their share towards the reply. " It ought not to be. Sir Wycherly," returned the judge, musing; "Tom has no right to Wychecombe, and Sir Regi- nald has the best moral right possible, though the law cuts him off. Had Sir Michael made the entail, instead of our great-grandfather, he would have come in, as a matter of course." " I never liked Sir Reginald Wychecombe," said the baronet, stubbornly. "What of that? — He will not trouble you while living, THE TWO ADMIRALS. 25 and when dead it will be all the same. Come — come — I will draw the will myself, leaving blanks for the name; and when it is once done, you will sign it, cheerfully. It is the last legal act I shall ever perform, and it will be a suitable one, death being constantly before me." This ended the dialogue. The will was drawn according to promise; Sir Wycherly took it to his room to read, care- fully inserted the name of Tom Wychecombe in all the blank spaces, brought it back, duly executed the instrument in his brother's presence, and then gave the paper to his nephew to preserve, with a strong injunction on him to keep the secret, until the instrument should have force by his own death. Mr. Baron Wychecombe died in six weeks, and the baronet returned to his residence, a sincere mourner for the loss of an only brother. A more unfortunate selection of an heir could not have been made, as Tom Wychecombe was, in reality, the son of a barrister in the Temple; the fancied likeness to the reputed father existing only in the imagination of his credulous uncle. CHAPTER II. — — " How fearful And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low ! The crows, and choughs, that wing the midway air, Show scarce so gross as beetles I Half-way down Hangs one that gathers samphire ! dreadful trade ! " King Lear, This digression on the family of Wychecombe has led us far from the signal-station, the headland, and the fog, with which the tale opened. The little dwelling connected with the station stood at a short distance from the staff, sheltered, by the formation of the ground, from the bleak winds of the channel, and fairly embowered in shrubs and flowers. It was a humble cottage, that had been ornamented with more taste than was usual in England at that day. Its whitened 26 THE TWO ADMIRALS. walls, thatched roof, picketed garden, and trellised porch, bespoke care, and a mental improvement in the inmates, that were scarcely to be expected in persons so humbly em- ployed as the keeper of the signal-staff, and his family. All near the house, too, was in the same excellent condition; for while the headland itself lay in common, this portion of it was enclosed in two or three pretty little fields, that were grazed by a single horse and a couple of cows. There were no hedges, however, the thorn not growing willingly in a situation so exposed; but the fields were divided by fences, neatly enough made of wood, that declared its own origin, having in fact been part of the timbers and planks of a wreck. As the whole was whitewashed, it had a rustic and, in a climate where the sun is seldom oppressive, by no means a disagreeable appearance. The scene with which we desire to commence the tale, opens about seven o'clock on a July morning. On a bench at the foot of the signal-staff was seated one of a frame that was naturally large and robust, but which was sensibly be- ginning to give way, either by age or disease. A glance at the red, bloated face would suffice to tell a medical man that the habits had more to do with the growing failure of the system than any natural derangement of the physical organs. The face too, was singularly manly and had once been handsome, even; nay, it was not altogether without claims to be so considered still; though intemperance was making sad inroads on its comeliness. This person was about fifty years old, and his air, as well as his attire, de- noted a mariner; not a common seaman, nor yet altogether an officer; but one of those of a middle station, who in navies used to form a class by themselves; being of a rank that entitled them to the honors of the quarter-deck, though out of the regular line of promotion. In a word, he wore the unpretending uniform of a master. A century ago, the dress of the English naval officer was exceedingly simple, though more appropriate to the profession, perhaps, than the THE TWO ADMIRALS. 2^ more showy attire that has since been introduced. Epau- lettes were not used by any, and the anchor button, with the tint that is called navy blue, an ' which is meant to repre- sent the deep hue of the ocean, with white facings, composed the principal peculiarities of the dress. The person intro- duced to the reader, whose name was Button, and who was simply the officer in charge of the signal-station, had a cer- tain neatness about his well-worn uniform, his linen, and all of his attire, which showed that some person more inter- ested in such matters than one of his habits was likely to be had the care of his wardrobe. In this respect, indeed, his appearance was unexceptionable ; and there was an air about the whole man which showed that nature, if not edu- cation, had intended him for something far better than the being he actually was. Dutton was waiting, at that early hour, to ascertain, as the veil of mist was raised from the face of the sea, whether a sail might be in sight, that required of him the execution of any of his simple functions. That some one was near by, on the headland, too, was quite evident, by the occa- sional interchange of speech ; though no person but himself was visible. The direction of the sounds would seem to indicate that a man was actually over the brow of the cliff, perhaps a hundred, feet removed from the seat occupied by the master. " Recollect the sailor's maxim, Mr. Wychecombe," called out Dutton, in a warning voice ; " one hand for the king, and the other for self! Those cliffs are ticklish places; and really it does seem a little unnatural that a seafaring person like yourself should have so great a passion for flowers as to risk his neck in order to make a posy!" " Never fear for me, Mr. Dutton," answered a full, manly voice, that one could have sworn issued from the chest of youth; "never fear for me; we sailors are used to hanging in the air." " Ay, with good three-stranded ropes to hold on by, young 28 THE TWO ADMIRALS. gentleman. Now His Majesty's government has just made you an officer, there is a sort Of obligation to take care of your life, in order that it may be used, and, at need, given away, in his service." "Quite true — quite true, Mr. Button — so true, I wonder you think it necessary to remind me of it. I am very grate- ful to His Majesty's government, and " While speaking, the voice seemed to descend, getting at each instant less and less distinct, until, in the end, it be- came quite inaudible. Button looked uneasy, for at that instant a noise was heard, and then it was quite clear some heavy object was falling down the face of the cliff. Now it was that the mariner felt the want of good nerves, and experienced the sense of humiliation which accompanied the consciousness of having destroyed them by his excesses. He trembled in every limb, and, for the moment, was ac- tually unable to rise. A light step at his side, however, drew a glance in that direction, and his eye fell on the form of a lovely girl of nineteen, his own daughter, Mildred. " I heard you calling to some one, father," said the latter, looking wistfully but distrustfully at her parent, as if won- dering at his yielding to his infirmity so early in the day; "can I be of service to you?" "Poor Wychecombe!" exclaimed Button. "He went over the cliff in search of a nosegay to offer to yourself, and — and — I fear — greatly fear " " What, father?" demanded Mildred, in a voice of hor- ror, the rich color disappearing from a face which it left of the hue of death. " No — no — no — he can7iot have fallen." Button bent his head down, drew a long breath, and then seemed to gain more command of his nerves. He was about to rise, when the sound of a horse's feet was heard, and then Sir Wycherly Wychecombe, mounted on a quiet pony, rode slowly up to the signal-staff. It was a common thing for the baronet to appear on the cliffs early in the morning, but it was not usual for him to come unattended. The instant THE TWO ADMIRALS. 2g her eyes fell on the fine form of the venerable old man, Mil- dred, who seemed to know him well, and to use the famil- iarity of one confident of being a favorite, exclaimed : "Oh! Sir Wycherly, how fortunate — where is Richard?" "Good morrow, my pretty Milly," answered the baronet cheerfully ; " fortunate or not, here I am, and not a bit flat- tered that your first question should be after the groom, instead of his master. I have sent Dick on a message to the vicar's. Now my poor brother, the judge, is dead and gone, I find Mr. Rotherham more and more necessary to me." " Oh ! dear Sir Wycherly — Mr. Wychecombe — Lieutenant Wychecombe, I mean — the young officer from Virginia — he who was so desperately wounded— in whose recovery we all took so deep an interest " "Well — what of him, child? — you surely do not mean to put him on a level with Mr. Rotherham, in the way of religious consolation — and, as for anything else, there is no consanguinity between the Wychecombes of Virginia and my family. He may be 2ifilius nullius of the Wychecombes of Wychecombe-Regis, Herts, but has no connection with those of Wychecombe-Hall, Devonshire." " There— there— the cliff!— the cliff!" added Mildred, unable, for the moment, to be more explicit. As the girl pointed towards the precipice, and looked the very image of horror, the good-hearted old baronet began to get some glimpses of the truth ; and, by means of a few words with Dutton, soon knew quite as much as his two companions. Descending from his pony with surprising activity for one of his years, Sir Wycherly was soon on his feet, and a sort of confused consultation between the three succeeded. Neither liked to approach the cliff, which was nearly perpendicular at the extremity of the headland, and was always a trial to the nerves of those who shrunk from standing on the verge of precipices. They stood like per- sons paralyzed, until Dutton, ashamed of his weakness, and 30 THE TWO ADMIRALS. recalling the thousand lessons in coolness and courage he had received in his own manly profession, made a move- ment toward advancing to the edge of the cliff, in order to ascertain the real state of the case. The blood returned to the cheeks of Mildred, too, and she again found a portion of her natural spirit raising her courage. "Stop, father," she said hastily; "you are infirm and are in a tremor at this moment. My head is steadier — let me go to the verge of the hill, and learn what has happened." This was uttered with a forced calmness that deceived her auditors, both of whom, the one from age, and the other from shattered nerves, were certainly in no condition to as- sume the same office. It required the all-seeing eye, which alone can scan the heart, to read all the agonized suspense with which that young and beautiful creature approached the spot where she might command a view of the whole of the side of the fearful declivity, from its giddy summit to the base, where it was washed by the sea. The latter, in- deed, could not literally be seen from above, the waves having so far undermined the cliff as to leave a projection that concealed the point where the rocks and the water came absolutely in contact; the upper portion of the weather- worn rocks falling a little inwards, so as to leave a ragged surface that was sufficiently broken to contain patches of earth, and verdure, sprinkled with the flowers peculiar to such an exposure. The fog, also, intercepted the sight, giv- ing to the descent the appearance of a fathomless abyss. Had the life of the most indifferent person been in jeop- ardy, under the circumstances named, Mildred would have been filled with deep awe; but a gush of tender sensations, which had hitherto been pent up in the sacred privacy of her virgin affections, struggled with natural horror, as she trod lightly on the very verge of the declivity, and cast a timid but eager glance beneath. Then she recoiled a step, raised her hands in alarm, and hid her face as if to shut out some frightful spectacle. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 3 1 By this time, Button's practical knowledge and recollec don had returned. As is common with seamen, whose minds contain vivid pictures of the intricate tracery of their vessel's rigging in the darkest nights, his thoughts had flashed athwart all the probable circumstances, and pre- sented a just image of the facts. " The boy could not be seen had he absolutely fallen, and were there no fog; for the cliff tumbles home. Sir Wych- erly," he said eagerly, unconsciously using a familiar nau- tical phrase to express his meaning. " He must be clinging to the side of the precipice, and that, too, above the swell of the rocks." Stimulated by a common feeling, the two men now ad- vanced hastily to the brow of the hill, and there, indeed, as with Mildred herself, a single look sufficed to tell them the whole truth. Young Wychecombe, in leaning forward to pluck a flower, had pressed so hard upon the bit of rock on which a foot rested, as to cause it to break, thereby losing his balance. A presence of mind that amounted almost to inspiration, and a high resolution, alone saved him from being dashed to pieces. Perceiving the rock to give way, he threw himself forward, and alighted on a narrow shelf, a few feet beneath the place where he had just stood, and at least ten feet removed from it, laterally. The shelf on which he alighted was ragged, and but two or three feet wide. It would have afforded only a check to his fall, had there not fortunately been some shrubs among the rocks above it. By these shrubs the young man caught, actually swinging off in the air, under the impetus of his leap. Hap- pily, the shrubs were too well rooted to give way; and, swinging himself round, with the address of a sailor, the youthful lieutenant was immediately on his feet, in compar- ative safety. The silence that succeeded was the conse- quence of the shock he felt, in finding him so suddenly thrown into this perilous situation. The summit of the cliff was now about six fathoms above his head, and the shelf 32 THE TWO ADMIRALS. on which he stood impended over a portion of the cliff that was absolutely perpendicular, and which might be said to be out of the line of those projections along which he had so lately been idly gathering flowers. It was physi- cally impossible for any human being to extricate himself from such a situation, without assistance. This Wyche- combe understood at a glance, and he had passed the few minutes that intervened between his fall and the appearance of the party above him in devising the means necessary to his liberation. As it was, few men, unaccustomed to the giddy elevations of the mast, could have mustered a suffi- cient command of nerve to maintain a position on the ledge where he stood. Even he could not have continued there, without steadying his form by the aid of the bushes. As soon as the baronet and Dutton got a glimpse of the perilous position of young Wychecombe, each recoiled in horror from the sight, as if fearful of being precipitated on top of him. Both then actually lay down on the grass, and approached the edge of the cliff again, in that humble atti- tude, even trembling as they lay at length, with their chins projecting over the rocks, staring downward at the victim. The young man could see nothing of all this; for, as he stood with his back against the cliff, he had not room to turn, with safety, or even to look upwards. Mildred, how- ever, seemed to lose all sense of self and of danger, in view of the extremity in which the youth beneath was placed. She stood on the very verge of the precipice, and looked down with steadiness and impunity that would have been utterly impossible for her to attain under less exciting circumstances; even allowing the young man to catch a glimpse of her rich locks, as they hung about her beautiful face. "For God's sake, Mildred," called out the youth, "keep further from the cliff — I see you, and we can now hear each other without so much risk." "What can we do to rescue you, Wychecombe?" eagerly THE TWO ADMIRALS. 33 asked the girl. "Tell me, I entreat you; for Sir Wycherly and my father are both unnerved!" "Blessed creature! and you are mindful of my danger! But, be not uneasy, Mildred ; do as I tell you, and all will yet be well. I hope you hear and understand what I say, dearest girl?" " Perfectly," returned Mildred, nearly choked by the effort to be calm. " I hear every syllable — speak on." " Go you then to the signal -halyards — let one end fly loose, and pull upon the other, until the whole line has come down — when that is done, return here, and I will tell you more — but, for heaven's sake, keep farther from the cliff." The thought that the rope, small and frail as it seemed, might be of use, flashed on the brain of the girl ; and in a moment she was at the staff. Time and again, when liquor incapacitated her father to perform his duty, had Mildred bent on, and hoisted the signals for him ; and thus, hap- pily, she was expert in the use of the halyards. In a min- ute she had unrove them, and the long line lay in a little pile at her feet. " 'Tis done, Wycherly," she said, again looking over the cliff; "shall I throw you down one end of the rope? — but, alas! I have not strength to raise you; and Sir Wycherly and father seem unable to assist me!" " Do not hurry yourself, Mildred, and all will be well. Go, and put one end of the line around the signal-staff, then put the two ends together, tie them in a knot, and drop them down over my head. Be careful not to come too near the cliff, for " The last injunction was useless, Mildred having flown to execute her commission. Her quick mind readily compre- hended what was expected of her, and her nimble fingers soon performed their task. Tying a knot in the ends of the line, she did as desired, and the small rope was soon dan- gling within reach of Wychecombe's arm. It is not easy to make a landsman understand the confidence which a sailor 3 34 THE TWO ADMIRALS. feels in a rope. Place but a frail and rotten piece of twisted hemp in his hand, and he will risk his person in situations from which he would otherwise recoil in dread. Accus- tomed to hang suspended in the air, with ropes only for his foothold, or with ropes to grasp with his hand, his eye gets an intuitive knowledge of what will sustain him, and he unhesitatingly trusts his person to a few seemingly slight strands, that, to one unpractised, appear wholly unworthy of his confidence. Signal-halyards are ropes smaller than the little finger of a man of any size; but they are usually made with care, and every rope-yarn tells. Wychecombe, too, was aware that these particular halyards were new, for he had assisted in reeving them himself, only the week before. It was owing to this circumstance that they were long enough to reach him; a large allowance for wear and tear having been made in cutting them from the coil. As it was, the ends dropped some twenty feet below the ledge on which he stood. "All safe, now, Mildred!" cried the young man, in a voice of exultation the moment his hand caught the two ends of the line, which he immediately passed around his body, beneath the arms, as a precaution against accidents. " All safe, now, dearest girl ; have no further concern about me." Mildred drew back, for worlds could not have tempted her to witness the desperate effort that she knew must follow. By this time. Sir Wycherly, who had been an interested wit- ness of all that passed, found his voice, and assumed the office of director. " Stop, my young namesake," he eagerly cried, when he found that the sailor was about to make an effort to drag his own body up the cliff; "stop; that will never do; let But- ton and me do that much for you, at least. We have seen all that has passed, and are now able to do something." "No — no. Sir Wycherly — on no account touch the hal- yards. By hauling them over the top of the rocks you will THE TWO ADMIRALS. 35 probably cut them, or part them, and then I'm lost, without hope!" "Oh! Sir Wycherly," said Mildred earnestly, clasping her hands together, as if to enforce the request with prayer; "do not — do not touch the line." "We had better let the lad manage thematter in his own way," put in Button ; " he is active, resolute, and a seaman, and will do better for himself than I fear we can do for him. He has got a turn round his body, and is tolerably safe against any slip or mishap." As the words were muttered, the whole three drew back a short distance and watched the result, in intense anxiety. Button, however, so far recollected himself as to take an end of the old halyards, which were kept in a chest at the foot of the staff, and to make an attempt to stopper together the two parts of the little rope on which the youth depended, for should one of the parts of it break, without this precau- tion, there was nothing to prevent the halyards from running round the staff, and destroying the hold. The size of the halyards rendered this expedient very difficult of attainment, but enough was done to give the arrangement a little more of the air of security. All this time young Wychecombe was making his own preparations on the ledge, and quite out of view ; but the tension on the halyards soon announced that his weight was now pendent from them. Mildred's heart seemed ready to leap from her mouth, as she noted each jerk on the lines ; and her father watched every new pull, as if he expected the next moment would produce the final catastrophe. It required a prodigious effort in the young man to raise his own weight for such a distance, by lines so small. Had the rope been of any size, the achievement would have been trifling for one of the frame and habits of the sailor, more especially as he could slightly avail himself of his feet, by pressing them against the rocks; but, as it was, he felt as if he were dragging the mountain up after him. At length, his head appeared a few inches above the rocks, 36 THE TWO ADMIRALS. but with his feet pressed against the cliff, and his body in- clining outward, at an angle of forty-five degrees. " Help him — help him, father !" exclaimed Mildred, cover- ing her face with her hands, to exclude the sight of Wyche- combe's desperate struggles. " If he fall now, he will be destroyed. Oh, save him, save him. Sir Wycherly!" But neither of those to whom she appealed could be of any use. The nervous trembling again came over the father ; and as for the baronet, age and inexperience rendered him helpless. " Have you no rope, Mr. Dutton, to throw over my shoul- ders," cried Wychecombe, suspending his exertions in pure exhaustion, still keeping all he had gained, with his head projecting outward, over the abyss beneath, and his face turned towards heaven. " Throw a rope over my shoulders, and drag my body in to the cliff." Dutton showed an eager desire to comply, but his nerves had not yet been excited by the usual potations, and his hands shook in a way to render it questionable whether he could perform even this simple service. But for his daugh- ter, indeed, he would hardly have set about it intelligently. Mildred, accustomed to using the signal-halyards, procured the old line, and handed it to her father, who discovered some of his professional knowledge in his manner of using it. Doubling the halyards twice, he threw the bight over Wychecombe's shoulders, and, aided by Mildred, endeav- ored to draw the body of the young man upwards and tow- ard the cliff. But their united strength was unequal to the task, and wearied with holding on, and, indeed, unable to support his own weight any longer by so small a rope, Wychecombe felt compelled to suffer his feet to drop be- neath him, and slid down again upon the ledge. Here, even his vigorous frame shook with its prodigious exertions , and he was compelled to seat himself on the shelf, and rest with his back against the cliff, to recover his self-command and Strength. Mildred uttered a faint shriek as he disappeared, THE TWO ADMIRALS. 3/ but was too much horror-stricken to approach the verge of the precipice to ascertain his fate. " Bt composed, Milly," said her father, " he is safe, as you may see by the halyards; and to say the truth, the stuff holds on well. So long as the line proves true, the boy can't fall ; he has taken a double turn with the end of it round his body. Make your mind easy, girl, for I feel bet- ter now, and see my way clear. Don't be uneasy. Sir Wych- erly ; we'll have the lad safe on terra Jirma again, in ten minutes. I scarce know what has come over me, this morn- ing; but I've not had the command of my limbs as in com- mon. It cannot be fright, for I've seen too many men in danger to be disabled by that ; and I think, Milly, it must be the rheumatism, of which I've so often spoken, and which I've inherited from my poor mother, dear old soul. Do you know, Sir Wycherly, that rheumatism can be inherited like gout?" " I dare say it may — I dare say it may, Dutton — but never mind the disease, now; get my young namesake back here on the grass, and I will hear all about it. I would give the world that I had not sent Dick to Mr. Rotherham's this morning. Can't we contrive to make the pony pull the boy up?" "The traces are hardly strong enough for such work, Sir Wycherly. Have a little patience, and I will manage the whole thing, 'ship-shape, and Brister fashion,' as we say at sea. Halloo there, Master Wychecombe — answer my hail, and I will soon get you into deep water." "I'm safe on the ledge," returned the voice of Wyche- combe, from below; " I wish you would look to the signal- halyards, and see they do not chafe against the rocks, Mr. Dutton." "All right, sir; all right. Slack up, if you please, and let me have all the line you can, without casting off from your body. Keep fast the end for fear of accidents." In an instant the halyards slackened, and Dutton, who 38 THE TWO ADMIRALS. by this time had gained his self-command, though still weak and unnerved by the habits of the last fifteen years, forced the bight along the edge of the cliff, until he had brought it over a projection of the rocks, where it fastened itself. This arrangement caused the line to lead down to the part of the cliffs from which the young man had fallen, and where it was by no means difficult for a steady head and active limbs to move about and pluck flowers. It consequently remained for Wychecombe merely to regain a footing on that part of the hillside, to ascend to the summit without difficulty. It is true he was now below the point from which he had fallen, but by swinging himself off laterally, or even by springing, aided by the line, it was not a difficult achieve- ment to reach it, and he no sooner understood the nature of the change that had been made than he set about attempt- ing it. The confident manner of Button encouraged both the baronet and Mildred, and they drew to the cliff again; standing near the verge, though on the part where the rocks might be descended, with less apprehension of consequences. As soon as Wychecombe had made all his preparations, he stood on the end of the ledge, tightened the line, looked carefully for a foothold on the other side of the chasm, and made his leap. As a matter of course, the body of the young man swung readily across the space, until the line became perpendicular, and then he found a surface so broken as to render his ascent by no means difficult, aided as he was by the halyards. Scrambling upward, he soon rejected the aid of the line, and sprang upon the headland. At the same instant, Mildred fell senseless on the grass. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 39 CHAPTER III. *' I wast a hero : — an uncommon want, When every year and month send forth a new one : 'Till, after cloying the gazettes with cant, The age discovers he is not a true one ; — " Byron. In consequence of the unsteadiness of the father's nerves, the duty of raising Mildred in his arms, and of carrying her to the cottage, devolved on the young man. This he did with a readiness and concern which proved how deep an interest he took in her situation, and with a power of arm which showed that his strength was increased rather than lessened by the condition into which she had fallen. So rapid was his movement, that no one saw the kiss he im- pressed on the pallid cheek of the sweet girl, or the tender pressure with which he grasped the lifeless form. By the time he reached the door, the motion and air had begun to revive her, and Wychecombe committed her to the care of her alarmed mother, with a few hurried words of explana- tion. He did not leave the house, however, for a quarter of an hour, except to call out to Button that Mildred was re- viving, and that he need be under no uneasiness on her ac- count. Why he remained so long, we leave the reader to imagine, for the girl had been immediately taken to her own little chamber, and he saw her no more for several hours. When our young sailor came out upon the headland again, he found the party near the flagstaff increased to four. Dick, the groom, had returned from his errand, and Tom Wychecombe, the intended heir of the baronet, was also there, in mourning for his reputed father, the judge. This young man had become a frequent visitor to the station of late, affecting to imbibe his uncle's taste for sea-air and a view of the ocean. There had been several meetings be- tween himself and his namesake, and each interview was 40 THE TWO ADMIRALS. becoming less amicable than the preceding, for a reason that was sufficiently known to the parties. When they met on the present occasion, therefore, the bows they exchanged were haughty and distant, and the glances cast at each other might have been termed hostile, were it not that a sinister irony was blended with that of Tom Wychecombe. Still, the feelings that were uppermost did not prevent the latter from speaking in an apparently friendly manner. "They tell me, Mr. Wychecombe," observed the judge's heir (for this Tom Wychecombe might legally claim to be) ; " they tell me, Mr. Wychecombe, that you have been taking a lesson in your trade this morning, by swinging over the cliffs at the end of a rope? Now, that is an exploit more to the taste of an American than to that of an Englishman, I should think. But I dare say one is compelled to do many things in the colonies that we never dream of at home." This was said with seeming indifference, though with great art. Sir Wycherly's principal weakness was an over- weening and an ignorant admiration of his own country, and all it contained. He was also strongly addicted to that feeling of contempt for the dependencies of the empire, which seems to be inseparable from the political connection between the people of the metropolitan country and their colonies. There must be entire equality, for perfect respect, in any situation in life; and, as a rule, men always appro- priate to their own shares any admitted superiority that may happen to exist on the part of the communities to which they belong. It is on this principle that the tenant of a cockloft in P ris or London is so apt to feel a high claim to superiority over the occupant of a comfortable abode in a village. As between England and her North American colonies in particular, this feeling was stronger than is the case usually, on account of the early democratical tenden- cies of the latter; not that these tendencies had already be- come the subject of political jealousies, but that they left social impressions which were singularly adapted to bring- THE TWO ADMIRALS. 4 1 ing the colonists into contempt among a people predominant for their own factitious habits, and who are so strongly in- clined to view everything, even to principles, through the medium of arbitrary, conventional customs. It must be confessed that the Americans, in the middle of the eigh- teenth centur}', were an exceedingly provincial, and in many particulars a narrow-minded people, as well in their opin- ions as in their habits; nor is the reproach altogether re- moved at the present day; but the country from which they are derived had not then made the vast strides in civili- zation for which it has latterly become so distinguished. The indifference, too, with which all Europe regarded the whole American continent, and to which England herself, though she possessed so large a stake on this side of the Atlantic, formed no material exception, constantly led that quarter of the world into profound mistakes in all its rea- soning that was connected with this quarter of the world, and aided in producing the state of feeling to which we have alluded. Sir Wycherly felt and reasoned on the sub- ject of America much as the great bulk of his countrymen felt and reasoned in 1745; the exceptions existing only among the enlightened, and those whose particular duties rendered more correct knowledge necessary, and not always among them. It is said that the English minister conceived the idea of taxing America from the circumstance of seeing a wealthy Virginian lose a large sum at play, a sort of argu- mentum ad hominem that brought with it a very dangerous conclusion to apply to the sort of people with whom he had to deal. Let this be as it might, there is no more question that, at the period of our tale, the profoundest ignorance concerning America existed generally in the mother country, than there is that the profoundest respect existed in America for nearly everything English. Truth compels us to add that, in despite of all that has passed, the cis-atlantic portion of the weakness has longest endured the assaults of time and of an increased intercourse. 42 THE TWO ADMIRALS. Young Wycherly, as is ever the case, was keenly alive to any insinuations that might be supposed to reflect on the portion of the empire of which he was a native. He con- sidered himself an Englishman, it is true ; was thoroughly loyal ; and was every way disposed to sustain the honor and interests of the seat of authority; but when questions were raised between Europe and America he was an Ameriqan; as, in America itself, he regarded himself as purely a Vir- ginian, in contradistinction to all the other colonies. He understood the intended sarcasm of Tom Wychecombe, but smothered his resentment, out of respect to the baronet, and perhaps a little influenced by the feelings in which he had been so lately indulging. "Those gentlemen who are disposed to fancy such things of the colonies would do well to visit that part of the world," he answered calmly, " before they express their opinions too loudly, lest they should say something that future ob- servation might make them wish to recall." "True, my young friend — quite true," put in the baronet, with the kindest possible intentions. "True as gospel. We never know anything of matters about which we know nothing; that we old men must admit. Master Button, and I should think Tom must see its force. It would be unrea- sonable to expect to find ever}'thing as comfortable in Amer- ica as we have it here in England ; nor do I suppose the Americans, in general, would be as likely to get over a cliff as an Englishman. However, there are exceptions to all general rules, as my poor brother James used to say, when he saw occasion to find fault with the sermon of a prelate. I believe you did not know my poor brother. Button; he must have been killed about the time you were bom — St. James, I used to call him, although my brother Thomas, the judge that was, Tom's father, there — said he was St. James the Less." " I believe the Rev. Mr. Wychecombe was dead before I was of an age to remember his virtues, Sir Wycherly," said THE TWO ADMIRALS. 43 Dutton respectfully; '' though I have often heard my own father speak of all your honored family." " Yes, your father, Dutton, was the attorney of the next town, and we all knew him well. You have done quite right to come back among us to spend the close of your own days. A man is never as well off as when he is thriving in his native soil; more especially when that soil is old England, and Devonshire. You are not one of us, young gentleman, though your name happens to be Wychecombe ; but then we are none of us accountable for our own births or birth- places." This truism, which is in the mouths of thousands while it is in the hearts of scarcely any, was well meant by Sir Wycherly, however plainly expressed. It merely drew from the youth the simple answer that " he was born in the col- onies, and had colonists for his parents" ; a fact that the others had heard already, some ten or a dozen times. " It is a little singular, Mr. Wychecombe, that you should bear both of my names, and yet be no relative," continued the baronet. " Now, Wycherly came into our family from old Sir Hildebrand Wycherly, who was slain at Bosworth Field, and whose only daughter, my ancestor, and Tom's ancestor, there, married. Since that day, Wycherly has been a favorite name among us. I do not think that the Wyche- combes of Herts ever thought of calling a son Wycherly, although, as my poor brother the judge used to say, they were related, but of the half-blood, only. I suppose your father taught you what is meant by being of the half-blood, Thomas?" Tom Wychecombe's face became the color of scarlet, and he cast an uneasy glance at all present; expecting, in partic- ular, to meet with a look of exultation in the eyes of the lieutenant. He was greatly relieved, however, at finding that neither of the three meant or understood more than was simply expressed. As for his uncle, he had not the small- esc intention of making any allusion to the peculiarity of 44 THE TWO ADMIRALS. his nephew's birth ; and the other two, in common with the world, supposed the reputed heir to be legitimate. Gather • ing courage from the looks of those around him, Tom an- swered with a steadiness that prevented his agitation from being detected: " Certainly, my dear sir; my excellent parent forgot noth- ing that he thought might be useful to me, in maintaining my rights, and the honor of the family, hereafter. I very well understand that the Wychecombes of Hertfordshire have no claims on us; nor, indeed, any VVychecombe who is not descended from my respectable grandfather, the late Sir Wycherly." " He must have been an early ^ instead of a late Sir Wycherly, rather, Mr. Thomas," put in Dutton, laughing at his own conceit; "for I can remember no other than the honorable baronet before us, in the last fifty years." " Quite true, Dutton — very true," rejoined the person last alluded to. " As true as that ' time and tide wait for no man.* We understand the meaning of such things on the coast here. It was half a century, last October, since I suc- ceeded my respected parent; but it will not be another half century before some one will succeed me!" Sir Wycherly was a hale, hearty man for his years, but he had no unmanly dread of his end. Still he felt it could not be very distant, having already numbered fourscore and four years. Nevertheless, there were certain phrases of usage that Dutton did not see fit to forget on such an occasion, and he answered accordingly, turning to look at and admire the still ruddy countenance of the baronet, by way of giving emphasis to his words. " You will yet see half of us into our graves. Sir Wycher- ly," he said, " and still remain an active man. Though I dare say another half-century will bring most of us up. Even Mr. Thomas, here, and your young namesake can hardly hope to run out more line than that. Well, as for myself, I only desire to live through this war, that I may THE TWO ADMIRALS. 45 again see His Majesty's arms triumphant; though they do tell me that we are in for a good thirty years' struggle. Wars have lasted as long as that^ Sir Wycherly, and I don't see why this may not, as well as another." "Very true, Dutton; it is not only possible, but probable; and I trust both you and I may live to see our flower-hunter here a post-captain, at least — though it would be wishing almost too much to expect to see him an admiral. There has been one admiral of the name, and I confess I should like to see another!" "Has not Mr. Thomas a brother in the service?" de- manded the master; " I had thought that my lord, the judge, had given us one of his young gentlemen." " He thought of it ; but the army got both of the boys, as it turned out. Gregory was to be the midshipman; my poor brother intending him for a sailor from the first, and so giving him the name that was once borne by the unfor- tunate relative we lost by shipwreck. I wished him to call one of the lads James, after St. James; but, somehow, I never could persuade Thomas to see all the excellence of that pious young man." Dutton was a little embarrassed, for St. James had left anything but a godly savor behind him ; and he was about to fabricate a tolerably bold assertion to the contrary, rather than incur the risk of offending the lord of the manor, when, luckily, a change in the state of the fog afforded him a favorable opportunity of bringing about an apposite change in the subject. During the whole of the morning the sea had been invisible from the headland, a dense body of vapor resting on it, far as eye could reach; veiling the whole expanse with a single white cloud. The lighter por- tions of the vapor had at first floated around the headland, which could not have been seen at any material distance; but all had been gradually settling down into a single mass, that now rose within twenty feet of the summit of the cliffs. The hour was still quite early, but the sun was gaining 46 THE TWO ADMIRALS. force, and it speedily drank up all the lighter particles of the mist, leaving a clear, bright atmosphere above the feathery bank, through which objects might be seen for miles. There was what seamen call a "fanning breeze," or just wind enough to cause the light sails of a ship to swell and collapse, under the double influence of the air and the motion of the hull, imitating in a slight degree the vibra- tions of that familiar appliance of the female toilet. But- ton's eye had caught a glance of the loftiest sail of a vessel, above the fog, going through this very movement; and it afforded him the release he desired, by enabling him to draw the attention of his companions to the same object. "See, Sir Wycherly — see, Mr. Wychecombe," he cried eagerly, pointing in the direction of the sail ; " yonder is some of the king's canvas coming into our roadstead, or I am no judge of the set of a man-of-war's royal. It is a large bit of cloth, too, Mr. Lieutenant, for a sail so lofty!" "It is a two-decker's royal. Master Dutton," returned the young sailor; "and now you see the fore and main, sepa- rately,, as the ship keeps away." "Well," put in Sir Wycherly, in a resigned manner; "here have I lived fourscore years on this coast, and, for the life of me, I have never been able to tell a fore-royal from a back-royal; or a mizzen head-stay from a head mizzen-stay. They are the most puzzling things imagina- ble ; and now I cannot discover how you know that yonder sail, which I see plain enough, is a royal any more than that it is a jib!" Dutton and the lieutenant smiled, but Sir Wycherly's simplicity had a cast of truth and nature about it that de- terred most people from wishing to ridicule him. Then, the rank, fortune, and local interest of the baronet counted for a good deal on all such occasions. " Here is another fellow, farther east," cried Dutton, still pointing with a finger; "and every inch as big as his con- sort ! Ah ! it does my eyes good to, see our roadstead come THE TWO ADMIRALS. 4/ Into notice, in this manner, after all I have said and done in its behalf. But, who have we here — a brother chip, by his appearance; I dare say some idler who has been sent ashore with despatches." " There is another fellow further east, and every inch as big as his consort," said Wychecombe, as we shall call our lieutenant, in order to distinguish him from Tom f the same name, repeating the very words of Button, with an application and readiness that almost amounted to wit, pointing, in his turn, at two strangers who were ascending to the station by a path that led from the beach. " Cer- tainly both these gentlemen are in His Majesty's service, and they have probably just landed from the ships in the offing." The truth of this conjecture was apparent to Button at a glance. As the strangers joined each other, the one last seen proceeded in advance ; and there was something in his years, the confident manner in which he approached, and his general appearance, that induced both the sailors to believe he might be the commander of one of the ships that had just come in view. "Good-morrow, gentlemen," commenced this person, as soon as near enough to salute the party at the foot of the flagstaff; "good-morrow to ye all. I'm glad to meet you, for it's but a Jacob's ladder, this path of yours, through the ravine in the cliffs. Hey! why, Atwood," looking around him at the sea of vapor, in surprise, "what the devil has become of the fleet?" " It is lost in the fog, sir ; we are above it, here ; when more on a level with the ships, we could see, or fancy we saw, more of them than we do now." " Here are the upper sails of two heavy ships, sir," ob- served Wychecombe, pointing in the direction of the vessels already seen ; " ay, and yonder are two more — nothing but the royals are visible." "Two more! — I left eleven two-deckers, three frigates, a 48 THE TWO ADMIRALS. sloop, and a cutter in sight, when I got into the boat. Yon might have covered 'em all with a pocket-handkerchief, hey! Atwood! ' "They were certainly in close order, sir, but I'll not take it on myself to say quite as near together as that." " Ay, you' e a dissenter by trade, and never will believe in a miracle. Sharp work, gentlemen, to get up such a hill as this, after fifty." " It is, indeed, sir," answered Sir Wycherly kindly. "Will you do us the favor to take a seat among us, and rest yourself after so violent an exertion? The cliff is hard enough to ascend, even when one keeps the path; though here is a young gentleman who had a fancy just now to go down it, without a path; and that, too, merely that a pretty girl might have a nosegay on her breakfast-table." The stranger looked intently at Sir Wycherly for a mo- ment, then glanced his eye at the groom and the pony, after which he took a survey of Tom Wychecombe, the lieutenant, and the master. He was a man accustomed to look about him, and he understood, by that rapid glance, the characters of all he surveyed, with perhaps the exception of that of Tom Wychecombe ; and even of that he formed a tolerably shrewd conjecture. Sir Wycherly he immediately set down as the squire of the adjacent estate; Button's situation he hit exactly, conceiving him to be a worn-out master, who was employed to keep the signal-station ; while he under- stood Wychecombe, by his undress and air, to be a sea- lieutenant in the king's service. Tom Wychecombe he thought it quite likely might be the son and heir of the lord of the manor, both being in mourning; though he decided in his own mind that there was not the smallest family likeness between them. Bowing with the courtesy of a man who knew how to acknowledge a civility, he took the prof- fered seat at Sir Wycherly's side without farther ceremony. "We must carry the young fellow to sea with us, sir," re- joined the stranger, " and that will cure him of looking for THE TWO ADMIRALS. 49 flowers in such ticklish places. His Majesty has need of us all, in this war; and I trust, young gentleman, you have not been long ashore, among the girls." " Only long enough to make a cure of a pretty smart hurt, received in cutting out a lugger from the opposite coast," answered Wychecombe, with sufficient modesty, and yet with sufficient spirit. " Lugger ! — ha ! what, Atwood ? You surely do not mean, young gentleman, La Voltigeuse?" " That was the name of the craft, sir — we found her in the roads of Groix." '• And then I've the pleasure of seeing Mr. Wychecombe, the young officer who led in that gallant attack .'"' This was said with a most flattering warmth of manner, the stranger even rising and removing his hat, as he uttered the words with a heartiness that showed how much his feel- ings were in unison with what he said. " I am Mr. Wychecombe, sir," answered the other, blush- ing to the temples, and returning the salute; "though I had not the honor of leading; one of the lieutenants of our ship being in another boat," " Yes — I know all that — but he was beaten off, while you boarded and did the work. What have my lords commis- sioners done in the matter?" "All that is necessary, so far as I am concerned, sir, I do assure you; having sent me a commission the very next week. I only wish they had been equally generous to Mr. Walton, who received a severe wound also, and behaved as well as man could behave." " That would not be so wise, Mr. Wychecombe, since it would be rewarding a failure," returned the stranger coldly. " Success is all in all, in war. Ah! there the fellows begin to show themselves, Atwood." This remark drew all eyes again toward the sea, where a sight now presented itself that was really worthy of a passing notice. The vapor appeared to have become 4 50 THE TWO ADMIRALS. packed into a mass of some eighty or a hundred feet in height, leaving a perfectly clear atmosphere above it. In the clear air, were visible the upper spars and canvas of the entire fleet mentioned by the stranger; sixteen sail in all. There were the eleven two-deckers, and the three frigates, rising in pyramids of canvas, still fanning in toward the anchorage, which in that roadstead was within pistol-shot of the shore ; while the royals and upper part of the topgallant sails of the sloop seemed to stand on the surface of the fog, like a monument. After a moment's pause, Wychecombe discovered even the head of the cutter's royal-mast, with the pennant lazily fluttering ahead of it, partly concealed in vapor. The fog seemed to settle, in- stead of rising, though it evidently rolled along the face of the waters, putting the whole scene in motion. It was not long ere the tops of the ships of the line became visible, and then living beings were for the first time seen in the moving masses. "I suppose we offer just such a sight to the topmen of the ships as they offer to us," observed the siranger. " They must see this headland and flagstaff, Mr. Wychecombe; and there can be no danger of their standing in too far!" "I should think not, sir; certainly the men aloft can see the cliffs above the fog, as we see the vessels' spars. Ha! Mr. Button, there is a rear-admiral's flag flying on board the ship farthest to the eastward." " So I see, sir; and by looking at the third vessel on the western side of the line, you will find a bit of square bunt- ing at the fore, which will tell you there is a vice-admiral beneath it." "Quite true!" exclaimed Wychecombe, who was ever en- thusiastic on matters relating to his profession; "a vice admiral of the red, too ; which is the next step to being a full admiral. This must be the fleet of Sir Digby Downes!" " No, young gentleman," returned the stranger, who per- ceived, by the glance of the other's eye, that a question was THE TWO ADMIRALS. 5 1 inuirectly put to himself; " it is the southern squadron ; and the vice-admiral's flag you see belongs to Sir Gervaise Oakes. Admiral Bluewater is on board the ship that carries a flag at the mizzen." " Those two officers always go together, Sir Wycherly," added the young man. "Whenever we hear the name of Sir Gervaise, that of Bluewater is certain to accompany it. Such a union in service is delightful to witness." "Well may they go in company, Mr. Wychecombe," re- turned the stranger, betraying a little emotion. " Oakes and Bluewater were reefers together, under old Breasthook, in the Mermaid; and when the first was made a lieutenant into the Squid, the last followed as a mate. Oakes was first of the Briton, in her action with the Spanish frigates, and Bluewater third. For that affair Oakes got a sloop, and his friend went with him as his first. The next year they had the luck to capture a heavier ship than their own, when, for the first time in their service, the two young men were sepa- rated; Oakes getting a frigate, and Bluewater getting the Squid. Still they cruised in company, until the senior was sent in command of a flying squadron, with a broad pennant, when the junior, who by this time was post, received his old messmate on board his own frigate. In that manner they served together, down to the hour when the first hoisted his flag. From that time, the two old seamen have never been parted; Bluewater acting as the admiral's captain, until he got the square bunting himself. The vice-admiral has never led the van of a fleet, that the rear-admiral did not lead the rear-division; and, now that Sir Gervaise is a commander-in-chief, you see his friend, Dick Bluewater, is cruising in his company." While the stranger was giving this account of the Two Admirals, in a half-serious, half-jocular manner, the eyes of his companions were on him. He was a middle-sized, red- faced man, with an aquiline nose, a light-blue, animated eye, and a mouth which denoted more of the habits and 52 THE TWO ADMIRALS. care of refinement than either his dress or his ordinary careless mien. A great deal is said about the aristocracy of the ears, and the hands, and the feet; but of all the features, or other appliances of the human frame, the mouth and the nose have the greatest influence in producing an impression of gentility. This was peculiarly the case with the stranger, whose beak, like that of an ancient galley, gave the promise of a stately movement, and whose beauti- ful teeth and winning smile often relieved the expression of a countenance that was not unfrequently stern. As he ceased speaking, Dutton rose in a studied manner, raised his hat entirely from his head, bowed his body nearly to a right angle, and said: " Unless my memory is treacherous, I believe I have the honor to see Rear- Admiral Bluewater, himself; I was a mate in the Medway, when he commanded the Chloe ; and, unless five-and-twenty years have made more changes than I think probable, he is now on this hill." " Your memory is a bad one, Mr. Dutton, and your hill has on it a much worse man in all respects, than Admiral Bluewater. They say that man and wife, from living to- gether, and thinking alike, having the same affections, lov- ing the same objects, or sometimes hating them, get in time to look alike; hey! Atwood? It may be that I am grow- ing like Bluewater, on the same principle; but this is the first time I ever heard the thing suggested. I am Sir Gervaise Oakes, at your service, sir." The bow of Dutton was now much lower than before, while young Wychecombe uncovered himself, and Sir Wycherly arose and paid his compliments cordially, intro- ducing himself and offering the admiral and all his officers the hospitality of the Hall. "Ay, this is straightforward and hearty, and in the good old English manner!" exclaimed the admiral, when he had returned the salutes, and cordially thanked the baronet. " One might land in Scotland, now, anywhere between the THE TWO ADMIRALS. 53 Tweed and John o' Groat's house, and not be asked so much as to eat an oaten cake; hey! Atwood? — always excepting the mountain dew." " You will have your fling at my poor countrymen, Sir Gervaise, and so there is sno more to be said on the subject, returned the secretary, for such was the rank of the admiral's companion. " I might feel hurt at times, did I not know that you get as many Scotsmen about you, in your own ship, as you can; and that a fleet is all the better in your judg- ment, for having every other captain from the lando' cakes." " Did you ever hear the like of that, Sir Wycherly ? Be- cause I stick to a man I like, he accuses me of having a predilection for his whole country. Here's Atwood, now; he was my clerk, when in a sloop ; and he has followed me to the Plantagenet, and, because I do not throw him over- board, he wishes to make it appear half Scotland is in her hold." " Well, there are the surgeon, the purser, one of the mates, one of the marine officers, and the fourth lieutenant, to keep me company. Sir Gervaise," answered the secretary, smiling like one accustomed to his superior's jokes, and who cared very little about them. "When you send us all back to Scotland, I'm thinking there will be many a good vacancy to fill." " The Scotch make themselves very useful. Sir Gervaise," put in Sir Wycherly, by way of smoothing the matter over; "and now we have a Brunswick prince on the throne, we Englishmen have less jealousy of them than formerly. I am sure I should be happy to see all the gentlemen men- tioned by Mr. Atwood, at Wychecombe Hall." " There, you're all well berthed while the fleet lies in these roads. Sir Wycherly, in the name of Scotland, I ' thank you. But what an extr'ornary [for so admirals pro- nounced the word a hundred years agoj scene this is, hey! Atwood? Many a time have I seen the hulls of ships when their spars were hid in the fog; but I do not remember ever 54 THE TWO ADMIRALS. to have seen before sixteen sets of masts and sails moving about on vapor, without a single hull to uphold them. The tops of all the two-decked ships are as plainly to be seen as if the air were without a particle of vapor, while all below the cat-harpings is hid in a cloud as thick as the smoke of battle. I do not half like Bluewater's standing in so far; perhaps, Mr. Button, they cannot see the cliffs, for I assure you we did not until quite close under them. We went altogether by the lead, the masters feeling their way like so many blind beggars!" "We always keep, that nine-pounder loaded, Sir Ger- vaise," returned the master, " in order to warn vessels when they are getting near enough in ; and if Mr. Wychecombe, who is younger than I, will run to the house and light this match, I will prime, and we may give 'em warning where they are in less than a minute." The admiral gave a ready assent to this proposition, and the respective parties immediately set about putting it in execution. Wychecombe hastened to the house to light the match, glad of an opportunity to inquire after Mildred; while Button produced a priming-horn from a sort of arm- chest that stood near the gun, and put the latter in a condi- tion to be discharged. The young man was absent but a minute, and when all was ready he turned toward the admi- ral, in order to get the signal to proceed. " Let 'em have it, Mr. Wychecombe," said Sir Gervaise, smiling; " it will wake Bluewater up; perhaps he may favor us with a broadside by way of retort." The match was applied, and the report of the gun suc- ceeded. Then followed a pause of more than a minute; when the fog lifted around the Caesar, the ship that wore a rear-admiral's flag, a flash like lightning was seen glancing in the mist, and then came the bellowing of a piece of heavy ordnance. Almost at the same instant three little flags ap- peared at the mast-head of the Caesar, for previously to quitting his own ship Sir Gervaise had sent a message to his THE TWO ADMIRALS. 55 friend, requesting him to take care of the fleet. This was the signal to anchor. The effect of all this, as seen from the height, was exceedingly striking. As yet not a single hull had become visible, the fog remaining packed upon the water in a way to conceal even the lower yards of the two- deckers. All above was bright, distinct, and so near as almost to render it possible to distinguish, persons. There everything was vivid, while a sort of supernatural mystery veiled all beneath. Each ship had an officer aloft to look out for signals, and no sooner had the Caesar opened her three little flags, which had long been suspended in black balls, in readiness for this service, than the answers were seen floating at the masthead of each of the vessels. Then commenced a spectacle still more curious than that which those on the cliff had so long been regarding with interest. Ropes began to move, and the sails were drawn up in fes- toons, apparently without the agency of hands. Cut off from a seeming communication with the ocean or the hulls, the spars of the different ships appeared to be instinct with life; each machine playing its own part independently of the oth- ers, but all having the same object in view. In a very few minutes the canvas was hauled up, and the whole fleet was swinging to the anchors. Presently head after head was thrown out of the fog, the upper yards were alive with men, and the sails were handed. Next came the squaring of the yards, though this was imperfectly done, and a good deal by guesswork. The men came down, and there lay a noble fleet at anchor, with nothing visible to those on the cliffs but their top-hamper and upper spars. Sir Gervaise Oakes had been so much struck and amused with a sight that to him happened to be entirely novel that he did not speak during the whole process of anchoring. Indeed, many a man might pass his life at sea and never witness such a scene; but those who have know that it is one of the most beautiful and striking spectacles connected with tiie wonders of the great deep. 56 THE TWO ADMIRALS. By this time the sun had got so high as to begin to stir the fog, and streams of vapor were shooting up from the beach, like smoke rising from coal-pits. The wind in- creased, too, and rolled the vapor before it, and in less than ten minutes the veil was removed; ship after ship coming out in plain view, until the entire fleet was seen riding in the roadstead in its naked and distinct proportions. "Now Bluewater is a happy fellow," exclaimed Sir Ger- vaise. " He sees his great enemy, the land, and knows how to deal with it." " I thought the French were the great and natural enemies of every British sailor," observed Sir Wycherly simply, but quite to the point. " Hum — there's truth in that, too. But the land is an enemy to be feared, while the Frenchman is not — hey! Atwood?" It was, indeed, a goody sight to view the fine fleet that now lay anchored beneath the cliffs of Wychecombe. Sir Gervaise Oakes was, in that period, considered a successful naval commander, and was a favorite both at the Admiralty and with the nation. His popularity extended to the most distant colonies of England, in nearly all of which he had served with zeal and credit. But we are not writing of an age of nautical wonders, like that which succeeded at the close of the century. The French and Dutch, and even the Spaniards, were then all formidable as naval powers; for revolutions and changes had not destroyed their maritime corps, nor had the consequent naval ascendency of England annihilated their navigation ; the two great causes of the subsequent apparent invincibility of the latter power. Bat- tles at sea in that day were warmly contested, and were fre- quently fruitless; more especially when fleets were brought in opposition. The single combats were usually more de- cisive, though the absolute success of the British flag was far from being as much a matter of course as it subsequently became. In a word, the science of naval warfare had not THE TWO ADMIRALS. 57 made those great strides which marked the career of England in the end, nor had it retrograded among her enemies to the point which appears to have rendered their defeat nearly certain. Still SirGervaise was a successful officer; having captured several single ships in bloody encounters, and hav- ing actually led fleets with credit in four or five of the great battles of the times; besides being second and third in command on various similar occasions. His own ship was certain to be engaged, let what would happen to the others. Equally as captains and as flag-officers, the nation had be- come familiar with the names of Oakes and Bluewater, as men ever to be found sustaining each other in the thickest of the fight. It may be well to add here that both these favorite seamen were men of family, or at least what was considered men of family among the mere gentry of Eng- land; SirGervaise being a baronet by inheritance, while his friend actually belonged to one of those naval lines which furnishes admirals for generations — his father having worn a white flag at the main, and his grandfather having been actually ennobled for his services, dying vice-admiral of England. These fortuitous circumstances perhaps ren- dered both so much the greater favorites at court. CHAPTER IV. " All with you ; except three On duty, and our leader Israel, Who is expected momently." Marino Faliero. As his fleet was safely anchored, and that too in beautiful order, in spite of the fog, Sir Gervaise Oakes showed a dis- position to pursue what are termed ulterior views. "This has been a fine sight — certainly a very fine sight, such as an old seaman loves ; but there must be an end to it," he said. " You will excuse me, Sir Wycherly, but the 58 THE TWO ADMIRALS. movements of a fleet always have interest in my eyes, and it is seldom that I get such a bird's-eye view of those of my own ; no wonder it has made me a somewhat unreflecting intruder." " Make no apologies, Sir Gervaise, I beg of you; for none are needed on any account. Though this headland does belong to the Wychecombe property, it is fairly leased to the crown, and none have a better right to occupy it than His Majesty's servants. The Hall is a little more pri- vate, it is true, but even that has no door that will close upon our gallant naval defenders. It is but a short walk, and nothing will make me happier than to show you the way to my poor dwelling, and to see you as much at home under its roof as you could be in the cabin of the Plan- tagenet." " If anything could make me as much at home in a house as in a ship, it would be so hearty a welcome; and I intend to accept your hospitality in the very spirit in which it is offered. Atwood and I have landed to send off some im- portant despatches to the First Lord, and we will thank you for putting us in the way of doing it in the safest and most expeditious manner. Curiosity and surprise have already occasioned the loss of half an hour; while a soldier or a sailor should never lose half a minute." " Is a courier who knows the country well needed, Sir Gervaise?" the lieutenant demanded modestly, though with an interest that showed he was influenced only by zeal for the service. The admiral looked at him intently for a moment, and seemed pleased with the hint implied in the question. "Can you ride?" asked Sir Gervaise, smiling. "I could have brought half-a-dozen youngsters ashore with me ; but, besides the doubts about getting a horse — a chaise, I take it, is out of the question here — I was afraid the lads might disgrace themselves on horseback," "This must be said in pleasantry, Sir Gervaise," returned THE TWO ADMIRALS. 59 Wychecombe; "he would be a strange Virginian at least, who does not know how to ride!" "And a strange Englishman, too, Bluewater would say; and yet I never see the fellow straddle a horse that I do not wish it were a studding-sail boom run out to leeward! We sa.iloTs/a/iry we ride, Mr. Wychecombe, but it is some such fancy as a marine has for the foretopmast cross-trees. Can a horse be had, to go as far as the nearest post-office that sends off a daily mail.'*" " That can it. Sir Gervaise," put in Sir Wycherly. " Here is Dick mounted on as good a hunter as is to be found in England; and I'll answer for my young namesake's willing- ness to put the animal's mettle to the proof. Our little mail has just left Wychecombe for the next twenty-four hours, but by pushing the beast there will be time to reach the high road in season for the great London mail, which passes the nearest market-town at noon. It is but a gallop of ten miles and back, and that I'll answer for Mr. Wyche- combe's ability to do, and to join us at dinner by four." Young Wychecombe expressing his readiness to perform all this, and even more at need, the arrangement was soon made. Dick was dismounted, the lieutenant got his de- spatches and his instructions, took his leave, and had gal- loped out of sight in the next five minutes. The admiral then declared himself at liberty for the day, accepting the invitation of Sir Wycherly to breakfast and dine at the Hall, in the same spirit of frankness as that in which it had been given. Sir Wycherly was so spirited as to refuse the aid of his pony, but insisted on walking through the village and park to his dwelling, though the distance was more than a mile. Just as they were quitting the signal-station, the old man took the admiral aside, and in an earnest but respectful manner disburdened his mind to the following effect. "Sir Gervaise," he said, "I am no sailor, as you know, and least of all do I bear His Majesty's commission in the navy, though I am in the county commission as a justice of 60 THE TWO ADMIRALS. the peace; so if I make any little mistake you will have the goodness to overlook it, for I know that the etiquette of the quarter-deck is a very serious matter, and is not to be trifled with; — but here is Button, as good a fellow in his way as lives — his father was a sort of a gentleman too, having been the attorney of the neighborhood, and the old man was ac- customed to dine with me forty years ago " " I believe I understand you, Sir Wycherly," interrupted the admiral ; " and I thank you for the attention you wish to pay my prejudices; but you are master of Wychecombe, and I should feel myself a troublesome intruder, indeed, did you not ask whom you please to dine at your own table." "That's not quite it, Sir Gervaise, though you have not gone far wide of the mark. Button is only a master, you know; and it seems that a master on board ship is a very different thing from a master on shore ; so Button himself has often told me." "Ay, Button is right enough as regards a king's ship, though the two offices are pretty much the same when other craft are alluded to. But, my dear Sir Wycherly, an admi- ral is not disgraced by keeping company with a boatswain, if the latter is an honest man. It is true we have our cus- toms, and what we call our quarter-deck and forward offi- cers; which is court end and city, on board ship; but a master belongs to the first, and the master of the Plantage- net, Sandy McYarn, dines with me once a month, as regu- larly as he enters a new word at the top of his log-book. I beg, therefore, you will extend your hospitality to whom you please — or " the admiral hesitated, as he cast a good- natured glance at the master, who stood still uncovered, waiting for his superior to move away; "or, perhaps, Sir Wycherly, you would permit me to ask a friend to make one of our party." "That's just it. Sir Gervaise," returned the kind-hearted baronet; "and Button will be one of the happiest fellows in Bevonshire. I wish we could have Mrs. Button and THE TWO ADMIRALS. 6 1 Milly, and then the table would look what my poor brother James — St. James I used to call him — what the Rev. James Wychecombe was accustomed to term mathematical. He said a table should have all its sides and angles duly filled. James was a most agreeable companion, Sir Gervaise, and, in divinity, he would not have turned his back on one of the apostles, I do verily believe!" The admiral bowed, and, turning to the master, he invited him to be of the party at the Hall, in the manner which one long accustomed to render his civilities agreeable by a sort of professional off-handed way well knew how to assume. " Sir Wycherly has insisted that I shall consider his table as set in my own cabin," he continued; "and I know of no better manner of proving my gratitude than by taking him at his word, and filling it with guests that will be agreeable to us both. I believe there is a Mrs. Button and a Miss — a—a— a " "Milly," put in the baronet eagerly; "Miss Mildred Button — the daughter of our good friend Button, here, and a young lady who would do credit to the gayest drawing- room in London." "You perceive, sir, that our kind host anticipates the wishes of an old bachelor, as it might be by instinct, and desires the company of the ladies also. Miss Mildred will, at least, have two young men to do homage to her beauty, and three old ones to sigh in the distance — hey! Atwood?" "Mildred, as Sir Wycherly knows, sir, has been a little disturbed this morning," returned Button, putting on his best manner for the occasion; "but, I feel no doubt, will be too grateful for this honor, not to exert herself to make a suitable return. As for my wife, gentlemen " " And what is to prevent Mrs. Button from being one of the party," interrupted Sir Wycherly, as he observed the husband to hesitate; "she sometimes favors me with her company." "I rather think she will to-day, Sir Wycherly, if Mildred 62 THE TWO ADMIRALS. is well enough to go; the good woman seldom lets her daughter stray far from her apron-strings. She keeps her, as I tell her, within the sweep of her own hawse, Sir Ger- vaise." " So much the wiser she, Master Button," returned the admiral pointedly. " The best pilot for a young woman is a good mother; and now you have a fleet in your roadstead, I need not tell a seaman of your experience that you are on pilot-ground — hey! Atwood?" Here the parties separated, Button remaining uncovered until his superior had turned the corner of his little cottage and was fairly out of sight. Then the master entered his dwelling to prepare his wife and daughter for the honors they had in perspective. Before he executed this duty, however, the unfortunate man opened what he called a locker — what a housewife would term a cupboard — and fortified his nerves with a strong draught of pure Nantes; a liquor that no hostilities, custom-house duties, or national antipa- thies has ever been able to bring into general disrepute in the British Islands. In the mean time the party of the two baronets pursued its way toward the Hall. The village or hamlet of Wychecombe lay about half-way between the station and the residence of the lord of the manor. It was an exceedingly rural and retired collection of mean houses, possessing neither physician, apothecary, nor attorney, to give it importance. A small inn, two or three shops of the humblest kind, and some twenty cottages of laborers and mechanics, composed the place, which at that early day had not even a chapel or a conventicle; dissent not having made much progress then in England. The parish church, one of the old edifices of the time of the Henrys, stood quite alone, in a field, more than a mile from the place; and the vicarage, a respectable abode, was just on the edge of the park, fully half a mile more distant. In short, Wychecombe was one of those places which was so far on the decline that few or no traces of any little impor- THE TWO ADMIRALS. 63 tance it may have once possessed were any longer to be dis- covered; and it had sunk entirely into a hamlet that owed its allowed claims to be marked on the maps, and to be noted in the gazetteers, altogether to its antiquity and the name it had given to one of the oldest knightly families in England. No w^onder, then, that the arrival of a fleet under the head produced a great excitement in the little village. The an- chorage was excellent, so far as the bottom was concerned, but it could scarcely be called a roadstead in any other point of view, since there was shelter against no wind but that which blew directly offshore, which happened to be a wind that did not prevail in that part of the island. Occasion- ally a small cruiser would come-to in the offing, and a ftw frigates had lain at single anchors in the roads for a tide or so, in waiting for a change of weather; but this was the first fleet that had been known to moor under the cliffs within the memory of man. The fog had prevented the honest vil- lagers from ascertaining the unexpected honor that had been done them, until the reports of the two guns reached their ears, when the important intelligence spread with due rapid- ity over the entire adjacent country. Although Wychecombe did not lie in actual view of the sea, by the time the party of Sir Wycherly entered the hamlet its little street was already crowded with visitors from the fleet ; every vessel having sent at least one boat ashore, and many of them some three or four. Captain's and gunroom stewards, midship- men's foragers, loblolly boys, and other similar harpies, were out in scores; for this was a part of the world in which bumboats were unknown; and if the mountain would not come to Mahomet, Mahomet must fain go to the mountain. Half an hour had sufficed to exhaust all the unsophisticated simplicity of the hamlet; and milk, eggs, fresh butter, soft- tommy, vegetables, and such fruits as were ripe had already risen quite one hundred per cent, in the market. Sir Gervaise had called his force the southern squadron, 64 THE TWO ADMIRALS. from the circumstance of its having been cruising in the Bay of Biscay for the last six months. This was a wild winter- station, the danger from the elements greatly surpassing any that could well be anticipated from the enemy. The duty notwithstanding had been well and closely performed; sev- eral West India and one valuable East India convoy having been effectually protected, as well as a few straggling fri'g- ates of the enemy picked up; but the service had been ex- cessively laborious to all engaged in it, and replete with privations. Most of those who now landed had not trod terra firma for half a year, and it was not wonderful that all the officers whose duties did not confine them to the vessels gladly seized the occasion to feast their senses with the ver- dure and odors of their native island. Quite a hundred guests of this character were also pouring into the street of Wychecombe, or spreading themselves among the surround- ing farmhouses; flirting with the awkward and blushing girls, and keeping an eye at the same time to the main chance of the mess-table. " Our boys have already found out your village, Sir Wycherly, in spite of the fog," the vice-admiral remarked good-humoredly, as he cast his eyes around at the movement of the street; "and the locusts of Egypt will not come nearer to breeding a famine. One would think there was a great dinner in petto ^ in every cabin of the fleet, by the number of the captain's stewards that are ashore, hey ! At- wood? I have seen nine of the harpies myself, and the other seven can't be far off." " Here is Galleygo, Sir Gervaise," returned the secretary, smiling; "though he can scarcely be called a captain's steward, having the honor to serve a vice-admiral and a commander-in-chief." " Ay, but 7ve feed the whole fleet at times, and have some excuse for being a little exacting — harkee, Galleygo — get a horse-cart, and push off at once, four or five miles further into the country ; you might as well expect to find real pearls THE TWO ADMIRALS. 6$ in fishes eyes as hope to pick up anything nice among so many gunroom and cockpit boys. I dine ashore to-day, but Captain Greenly is fond of mutton-chops, you'll remember." This was said kindly, and in the manner of a man accus- tomed to treat his domestics with the familiarity of humble friends. Galleygo was as unpromising a looking butler as any gentleman ashore would be at all likely to tolerate; but he had been with his present master, and in his present ca- pacity, ever since the latter had commanded a sloop of war. All his youth had been passed as a topman, and he was really a prime seaman; but accident having temporarily placed him in his present station. Captain Oakes was so much pleased with his attention to his duty, and particularly with his order, that he ever afterwards retained him in his cabin, notwithstanding the strong desire the honest fellow himself had felt to remain aloft. Time and familiarity at length reconciled the steward to his station, though he did not formally accept it, until a clear agreement had been made that he was not to be considered an idler on any occa- sion that called for the services of the best men. In this manner David, for such was his Christian name, had become a sort of nondescript on board of a man-of-war; being fore- most in all the cuttings out, a captain of a gun, and was fre- quently seen on a yard in moments of difficulty, just to keep his hand in, as he expressed it, while he descended to the duties of the cabin in peaceable times and good weather. Near thirty years had he thus been half-steward, half-sea- man when afloat, while on land he was rather a counsellor and minister of the closet than a servant; for out of a ship he was utterly useless, though he never left his master for a week at a time, ashore or afloat. The name of Galleygo was a sobriquet conferred by his brother topmen, but had been so generally used that for the last twenty years most of his shipmates believed it to be his patronymic. When this compound of cabin and forecastle received the order just related, he touched the lock of hair on his forehead, a cere- 5 66 THE TWO ADMIRALS. mony he always used before he spoke to Sir Gervaise, the hat being removed at some three or four yards' distance, and made his customary answer of : "Ay-ay, sir — your honor has been a young gentleman yourself, and knows what a young gentleman's stomach gets to be, a'ter a six months' fast in the Bay of Biscay ; and a young gentleman's l^oys stomach, too. I always thinks there's but a small chance for us, sir, when I sees six or eight of them light cruisers in my neighborhood. They're som'mat like the sloops and cutters of a fleet, which picks up all the prizes." "Quite true. Master Galleygo; but if the light cruisers get the prizes, you should recollect that the admiral always has his share of the prize-money." " Yes, sir, I knows we has our share, but that's accordin* to law, and because the commanders of the light craft can't help it. Let 'em once get the law on their side, and not a ha'pence would bless our pockets! No, sir, what we gets we gets by the law ; and as there is no law to fetch up young gentlemen or their boys, that pays as they goes, we never gets anything they or their boys puts hands on." " I dare say you are right, David, as you always are. It wouldn't be a bad thing to have an act of Parliament to give an admiral his twentieth in the reefers' foragings. The old fellows would sometimes get back some of their own poultry and fruit in that way, hey! Atwood?" The secretary smiled his assent, and then Sir Gervaise apologized to his host, repeated the order to the steward, and the party proceeded. " This fellow of mine, Sir Wycherly, is no respecter of persons, beyond the etiquette of a man-of-war," the admiral continued, by way of further excuse. " I believe His Maj- esty himself would be favored with an essay on some part of the economy of the cabin, were Galleygo to get an oppor- tunity of speaking his mind to him. Nor is the fool with- out his expectations of some day enjoying this privilege; THE TWO ADMIRALS. 6/ for the last time I went to court I found honest David rigged, from stem to stern, in a full suit of claret and steel, under the idea that he was * to sail in company with me,* as he called it, * with or without signal ! ' " " There was nothing surprising in that, Sir Gervaise," observed the secretary. "Galleygo has sailed in company with you so long, and to so many strange lands; has been through so many dangers at your side, and has got so com- pletely to consider himself as part of the family, that it was the most natural thing in the world he should expect to go to court with you." "True enough. The fellow would face the devil, at my side, and I don't see why he should hesitate to face the king. I sometimes call him Lady Oakes, Sir Wycherly, for he appears to think he has a right of dower, or to some other lawyer-like claim on my estate; and as for the fleet, he always speaks of that as if we commanded it in common. I wonder how Bluewater tolerates the blackguard; for he never scruples to allude to him as under our orders! If anything should befall me, Dick and David would have a civil war for the succession, hey! Atwood?" " I think military subordination would bring Galleygo to his senses. Sir Gervaise, should such an unfortunate acci- dent occur — which Heaven avert for many years to come ! There is Admiral Bluewater coming up the street, at this very moment, sir." At this sudden announcement, the whole party turned to look in the direction intimated by the secretary. It was by this time at one end of the short street, and all saw a man just entering the other, who, in his walk, air, attire, and manner, formed a striking contrast to the active, merry, bustling, youthful young sailors who thronged the hamlet. In person, Admiral Bluewater was exceedingly tall and ex- ceedingly thin. Like most seamen who have that physical formation, he stooped ; a circumstance that gave his years a greater apparent command over his frame than they pos- 68 THE TWO ADMIRALS. sessed in reality. While this bend in his figure deprived it, in a great measure, of the sturdy martial air that his su- perior presented to the observer, it lent to his carriage a quiet and dignity that it might otherwise have wanted. Cer- tainly, were this officer attired like an ordinary civilian, no one would have taken him for one of England's bravest and most efficient sea-captains ; he would have passed rather as some thoughtful, well-educated, and refined gentleman, of retired habits, diffident of himself, and a stranger to am- bition. He wore an undress rear-admiral's uniform, as a matter of course ; but he wore it carelessly, as if from a sense of duty only; or conscious that no arrangement could give him a military air. Still all about his person was faultlessly neat, and perfectly respectable. In a word, no one but a man accustomed to the sea, were it not for his uniform, would suspect the rear-admiral of being a sailor; and even the seaman himself might be often puzzled to de- tect any other signs of the profession about him than were to be found in a face, which, fair, gentlemanly, handsome, and even courtly as it was, in expression and outline, wore the tint that exposure invariably stamps on the mariner's countenance. Here, however, his unseaman-like character ceased. Admiral Oakes had often declared that " Dick Bluewater knew more about a ship than any man in Eng- land;" and as for a fleet, his mode of manoeuvring one had got to be standard in the service. As soon as Sir Gervaise recognized his friend, he ex- pressed a wish to wait for him, which was courteously con- verted by Sir Wycherly into a proposition to return and meet him. So abstracted was Admiral Bluewater, however, that he did not see the party that was approaching him, until he was fairly accosted by Sir Gervaise, who led the advance by a few yards. "Good-day to you, Bluewater," commenced the latter, in his familiar, off-hand way; "I'm glad you have torn your- self away from your ship ; though I must say the manner in THE TWO ADMIRALS. 69 which you came-to, in that fog, was more like instinct, than anything human! I determined to tell you as much, the moment we met; for I don't think there is a ship half her length out of mathematical order, notwithstanding the tide runs, here, like a race-horse." "That is owing to your captains, Sir Gervaise," returned the other, observing the respect of manner that the in- ferior never loses with his superior, on service, and in a navy, let their relative rank and intimacy be what they may on all other occasions; "good captains make handy ships. Our gentlemen have now been together so long that they understand each other's movements; and every vessel in the fleet has her character as well as her commander!" " Vtiy true, Admiral Bluewater^ and yet there is not an- other otticer in His Majesty's service that could have brought a fleet to anchor, in so much order, and in such a fog; and I ask your leave, sir, most particularly to thank you for the lesson you have given, not only to the captains, but to the commander-in-chief. I presume I may admire that which I cannot exactly imitate." The rear-admiral merely smiled and touched his hat in acknowledgment of the compliment, but he made no direct answer in words. By this time Sir Wycherly and the others had approached, and the customary introductions took place. Sir Wycherly now pressed his new acquaintance to join his guests, with so much heartiness that there was no such thing as refusing. "Since you and Sir Gervaise both insist on it so ear- nestly, Sir Wycherly," returned the rear-admiral, " I must consent; but as it is contrary to our practice, when on for- eign service — and I call this roadstead a foreign station, as to anything we know about it — as it is contrary to our prac- tice for both flag-officers to sleep out of the fleet, I shall claim the privilege to be allowed to go off to my ship be- fore midnight. I think the weather looks settled, Sir Ger- yO THE TWO ADMIRALS. vaise, and we may trust that many hours, without apprehen- sion." " Pooh — pooh — Bluewater, you are always fancying the ships in a gale, and clawing off a lee-shore. Put your heart at rest, and let us go and take a comfortable dinner with Sir Wycherly, who has a London paper, I dare to say, that may let us into some of the secrets of state. Are there any tid- ings from our people in Flanders?" "Things remain pretty much as they have been," re- turned Sir Wycherly, " since that last terrible affair, in which the Duke got the better of the French at — I never can remember an outlandish name ; but it sounds something like a Christian baptism. If my poor brother, St. James, were living, now, he could tell us all about it." "Christian baptism! That's an odd allusion for a field of battle. The armies can't have got to Jerusalem; hey! Atwood?" "I rather think. Sir Gervaise," the secretary coolly re- marked, "that Sir Wycherly Wychecombe refers to the bat- tle that took place last spring — it was fought at Font- something ; and a font certainly has something to do with Christian baptism." "That's it— that's it," cried Sir Wycherly, with some eagerness ; " Fontenoy was the name of the place, where the Duke would have carried all before him, and brought Mar- shal Saxe and all his frog-eaters prisoners to England, had our Dutch and German allies behaved better than they did. So it is with poor old England, gentlemen; whatever she gains, her allies always lose for her — the Germans, or the colonists, are constantly getting us into trouble!" Both Sir Gervaise and his friend were practical men, and well knew that they never fought the Dutch or the French without meeting with something that was pretty nearly their match. They had no faith in general national superiority. The courts-martial that so often succeeded general actions had taught them that there were all degrees of spirit, as THE TWO ADMIRALS. /I well as all degrees of a want of spirit; and they knew too much to be the dupes of flourishes of the pen, or of vapid declamation at dinner-speeches, and in the House of Com- mons. Men, well led and commanded, they had ascertained by experience, were worth twice as much as the same men when ill led and ill commanded; and they were not to be told that the moral tone of an army or a fleet, from which all its success was derived, depended more on the conven- tional feeling that had been got up through moral agencies, than on birthplace, origin, or color. Each glanced his eye significantly at the other, and a sarcastic smile passed over the face of Sir Gervaise, though his friend maintained his customary appearance of gravity. *' I believe le Grand Monarque and Marshal Saxe give a different account of that matter. Sir Wycherly," drily ob- served the former; "and it may be well to remember that there are two sides to every story. Whatever may be said of Dettingen, I fancy history will set down Fontenoy as any- thing but a feather in His Royal Highness' cap." " You surely do not consider it possible for the French arms to overthrow a British army. Sir Gervaise Oakes!" ex- claimed the simple-minded provincial — for such was Sir Wycherly Wychecombe, though he had sat in Parliament, had four thousand a year, and was one of the oldest families in England — " It sounds like treason to admit the possibil- ity of such a thing." " God bless us, my dear sir, I am as far from supposing any such thing as the Duke of Cumberland himself; who, by the way, has as much English blood in his veins as the Baltic may have of the water of the Mediterranean — hey! Atwood? By the way, Sir Wycherly, I must ask a little tenderness of you in behalf of my friend the secretary, here, who has a national weakness in favor of the Pretender, and all of the clan Stuart." "I hope not — I sincerely hope not. Sir Gervaise!" ex- claimed Sir Wycherly, with a warmth that was not entirely 72 THE TWO ADMIRALS. free from alarm ; his own loyalty to the new house being altogether without reproach. " Mr. Atwood has the air of a gentleman of too good principles not to see on which side real religious and political liberty lie. I am sure you are pleased to be jocular, Sir Gervaise; the very circumstance that he is in your company is a pledge of his loyalty." "Well, well, Sir Wycherly, I would not give you a false idea of my friend Atwood, if possible; and so I may as well confess that, while his Scotch blood inclines him to tory- ism, his English reason makes him a whig. If Charles Stuart never gets the throne until Stephen Atwood helps him to a seat on it, he may take leave of ambition forever." "I thought as much, Sir Gervaise — I thought j'our secre- tary could never lean to the doctrine of 'passive obedience and non-resistance.' That's a principle which would hardly suit sailors. Admiral Bluewater." Admiral Bluewater's fine, full, blue eye lighted with an expression approaching irony ; but he made no other answer than a slight inclination of the head. In point of fact, ^e was a Jacobite; though no one was acquainted with the cir- cumstance but his immediate commanding officer. As a seaman he was called on only to serve his country; and, as often happens to military men, he was willing to do this under any superior whom circumstances might place over his head, let his private sentiments be what they might. During the civil war of 17 15, he was too young in years, and too low in rank, to render his opinions of much impor- tance; and, kept on foreign stations, his services could only affect the general interests of the nation, without producing any influence on the contest at home. Since that period, nothing had occurred to require one whose duty kept him on the ocean to come to a very positive decision between the two masters that claimed his allegiance. Sir Gervaise had always been able to persuade him that he was sustain- ing the honor and interests of his country, and that ought to be sufficient to a patriot, let who would rule. Notwith- THE TWO ADMIRALS. 73 Standing this wide difference in political feeling between the two admirals — Sir Gervaise being as decided a whig as his friend was a tory — their personal harmony had been without a shade. As to confidence, the superior knew the inferior so well that he believed the surest way to prevent his taking sides openly with the Jacobites, or of doing them secret service, was to put it in his power to commit a great breach of trust. So long as faith were put in his integrity, Sir Gervaise felt certain his friend Bluewater might be re- lied on; and he also knew that, should the moment ever come when the other really intended to abandon the service of the house of Hanover, he would frankly throw up his em- ployments, and join the hostile standard, without profiting, in any manner, by the trusts he had previously enjoyed. It is also necessary that the reader should understand that Ad- miral Bluewater had never communicated his political opin- ions to any person but his friend; the Pretender and his counsellors being as ignorant of them as George II. and his ministers. The only practical effect, therefore, that they had ever produced was to induce him to decline sepa- rate commands, several of which had been offered to him ; one, quite equal to that enjoyed by Sir Gervaise Oakes himself. "No," the latter answered to Sir Wycherly's remark; though the grave, thoughtful expression of his face showtid how little his feelings chimed in, at the moment, with the ironical language of his tongue. " No — Sir Wycherly, a man-of-war's man, in particular, has not the slightest idea of 'passive obedience and non-resistance,' — that is a doc- trine which is intelligible only to papists and tories. Blue- water is in a brown study ; thinking no doubt of the manner in which he intends to lead down on Monsieur de Gravelin, should we ever have the luck to meet that gentleman again ; so we will, if it's agreeable to all parties, change the subject." "With all my heart, Sir Gervaise," answered the baronet, cordially; "and, after all, there is little use in discussing 74 THE TWO ADMIRALS. the affair of the Pretender any longer, for he appears to be quite out of men's minds, since that last failure of King Louis XV." " Yes, Norris rather crushed the young viper in its shell, and we may consider the thing at an end." " So my late brother. Baron Wychecombe, always treated it, Sir Gervaise. He once assured me that the twelve judges were clearly against the claim, and that the Stuarts had noth- ing to expect from them.^^ " Did he tell you, sir, on what ground these learned gen- tlemen had come to this decision?" quietly asked Admiral Bluewater. " He did, indeed; for he knew my strong desire to make out a good case against the tories so well that he laid all the law before me. I am a bad hand, however, to repeat even what I hear; though my poor brother, the late Rev. James Wychecombe — St. James as I used to call him — -could go over a discourse half an hour long, and not miss a word. Thomas and James appear to have run away with the mem- ories of the rest of the family. Nevertheless, I recollect it all depended on an act of Parliament, which is supreme; and the house of Hanover reigning by an act of Parliament, no court could set aside the claim." " Very clearly explained, sir," continued Bluewater ; " and you will permit me to say that there was no necessity for an apology on account of the memory. Your brother, however, might not have exactly explained what an act of Parliament is. King, Lords, and Commons are all necessary to an act of Parliament." " Certainly — we all know that, my dear admiral ; we poor fellows ashore here, as well as you mariners at sea. The Hanoverian succession had all three to authorize it." "Had it a king?" "A king! Out of dispute — or, what we bachelors ought to consider as much better, it had a queen. Queen Anne approved of the act, and tha:^ made it an act of Parliament. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 75 I assure you, I learned a good deal of law in the Baron's visits to Wychecombe, and in the pleasant hours we used to chat together in his chambers!" " And who signed the act of Parliament that made Anne a queen ? or did she ascend the throne by regular succes- sion? Both Mary and Anne were sovereigns by acts of Parliament, and we must look back until we get the ap- proval of a prince who took the crown by legal descent." "Come — come, Bluewater," put in Sir Gervaise gravely; "we may persuade Sir Wycherly, in this manner, that he has a couple of furious Jacobites in company. The Stuarts were dethroned by a revolution, which is a law of nature, and enacted by God, and which of course overshadows all other laws when it gets into the ascendant, as it clearly has done in this case. I take it. Sir Wycherly, these are your park-gates, and that yonder is the Hall." This remark changed the discourse, and the whole party proceeded towards the house, discussing the beauty of its position, its history, and its advantages, until they reached its door. CHAPTER V. ' Monarch and ministers, are awful names: Whoever wear them, challenge our devoir." Our plan does not require an elaborate description of the residence of Sir Wycherly. The house had been neither priory, abbey, nor castle, but it was erected as a dwelling for himself and his posterity, by a Sir Michael Wychecombe, two or three centuries before, and had been kept in good serviceable condition ever since. It had the usual long, narrow windows, a suitable hall, wainscoted rooms, battle- mented walls, and turreted angles. It was neither large, nor small; handsome, nor ugly; grand, nor mean, but it 76 THE TWO ADMIRALS. was quaint, respectable in appearance, and comfortable as an abode. The admirals were put each in possession of bed-cham- bers and dressing-rooms, as soon as they arrived ; and At- v;ood was berthed not far from his commanding officer, in readiness for service, if required. Sir Wycherly was nat- urally hospitable; but his retired situation had given him a zest for company that greatly increased the inborn disposi- tion. Sir Gervaise, it was understood, was to pass the night with him, and he entertained strong hopes of including his friend in the same arrangement. Beds were ordered, too, for Dutton, his wife, and daughter; and his namesake, the lieutenant, was expected also to sleep under his roof that night. The day passed in the customary manner; the party hav- ing breakfasted, and then separated to attend to their sev- eral occupations, agreeably to the usages of all country- houses, in all parts of the world, and, we believe, in all time. Sir Gervaise, who had sent a messenger off to the Plantagenet for certain papers, spent the morning in writ- ing; Admiral Bluewater walked in the park, by himself; Atwood was occupied with his superior; Sir Wycherly rode among his laborers; and Tom Wychecombe took a rod, and pretended to go forth to fish, though he actually held his way back to the headland, lingering in and around the cottage until it was time to return home. At the proper hour, Sir Wycherly sent his chariot for the ladies; and a few minutes before the appointed moment the party began to assemble in the drawing-room. When Sir Wycherly appeared, he found the Buttons al- ready in possession, with Tom doing the honors of the house. Of the sailing-master and his daughter, it is un- necessary to say more than that the former was in his best uniform — an exceedingly plain one, as was then the case with the M'hole naval wardrobe — and that the last had re- covered from her illness, as was evident by the bloom that THE TWO ADMIRALS. 77 the sensitive blushes constantly cast athwart her lovely face. Her attire was exactly what it ought to have been; neat, simple, and becoming. In honor of the host, she wore her best; but this was what became her station, though a little jewelry that rather surpassed what might have been expected in a girl of her rank of life threw around her person an air of modest elegance. Mrs. Button was a plain, matronly woman — the daughter of a land-steward of a nobleman in the same county — with an air of great mental suffering, from griefs she had never yet exposed to the heartless sym- pathy of the world. The baronet was so much in the habit of seeing his hum- ble neighbors that an intimacy had grown up between them. Sir Wycherly, who was anything but an acute ob- server, felt an interest in the melancholy looking and almost heart-broken mother, without knowing why; or certainly without suspecting the real character of her habitual sad- ness; while Mildred's youth and beauty had not failed of producing the customary effect of making a friend of the old bachelor. He shook hands all round, therefore, with great cordiality; expressing his joy at meeting Mrs. Button, and congratulating the daughter on her complete recovery. '' I see Tom has been attentive to his duty," he added, "while I've been detained by a silly fellow about a com- plaint against a poacher. My namesake, young Wycherly, has not got back yet, though it is quite two hours past his time; and Mr. Atwood tells me the admiral is a little un- easy about his despatches. I tell him Mr. Wycherly Wyche- combe, though I have not the honor of ranking him among my relatives, and he is only a Virginian by birth, is a young man to be relied on; and that the despatches are safe, let what may detain the courier." " And why should not a Virginian be every way as trust- worthy and prompt as an Englishman, Sir Wycherly?" asked Mrs. Button. " He is an Englishman, merely separated from us by the water." 78 THE TWO ADMIRALS. This was said mildly, or in the manner of one accustomed to speak under a rebuked feeling; but it was said earnestly, and perhaps a little reproachfully, while the speaker's eye glanced with natural interest toward the beautiful face of her daughter. " Why not, sure enough, my dear Mrs. Button !" echoed the baronet. "They are Englishmen, like ourselves, only born out of the realm, as it might be, and no doubt a little different on that account. They are fellow-subjects, Mrs. Button, and that is a great deal. Then they are miracles of loyalty, there being scarcely a Jacobite, as they tell me, in all the colonies." " Mr. Wycherly Wychecombe is a very respectable young gentleman," said Button ; " and I hear he is a prime sea- man for his years. He has not the honor of being related to this distinguished family, like Mr. Thomas, here, it is true; but he is likely to make a name for himself. Should he get a ship, and do as handsome things in her as he has done already. His Majesty would probably knight him ; and then we should have tivo Sir Wycherly Wychecombes!" "I hope not — I hope not!" exclaimed the baronet; "I think there must be a law against that. As it is, I shall be obliged to put Bart, after my name, as my worthy grand- father used to do, in order to prevent confusion ; but Eng- land can't bear two Sir Wycherlys, any more than the world can bear two suns. Is not that your opinion, Miss Mil- dred?" The baronet had laughed at his own allusion, showing he spoke half jocularly; but, as his question was put in too direct a manner to escape general attention, the confused girl was obliged to answer. " I dare say Mr. Wychecombe will never reach a rank high enough to cause any such difficulty," she said; and it was said in all sincerity; for, unconsciously perhaps, she secretly hoped that no difference so wide might ever be cre- ated between the youth and herself. " If he should, I sup- THE TWO ADMIRALS. 79 pose his rights would be as good as another's, and he must keep his name." " In such a case, which is invprobable enough, as Miss Mildred has so well observed," put in Tom Wychecombe, " we should have to submit to the knighthood^ for that comes from the king, who might knight a chimney-sweep, if he see fit; but a question might be raised as to the name. It is bad enough as it is; but if it really got to be two Sir Wych- erlys, I think my dear uncle would be wrong to submit to such an invasion of what one might call his individuality, without making some inquiry as to the right of the gentle- man to one or both his names. The result might show that the king had made a Sir Something Nobody." The sneer and spite with which this was uttered were too marked to escape notice; and both Dutton and his wife felt it would be unpleasant to mingle farther in the discourse. Still the last, submissive, rebuked, and heart-broken as she was, felt a glow on her own pale cheek, as she saw the col- or mount in the face of Mildred, and she detected the strong impulses that urged the generous girl herself to answer. " We have now known Mr. Wychecombe several months," observed Mildred, fastening her full, blue eye calmly on Tom's sinister-looking face; ^' and we have never known anything to ca«se us to think he would bear a name — or names — that he does not at least think he has a right to." This was said gently, but so distinctly, that every word entered fairly into Tom Wychecombe's soul ; who threw a quick, suspicious glance at the lovely speaker, as if to ascer- tain how far she intended any allusion to himself. Meeting with no other expression than that of generous interest, he recovered his self-command, and made his reply with suffi- cient coolness. "Upon my word, Mrs. Dutton," he cried, laughing; "we young men will all of us have to get over the cliff, and hang dangling at the end of a rope, in order to awaken an interest 80 THE TWO ADMIRALS. in Miss Mildred, to defend us when our backs are turned. So eloquent — and most especially, so lovely, so charming an advocate, is almost certain of success; and my uncle and myself must admit the absent gentleman's right to our name ; though, heaven be praised, he has not yet got either the title or the estate." " I hope I have said nothing. Sir Wycherly, to displease yoii^'' returned Mildred, with emphasis; though her face was a thousand times handsomer than ever, with the blushes that suffused it. "Nothing would pain me more than to sup- pose I had done so improper a thing. I merely meant that we cannot believe Mr. Wycherly Wychecombe would will- ingly take a name he had no right to." " My little dear," said the baronet, taking the hand of the distressed girl, and kissing her cheek, as he had often done before, with fatherly tenderness ; " it is not an easy matter for you to offend me; and I'm sure the young fellow is quite welcome to both my names, if you wish him to have 'em." "And I merely meant, Miss Mildred," resumed Tom, who feared he might have gone too far, " that the young gentle- man — quite without any fault of his own — is probably igno- rant how he came by two names that have so long pertained to the head of an ancient and honorable family. There is many a young man born, who is worthy of being an earl, but whom the law considers " here Tom paused to choose terms suitable for his auditor, when the baronet added: " A Jilius fiullius — that's the phrase, Tom — I had it from. your own father's mouth." Tom Wychecombe started, and looked furtively around him, as if to ascertain who suspected the truth. Then he continued, anxious to regain the ground he feared he had lost in Mildred's favor. '"'' Filius nullius means. Miss Mildred, exactly what I wish to express; a family without any legal origin. They tell me, however, that in the colonies, nothing is more common THE TWO ADMIRALS. 8 1 than for people to take the names of the great families at home, and after a while they fancy themselves related." " I never heard Mr. Wycherly Wychecombe say a word to lead us to suppose that he was, in any manner, connected with this family, sir," returned Mildred calmly, but quite distinctly. " Did you ever hear him say he was not^ Miss Mildred?" "I cannot say I ever did, Mr. Wychecombe. It is a sub- ject that has seldom been introduced in my hearing." "But it has often been introduced in his! I declare, Sir Wycherly, it has struck me as singular that, while you and I have so very frequently stated in the presence of this gen- tleman that our families are in no way connected, he has never, in any manner, not even by a nod or a look of appro- bation, assented to what he must certainly know to be the case. But I suppose, like a true colonist, he was unwilling to give up this hold on the old stock." Here the entrance of Sir Gervaise Oakes changed the dis- course. The vice-admiral joined the party in good spirits, as is apt to be the case with men who have been much occu- pied with affairs of moment, and who meet relaxation with a consciousness of having done their duty. " If one could take with him to sea the comforts of such a house as this. Sir Wycherly, and such handsome faces as your own, young lady," cried Sir Gervaise cheerfully, after he had made his salutations; " there would be an end of our exclusiveness, for every petit maitre of Paris and London would turn sailor, as a matter of course. Six months in the Bay of Biscay gives an old fellow, like myself, a keen relish for these enjoyments, as hunger makes any meat palatable; though I am far, very far, indeed, from putting this house or this company on a level with an indifferent feast, even for an epicure." " Such as it is. Sir Gervaise, the first is quite at your ser- vice, in all things," rejoined the host; "and the last will do all in its power to make itself agreeable." 6 82 THE TWO ADMIRALS. " Ah — here comes Bluewater to echo all I have said and feel. I am telling Sir Wycherly and the ladies, of the satis- faction we grampuses experience when we get berthed under such a roof as this, with woman's sweet face to throw a gleam of happiness around her." Admiral Bluewater had already saluted the mother, but when his eye fell on the face and person of Mildred, it was riveted, for an instant, with an earnestness and intentness of surprise and admiration that all noted, though no one saw fit to comment on it. " Sir Gervaise is so established an admirer of the sex," said the rear-admiral, recovering himself, after a pause, "that I am never astonished at any of his raptures. Salt water has the usual effect on him, however ; for I have now known him longer than he might wish to be reminded of, and yet the only mistress who can keep him true is his ship." " And to that I believe I may be said to be constant. I don't know how it is with you. Sir Wycherly, but everything I am accustomed to I like. Now, here I have sailed with both these gentlemen, until I should as soon think of going to sea without a binnacle as to go to sea without 'em both — hey, Atwood? Then, as to the ship, my flag has been flying in the Plantagenet these ten years, and I can't bear to give the old craft up, though Bluewater, here, would have turned her over to an inferior after three years' service. I tell all the young men they don't stay long enough in any one vessel to find out her good qualities. I never was in a slow ship yet." " For the simple reason that you never get into a fast one, that you do not wear her fairly out, before you give her up. The Plantagenet, Sir Wycherly, is the fastest two-decker in His Majesty's service, and the vice-admiral knows it too well to let any of us get foot in her, while her timbers will hang together." "Let it be so, if you will; it only shows, Sir Wycherly, THE TWO ADMIRALS. 8$ that I do not choose my friends for their bad qualities. But, allow me to ask, young lady, if you happen to know a certain Mr. Wycherly Wychecombe — a namesake, but no relative, I understand, of our respectable host — and one who holds a commission in Plis Majesty's service?" " Certainly, Sir Gervaise," answered Mildred, dropping her eyes to the floor, and trembling, though she scarce knew why ; " Mr. Wychecombe has been about here, now, for some months and we all know something of him." '' Then, perhaps you can tell me whether he is generally a loiterer on duty. I do not inquire whether he is a lag- gard in his duty to you, but whether, mounted on a good hunter, he could get over twenty miles, in eight or ten hours, for instance?" " I think Sir Wycherly would tell you that he could, sir." " He may be a Wychecombe, Sir Wycherly, but he is no Plantagenet, in the way of sailing. Surely the young gen- tleman ought to have returned some hours since!" " It's quite surprising to me that he is not back before this," returned the kind-hearted baronet. " He is active, and understands himself, and there is not a better horseman in the county — is there. Miss Mildred?" Mildred did not think it necessary to reply to this direct appeal ; but spite of the manner in which she had been en- deavoring to school her feelings since the accident on the cliff, she could not prevent the deadly paleness that dread of some accident had produced, or the rush of color to her cheeks that followed from the unexpected question of Sir Wycherly. Turning to conceal her confusion, she met the eye of Tom Wychecombe riveted on her face, with an ex- pression so sinister that it caused her to tremble. Fortu- nately, at this moment, Sir Gervaise turned away, and, draw- ing near his friend, on the other side of the large apartment, he said in an undertone: "Luckily, Atwood has brought ashore a duplicate of my despatches, Bluewater, and, if this dilatory gentleman does 84 THE TWO ADMIRALS. not return by the time we have dined, I will send off a sec- ond courier. The intelligence is too important to be trifled with; and after having brought the fleet north, to be in readiness to serve the state in this emergency, it would be rare folly to leave the ministry in ignorance of the reasons why I have done it." " Nevertheless, they would be almost as well-informed as I am myself," returned the rear-admiral, with a little point, but quite without any bitterness of manner. " The only advantage I have over them is that I do know where the fleet is, which is more than the First Lord can boast of." " True — I had forgot, my friend — but you must feel that there is a subject on which I had better not consult you. I have received some important intelligence, that my duty, as a commander-in-chief, renders it necessary I should — keep to myself." Sir Gervaise laughed as he concluded, though he seemed vexed and embarrassed. Admiral Bluewater betrayed nei- ther chagrin, nor disappointment; but strong, nearly un- governable curiosity, a feeling from w'nch he was singularly exempt in general, glowed in his eyes, and lighted his whole countenance. Still, habitual submission to his superior, and the self-command uf discipline, enabled him to wait for anything more that his friend might communicate. At this moment, the door opened, and Wycherly entered the room, in the state in which he had just dismounted. It was necessary to throw but a single glance at his hurried man- ner, and general appearance, to know that he had something of importance to communicate, and Sir Gervaise made a sign for him not to speak. "This is public service. Sir Wycherly," said the vice- admiral, " and I hope you will excuse us for a few minutes. I beg this good company will be seated at table, as soon as dinner is served, and that you will treat us as old friends — as I should treat you, if we were on board the Plantagenet. Admiral Bluewater, will you be of our conference?" THE TWO ADMIRALS. 85 Nothing more was said until the two admirals and the young lieutenant were in the dressing-room of Sir Gervaise Oakes. Then the latter turned and addressed Wycherly, with the manner of a superior. " I should have met you with a reproof, for this delay, young gentleman," he commenced, " did I not suspect, from your appearance, that something of moment has occurred to produce it. Had the mail passed the market-town, before you reached it, sir?" "It had not. Admiral Oakes; and I have the satisfaction of knowing that your despatches are now several hours on their way to London. I reached the office just in season to see them mailed." "Humph! On board the Plantagenet it is the custom for an officer to report any important duty done, as soon as it is in a condition to be thus laid before the superior!" " I presume that is the usage in all His Majesty's ships, Sir Gervaise Oakes; but I have been taught that a proper discretion, when it does not interfere with positive orders, and sometimes when it does, is a surer sign of a useful offi- cer than even the most slavish attention to rules." "That is a just distinction, young gentleman, though safer in the hands of a captain, perhaps, than in those of a lieutenant," returned the vice-admiral, glancing at his friend, though he secretly admired the youth's spirit. " Discretion is a comparative term; meaning different things with different persons. May I presume to ask what Mr. Wycherly Wychecombe calls discretion, in the present instance?" " You have every right, sir, to know, and I only wanted your permission to tell my whole story. While waiting to see the London mail start with your despatches, and to rest my horse, a post-chaise arrived that was carrying a gentle- man, who is suspected of being a Jacobite, to his country- seat, some thirty miles further west. This gentleman held a secret conference with another person of the same way of S6 THE TWO ADMIRALS. thinking as himself; and there was so much running and sending of messages that I could not avoid suspecting something was in the wind. Going to the stable to look after Sir Wycherly's hunter, for I knew how much he values the animal, I found one of the stranger's servants in dis- course with the ostler. The latter told me, when the chaise had gone, that great tidings had reached Exeter, before the travellers quitted the town. These tidings he described as news that 'Charley was no longer over the water.* It was useless, Sir Gervaise, to question one so stupid; and, at the inn, though all observed the manner of the traveller and his visitor, no one could tell me anything positive. Under the circumstances, therefore, I threw myself into the return chaise, and went as far as Fowey, where I met the important intelligence that Prince Charles has actually landed, and is at this moment up, in Scotland!" "The Pretender is then really once more among us!" ex- claimed Sir Gervaise, like one who had half suspected the truth. " Not the Pretender, Sir Gervaise, as I understand the news; but his young son. Prince Charles Edward, one much more likely to give the kingdom trouble. The fact is cer- tain, I believe; and as it struck me that it might be impor- tant to the commander of so fine a fleet as this which lies under Wychecombe Head to know it, I lost no time in getting back with the intelligence." " You have done well, young gentleman, and have proved that discretion is quite as useful and respectable in a lieu- tenant as it can possibly prove to be in a full admiral of the white. Go, now, and make yourself fit to take a seat by the side of one of the sweetest girls in England, where I shall expect to see you, in fifteen minutes. Well, Blue- water," he continued, as soon as the door closed on Wych- erly; "this is news, of a certainty!" "It is, indeed; and I take it to be the news, or connected with the news, that you have sent to the First Lord, in the THE TWO ADMIRALS. 8/ late despatches. It has not taken you altogether by sur- prise, if the truth were said?" " It has not, I confess. You know what excellent intelli- gence we have had, the past season, from the Bordeaux agent; he sent me off such proofs of this intended expedi- tion that I thought it advisable to bring the fleet north on the strength of it, that the ships might be used as the exigency should require." " Thank God, it is a long way to Scotland, and it is not probable we can reach the coast of that country until all is over! I wish we had inquired of this young man with what sort of and how large a naval force the prince was accom- panied. Shall I send for him, that we may put the question ?" *' It is better that you remain passive, Admiral Bluewater. I now promise you that you shall learn all I hear; and that, under the circumstances, I think ought to content you." The two admirals now separated, though neither returned to the company for some little time. The intelligence they had just learned was too important to be lightly received, and each of these veteran seamen paced his room, for near a quarter of an hour, reflecting on what might be the prob- able consequences to the country and to himself. Sir Ger- vaise Oakes expected some event of this nature, and was less taken by surprise than his friend ; still he viewed the crisis as exceedingly serious, and as one likely to destroy the prosperity of the nation, as well as the peace of fam- ilies. There was then in England, as there is to-day, and as there probably will be throughout all time, two parties; one of which clung to the past with its hereditary and ex- clusive privileges, while the other looked more toward change for anticipated advantages and created honors. Religion, in that age, was made the stalking-horse of poli- ticians; as is liberty on one side, and order on the other, in our own times; and men just as blindly, as vehemently, and as regardlessly of principle, submitted to party in the mid- dle of the eighteenth century, as we know they do in the 88 THE TWO ADMIRALS. middle of the nineteenth. The mode of acting was a little changed, and the watchwords and rallying-points were not exactly the same, it is true; but, in all that relates to igno- rant confidence, ferocious denunciation, and selfishness but half concealed under the cloak of patriotism, the England of the original whigs and tories was the England of conservatism and reform, and the America of 1776 the America of 1841. Still thousands always act, in political struggles, with the fairest intentions, though they act in bitter opposition to each other. When prejudice becomes the stimulant of ignorance, no other result may be hoped for; and the experience of the world, in the management of human affairs, has left the up- right and intelligent but one conclusion as the reward of all the pains and penalties with which political revolutions have been effected — the conviction that no institutions can be in- vented, which a short working does not show will be per- verted from their original intention, by the ingenuity of those entrusted with power. In a word, the physical con- stitution of man does not more infallibly tend to decrepitude and imbecility, imperiously requiring a new being and a new existence, to fulfil the objects of his creation, than the moral constitutions which are the fruits of his wisdom con- tain the seeds of abuses and decay, that human selfishness will be as certain to cultivate as human indulgence is to aid the course of nature, in hastening the approaches of death. Thus, while on the one hand, there exists the con- stant incentive of abuses and hopes to induce us to wish for modifications of the social structure, on the other there stands the experience of ages to demonstrate their insufficiency to produce the happiness we aim at. If the world advances in civilization and humanity, it is because knowledge will pro- duce its fruits in every soil, and under every condition of cultivation and improvement. Both Sir Gervaise Oakes and Admiral Bluewater believed themselves to be purely governed by principles, in submit- ting to the bias that each felt toward the conflicting claims THE TWO ADMIRALS. 89 of the houses of Brunswick and Stuart. Perhaps no two men in England were in fact less influenced by motives that they ought to feel ashamed to own ; and yet, as has been seen, while they thought so much alike on most other things, on this they were diametrically opposed to each other. Dur- ing the many years of arduous and delicate duties that they had served together, jealousy, distrust, and discontent had been equally strangers to their bosoms, for each had ever felt the assurance that his own honor, happiness, and inter- ests were as much ruling motives with his friend as they could well be with himself. Their lives had been constant scenes of mutual but unpretending kindnesses; and this under circumstances that naturally awakened all the most generous and manly sentiments of their natures. When young men, their laughing messmates had nicknamed them Pylades and Orestes; and later in life, on account of their cruising so much in company, they were generally known in the navy as the " twin captains." On several occasions had they fought enemies' frigates, and captured them; on these occasions, as a matter of course, the senior of the two be- came most known to the nation- but Sir Gervaise had made the most generous efforts to give his junior a full share of the credit, while C ptain Bluewater never spoke of the affairs without mentioning them as victories of the commo- dore. In a word, on all occasions, and under all circum- stances, it appeared to be the aim of these generous-minded and gallant seamen to serve each other, nor was this at- tempted with any effort, or striving for effect; all that was said, or done, coming naturally and spontaneously from the heart. But, for the first time in their lives, events had now occurred which threatened a jarring of the feelings between them, if they did not lead to acts which must inevitably place them in open and declared hostility to each other. No wonder, then, that both looked at the future with gloomy forebodings, and a distrust which, if it did not render them unhappy, at least produced uneasiness. 90 THE TWO ADMIRALS. CHAPTER VI. " The circle form'd, we sit in silent state, Like figures drawn upon a dial-plate ; Yes, ma'am, and no, ma'am, uttered softly, show, Every five minutes, how the minutes go." Cowper. It is scarcely necessary to tell the reader that England, as regarded material civilization, was a very different coun- try a hundred years since, from what it is to-day. We are writing of an age of heavy wagons, coaches and six, post- chaises and four ; and not of an era of MacAdam roads, or of cars flying along by steam. A man may now post down to a country-house, some sixty or eighty miles, to dinner, and this, too, by the aid of only a pair of horses; but, in 1745 such an engagement would have required at least a start on the previous day ; and, in many parts of the island, it would have been safer to have taken two days' grace. Scotland was then farther from Devonshire, in effect, than Geneva is now; and news travelled slowly, and with the usual exaggerations and uncertainties of delay. It was no wonder, then, that a Jacobite who was posting off to his country-house — the focus of an English landlord's influence and authority — filled with intelligence that had reached him through the activity of zealous political partisan, preceded the more regular tidings of the mail by several hours. The little that had escaped this individual, or his servants rather, for the gentleman was tolerably discreet himself, confiding in only one or two particular friends at each relay, had not got out to the world, either very fully or very clearly. Wycherly had used intelligence in making his inquiries* and he had observed an officer's prudence in keeping his news for the ears of his superior alone. When Sir Gervaise joined the party in the drawing-room, therefore, he saw that Sir Wycherly knew nothing of what had occurred at the THE TWO ADMIRALS. 9I north; and he intended the glance which he directed at the lieutenant to convey a hearty approval of his discretion. This forbearance did more to raise the young officer in the opinion of the practised and thoughtful admiral than the gallantry with which the youth had so recently purchased his commission ; for, while many were brave, few hi d the self-command and prudence, under circumstances like the present, that alone can make a man safe in the management of important public interests. The approbation that Sir Gervaise felt, and which he desired to manifest, for Wych- erly's prudence, was altogether a principle, however; since there existed no sufficient reason for keeping the secret from as confirmed a whig as his host. On the contrary, the sooner those opinions, which both of them would be apt to term sound, were promulgated in the neighborhood, the better it might prove for the good cause. The vice-admiral, therefore, determined to communicate himself, as soon as the party was seated at table, the very secret which he so much commended the youth for keeping. Admiral Blue- water joining the company at this instant. Sir Wycherly led Mrs. Button to the table. No alteration had taken place among the guests, except that Sir Gervaise wore the red riband; a change in his dress that his friend considered to be openly hoisting the standard of the house of Hanover. "One would not think. Sir Wycherly," commenced the vice-admiral, glancing his eyes around him, as soon as all were seated, " that this good company has taken its place at your hospitable table, in the midst of a threatened civil war, if not of an actual revolution." Every hand was arrested, and every eye turned towards the speaker; even Admiral Bluewater earnestly regarding his friend, anxious to know what would come next. " I believe my household is in due subjection," answered Sir Wycherly, gazing to the right and left, as if he expected to see his butler heading a revolt, "and I fancy the only 92 THE TWO ADMIRALS. change we shall see to-day will be the removal of the courses and the appearance of their successors." " Ay, so says the hearty, comfortable Devonshire baronet, while seated at his own board, favored by abundance and warm friends. But it would seem the snake was only scotched; not killed." " Sir Gervaise Oakes has grown figurative, with his snakes and scotcIixYi^s^' observed the rear-admiral, a little drily. " It is Scotch-\Xig^ as you say with so much emphasis. Blue- water. I suppose, Sir Wycherly — I suppose, Mr. Button, and you, my pretty young lady — I presume all of you have heard of such a person as the Pretender; — some of you may possibly have seen him." Sir Wycherly now dropped his knife and fork, and sat gaz- ing at the speaker in amazement. To him the Christian religion, the liberties of the subject — more especially of the baronet and lord of the manor, who had four thousand a year — and the Protestant succession, all seemed to be in sudden danger. " I always told my brother, the judge — Mr. Baron Wyche- combe, who is dead and gone — that what between the French, that rogue the Pope, and the spurious offspring of King James II., we should yet see troublesome times in England! And now, sir, my predictions are verified!" " Not as to England, yet, my good sir. Of Scotland I have not quite so good news to tell you; as your namesake, here, brings us the tidings that the son of the Pretender has landed in that kingdom, and is rallying the clans. He has come unattended by any Frenchmen, it would seem, and has thrown himself altogether on the misguided nobles and followers of his house." " 'Tis, at least, a chivalrous and princely act!" exclaimed Admiral Bluewater. " Yes — inasmuch as it is a heedless and mad one. Eng- land is not to be conquered by a rabble of half-dressed Scotchmen.'^ THE TWO ADMIRALS- 93 "True; but England may be conquered by England, not- withstanding." Sir Gervaise now chose to remain silent, for never before had Bluewater come so near betraying his political bias, in the presence of third persons. This pause enabled Sir Wycherly to find his voice. " Let me see, Tom," said the baronet, " fifteen and ten are twenty-five, and ten are thirty, and ten are forty-five — it is just thirty years since the Jacobites were up before! It would seem that half a human life is not sufficient to fill the cravings of a Scotchman's maw for English gold." " Twice thirty years would hardly quell the promptings of a noble spirit, when his notions of justice showed him the way to the English throne," observed Bluewater coolly. " For my part, I like the spirit of this young prince, for he who nobly dares nobly deserves. What say you, my beau- tiful neighbor?" " If you mean to address me, sir, by that compliment," answered Mildred modestly, but with the emphasis that the gentlest of her sex are apt to use when they feel strongly, " I must be suffered to say that I hope every Englishman will dare as nobly, and deserve as well in defejice of his liberties." " Come — come, Bluewater," interrupted Sir Gervaise, with a gravity that almost amounted to reproof, " I cannot per- mit such innuendoes before one so young and unpractised. The young lady might really suppose that His Majesty's fleet was entrusted to men unworthy to enjoy his confidence, by the cool way in which you carry on the joke. I propose, now. Sir Wycherly, that we eat our dinner in peace, and say no more about this mad expedition, until the cloth is drawn, at least. It's a long road to Scotland, and there is little danger that this adventurer will find his way into Devon- shire before the nuts are placed before us." '' It would be nuts to us, if he did. Sir Gervaise," put in Tom Wycherly, laughing heartily at his own wit. "My 94 '^'HE TWO ADMIRALS. uncle would enjoy nothing more than to see the spurious sovereign on his own estate, here, and in the hands of his own tenants. I think, sir, that Wychecombe and one or two of the adjoining manors would dispose of him." " That might depend on circumstances," the admiral an- swered, a little drily. " These Scots have such a thing as a claymore, and are desperate fellows, they tell me, at a charge. The very fact of arming a soldier with a short sword shows a most bloody-minded disposition." " You forget, Sir Gervaise, that we have our Cornish hug, here in the west of England; and I will put our fellows against any Scotch regiment that ever charged an enemy." Tom laughed again at his own allusion to a proverbial mode of grappling, familiar to the adjoining county. "This is all very well, Mr. Thomas Wychecombe, so long as Devonshire is in the west of England, and Scotland lies north of the Tweed. Sir Wycherly might as well leave the matter in the hands of the Duke and his regulars, if it were only in the way of letting every man follow his own trade." " It strikes me as so singularly insolent in a base-born boy like this, pretending to the English crown, that I can barely speak of him with patience! We all know that his father was a changeling, and the son of a changeling can have no more right than the father himself. I do not re- member what the law terms such pretenders ; but I dare say it is something sufficiently odious." "//7///J- iiuUii/.s^ Thomas," said Sir Wycherly, with a little eagerness to show his learning. "That's the very phrase. I have it from the first authority; my late brother, Baron Wychecombe, giving it to me with his own mouth, on an occasion that called for an understanding of such matters. The judge was a most accurate lawyer, particularly in all that related to names; and I'll engage, if he were living at this moment, he would tell you the legal appellation of a changeling ought to h^ films nulliusy In spite of his native impudence, and an innate deter- THE TWO ADMIRALS. 95 mination to make his way in the world, without much re- gard to truth, Tom Wychecombe felt his cheek burn so much, at this innocent allusion of his reputed uncle, that he was actually obliged to turn away his face, in order to conceal his confusion. Had any moral delinquency of his own been implicated in the remark, he might have found means to steel himself against its consequences ; but, as is only too often the case, he was far more ashamed of a mis- fortune over which he had no possible control than he would have been of a crime for which he was strictly re- sponsible in morals. Sir Gervaise smiled at Sir Wycherly's knowledge of law terms, not to say of Latin; and turning good-humoredly to his friend the rear-admiral, anxious to re-establish friendly relations with him, he said with well- concealed irony: "Sir Wycherly must be right, Bluewater. A changeling is nobody — that is to say, he is not the body he pretends to be, which is substantially being nobody — and the son of nobody is clearly 2ijtlius nullius. And now having settled what may be called the law of the case, I demand a truce, until we get our nuts — for as to Mr. Thomas Wychecombe's having his nut to crack, at least to-day, I take it there are too many loyal subjects in the north." When men know each other as well as was the case with our two admirals, there are a thousand secret means of an- noyance, as well as of establishing amity. Admiral Blue- water was well aware that Sir Gervaise was greatly superior to the vulgar whig notion of the day, which believed in the fabricated tale of the Pretender's spurious birth; and the secret and ironical allusion he had made to his impression on that subject acted as oil to his own chafed spirit, dis- posing him to moderation. This had been the intention of the other; and the smiles they exchanged, sufficiently proved that their usual mental intercourse was temporarily restored at least. Deference to his guests made Sir Wycherly consent to 96 THE TWO ADMIRALS. change the subject, though he was a little mystified with the obvious reluctance of the two admirals to speak of an enter- prise that ought to be uppermost, according to his notion of the matter, in every Englishman's mind. Tom had received a rebuke that kept him silent during the rest of the dinner; while the others were content to eat and drink, as if nothing had happened. It is seldom that a party takes its seat at table without some secret manoeuvring as to the neighborhood, when the claims of rank and character do not interfere with personal wishes. Sir Wycherly had placed Sir Gervaise on his right and Mrs. Button on his left. But Admiral Bluewater had escaped from his control, and taken his seat next to Mildred, who had been placed by Tom Wychecombe close to himself, at the foot of the table. Wycherly occupied the seat oppo- site, and this compelled Button and Mr. Rotherham, the vicar, to fill the other two chairs. The good baronet had made a wry face, at seeing a rear-admiral so unworthily bestowed; but Sir Gervaise assuring him that his friend was never so happy as when in the service of beauty, he was fain to submit to the arrangement. That Admiral Bluewater was struck with Mildred's beauty, and pleased with her natural and feminine manner, one alto- gether superior to what might have been expected from her station in life, was very apparent to all at table; though it was quite impossible to mistake his parental and frank air for any other admiration than that which was suitable to the difference in years, and in unison with their respective conditions and experience. Mrs. Button, so far from taking the alarm at the rear-admiral's attentions, felt gratification in observing them; and perhaps she experienced a secret pride in the consciousness of their being so well merited. It has been said, already, that she was, herself, the daughter of a land-steward of a nobleman, in an adjoining county; but it may be well to add, here, that she had been so great a favorite with the daughters of her father's employer as to THE TWO ADMIRALS. 97 have been admitted, in a measure, to their society, and to have enjoyed some of the advantages of their education. Lady Wilmeter, the mother of the young ladies, to whom she was admitted as a sort of humble companion, had formed the opinion it might be an advantage to the girl to educate her for a governess ; little conceiving, in her own situation, that she was preparing a course of life for Martha Ray, foi such was Mrs. Button's maiden name, that was perhaps the least enviable of all the careers that a virtuous and intelli- gent female can run. This was, as education and gover- nesses were appreciated a century ago ; the world, with all its faults and sophisms, having unquestionably made a vast stride towards real civilization, and moral truths, in a thou- sand important interests, since that time. Nevertheless, the education was received, together with a good many tastes, and sentiments, and opinions, which it may well be ques- tioned whether they contributed most to the happiness or unhappiness of the pupil, in her future life. Frank Button, then a handsome, though far from polished young sea-lieu- tenant, interfered with the arrangement, by making Martha Ray his wife when she was two-and-twenty. This match was suitable, in all respects, with the important exception of the educations and characters of the parties. Still, as a woman may well be more refined, and in some things, even more intelligent than her husband; and as sailors, in the commencement of the eighteenth century, formed a class of society much more distinct than they do to-day, there would have been nothing absolutely incompatible with the future well-being of the young couple, had each pursued his or her own career in a manner suitable to their respective duties. Young Button took away his bride, with the two thousand pounds she had received from her father, and for a long time he was seen no more in his native county. After an absence of some twenty years, however, he returned, broken in con- stitution, and degraded in rank. Mrs. Button brought with her one child, the beautiful girl introduced to the reader, 7 ^ .-. gS THE TWO ADMIRALS. and to whom she was studiously imparting all she had her- self acquired in the adventitious manner mentioned. Such were the means by which Mildred, like her mother, had been educated above her condition in life ; and it had been remarked that, though Mrs. Button had probably no cause to felicitate herself on the possession of manners and senti- ments that met with so little sympathy, or appreciation, in her actual situation, she assiduously cultivated the same manners and opinions in her daughter; frequently manifest- ing a sort of sickly fastidiousness on the subject of Mil- dred's deportment and tastes. It is probable the girl owed her improvement in both, however, more to the circumstance of her being left so much alone with her mother than to any positive lessons she received; the influence of example, for years, producing its usual effects. No one in Wychecombe positively knew the history of Button's professional degradation. He had never risen higher than to be a lieutenant; and from this station he had fallen by the sentence of a court-martial. His restora- tion to the service, in the humbler and almost hopeless rank of a master, was believed to have been brought about by Mrs. Button's influence with the present Lord Wilmeter, who was the brother of her youthful companions. That the husband had wasted his means was as certain as that his habits, on the score of temperance at least, were bad, and that his wife, if not positively broken-hearted, was an un- happy woman; one to be pitied, and admired. Sir Wych- erly was little addicted to analysis, but he could not fail to discover the superiority of the wife and daughter over the husband and father; and it is due to his young namesake to add that his obvious admiration of Mildred was quite as much owing to her mind, deportment, character, and tastes, as to her exceeding personal charms. This little digression may perhaps, in the reader's eyes, excuse the interest Admiral Bluewater took in our heroine. With the indulgence of years and station, and the tact of a THE TWO ADMIRALS. 99 man of the world, he succeeded in drawing Mildred out, without alarming her timidity; and he was surprised at dis- covering the delicacy of her sentiments, and the accuracy of her knowledge. He was too conversant with society, and had too much good taste, to make any deliberate parade of opinions ; but in the quiet manner that is so easy to those who are accustomed to deal with truths and tastes as famil- iar things, he succeeded in inducing her to answer his own remarks, to sympathize with his feelings, to laugh when he laughed, and to assume a look of disapproval when he felt that disapprobation was just. To all this Wycherly was a delighted witness, and in some respects he participated in the conversation; for there was evidently no wish on the part of the rear-admiral to monopolize his beautiful com- panion to himself. Perhaps the position of the young man, directly opposite to her, aided in inducing Mildred to be- stow so many grateful looks and sweet smiles on the older officer; for she could not glance across the table without meeting the admiring gaze of Wycherly, fastened on her own blushing face. It is certain, if our heroine did not, during this repast, make a conquest of Admiral Bluewater in the ordinary meaning of the term, that she made him a friend. Sir Ger- vaise, even, was struck with the singular and devoted man- ner in which his old messmate gave all his attention to the beautiful girl at his side; and, once or twice, he caught himself conjecturing whether it were possible that one as practised, as sensible, and as much accustomed to the beau- ties of the court as Bluewater had actually been caught, by the pretty face of a country girl, when so well turned of fifty, himself! Then, discarding the notion as preposterous, he gave his attention to the discourse of Sir Wycherly; a dissertation on rabbits and rabbit-warrens. In this manner the dinner passed away. Mrs. Button asked her host's permission to retire, with her daughter, at the earliest moment permitted by propriety. lOO THE TWO ADMIRALS. In quitting the room she cast an anxious glance at the face of her husband, which was already becoming flushed with his frequent applications of port; and, spite of an effort to look smiling and cheerful, her lips quivered, and by the time she and Mildred reached the drawing-room tears were fast falling down her cheeks. No explanation was asked, or needed, by the daughter, who threw herself into her mother's arms, and for several minutes they wept together, in silence. Never had Mrs. Button spoken, even to Mil- dred, of the besetting and degrading vice of her husband; but it had been impossible to conceal its painful conse- quences from the world ; much less from one who lived in the bosom of her family. On that failing which the wife treated so tenderly, the daughter of course could not touch; but the silent communion of tears had got to be so sweet to both that, with the last year, it was of very frequent occur- rence. " Really, Mildred," said the mother at length, after hav- ing succeeded in suppressing her emotion, and in drying her eyes, while she smiled fondly in the face of the lovely and affectionate girl, "this Admiral Bluewater is get- ting to be so particular, I hardly know how to treat the matter." " Oh, mother, he is a delightful old gentleman ! and he is so gentle, while he is so frank, that he wins your confi- dence almost before you know it. I wonder if he could have been serious in what he said about the noble daring and noble deserving of Prince Edward!" " That must pass for trifling, of course ; the ministry would scarcely employ any but a true whig, in command of a fleet. I saw several of his family, when a girl, and have always heard them spoken of with esteem and respect. Lord Blue- water, this gentleman's cousin, was very intimate with the present Lord Wilmeter, and was often at the castle. I re- member to have heard that he had a disappointment in love, when quite a young man, and that he has ever since been THE TWO ADMIRALS. lOI considered a confirmed bachelor. So you will take heed, my love." "The warning was unnecessary, dear mother," returned Mildred, laughing; " I could dote on the admiral as a father, but must be excused from considering him young enough for a nearer tie." " And yet he has the much admired profession, Mildred," said the mother, smiling fondly, and yet a little archly. " I have often heard you speak of your passion for the sea." " That was formerly, mother, when I spoke as a sailor's daughter, and as girls are apt to speak, without much reflec- tion. I do not know that I think better of a seaman's pro- fession, now, than I do of any other. I fear there is often much misery in store for soldiers' and sailors' wives." Mrs. Button's lip quivered again ; but, hearing a foot at the door, she made an effort to be composed, just as Admiral Bluewater entered. " I have run away from the bottle, Mrs. Button, to join you and your fair daughter, as I would run from an enemy of twice my force," he said, giving each lady a hand, in a manner so friendly as to render the act more than gracious ; for it was kind. "Oakes is bowsing out his jib with his brother baronet, as we sailors say, and I have hauled out of the line without a signal." " I hope Sir Gervaise Oakes does not consider it neces- sary to drink more wine than is good for the mind and body," observed Mrs. Button, with a haste that she imme- diately regretted. " Not he. Gervaise Oakes is as discreet a man in all that relates to the table as an anchorite ; and yet he has a faculty of seeming to drink, that makes him a boon compan- ion for a four-bottle man. How the deuce he does it is more than I can tell you; but he does it so well that he does not more thoroughly get the better of the king's enemies on the high seas than he floors his friends under the table. Sir Wycherly has begun his libations in honor 102 THE TWO ADMIRALS. of the house of Hanover, and they will be likely to make a long sitting." Mrs. Button sighed, and walked away to a window to con- ceal the paleness of her cheeks. Admiral Bluewater, though perfectly abstemious himself, regarded license with the bot- tle after dinner, like most men of that age, as a very venial weakness, and he quietly took a seat by the side of Mildred, and began to converse. " I hope, young lady, as a sailor's child you feel an hered itary indulgence for a seaman's gossip," he said. " We, who are so much shut up in our ships, have a poverty of ideas on most subjects; and as to always talking of the winds an^i waves, that would fatigue even a poet." "As a sailor's daughter I honor my father's calling, sir; and as an English girl I venerate the brave defenders of the island. Nor do I know that seamen have less to say than other men." " I am glad to hear you confess this, for — shall I be frank with you, and take a liberty that would better become a friend of a dozen years than an acquaintance of a day? — and yet I know not why it is so, my dear child, but I feel as if I had long known you, though I am certain we never met before." " Perhaps, sir, it is an omen that we are long to know each other in future," said Mildred, with the winning confi- dence of unsuspecting and innocent girlhood. " I hope you will use no reserve." " Well, then, at the risk of making a sad blunder, I will just say that *my nephew Tom' is anything but a prepossess- ing youth; and that I hope all eyes regard him exactly as he appears to a sailor of fifty-five." " I cannot answer for more than those of a girl of nine- teen. Admiral Bluewater," said Mildred, laughing; "but for her I think I may say that she does not look on him as either an Adonis or a Crichton." " Upon my soul ! I am right glad to hear this, for the THE TWO ADMIRALS. IO3 fellow has accidental advantages enough to render him for- midable. He is the heir to the baronetcy and this estate, I believe?" "I presume he is. Sir Wycherly has no other nephew — or at least this is the eldest of three brothers, I am told — and, being childless himself, it viust be so. My father tells me Sir Wycherly speaks of Mr. Thomas Wychecombe as his future heir." "Your father! — Ay, fathers look on these matters with eyes very different from their daughters!" "There is one thing about seamen that renders them at least safe acquaintances," said Mildred, smiling; "I mean their frankness." "That is a failing of mine, as I have heard. But you will pardon an indiscretion that arises in the interest I feel in yourself. The eldest of three brothers — is the lieutenant, then, a 5'ounger son?" ^^ He does not belong to the family at all, I believe," Mil- dred answered, coloring slightly, in spite of a resolute deter- mination to appear unconcerned. " Mr. Wycherly Wyche- combe is no relative of our host, I hear; though he bears both of his names. He is from the colonies; born in Virginia." " He is a noble and a noble looking fellow ! Were I the baronet I would break the entail rather than the acres should go to that sinister-looking nephew, and bestow them on the namesake. From Virginia, and not even a relative, at all?" "That is what Mr. Thomas W^ychecombe says; and even Sir Wycherly confirms it. I have never heard Mr. Wych- erly Wychecombe speak on the subject, himself." " A weakness of poor human nature! The lad finds an honorable, ancient, and affluent family here, and has not the courage to declare his want of affinity to it; happening to bear the same name." Mildred hesitated about replying; but a generous feeling got the better of her diffidence. " I have never seen any- 104 THE TWO ADMIRALS. thing in the conduct of Mr. Wycherly Wychecombe to in- duce me to think that he feels any such weakness," she said earnestly. " He seems rather to take pride in, than to feel ashamed of, his being a colonial ; and you know we in Eng- land hardly look on the people of the colonies as our equals." " And have you, young lady, any of that overweening prejudice in favor of your own island?" " I hope not ; but I think most persons have. Mr. Wych- erly Wychecombe admits that Virginia is inferior to Eng- land in a thousand things; and yet he seems to take pride in his birthplace." " Every sentiment of this nature is to be traced to self. We know that the fact is irretrievable, and struggle to be proud of what we cannot help. The Turk will tell you he has the honor to be a native of Stamboul ; the Parisian will boast of his Faubourg; and the cockney exults in Wapping. Personal conceit lies at the bottom of all; for we fancy that places to which we belong are not places to be ashamed of." " And yet I do not think Mr. Wycherly at all remarkable for conceit. On the contrary, he is rather diffident and un- assuming." This was said simply, but so sincerely, as to induce the listener to fasten his penetrating blue eye on the speaker, who now first took the alarm, and felt that she might have said too much. At this moment the two young men entered, and a servant appeared to request that Admiral Bluewater would do Sir Gervaise Oakes the favor to join him in the dressing-room of the latter. Tom Wychecombe reported the condition of the dinner- table to be such as to render it desirable for all but three and four-bottle men to retire. Hanoverian toasts and senti- ments were in the ascendant, and there was every appear- ance that those who remained intended to make a night of it. This was sad intelligence for Mrs. Dutton, who had come forward eagerly to hear the report, but who now re- turned to the window, apparently irresolute as to the course THE TWO ADMIRALS. 10$ she ought to take. As both the young men remained near Mildred, she had sufficient opportunity to come to her decision without interruption or hindrance. CHAPTER VII. " Somewhat we will do. And look, when I am king, claim thou of me The earldom of Hereford, and all the movables Whereof the king my brother was possessed." Richard III. Rear- Admiral Bluewater found Sir Gervaise Oakes pac- ing a large dressing-room, quarter-deck fashion, with as much zeal as if just released from a long sitting, on official duty, in his own cabin. As the two officers were perfectly familiar with each other's personal habits, neither deviated from his particular mode of indulging his ease ; but the last comer quietly took his seat in a large chair, disposing of his person in a way to show he intended to consult his comfort, let what would happen. " Bluewater," commenced Sir Gervaise, " this is a very foolish affair of the Pretender's son, and can only lead to his destruction. I look upon it as altogether unfortunate." " That, as it may terminate. No man can tell what a day or an hour may bring forth. I am sure, such a rising was one of the last things / have been anticipating, down yonder in the Bay of Biscay." " I wish with all my heart we had never left it," muttered Sir Gervaise, so low that his companion did not hear him. Then he added in a louder tone, " Our duty, however, is very simple. We have only to obey orders; and it seems that the young man has no naval force to sustain him. We shall probably be sent to watch Brest, or I'Orient, or some other port. Monsieur must be kept in, let what will happen." " I rather think it would be better to let him out, our I06 THE TWO ADMIRALS. chances on the high seas being at least as good as his own. I am no friend to blockades, which strike me as an un- English mode of carrying on a war." " You are right enough, Dick, in the main," returned Sir Gervaise, laughing. " Ay, and 07i the main, Oakes. I sincerely hope the First Lord will not send a man like you, who are every way so capable of giving an account of your enemy with plenty of sea-room, on duty so scurvy as a blockade." "A man like me! ^Vhy a man like me in particular? I trust I am to have the pleasure of Admiral Bluewater's company, advice, and assistance?" " An inferior never can know. Sir Gervaise, where it may suit the pleasure of his superiors to order him." " That distinction of superior and inferior, Bluewater, will one day lead you into a confounded scrape, I fear. If you consider Charles Stuart your sovereign, it is not prob- able that orders issued by a servant of King George will be much respected. I hope you will do nothing hastily or without consulting 5'our oldest and truest friend!" "You know my sentiments, and there is little use in dwelling on them, now. So long as the quarrel was be- tween my own country and a foreign land, I have been con- tent to serve ; but when my lawful prince, or his son and heir, comes in this gallant and chivalrous manner, throwing himself, as it might be, into the very arms of his subjects, confiding all to their loyalty and spirit, it makes such an appeal to every noble feeling that the heart finds it difficult to repulse. I could have joined Norris, with right good will, in dispersing and destroying the armament that Louis XV. was sending against us in this very cause; but here everything is English, and Englishmen have the quarrel en- tirely to themselves. I do not see how as a loyal subject of my hereditary prince I can well refrain from joining his standard." "And would you^ Dick Bluewater, who, to my certain THE TWO ADMIRALS. 10/ knowledge, were sent on board ship at twelve years of age, and who, for more than forty years, have been a man-of- war's-man, body and soul; would you now strip your old hulk of the sea-blue that has so long covered and become it, rig yourself out like a soldier, with a feather in your hat, — ay, d — e, and a camp-kettle on your arm, and follow a drummer, like one of your kinsmen, Lord Bluewater's fel- lows of the guards? — for of sailors, your lawful prince, as you call him, hasn't enough to stopper his conscience, or to whip the tail of his coat, to keep it from being torn to tatters by the heather of Scotland. If you do follow the adventurer, it must be in some such character, since I question if he can muster a seaman to tell him the bearings of London from Perth." *' When I join him he will be better off." " And what could even you do alone among a parcel of Scotchmen, running about their hills under bare poles? Your signals will not manoeuvre regiments, and as for ma- noeuvring in any other manner you know nothing. No — no; stay where you are and help an old friend with knowledge that is useful to him. — I should be afraid to do a dashing thing, unless I felt the certainty of having you in my van to strike the first blow ; or in my rear to bring me off hand- somely." "You would be afraid of nothing, Gervaise Oakes, wheth- er I stood at your elbow or were off in Scotland. Fear is not your failing, though temerity may be." " Then I want your presence to keep me within the bounds of reason," said Sir Gervaise, stopping short in his walk, and looking his friend smilingly in the face. " In some mode or other I always need your aid." "I understand the meaning of your words. Sir Gervaise, and appreciate the feeling that dictates them. You must have a perfect conviction that I will do nothing hastily, and that I will betray no trust. When I turn my back on King George it will be loyalty in one sense, whatever he may I08 'THE TWO ADMIRALS. think of it in another; and when I join Prince Charles Ed- ward, it will be with a conscience that he need not be ashamed to p-robe. What names he bears! They are the designations of ancient English sovereigns, and ought of themselves to awaken the sensibilities of Englishmen." "Ay, Charles in particular," returned the vice-admiral, with something like a sneer. "There's the second Charles, for instance — St. Charles, as our good host, Sir Wycherly, might call him — he is a pattern prince for Englishmen to admire. Then his father was of the school of the Star- Chamber martyrs!" "Both were lineal descendants of the Conqueror, and of the Saxon princes; and both united the double titles to the throne in their sacred persons. I have always considered Charles II. as the victim of the rebellious conduct of his subjects rather than vicious. He was driven abroad into a most corrupt state of society, and was perverted by our wickedness. As to the father, he was the real St. Charles, and a martyred saint he was; dying for true religion as well as for his legal rights. Then the Edwards — glorious fellows! — remember that they were all but one Plantage- nets; a name, of itself, to rouse an Englishman's fire!" " And yet the only difference between the right of these very Plantagenets to the throne and that of the reigning prince is that one produced a revolution by the strong hand, and the other was produced by a revolution that came from the nation. I do not know that your Plantagenets ever did anything for a navy; the only real source of England's power and glory. D — e, Dick, if I think so much of your Plantagenets, after all!" "And yet the name of Oakes is to be met with among their bravest knights and most faithful followers." "The Oakes, like the pines, have been timbers in every ship that has floated," returned the vice-admiral, half- unconscious himself of the pun he was making. For more than a minute Sir Gervaise continued his walk. THE TWO ADMIRALS. IO9 his head a little inclined forward, like a man who wondered deeply on some matter of interest. Then, suddenly stop- ping, he turned toward his friend, whom he regarded for near another minute, ere he resumed the discourse. " I wish I could fairly get you to exercise your excellent reason on this matter, Dick," he said after the pause; " then I should be certain of having secured you on the side of liberty." Admiral Bluewater merely shook his head, but he contin- ued silent, as if he deemed discussion altogether supererog- atory. During this pause a gentle tap at the door an- nounced a visitor; and, at the request to enter, Atwood made his appearance. He held in his hand a large pack- age, which bore on the envelope the usual stamp that indi- cated it was sent on public service. "I beg pardon. Sir Gervaise," commenced the secretary, who always proceeded at once to business, when business was to be done; "but His Majesty's service will not admit of delay. This packet has just come to hand, by the arrival of an express, which left the admiralty only yesterday noon." " And how the devil did he know where to find me!" ex- claimed the vice-admiral, holding out a hand to receive the communication. " It is all owing to this young lieutenant's forethought in following up the Jacobite intelligence to a market-town. The courier was bound to Falmouth, as fast as post-horses could carry him, when he heard luckily that the fleet lay at anchor under Wychecombe Head; and, quite as luckily, he is an officer who had the intelligence to know that you would sooner get the despatches, if he turned aside, and came hither by land, than if he went on to Falmouth, got aboard the sloop that was to sail with him for the Bay of Biscay, and came round here by water." Sir Gervaise smiled at this sally, which was one in keep- ing with all Atwood's feelings; for the secretary had ma- tured a system of expresses, which, to his great mortification, no THE TWO ADMIRALS. his patron laughed at, and the admiralty entirely overlooked. No time was lost, however, in the way of business; the secretary having placed the candles on a table, where Sir Gervaise took a chair, and had already broken a seal. The process of reading, nevertheless, was suddenly interrupted by the vice-admiral's looking up, and exclaiming: "Why, you are not about to leave us, Bluewater?" "You may have private business with Mr. Atwood, Sir Gervaise, and perhaps I had better retire." Now, it so happened that while Sir Gervaise Oakes had never, by look or syllable, as he confidently believed, be- trayed the secret of his friend's Jacobite propensities, At- wood was perfectly aware ^f their existence. Nor had the latter obtained his knowledge by any unworthy means. He had been neither an eavesdropper, nor an inquirer into pri- vate communications, as so often happens around the per- sons of men in high trusts; all his knowledge having been obtained through native sagacity and unavoidable opportu- nities. On the present occasion, the secretary, with the tact of a man of experience, felt that his presence might be dis- pensed with; and he cut short the discussion between the two admirals, by a very timely remark of his own. " I have left the letters uncopied, Sir Gervaise," he said, "and will go and finish them. A message by Locker" — ■ this was Sir Gervaise's body-servant — "will bring me back at a moment's notice, should you need me again to-night." "That Atwood has a surprising instinct, for a Scotch- man!" exclaimed the vice-admiral, as soon as the door was closed on the secretary. " He not only knows when he t's wanted, but when he is nof wanted. The last is an extraor- dinary attainment for one of his nation." "And one that an Englishman may do well to emulate," returned Bluewater. " It is possible my company may be dispensed with also, just at this important moment." " You are not so much afraid of the Hanoverians, Dick, as to run away from their handwriting, are ye ? Ha — what's THE TWO ADMIRALS. Ill this? — As I live, a packet for yourself, and directed to *Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bluewater, K.B.' By the Lord, my old boy, they've given you the red riband at last! This is an honor well earned, and which may be fitly worn." " 'Tis rather unexpected, I must own. The letter, how- ever, cannot be addressed to me, as I am not a Knight of the Bath." " This is rank nonsense. Open the packet at once, or I will do it for you. Are there two Dick Bluewaters in the world, or another rear-admiral of the same name?" " I would rather not receive a letter that does not strictly bear my address," returned the other coldly. "As I'll be sworn this does. But hand it to me, since you are so scrupulous, and I will do that small service for you." As this was said, Sir Gervaise tore aside the seals; and, as he proceeded rather summarily, a red riband was soon uncased and fell upon the carpet. The other usual insignia of the Bath made their appearance, and a letter was found among them, to explain the meaning of all. Everything was in due form, and went to acquaint Rear- Admiral Blue- water that His Majesty had been graciously pleased to con- fer on him one of the vacant red ribands of the day, as a reward for his eminent services on different occasions. There was even a short communication from the premier, expressing the great satisfaction of the ministry in thus being able to second the royal pleasure with hearty good will." "Well, what do you think of that, Richard Bluewater?" asked Sir Gervaise triumphantly. " Did I not always tell you that sooner or later it must come?" "It has come too late, then," coldly returned the other, laying the riband, jewels, and letters, quietly on the table. "This is an honor, I can receive, now^ only from my right- ful prince. None other can legally create a knight of the Bath." 112 THE TWO ADMIRALS. "And pray, Mr. Richard Bluewater, who made you a cap- tain, a commander, a rear-admiral? Do you believe me an impostor, because I wear this riband on authority no better than that of the house of Hanover? Am I, or am I not, in your judgment, a vice-admiral of the red?" " I make a great distinction, Oakes, between rank in the navy and a mere personal dignity. In the one case you serve your country, and give quite as much as you receive ; whereas, in the other, it is a grace to confer consideration on the person honored, without such an equivalent as can find an apology for accepting a rank illegally conferred." " The devil take your distinctions, which would unsettle everything, and render the service a Babel. If I am a vice- admiral of the red, I am a knight of the Bath; and, if you are a rear-admiral of the white, you are also a knight of that honorable order. All comes from the same source of authority and the same fountain of honor." " I do not view it thus. Our commissions are from the admiralty, which represents the country; but dignities come from the prince who happens to reign, let his title be what it may." " Do you happen to think Richard III. a usurper, or a lawful prince?" " A usurper, out of all question ; and a murderer to boot. His name should be struck from the list of English kings. I never hear it, without execrating him and his deeds." " Pooh — pooh, Dick, this is talking more like a poet than a seaman. If only one-half the sovereigns who deserve to be execrated had their names erased, the list of even our English kings would be rather short; and some countries would be without historical kings at all. However much Richard III. may deserve cashiering in this summary man- ner, his peers and laws are just as good as any other prince's peers and laws. Witness the Duke of Norfolk, for in- stance." " Ay, that cannot be helped by me ; but it is in my power THE TWO ADMIRALS. II3 to prevent Richard Bluewater's being made a knight of the Bath, by George II. ; and the power shall be used." " It would seem not, as he is already created; and, I dare to say, gazetted." " The oaths are not yet taken, and it is, at least, an Eng- lishman's birthright to decline an honor; if, indeed, this can be esteemed an honor, at all." "Upon my word. Rear- Admiral Sir Richard Bluewater, you are disposed to be complimentary, to-night! The unworthy knight present, and all the rest of the order, are infinitely indebted to you!" "Your case and mine, Oakes, are essentially different," returned the other, with some emotion in his voice and man- ner. " Your riband was fairly won, fighting the battles of England, and can be worn with credit to yourself and to your country ; but these baubles are sent to me at a moment when a rising was foreseen, and as a sop to keep me in good humor, as well as to propitiate the whole Bluewater interest." "That is pure conjecture, and I dare say will prove to be altogether a mistake. Here are the despatches to speak for themselves; and, as it is scarcely possible that the ministry should have known of this rash movement of the Pretender's son more than a few days, my life on it, the dates will show that your riband was bestowed before the enterprise was even suspected." As Sir Gervaise commenced with his constitutional ardor to turn over the letters as soon as his mind was directed to this particular object. Admiral Bluewater resumed his seat, awaiting the result, with not a little curiosity; though, at the same time, with a smile of incredulity. The examina- tion disappointed Sir Gervaise Oakes. The dates proved that the ministers were better informed than he had sup- posed ; for it appeared they had been apprised about the time he was himself of the intended movement. His orders were to bring the fleet north, and in substance to do the very thing his own sagacity had dictated. So far everything was 8 114 THE TWO ADMIRALS. well ; and he could not entertain a doubt about receiving the hearty approbation of his superiors for the course he had taken. But here his gratification ended; for, on looking at the dates of the different communications it was evident that the red riband was bestowed after the intelligence of the Pretender's movement had reached London. A private let- ter from a friend at the Board ^f Admiralty, too, spoke of his own probable promotion to the rank of admiral of the blue; and mentioned several other similar preferments in a way to show that the government was fortifying itself in the present crisis as much as possible, by favors. This was a politic mode of procedure, with ordinary men, it is true; but with officers of the elevation of mind and of the indepen- dence of character of our two admirals, it was most likely to produce disgust. " D — n 'em, Dick," cried Sir Gervaise, as he threw down the last letter of the package, with no little sign of feeling, "you might take St. Paul, or even Wychecombe's dead brother, St. James the Less, and put him at court, and he would come out a thorough blackguard in a week!" "That is not the common opinion concerning a court edu- cation," quietly replied the friend; "most people fancying that the place gives refinement of manners if not of senti- ment." " Poh — poh — you and I have no need of a dictionary to understand each other. I call a man who never trusts to a generous motive — who thinks it always necessary to bribe or cajole — who has no idea of anything's being done with- out its direct quid pro quo^ a scurvy blackguard, though he has the airs and graces of Phil Stanhope, or Chesterfield, as he is now. What do you think those chaps at the Board talk of doing by way of clinching my loyalty at this blessed juncture?" " No doubt to get you raised to the peerage. I see noth- ing so much out of the way in the thing. You are of one of the oldest families of England, and the sixth baronet by THE TWO ADMIRALS. II5 inheritance, and have a noble landed estate, which is none the worse for prize-money. Sir Gervaise Oakes of Bowl- dero would make a very suitable Lord Bowldero." "If it were only that, I shouldn't mind it; for nothing is easier than to refuse a peerage. I've done that twice already, and can do it a third time, at need. But one can't very well refuse promotion in his regular profession ; and, here, just as a true gentleman would depend on the princi- ples of an officer, the hackneyed consciences of your cour- tiers have suggested the expediency of making Gervaise Oakes an admiral of the blue, by way of sop! — me, who was made vice-admiral of the red only six months since, and who take an honest pride in boasting that every commission, from the lowest to the highest, has been fairly earned in battle!" "They think it a more delicate service, perhaps, for a gentleman to be true to the reigning house, when so loud an appeal is made to his natural loyalty ; and therefore class the self-conquest with a victory at sea!" "They are so many court-lubbers, and I should like to have an opportunity of speaking my mind to them. I'll not take the new commission ; for every one must see, Dick, that it is a sop." " Ay, that's just my notion, too, about the red riband; and I'll not take that. You have had the riband these ten years, have declined the peerage twice, and their only chance is the promotion. Take it you ought, and must, however, as it will be the means of pushing on some four or five poor devils, who have been wedged up to honors in this manner, ever since they were captains. I am glad they do not talk of promoting me, for I should hardly know how to refuse such a grace. There is great virtue in parchment, with all us military men." " Still it must be parchment fairly won. I think you are wrong, notwithstanding, Bluewater, in talking of refusing the riband, which is so justly your due, for a dozen differ- Il6 THE TWO ADMIRALS. ent acts. There is not a man in the service who has been less rewarded for what he has done than yourself." " I am sorry to hear you give this as your opinion ; for just at this moment I would rather think that I have no cause of complaint in this way against the reigning family or its ministers. I'm sure I was posted when quite a young man, and since that time no one has been lifted over my head." The vice-admiral looked intently at his friend; for never before had he detected a feeling which betrayed, as he fan- cied, so settled a determination in him to quit the service of the powers that were. Acquainted from boyhood with all the workings of the other'.** mind, he perceived that the rear-admiral had been endeavoring to persuade himself that no selfish or unworthy motive could be assigned to an act which he f It to proceed from disinterested chivalry, just as he himself broke out with his expression of an opinion that no officer had been less liberally rewarded for his profes- sional services than his friend. While there is no greater mystery to a selfish manager than a man of disinterested temperament, they who feel and submit to generous im- pulses understand each other with an instinctive facility. When any particular individual is prone to believe that there is a predominance f good over evil in the w^orld he inhabits, it is a sign of inexperience, or of imbecility; but when one acts and reasons as if all honor and virtue are ex- tinct, he furnishes the best possible argument against his own tendencies and character. It has often been remarked that stronger friendships are made between those who have different personal peculiarities, than between those whose sameness of feeling and impulses would be less likely to keep interest alive; but, in all cases of intimacies, there must be great identity of principles, and even of tastes in matters at all connected with motives, in order to ensure respect among those whose standard of opinion is higher than common, or sympathy among those with whom it is THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 17 lower. Such was the fact, as respected Admirals Oakes and Bluewater. No two men could be less alike in temperament or character, physically, and, in some senses, morally con- sidered; but, when it came to principles, or all those tastes or feelings that are allied to principles, there was a strong native as well as acquired affinity. This union of senti- ment was increased by common habits, and professional careers so long and so closely united as to be almost iden- tical. Nothing was easier, consequently, than for Sir Ger- vaise Oakes to comprehend the workings of Admiral Blue- water's mind, as the latter endeavored to believe he had been fairly treated by the existing government. Of course, the reasoning which passed through the thoughts of Sir Ger- vaise, on this occasion, required much less time than we have taken to explain its nature; and, after regarding his friend intently, as already related for a few seconds, he an- swered as follows, a good deal influenced, unwittingly to himself, with the wish to check the other's Jacobite propen- sities: " I am sorry not to be able to agree with you, Dick," he said, with some warmth. " So far from thinking you well treated by any ministry, these twenty years, I think you have been very /// treated. Your rank you have, beyond a question ; for of that no brave officer can well be deprived in a regulated service ; but, have you had the commands to which you are entitled? — I was a commander-in-chief when only a rear-admiral of the blue ; and then how long did I wear a broad pennant, before I got a flag at all!" " You forget how much I have been with you. When two serve together, one must command and the other must obey. So far from complaining of these Hanoverian Boards and First Lords, it seems to me that they have always kept in view the hoUowness of their claims to the throne, and have felt a desire to purchase honest men by their favors." "You are the strangest fellow, Dick Bluewater, it has ever been my lot to fall in with! D — me, if I believe Il8 THE TWO ADMIRALS. you know always when you are ill treated. There are a dozen men in service who have had separate commands, and who are not half as well entitled to them as you are yourself." " Come, come, Oakes, this is getting to be puerile, for two old fellows, turned of fifty. You well know that I was offered just as good a fleet as this of your own, with a choice of the whole list of flag-officers below me, to pick a junior from; and so we'll say no more about it. As respects their red riband, however, it may go a-begging for me." Sir Gervaise was about to answer in his former vein, when a tap at the door announced the presence of another visitor. This time the door opened on the person of Galleygo, who had been included in Sir Wycherly's hospitable plan of entertaining every soul who immediately belonged to the suite of Sir Gervaise. "What the d — 1 has brought >'^// here!" exclaimed the vice-admiral, a little warmly; for he did not relish an inter- ruption just at this moment. "Recollect you're not on board the Plantagenet, but in the dwelling of a gentleman, where there are both butler and housekeeper, and who have no occasion for your advice, or authority, to keep things in order." " Well, there, Sir Gervaise, I doesn't agree with you the least bit; for I thinks as a ship's steward — I mean a cabin steward, and a good 'un of the quality — might do a great deal of improvement in this very house. The cook and I has had a partic'lar dialogue on them matters already ; and I mentioned to her the names of seven different dishes, every one of which she quite as good as admitted to me was just the same as so much gospel to //^r." "I shall have to quarantine this fellow in the long run, Bluewater! I do believe if I were to take him to Lambeth Palace, or even to St. James', he'd thrust his oar into the archbishop's benedictions, or the queen's caudle-cup!" " Well, Sir Gervaise, where would be the great harm if I THE TWO ADMIRALS. II9 did ? A man as knows the use of an oar may be trusted with one, even in a church or an abbey. When your honor comes to hear what the dishes was, as Sir Wycherly's cook had never heard on, you'll think it as great a cur'osity as I do myself. If I had just leave to name 'em over, I think as both you gentlemen would look at it as remarkable." "What are they, Galleygo?" inquired Bluewater, putting one of his long legs over an arm of the adjoining chair, in order to indulge himself in a yarn with his friend's steward, with greater freedom ; for he greatly delighted in Galleygo's peculiarities, seeing just enough of the fellow to find amuse- ment without annoyance in them. " I'll answer for Sir Gervaise, who is always a little diffident about boasting of the superiority of a ship over a house." " Yes, your honor, that he is — that is just one of Sir Jarvy's weak p'ints, as a body might say. Now, I never goes ashore, without trimming sharp up and luffing athwart every person's hawse I fall in with ; which is as much as to tell 'em belongs to a flag-ship, and a racer, and a craft as hasn't her equal on salt-water; no disparagement to the bit of bunting at the mizzen-topgallant masthead of the Caesar, or to the ship that carries it. I hopes as we are so well acquainted, Admiral Bluewater, no offence will be taken." " Where none is meant, none ought to be taken, my friend. Now let us hear your bill-of-fare." " Well, sir, the very first dish I mentioned to Mrs. Larder, Sir Wycherly's cook, was lobscous ; and, would you believe it, gentlemen, the poor woman had never heard of it! I be- gan with a light hand, as it might be, just not to overwhelm her with knowledge, at a blow, as Sir Jarvy captivated the French frigate with the upper tier of guns, that he might take her alive, like." " And the lady knew nothing of a lobscous — neither of its essence, nor nature?" " There's no essences as is ever put in a lobscous, besides potaties, Admiral Bluewater; thof we make 'em in the old I20 THE TWO ADMIRALS. Planter" — nautice for Plantagenet — " in so liquorish a fash- ion, you might well think they even had Jamaiky in 'em. No, potaties is the essence of lobscous ; and a very good thing is a potatie, Sir Jarvy, when a ship's company has been on salted oakum for a few months." " Well, what was the next dish the good woman broke down under?" asked the rear-admiral, fearful the master might order the servant to quit the room; while he himself was anxious to get rid of any further political discussion. " Well, sir, she knowed no more of a chowder than if the sea weren't in the neighborhood, and there weren't such a thing as a fish in all England. When I talked to her of a chowder, she gave in, like a Spaniard at the fourth or fifth broadside." "Such ignorance is disgraceful, and betokens a decline in civilization ! But you hoisted out more knowledge for her benefit, Galleygo — small doses of learning are poor things." " Yes, your honor ; just like weak grog — burning the prim- ing, without starting the shot. To be sure I did. Admiral Blue. I just named to her burgoo, and then I mentioned duff" — {angUce dough) — ''to her, but she denied that there was any such things in the cookery-book. Do you know, Sir Jarvy, as these here shore-craft get their dinners as our master gets the sun ; all out of a book as it might be. Aw- ful tidings, too, gentlemen, about the Pretender's son ; and I s'pose we shall have to take the fleet up into Scotland, as I fancy them 'ere sogers will not make much of a hand in settling law?" " And have you honored us with a visit, just to give us an essay on dishes, and to tell us what you intend to do with the fleet?" demanded Sir Gervaise, a little more sternly than he was accustomed to speak to the steward. " Lord bless you, Sir Jarvy, I didn't dream of one or t'other. As for telling you, or Admiral Blue" — (so the sea- men used to call the second in rank) — " here, anything about THE TWO ADMIRALS. 121 lobscous, or chowder, why, it would be carrying coals to New Market. I've fed ye both with all such articles when ye was nothing but young gentlemen ; and when you was no longer young gentlemen, too, but a couple of sprightly luffs of nineteen. And as for moving the fleet, I know well enough that will never happen, without our talking it over in the old Planter's cabin; which is a much more nat'ral place for such a discourse than any house in Eng- land!" " May I take the liberty of inquiring, then, what did bring you here.-*" "That you may, with all my heart. Sir Jarvy, for I likes to answer your questions. My errand is not to your honor this time, though you are my master. It's no great matter, after all, being just to hand this bit of a letter over to Ad- miral Blue." " And where did this letter come from, and how did it happen to fall into your hands?" demanded Bluewater, look- ing at the superscription, the writing of which he appeared to recognize. " It hails from Lun'nun, I hear; and they tell me it's to be a great secret that you've got it at all. The history of the matter is just this. An officer got in to-night, with orders for us, carrying sail as hard as his shay would bear. It seems he fell in with Master Atwood, as he made his land- fall, and, being acquainted with that gentleman, he just whipped out his orders, and sent 'em off to the right man. Then he laid his course for the landing, wishing to get aboard of the Dublin, to which he is ordered; but falling in with our barge, as I landed, he wanted to know the where- away of Admiral Blue here; believing him to be afloat. Some 'un telling him as I was a friend and servant of both admirals, as it might be, he turned himself over to me for advice. So I promised to deliver the letter, as I had a thousand afore, and knowed the way of doing such things ; and he gives me the letter, under special orders, like; that 122 THE TWO ADMIRALS. is to say, it was to be handed to the rear-admiral as it might be under the lee of the mizzen-staysail, or in a private fash- ion. Well, gentlemen, you both knows I understand that, too, and so I undertook the job." " And I have got to be so insignificant a person that I pass for no one, in your discriminating mind. Master Gal- leygo!" exclaimed the vice-admiral, sharply. "I have sus- pected as much, these five-and-twenty years." " Lord bless you, Sir Jarvy, how flag-officers will make mistakes sometimes ! They're mortal, I says to the people of the galley, and have their appetites false, just like the young gentlemen, when they get athwart-hawse of a body, I says. Now, I count Admiral Blue and yourself pretty much as one man, seeing that you keep few or no secrets from each other. I know'd ye both as young gentlemen, and then you loved one another like twins; and then I know'd ye as luffs, when ye'd walk the deck the whole watch, spinning yarns; and then I know'd ye as Pillardees and Arrestee, though one pillow might have answered for both; and as for Arrest, I never know'd either of ye to get into that scrape. As for telling a secret to one, I've always looked upon it as pretty much telling it to t'other." The two admirals exchanged glances, and the look of kindness that each met in the eyes of his friend removed every shadow that had been cast athwart their feelings by the previous discourse. "That will do, Galleygo," returned Sir Gervaise mildly. "You're a good fellow in the main, though a villanously rough one " "A little of old Boreus, Sir Jarvy," interrupted the stew- ard, with a grim smile; " but it blows harder at sea than it does ashore. These chaps on land ar'n't battened down and caulked for such weather as we sons of Neptun' is ob- ligated to face." " Quite true, and so good-night. Admiral Bluewater and myself wish to confer together for half an hour; all that it THE TWO ADMIRALS. 123 is proper for you to know shall be communicated another time." " Good-night, and God bless your honor. Good-night, Admiral Blue: we three is the men as can keep any secret as ever floated, let it draw as much water as it pleases." Sir Gervaise Oakes stopped in his walk, and gazed at his friend with manifest interest, as he perceived that Admiral Bluewater was running over his letter for the third time. Being now without a witness, he did not hesitate to express his apprehensions. " 'Tis as I feared, Dick!" he cried. " That letter is from some prominent partisan of Edward Stuart.-*" The rear-admiral turned his eyes on the face of his friend, with an expression that was difficult to read ; and then he ran over the contents of the epistle for the fourth time. "A set of precious rascals they are, Gervaise!" at length the rear-admiral exclaimed. " If the whole court was culled, I question if enough honesty could be found to leaven one puritan scoundrel. Tell me if you know this hand, Oakes? I question if you ever saw it before." The superscription of the letter was held out to Sir Ger- vaise, who, after a close examination, declared himself unacquainted with the writing. " I thought as much," resumed Bluewater, carefully tear- ing the signature from the bottom of the page, and burning it in a candle; " let this disgraceful part of the secret die at least. The fellow who wrote this has put *confidentiar at the top of his miserable scrawl; and a most confident scoundrel he is for his pains. However, no man has a right to thrust himself in this rude manner between me and my oldest friend; and least of all will I consent to keep this piece of treachery from your knowledge, I do more than the rascal merits in concealing his name; nevertheless, I shall not deny myself the pleasure of sending him such an answer as he deserves. Read that, Oakes, and then say if keel-hauling would be too good for the writer." 124 THE TWO ADMIRALS. Sir Gervaise took the letter in silence, though not without great surprise, and began to peruse it. As he proceeded, the color mounted to his temples, and once he dropped his hand, to cast a look of wonder and indignation toward his companion. That the reader may see how much occasion there was for both these feelings, we shall give the com- munication entire. It was couched in the following words: " Dear Admiral Bluewater : " Our ancient friendship, and, I am proud to add, affinity of blood, unite in inducing me to write a line, at this inter- esting moment. Of the result of this rash experiment of the Pretender's son, no prudent man can entertain a doubt. Still the boy may give us some trouble before he is disposed of altogether. We look to all our friends, therefore, for their most efficient exertions and most prudent co-operation. On yo/i every reliance is placed; and I wish I could say as much for every flag-officer afloat. Some distrust — unmerited, I sincerely hope — exists in a very high quarter, touching the loyalty of a certain commander-in-chief, who is so com- pletely under your observation that it is felt enough is done in hinting the fact to one of your political tendencies. The king said this morning, 'Veil, dere isht Bluevater; of him we are shure asht of ter sun.' You stand excellently well there^ to my great delight; and I need only say be watchful and prompt. " Yours, with the most sincere faith and attachment, my dear Bluewater, &c., &c. *' Rear- Admiral Bluewater. "P.S. — I have just heard that they have sent you the red riband. The king himself was in this." When Sir Gervaise had perused this precious epistle to himself, he read it slowly, and in a steady, clear voice, aloud. When he had ended he dropped the paper, and stood gazing at his friend. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 125 "One would think the fellow some exquisite satirist," said Bluewater, laughing. " / am to be vigilant, and see that you do not mutiny, and run away with the fleet to the Highlands, one of these foggy mornings! Carry it up into Scotland, as Galleygo has it! Now, what is your opinion of that letter?" •'That all courtiers are knaves and all princes ungrateful. 'I should think my loyalty to the good cause^ if not to the ina?i^ the last in England to be suspected." " Nor is it suspected in the smallest degree. My life on it, neither the reigning monarch nor his confidential servants are such arrant dunces as to be guilty of so much weakness. No, this masterly move is intended to secure me by creating a confidence that they think no generous-minded man would betray. It is a hook, delicately baited to catch a gudgeon, and not an order to watch a whale." " Can the scoundrels be so mean — nay, dare they be so bold! They must have known you would show me the letter." " Not they — they have reasoned on my course as they would on their own. Nothing catches a weak man sooner than a pretended confidence of this nature ; and I dare say this blackguard rates me just high enough to fancy I may be duped in this flimsy manner. Put your mind at rest; King George knows he may confide in you^ while I think it prob- able /am distrusted." " I hope, Dick, you do not suspect my discretion ! My own secret would not be half so sacred to me." " I know that, full well. Of you I entertain no distrust, either in heart or head ; of myself, I am not quite so certain. When we feel^ we do not always reason ; and there is as much feeling as anything else in this matter." "Not a line is there in all my despatches that go to be- tray the slightest distrust of me or any one else. You are spoken of, but it is in a manner to gratify you rather than to alarm. Take, and read them allj I intended to show 126 THE TWO ADMIRALS. them to you as soon as we had got through with that cursed discussion." As Sir Gervaise concluded, he threw the whole package of letters on the table, before his friend. "It will be time enough when you summon me regularly to a council of war," returned Bluewater, laying the letters gently aside. " Perhaps we had better sleep on this affair; in the morning we shall meet with cooler heads, and just as warm hearts." " Good-night, Dick," said Sir Gervaise, holding out both hands for the other to shake as he passed him in quitting the room. "Good-night, Gervaise; let this miserable devil go over- board, and think no more of him. I have half a mind to ask you for a leave to-morrow, just to run up to London, and cut off his ears." Sir Gervaise laughed and nodded his head, and the two friends parted, with feelings as kind as ever had distin- guished their remarkable career. :hapter VIII. " Look to't, think on't, I do not use to jest. Thursday is near ; lay hand on heart, advise ; An' you be mine, I'll give you to my friend ; An' you be not, hang, beg, starve, die i' the streets." Romeo and Juliet. WvcHECOMBE Hall had most of the peculiarities of a bach- elor's dwelling in its internal government; nor was it in any manner behind, or, it might be better say, before the age in its modes and customs connected with jollifications. When its master relaxed a little, the servants quite uniformly imi- tated his example. Sir Wycherly kept a plentiful table, and the servants' hall fared nearly as well as the dining-room; the single article of wine excepted. In lieu of the latter, THE TWO ADMIRALS. 12/ however, was an unlimited allowance of double-brewed ale; and the difference in the potations was far more in the name than in the quality of the beverages. The master drank port; for in the middle of the last century few Englishmen had better wine — and port, too, that was by no means of a very remarkable delicacy, but which, like those who used it, was rough, honest, and strong; while the servant had his malt liquor of the very highest stamp and flavor. Between indifferent wine and excellent ale the distance is not inter- minable; and Sir Wycherly's household was well aware of the fact, having frequently instituted intelligent practical comparisons, by means of which all but the butler and Mrs. Larder had come to the conclusion to stand by the home- brewed. On the present occasion not a soul in the house was igno- rant of the reason why the baronet was making a night of it. Every man, woman, and child in or about the Hall was a devoted partisan of the house of Hanover; and as soon as it was understood that this feeling was to be manifested by drinking " Success to King George, and God bless him," on the one side, and " Confusion to the Pretender and his mad son," on the other, all under the roof entered into the duty with a zeal that might have seated a usurper on a throne, if potations could do it. When Admiral Bluewater, therefore, left the chamber of his friend, the signs of mirth and of a regular debauch were so very obvious that a little curiosity to watch the result and a disinclination to go off to his ship so soon united to induce him to descend into the rooms below, with a view to get a more accurate knowledge of the condition of the house- hold. In crossing the great hall to enter the drawing-room, he encountered Galleygo, when the following discourse took place. " I should think the master-at-arms has not done his duty, and dowsed the glim below, Master Steward," said the rear- admiral, in his quiet way, as they met; "the laughing and 128 THE TWO ADMIRALS. singing and hiccupping are all upon a very liberal scale for a respectable country-house." Galleygo touched the lock of hair on his forehead with one hand, and gave his trousers a slew with the other, be- fore he answered ; which he soon did, however, though with a voice a little thicker than was usual with him, on account of his having added a draught or two to those he had taken previously to visiting Sir Gervaise's dressing-room; and which said additional draught or two had produced some such effect on his system as the fresh drop produces on the cup that is already full. "That's just it, Admiral Blue," returned the steward, in passing good-humor, though still sober enough to maintain the decencies after his own fashion; "that's just it, your honor. They've passed the word below to let the lights stand for further orders, and have turned the hands up for a frolic. Such ale as they has, stowed in the lower hold of this house, like leaguers in the ground-tier, it does a body's heart good to conter'plate. All hands is bowsing out their jibs on it, sir, and the old Hall will soon be carrying as much siiail as she can stagger under. It's nothing but loose away and sheet-home." " Ay, ay, Galleygo, this may be well enough for the peo- ple of the household, if Sir Wycherly allows it; but it ill becomes the servants of guests to fall into this disorder. If I find Tom has done anything amiss, he will hear more of it; and as your own master is not here to admonish you, I'll just take the liberty of doing it for him, since I know it would mortify him exceedingly to learn that his steward had done anything to disgrace himself." "Lord bless your dear soul. Admiral Blue, take just as many liberties as you think fit, and I'll never pocket one on *em. I know'd you, when you was only a young gentleman, and now you're a rear. You're close on our heels; and by the time we are a full admiral, you'll be something like a vice. I looks upon you as bone of our bone, and flesh of THE TWO ADMIRALS. 129 our flesh — Pillardees and Arrestees — and I no more minds a setting-down from your honor than I does from Sir Jarvy hisself." "I believe that is true enough, Galleygo; but take my advice, and knock off with the ale for to-night. Can you tell me how the land lies, with the rest of the company?" *' You couldn't have asked a better person, your honor, as I've just been passing through all the rooms, from a sort of habit I has, sir; for, d'ye see, I thought I was in the old Planter, and that it was my duty to overlook everything as usual. The last pull at the ale put that notion in my head; but it's gone now, and I see how matters is. Yes, sir, the mainmast of a church isn't stiffer and more correct- like than my judgment is at this blessed moment. Sir Wycherly guv' me a glass of his black-strap as I ran through the dining- room, and told me to drink * Confusion to the Pretender,' which I did with hearty good-will; but his liquor will no more lay alongside of the ale they've down on the orlop than a Frenchman will compare with an Englishman. What's your opinion. Admiral Blue, consarning this cruise of the Pretender's son up in the Highlands of Scot- land?" Bluewater gave a quick, distrustful glance at the steward, for he knew that the fellow was half his time in the outer cabin and pantries of the Plantagenet, and he could not tell how much of his many private dialogues with Sir Gervaise might have been overheard. Meeting with nothing but the unmeaning expression of one half-seas-over, his uneasiness instantly subsided. " I think it a gallant enterprise, Galleygo," he answered, too manly even to feign what he did not believe; "but I fear as a cruise it will not bring much prize-money. You have forgotten you were about to tell me how the land lies. Sir Wycherly, Mr. Button, Mr. Rotherham are still at the table, I fancy — are these all? What have become of the two young gentlemen?'* 9 I30 THE TWO ADMIRALS. "There's none ashore, sir," said Galleygo promptly, accustomed to give that appellation only to midshipmen. " I mean the two Mr. Wychecombes ; one of whom, I had forgot, is actually an officer." " Yes, sir, and a most partic'lar fine officer he is, as every- body says. Well, sir, he's with the ladies; while his name- sake has gone back to the table, and has put luff upon luff, to fetch up leeway." " And the ladies — what have they done with themselves, in this scene of noisy revelry?" "They'se in yonder stateroom, your honor. As soon as they found how the ship was heading, like all women-craft, they both makes for the best harbor they could run into. Yes, they'se yonder." As Galleygo pointed to the door of the room he meant, Bluewater proceeded towards it, parting with the steward after a few more words of customary but very useless caution. The tap of the admiral was answered by Wycherly in person, who opened the door, and made way for his superior to enter, with a respectful obeisance. There was but a single candle in the little parlor, in which the two females had taken refuge from the increasing noise of the debauch; and this was due to a pious expedient of Mildred's, in extin- guishing the others, with a view to conceal the traces of tears that were still visible on her own and her mother's cheeks. The rear-admiral was at first struck with this com- parative obscurity ; but it soon appeared to him appropriate to the feelings of the party assembled in the room. Mrs. Button received him with the ease she had acquired in her early life, and the meeting passed as a matter of course with persons temporarily residing under the same roof. "Our friends appear to be enjoying themselves," said Bluewater, when a shout from the dining-room forced itself on the ears of all present. "The loyalty of Sir Wycherly seems to be of proof." "Oh! Admiral Bluewater," exclaimed the distressed wife, THE TWO ADMIRALS. I3I feeling momentarily getting the better of discretion; ^^ do you — can you call such a desecration of God's image enjoy- ment?" "Not justly, perhaps, Mrs. Button; and yet it is what millions mistake for it. This mode of celebrating any great event, and even of illustrating what we think our principles, is, I fear, a vice not only of our age, but of our country." "And yet neither you nor Sir Gervaise Oakes, I see, find it necessary to give such a proof of your attachment to the house of Hanover, or of your readiness to serve it with your time and persons." " You will remember, my good lady, that both Oakes and myself are flag-officers in command, and it would never do for us to fall into a debauch in sight of our own ships. I am glad to see, however, that Mr. Wychecombe, here, prefers such society as I find him in to the pleasures of the table." Wycherly bowed, and Mildred cast an expressive, not to say grateful, glance towards the speaker; but her mother pursued the discourse, in which she found a little relief to her suppressed emotion. " God be thanked for that!" she exclaimed, half-uncon- scious of the interpretation that might be put on her words. " All that we have seen of Mr. Wychecombe would lead us to believe that this is not an unusual or an accidental forbearance." " So much the more fortunate for him. I congratulate you, young sir, on this triumph of principle, or of tempera- ment, or of both. We belong to a profession in which the bottle is an enemy more to be feared than any that the king can give us. A sailor can call in no ally as efficient in subduing this mortal foe as an intelligent and cultivated mind. The man who really thinks much, seldom drinks much; but there are hours — nay, weeks and months of idle- ness in a ship, in which the temptation to resort to unnatural excitement in quest of pleasure is too strong for minds that are not well fortified to resist. This is particularly the case 132 THE TWO ADMIRALS. with commanders, who find themselves isolated by their rank and oppressed with responsibility in the privacy of their own cabins, and get to make a companion of the bottle, by way of seeking relief from uncomfortable thoughts and of creating a society of their own. I deem the critical period of a sailor's life to be the first few years of solitary com- mand." "How true! — how true!" murmured Mrs. Dutton. "Oh! that cutter — that cruel cutter!" The truth flashed upon the recollection of Blue water at this unguarded and instantly regretted exclamation. Many years before, when only a captain himself, he had been a member of a court-martial which cashiered a lieutenant of the name of Dutton, for grievous misconduct while in com- mand of a cutter; the fruits of the bottle. From the first he thought the name familiar to him; but so many similar things had happened in the course of forty years' service that this particular incident had been partially lost in the obscurity of time. It was now completely recalled, however ; and that, too, with all its attendant circumstances. The recollection served to give the rear-admiral renewed interest in the unhappy wife and lovely daughter of the miserable delinquent. He had been applied to at the time for his interest in effecting the restoration of the guilty officer, or even to procure for him the hopeless station he now actually occupied; but he had sternly refused to be a party in plac- ing any man in authority who was the victim of a propensity that not only disgraced himself, but which, in the peculiar position of a sailor, equally jeoparded the honor of the country and risked the lives of all around him. He was aware that the last application had been successful, by means of a court influence it was very unusual to exert in cases so insignificant; and then he had for years lost sight of the criminal and his fortunes. This unexpected revival of his old impressions caused him to feel like an ancient friend of the wife and daughter; for well could he recall a THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 33 scene he had with both, in which the struggle between his humanity and his principles had been so violent as actually to reduce him to tears. Mildred had forgotten the name of this particular officer, having been merely a child ; but well did Mrs. Button remember it, and with fear and trembling had she come that day to meet him at the Hall. The first look satisfied her that she was forgotten, and she had struggled herself to bury in oblivion a scene which was one of tlie most painful of her life. The unguarded expression mentioned entirely changed the state of affairs. " Mrs. Button," said Bluewater, kindly taking a hand of the distressed wife; "I believe we are old friends; if, after what has passed, you will allow me so to consider myself." " Ah ! Admiral Bluewater, my memory needed no admon- isher to tell me that. Your sympathy and kindness are as grateful to me now as they were in that dreadful moment when we met before." "And I had the pleasure of seeing this young lady more than once on that unpleasant occasion. This accounts for a fancy that has fairly haunted me throughout the day ; for, from the instant my eye fell on Miss Mildred, it struck me that the face, and most of all its expression, was familiar to me. Certainly it is not a countenance, once seen, easily to be forgotten." "Mildred was then but a child, sir, and your recollection must have been a fancy indeed, as children of her age sel- dom make any lasting impression on the mind, particularly in the way of features." "It is not the features that I recognize, but the expres- sion; and that, I need not tell the young lady's mother, is an expression not so very easily forgotten. I dare say Mr. Wychecombe is ready enough to vouch for the truth of what I say." "Hark!" exclaimed Mrs. Button, who was sensitively alive to any indication of the progress of the debauch. "There is great confusion in the dining-room! — I hope the 134 '^^^ "^^^ ADMIRALS. gentlemen are of one mind as respects this rising in Scot- land!" " If there is a Jacobite among them, he will have a warm time of it; with Sir Wycherly, his nephew, and the vicar — all three of whom are raging lions in the way of loyalty. There does, indeed, seem something out of the way, for those sounds, I should think, are the feet of servants, run- ning to and fro. If the servants' hall is in the condition I suspect, it will as much need the aid of the parlor as the parlor can possibly " A tap at the door caused Bluewater to cease speaking; and, as Wycherly threw open the entrance, Galleygo appeared on the threshold, by this time reduced to the necessity of holding on by the casings. "Well, sir," said the rear-admiral sternly, for he was no longer disposed to trifle with any of the crapulous set; "well, sir, what impertinence has brought you here?" " No impertinence at all, your honor; we carries none of that in the old Planter. There being no young gentlemen hereabouts to report proceedings, I thought I'd just step in and do the duty with my own tongue. We has so many re- ports in our cabin, that there isn't an officer in the fleet that can make 'em better as myself, sir." " There are a hundred who would spend fewer words on anything. What is your business?" " Why, sir, just to report one flag struck and a commander- in-chief on his beam-ends." "Good God! Nothing has happened to Sir Gervaise — speak, fellow, or I'll have you sent out of this Babel, and off to the ship, though it were midnight." " It be pretty much that, Admiral Blue; or past six bells, as any one may see by the ship's clock on the great com- panion ladder; six bells, going well on to seven " " Your business, sir ! what has happened to Sir Gervaise ?" repeated Bluewater, shaking his long forefinger menacingly at the steward. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 35 ** We are as well, Admiral Blue, as the hour we came over the Planter's side. Sir Jarvy will carry sail with the best on 'em, I'll answer for it, whether the ship floats in old Port Oporto or in a brewer's vat. Let Sir Jarvy alone for them tricks — he wasn't a young gentleman for nothing." *' Have a moment's patience, sir," put in Wycherly, " and I will go myself and ascertain the truth." *' I shall make but another inquiry," continued Admiral Bluewater. as Wycherly left the room. **Why, d'ye see, your honor, old Sir Wycherly, who is commander-in-chief along shore here, has capsized in con- sequence of carrying sail too hard in company with younger craft; and they're now warping him into dock to be over- hauled." " Is this all? — that was a result to be expected in such a debauch. You need not have put on so ominous a face for this, Galleygo." " No, sir, so I thought myself ; and I only tried to look as melancholy as a young gentleman who is sent below to report a topgallantmast over the side or a studding-sail boom gone in the iron. D'ye remember the time. Admiral Blue, when you thought to luff up on the old Planter's weather-quarter, and get between her and the French ninety on three decks, and how your stu'n-sails went, one a'ter an- other, just like so many musherrooms breaking in peeling?" Galleygo, who was apt to draw his images from his two trades, might have talked on an hour without interruption ; for while he was uttering the above sentence, Wycherly re- turned and reported that their host was seriously, even dan- gerously ill. While doing the honors of his table, he had been seized with a fit, which the vicar, a noted three-bottle man, feared was apoplexy. Mr. Rotherham had bled the patient, who was already a little better, and an express had been sent for a medical man. As a matter of course, the co7ivives had left the table, and alarm was frightening the servants into sobriety. At Mrs. Button's earnest request, 136 THE TWO ADMIRALS. Wycherly immediately left the room again, forcing Galleygo out before him, with a view to get more accurate information concerning the baronet's real situation; both the mother and daughter feeling a real affection for Sir Wycherly, the kind old man having won their hearts by his habitual benevolence and a constant concern for their welfare. " Sic transit gloria mimdi^^'' muttered Admiral Bluewater, as he threw his tall person, in his own careless manner, on a chair in a dark corner of the room. "This baronet has fallen from his throne in a moment of seeming prosperity and revelry; why may not another do the same?" Mrs. Button heard the voice, without distinguishing the words, and she felt distressed at the idea that one whom she so much respected and loved might be judged of harshly by a man of the rear-admiral's character. " Sir Wycherly is one of the kindest-hearted men breath- ing," she said, a little hurriedly; " and there is not a better landlord in England. Then he is by no means addicted to indulgence at table more than is customary with gentlemen of his station. His loyalty has, no doubt, carried him this evening farther than was prudent or than we could have wished." " I have every disposition to think favorably of our poor host, my dear Mrs. Button, and • we seamen are not accus- tomed to judge a hon 7' iv a fit too harshly." "Ah! Admiral Bluewater, j^//, who have so widespread a reputation for sobriety and correct deportment! Well do I remember how I trembled when T heard your name men- tioned as one of the leading members of that dreadful court!" " You let your recollections dwell too much on these un- pleasant subjects, Mrs. Button, and I should like to see you setting an example of greater cheerfulness to your sweet daughter. I could not befriend you thefi, for my oath and my duty were both against it; but fwzv there exists no pos- sible reason why I should not, while there does exist almost THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 37 every possible disposition why I should. This sweet child interests me in a way I can hardly describe." Mrs. Button was silent and thoughtful. The years of Admiral Bluewater did not absolutely forbid his regarding Mildred's extreme beauty with the eyes of ordinary admira- tion ; but his language, and most of all his character, ought to repel the intrusive suspicion. Still Mildred was surpass- ingly lovely, and men were surpassingly weak in matters of love. Many a hero has passed a youth of self-command and discretion, to consummate some act of exceeding folly of this very nature in the decline of life; and bitter experi- ence had taught her to be distrustful. Nevertheless, she could not at once bring herself to think ill of one whose character she had so long respected; and, with all the rear- admiral's directness of manner, there w^as so much real and feeling delicacy, blended with the breeding of a gentleman- like sailor, that it was not easy to suppose he had any other motives than those he saw fit to avow. Mildred had made many a friend by a sweetness of countenance that was even more winning than her general beauty of face and form was attractive; and why should not this respectable old seaman be of the number? This train of thought was interrupted by the sudden and unwelcome appearance of Button. He had just returned from the bedside of Sir Wycherly, and now came to seek his wife and daughter, to bid them prepare to enter the chariot which was in waiting to convey them home. The miserable man was not intoxicated, in the sense w-hich deprives a man of the use of speech and limbs; but he had drunk quite enough to awaken the demon within him, and to lay bare the secrets of his true character. If anything, his nerves were better strung than common; but the wine had stirred up all the energies of a being whose resolutions seldom took the direction of correct feeling or of right doing. The darkness of the room, and a slight confusion which nevertheless ex- isted in his brain, prevented him from noticing the person 138 THE TWO ADMIRALS. of his superior, seated, as the latter was, in the dark corner; and he believed himself once more alone with those who were so completely dependent on his mercy, and who had so long been the subjects of his brutality and tyranny. " I hope Sir Wycherly is better, Button," the wife com- menced, fearful that her husband might expose himself and her before he was aware of the presence in which he stood. " Admiral Bluewater is as anxious as we are ourselves to know his real state." "Ay, you women are all pity and feeling for baronets and rear-admirals," answered Button, throwing himself rudely into a chair, with his back toward the stranger, in an attitude completely to exclude the latter from his view ; " while a husband or father might die a hundred deaths, and not draw a look of pity from your beautiful eyes or a kind word from your devilish tongues." "Neither Mildred nor I merit this irom you^ Button!" "No, you're both perfection; like mother, like child. Haven't I been fifty times at death's door with this very complaint of Sir Wycherly's, and did either of you ever send for an apothecary even?" "You have been occasionally indisposed. Button, but never apoplectic; and we have always thought a little sleep would restore you; as, indeed, it always has." " What business had you to t/iink ? Surgeons think, and medical men, and it was your duty to send for the nearest professional man, to look after one you're bound both to honor and obey. You are your own mistress, Martha, I do suppose, in a certain degree; and what can't be cured must be endured; but Mildred is my child; and I'll have her respect and love, if I break both your hearts in order to gQt at them." " A pious daughter always respects her parent, Button," said the wife, trembling from head to foot; "but love must come willingly, or it will not come at all." "We'll see as to that, Mrs. Martha Button; we'll see as THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 39 to that. Come hither, Mildred; I have a word to say to you, which may as well be said at once." Mildred, trembling like her mother, drew near; but, with a feeling of filial piety that no harshness could entirely smother, she felt anxious to prevent the father from further exposing himself in the presence of Admiral Bluewater. With this view then, and with this view only, she summoned firmness enough to speak. " Father," she said, " had we not better defer our family matters until we are alone?" Under ordinary circumstances Bluewater would not have waited for so palpable a hint, for he would have retired on the first appearance of anything so disagreeable as a misun- derstanding between man and wife. But an ungovernable interest in the lovely girl, who stood trembling at her father's knee, caused him to forget his habitual delicacy of feeling and to overlook what might perhaps be termed almost a law of society. Instead of moving, therefore, as Mildred had both hoped and expected, he remained motionless in his seat. Button's mind was too obtuse to comprehend his daughter's allusions, in the absence of ocular evidence of a stranger's presence, and his wrath was too much excited to permit him to think much of anything but his own causes of indignation. " Stand more in front of me, Mildred," he answered an- grily. " More before my face, as becomes one who don't know her duty to her parent, and needs be taught it." " Oh ! Button," exclaimed the afflicted wife ; " do not — do not — accuse Mildred of being undutiful ! You know not what you say — know not her obliga — you cannot know her hearty or you would not use these cruel imputations!" " Silence, Mrs. Martha Button — my business is not with you at present, but with this young lady, to whom, I hope, I may presume to speak a little plainly, as she is my own child. Silence, then, Mrs. Martha Button. If my memory is not treacherous, you once stood up before God's altar with 140 THE TWO ADMIRALS. me, and there vow'd to love, honor, and obey. Yes, that was the word; obey, Mrs. Martha Button." "And what did you promise at the same time, Frank?" exclaimed the wife, from whose bruised spirit this implied accusation was torn in an agony of mental suffering. " Nothing but what I have honestly and manfully per- formed. I promised to provide for you; to give you food and raiment; to let you bear my name, and stand before the world in the honorable character of honest Frank Button's wife." "Honorable!" murmured the wife, loud enough to be heard by both the Admiral and Mildred, and yet in a tone so smothered as to elude the obtuse sense of hearing that long excess had left her husband. When this expressive word had broken out of her very heart, however, she suc- ceeded in suppressing her voice, and, sinking into a chair, concealed her face in her hands in silence. " Mildred, come hither," resumed the brutalized parent. " You are my daughter, and whatever others have promised at the altar and forgotten, a law of nature teaches you to obey me. You have two admirers, either of whom you ought to be glad to secure, though there is a great preference between them " " Father!" exclaimed Mildred, every feeling of her sensi- tive nature revolting at this coarse allusion to a connection and to sentiments that she was accustomed to view as among the most sacred and private of her moral being. " Surely, you cannot mean what you say!" " Like mother, like child! Let but disobedience and dis- respect get possession of a wife, and they are certain to run through a whole family, even though there were a dozen children! Harkee, Miss Mildred, it is you who don't hap- pen to know what you say, while I understand myself as well as most parents. Your mother would never acquaint you with what I feel it a duty to put plainly before your judgment; and therefore I expect you to listen as becomes THE TWO ADMIRALS. I4I a dutiful and affectionate child. You can secure either of these young Wychecombes, and either of them would be a good match for a poor, disgraced sailing-master's daugh- ter." " Father, I shall sink through the floor if you say another word in this cruel manner!" "No, dear; you'll neither sink nor swim, unless it be by making a bad or a good choice. Mr. Thomas Wychecombe is Sir Wycheriy's heir, and must be the next baronet and possessor of this estate. Of course he is much the best thing, and you ought to give him a preference." " Button, ca7i you, as a father and a Christian, give such heartless counsel to your own child!" exclaimed Mrs. But- ton, inexpressibly shocked at the want of principle as well as at the want of feeling discovered in her husband's advice. " Mrs. Martha Button, I can ; and believe the counsel to be anything but heartless, too. Bo you wish your daughter to be the wife of a miserable signal-station keeper, when she may become Lady Wychecombe with a little prudent management, and the mistress of this capital old house and noble estate?" " Father — father," interrupted Mildred soothingly, though ready to sink with shame at the idea of Admiral Bluewater's being an auditor of such a conversation ; " you forget your- self and overlook my wishes. There is little probability of Mr. Thomas Wychecombe's ever thinking of me as a wife — or, indeed, of any one else's entertaining such thoughts." "That will turn out as you manage matters, Milly. Mr. Thomas Wychecombe does not think of you as a ivife quite likely just at this moment; but the largest whales are taken by means of very small lines, when the last are properly handled. This young lieutenant would have you to-morrow ; though a more silly thing than for you two to marry could not well be hit upon. He is only a lieutenant; and though his name is so good a one, it does not appear that he has any particular right to it." 142 THE TWO ADMIRALS. " And yet, Button, you were only a lieutenant when you married, and your name was ?iothi?ig in the way of interest or preferment," observed the mother, anxious to interpose some new feeling between her daughter and the cruel inference left by the former part of her husband's speech. " We then thought all lay bright before us!" "And so all would lie to this hour, Mrs. Button, but for that one silly act of mine. A man with the charges of a family on him, little pay, and no fortune, is driven to a thousand follies to hide his misery. You do not strengthen your case by reminding me of that imprudence. But, Mil- dred, I do not tell you to cut adrift this young Virginian, for he may be of use in more ways than one. In the first place, you can play him off against Mr. Thomas Wyche- combe; and, in the second place, a lieutenant is likely one day to be a captain; and the wife of a captain in His Maj- esty's navy is no disreputable berth. I advise you, girl, to use this youngster as a bait to catch the heir with; and, failing a good bite, to take up with the lad himself." This was said dogmatically, but with a coarseness of manner that fully corresponded with the looseness of the principles and the utter want of delicacy of feeling that alone could prompt such advice. Mrs. Button fairly groaned as she listened to her husband, for never before had he. so completely thrown aside the thin mask of decency that he ordinarily wore; but Mildred, unable to control the burst of wild emotion that came over her, broke away from the place she occupied at her father's knee, and, as if blindly seeking protection in any asylum that she fancied safe, found herself sobbing as if her heart would break in Admiral Bluewater's arms. Button followed the ungovernable, impulsive movement with his eye, and for the first time he became aware in whose presence he had been exposing his native baseness. Wine had not so far the mastery of him as to blind him to all the consequences, though it did stimulate him to a point that THE TWO ADMIRALS. I43 enabled him to face the momentary mortification of his situation. " I beg a thousand pardons, sir," he said, rising and bow- ing low to his superior; "I was totally ignorant that I had the honor to be in the company of Admiral Bluewater — Admiral Blue, I find Jack calls you, sir; ha-ha-ha — a fa miliarity which is a true sign of love and respect. I nevei knew a captain or a flag-officer that got a regular, expressive ship's name, that he wasn't the delight of the whole service. Yes, sir; I find the people call Sir Gervaise, Little Jarvy, and yourself, Admiral Blue — ha-ha-ha — an infallible sign of merit in the superior and of love in the men." "I ought to apologize, Mr. Button, for making one, so unexpectedly to myself, in a family council," returned the rear-admiral. " As for the men, they are no great philoso- phers, though tolerable judges of when they are well com- manded and well treated. But the hour is late, and it was my intention to sleep in my own ship to-night. The coach of Sir Wycherly has been ordered to carry me to the land- ing, and I hope to have your permission to see these ladies home in it." The answer of Button was given with perfect self-posses- sion, and in a manner to show that he knew how to exercise the courtesies of life or to receive them when in the humor. "It is an honor, sir, they will not think of declining, if my wishes are consulted," he said. "Come, Milly, foolish girl, dry your tears and smile on Admiral Bluewater for his condescension. Young women, sir, hardly know how to take a joke; and our ship's humors are sometimes a little strong for them. I tell my dear wife sometimes — * Wife,' I say, ' His Majesty can't have stout-hearted and stout-handed seamen, and the women poets and die-away swains, and all in the same individual,' says I. Mrs. Button understands me, sir; and so does little Milly; who is an excellent girl in the main; though a little addicted to using the eye- pumps, as we have it aboard ship, sir." 144 THE TWO ADMIRALS. '^ And now. Mr. Button, it being understood that I am to seethe ladies home, will you do me the favor to inquire after the condition of Sir Wycherly? One would not wish to quit his hospitable roof in uncertainty as to his actual situation." Dutton was duly sensible of an awkwardness in the pres- ence of his superior, and he gladly profited by this commis- sion to quit the room; walking more steadily than if he had not been drinking. All this time Mildred hung on Admiral Bluewater's shoul- der, weeping, and unwilling to quit a place that seemed to her, in her fearful agitation, a sort of sanctuary. " Mrs. Dutton," said Bluewater, first kissing the cheek of his lovely burden, in a manner so parental that the most sensitive delicacy could not have taken the alarm, "you will succeed better than myself in quieting the feelings of this little trembler. I need hardly say that if I have acciden- tally overheard more than I ought, it is as much a secret with me as it would be with your own brother. The charac- ters of all cannot be affected by the mistaken and excited calculations of one ; and this occasion has served to make me better acquainted with you and your admirable daughter than I might otherwise have been by means of years of ordinary intercourse." "Oh, Admiral Bluewater, do not judge him /oo harshly! He has been too long at that fatal table, which I fear has destroyed poor, dear Sir Wycherly, and knew not what he said. Never before have I seen him in such a fearful hu- mor, or in the least disposed to trifle with or to wound the feelings of this sweet child!" " Her extreme agitation is a proof of this, my good mad- am, and shows all you can wish to say. View me as your sincere friend, and place every reliance on my discretion." The wounded mother listened with gratitude, and Mildred withdrew from her extraordinary situation, wondering by what species of infatuation she could have been led to adopt it. THE TWO ADMIRALS. I45 CHAPTER IX. Ah, Montague, If thou be there, sweet brother, take my hand, And with thy lips keep in my soul awhile ! Thou lov'st me not ; for, brother, if thou didst, Thy tears would wash this cold congealed blood That glues my lips, and will not let me speak. Come quickly, Montague, or I am dead." King Henry VI. Sir Wycherly had actually been seized with a fit of apo- plexy. It was the first serious disease he had experienced in a long life of health and prosperity; and the sight of their condescending, good-humored, and indulgent master in a plight so miserable had a surprising effect on the heated brains of all the household. Mr. Rotherham, a good three-bottle man, on emergency had learned to bleed, and fortunate the vein he struck, as his patient still lay on the floor where he had fallen, sent out a stream that had the effect not only to restore the baronet to life, but, in a great measure, to consciousness. Sir Wycherly was not a hard drinker like Button; but he was 2l fair drinker, like Mr. Rotherham and most of the beneficed clergy of that day. Want of exercise, as he grew older, had as much influence in producing his attack as excess of wine; and there were already strong hopes of his surviving it, aided as he was by a good constitution. The apothecary had reached the Hall within five minute after the attack, having luckily been pre- scribing to the gardener; and the physician and surgeon of the family were both expected in the course of the mornin-g. Sir Gervaise Oakes had been acquainted with the state of his host by his own valet, as soon as it was known in the servants' hall, and, being a man of action, he did not hesi- tate to proceed at once to the chamber of the sick, to offer his own aid, in the absence of that which might be better. At the door of the chamber he met Atwood, who had been 10 146 THE TWO ADMIRALS. summoned from his pen, and they entered together, the vice- admiral feeling for a lancet in his pocket, for he, too, had acquired the art of the blood-letter. They now learned the actual state of things. "Where is Bluewater.?" demanded Sir Gervaise, after re- garding his host a moment with commiseration and concern. " I hope he has not yet left the house." *' He is still here, Sir Gervaise, but I should think on the point of quitting us. I heard him say that, notwithstanding all Sir Wycherly's kind plans to detain him, he intended to sleep in his own ship." "That I've never doubted, though I've affected to believe otherwise. Go to him, Atwood, and say I beg he will pull within hail of the Plantagenet as he goes off, and desire Mr. Magrath to come ashore as soon as possible. There shall be a conveyance at the landing to bring him here; and he may order his own surgeon to come also, if it be agreeable to himself." With these instructions the secretary left the room; while Sir Gervaise turned to Tom Wychecombe and said a few of the words customary on such melancholy occasions. "I think there is hope, sir," he added, "yes, sir, I think there is hope; though your honored relative is no longer young — still, this early bleeding has been a great thing; and if we can gain a little time for poor Sir Wycherly, our efforts will not be thrown away. Sudden death is awful, sir, and few of us are prepared for it, either in mind or affairs. We sailors have to hold our lives in our hands, it is true, but then it is for king and country ; and we hope for mercy on all who fall in the discharge of their duties. For my part I am never unprovided with a will, and that dis- poses of all the interests of this world, while I humbly trust in the Great Mediator for the hereafter. I hope Sir Wych- erly is equally provident as to his worldly affairs?" " No doubt my dear uncle could wish to leave certain trifling memorials behind him to a few of his intimates/' THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 4/ returned Tom, with a dejected countenance ; " but he has not been without a will, I believe, for some time; and I pre- sume you will agree with me in thinking he is not in a con- dition to make one now, were he unprovided in that way?'' " Perhaps not exactly at this moment, though a rally might afford an opportunity. The estate is entailed, I think Mr. Dutton told me, at dinner." " It is, Sir Gervaise, and I am the unworthy individual who is to profit by it, according to the common notions of men, though Heaven knows I shall consider it anything but a gain; still I am the unworthy individual who is to be benefited by my uncle's death." " Your father was the baronet's next brother?" observed Sir Gervaise casually, a shade of distrust passing athwart his mind, though coming from what source, or directed to what point, he was himself totally unable to say. " Mr. Baron Wychecombe, I believe, was your parent?" " He was. Sir Gervaise, and a most tender and indulgent father I ever found him. He left me his earnings, some seven hundred a year, and I am sure the death of Sir Wych- erly is as far from my necessities as it is from my wishes." "Of course you will succeed to the baronetcy as well as to the estate?" mechanically asked Sir Gervaise, led on by the supererogatory expressions of Tom himself, rather than by a vulgar curiosity, to ask questions that under other cir- cumstances he might have thought improper. " Of course, sir. My father was the only surviving brother of Sir Wycherly; the only one who ever married; and I am his eldest child. Since this melancholy event has occurred it is quite fortunate that I lately obtained this certificate of the marriage of my parents — is it not, sir?" Here Tom drew from his pocket a soiled piece of paper, which professed to be a certificate of the marriage of Thomas Wychecombe, barrister, with Martha Dodd, spinster, &c., &c. The document was duly signed by the rector of a par ish church in Westminster, and bore a date sufficiently old 148 THE TWO ADMIRALS. to estaolish the legitimacy of the person who held it. This extraordinary precaution produced the very natural effect of increasing the distrust of the vice-admiral, and, in a slight degree, of giving it a direction. "You go well armed, sir," observed Sir Gervaise drily. " Is it your intention, when you succeed, to carry the patent of the baronetcy and the title-deeds in your pocket?" " Ah ! I perceive my having this document strikes you as odd. Sir Gervaise, but it can be easily explained. There was a wide difference in rank between my parents, and some ill-disposed persons have presumed so far to reflect on the character of my mother as to assert she was not married at all." " In which case, sir, you would do well to cut off half-a- dozen of their ears." " The law is not to be appeased in that way. Sir Gervaise. My dear parent used to inculcate on me the necessity of doing everything according to law; and I endeavor to re- member his precepts. He avowed his marriage on his death- bed, made all due atonement to my respected and injured mother, and informed me in whose hands I should find this very certificate; I only obtained it this morning, which fact will account for its being in my pocket at this melancholy and unexpected crisis in my beloved uncle's constitution." The latter part of Tom's declaration was true enough; for, after having made all the necessary inquiries, and ob- tained the handwriting of a clergyman who was long since dead, he had actually forged the certificate that day on a piece of soiled paper that bore the water-mark of 1720. His language, however, contributed to alienate the confi- dence of his listener; Sir Gervaise being a man who was so much accustomed to directness and fair-dealing himself as to feel disgust at anything that had the semblance of cant or hypocrisy. Nevertheless, he had his own motives for pursuing the subject; the presence of neither at the bedside of the sufferer being just then necessary. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 149 " And this Mr. Wycherly Wychecombe," he said ; " he who has so much distinguished himself of late; your uncle's namesake; — is it true that he is not allied to your family?" " Not in the least, Sir Gervaise," answered Tom, with one of his sinister smiles. " He is only a Virginian, you know, sir, and cannot well bebng to us. I have heard my uncle say often that the young gentleman must be descended from an old servant of his father's, who was transported for steal- ing silver out of a shop on Ludgate Hill, and who was ar- rested for passing himself off as one of the Wychecombe family. They tell me, Sir Gervaise, that the colonies are pretty much made of persons descended from that sort of ancestors?" " I cannot say that I have found it so ; though, when I commanded a frigate, I served several years on the North American station. The larger portion of the Americans, like much the larger portion of the English, are humble laborers, established in a remote colony, where civilization is not far advanced, wants are many, and means few; but, in the way of character, I am not certain that they are not quite on a level with those they left behind them; and, as to the gentry of the colonies, I have seen many men of the best blood of the mother country among them; — younger sons, and their descendants, as a matter of course, but of an honorable and respected ancestry." "Well, sir, this surprises me; and it is not the general opinion, I am persuaded! Certainly, it is not the fact as respects the gentleman — stranger, I might call him, for stranger he is at Wychecombe — who has not the least right to pretend to belong to us." " Did you ever know him to lay claim to that honor, sir?" "Not directly. Sir Gervaise; though I am told he has made many hints to that effect, since he landed here to be cured of his wound. It would have been better had he pre- sented his rights to the landlord than to present them to the 150 THE TWO ADMIRALS. tenants, I think you will allow, as a man of honor yourself, Sir Gervaise?" " I can approve of nothing clandestine in matters that re- quire open and fair dealing, Mr. Thomas Wychecombe. But I ought to apologize for thus dwelling on your family affairs, which concern me only as I feel an interest in the wishes and happiness of my new acquaintance, my excellent host." " Sir Wycherly has property in the funds that is not en- tailed — quite ^1,000 a year, beyond the estates — and I know he has left a will," continued Tom; who, with the short- sightedness of a rogue, flattered himself with having made a favorable impression on his companion, and who was de« sirous of making him useful to himself, in an emergency that he felt satisfied must terminate in the speedy death of his uncle. " Yes, a good ^1,000 a year, in the fives ; money saved from his rents in a long life. This will probably has some provision in favor of my younger brothers; and per- haps of this namesake of his,"^ — Tom was well aware that it devised every shilling, real and personal, to himself; — " for a kinder heart does not exist on earth. In fact this will my uncle put in my possession, as heir at law, feeling it due to my pretensions, I suppose; but I have never pre- sumed to look into it." Here was another instance of excessive finesse, in which Tom awakened suspicion by his very efforts to allay it. It leemed highly improbable to Sir Gervaise that a man like the nephew could long possess his uncle's will, and feel no desire to ascertain its contents. The language of the young man was an indirect admission that he might have examined the will if he would ; and the admiral felt disposed to sus- pect that what he might thus readily have done he actually had done. The dialogue, however, terminated here; But- ton just at that moment entering the room on the errand on which he had been sent by Admiral Bluewater, and Tom joining his old acquaintance as soon as the latter made his THE TWO ADMIRALS. I5I appearance. Sir Gervaise Oakes was too much concerned for the condition of his host, and had too many cares of his own, to think deeply or long on what had just passed between himself and Tom Wychecombe. Had they separated that night, what had been said, and the unfavorable impressions it had made, would have been soon forgotten ; but circum- stances subsequently conspired to recall the whole to his mind, of which the consequences will be related in the course of our narrative. Button appeared to be a little shocked as he gazed upon the pallid features of Sir Wycherly, and he was not sorry when Tom led him aside and began to speak confidentially of the future and of the probable speedy death of his uncle. Had there been one present gifted with the power of read- ing the thoughts and motives of men, a deep disgust of hu- man frajlties must have come over him as these two impure spirits betrayed to him their cupidity and cunning. Out- wardly, they were friends mourning over a mutual probable loss; while inwardly Button was endeavoring to obtain such a hold of his companion's confidence as might pave the way to his own future preferment to the high and unhoped-for station of a rich baronet's father-in-law; while Tom thought only of so far mystifying the master as to make use of him on an emergency as a witness to establish his own claims. The manner in which he endeavored to effect his object, however, must be left to the imagination of the reader, as we have matters of greater moment to record at this particu- lar juncture. From the time Sir Wycherly was laid on his bed, Mr. Rotherham had been seated at the sick man's side watching the course of his attack, and ready to interpret any of the patient's feebly and indistinctly expressed wishes. We say indistinctly, because the baronet's speech was slightly affected with that species of paralysis which reduces the faculty to the state that is vulgarly called thick-tongued. Although a three-bottle man, Mr. Rotherham was far from 152 THE TWO ADMIRALS. being without his devout feelings on occasions, discharging all the clerical functions with as much unction as the habits of the country and the opinions of the day ordinarily ex- acted of divines. He had even volunteered to read the prayers for the sick as soon as he perceived that the pa- tient's recollection had returned; but this kind offer had been declined by Sir Wycherly, under the clearer views of fitness that the near approach of death is apt to give, and which views left a certain consciousness that the party as- sembled was not in the best possible condition for that sa- cred office. Sir Wycherly revived so much at last as to look about him with increasing consciousness; and at length his eyes passed slowly over the room, scanning each person singly, and with marked deliberation. " I know you all — now," said the kind«-hearted baronet, though always speaking thick, and with a little difficulty; "am sorry to give — much trouble. I have — little time to spare." " I hope not. Sir Wycherly," put in the vicar, in a conso- latory manner; " you have had a sharp attack, but then there is a good constitution to withstand it." "My time — short — feel it here," rejoined the patient, passing his hand over his forehead. " Note that, Button," whispered Tom Wycherly. " My poor uncle intimates himself that his mind is a little shaken. Under such circumstances it would be cruel to let him injure himself with business.'' " It cannot be done lega?Iy, Mr. Thomas — I should think Admiral Oakes would interfere to prevent it." " Rotherham," continued the patient, " I will — settle with — world; then give — thoughts — to God. Have we — guests — the house? — Men of family — character?" "Certainly, Sir Wycherly; Admiral Oakes is in the room even; and Admiral Bluewater is, I believe, still in the house. You invited both to pass the night with you." " I remember it — now ; my mind — still — confused," — here THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 55 Tom Wychecombe again nudged the master — " Sir Gervaise Oakes — an Admiral — ancient baronet — man of high honor. Admiral Bluewater, too — relative — Lord Bluewater; gentle- man — universal esteem. You, too, Rotherham; wish my poor brother James — St. James — used to call him — had been living ; — you — good neighbor — Rotherham." "Can I do anything to prove it, my dear Sir Wycherly? Nothing would make me happier than to know and to com- ply with all your wishes at a moment so important!" " Let all quit — room — but yourself — head feels worse — I cannot delay " " 'Tis cruel to distress my beloved uncle with business or conversation in his present state," interposed Tom Wyche- combe with emphasis, and, in a slight degree, with au- thority. All not only felt the truth of this but all felt that the speaker, by his consanguinity, had a clear right to interfere in the manner he had. Still Sir Gervaise Oakes had great reluctance in yielding to this remonstrance; for, to the dis- trust he had imbibed of Tom Wychecombe, was added an impression that his host wished to reveal something of in- terest in connection with his new favorite, the lieutenant. He felt compelled, notwithstanding, to defer to the acknowl- edged nephew's better claims, and he refrained from inter- fering. Fortunately, Sir Wycherly was yet in a state to enforce his own wishes. " Let all quit — room," he repeated in a voice that was startling by its unexpected firmness and equally unexpected distinctness. " All but Sir Gervaise Oakes — Admiral Blue- water — Mr. Rotherham. Gentlemen — favor to remain — rest depart." Accustomed to obey their master's orders, more especially when given in a tone so decided, the domestics quitted the room, accompanied by Button ; but Tom Wychecombe saw fit to remain, as if his presence were to be a matter of course. " Do me — favor — withdraw, — Mr. Wychecombe," resumed 154 THE TWO ADMIRALS. the baronet, aftef fixing his gaze on his nephew for some time, as if expecting him to retire without this request. " My beloved uncle, it is I — ^Thomas, your own brother's son — your next of kin — waiting anxiously by your respected bedside. Do not — do not — confound me with strangers. Such a forgetfulness would break my heart!" " Forgive me, nephew — but I wish — alone with these gen- tle — head— getting — confused " *' You see how it is, Sir Gervaise Oakes — you see how it is, Mr. Rotherham. Ah! there goes the coach that is to take Admiral Bluewater to his boat. My uncle wished for three witnesses to something, and I can remain as one of the three." ^^ Is it your pleasure. Sir Wycherly, to wish to see us alone?" asked Sir Gervaise in a manner that showed au- thority would be exercised to enforce his request, should the uncle still desire the absence of his nephew. A sign from the sick man indicated the affirmative, and that in a manner too decided to admit of mistake. " You perceive, Mr. Wychecombe, what are your uncle's wishes," obser^^ed Sir Gervaise, very much in the way that a well-bred superior intimates to an inferior the compliance he expects; " I trust his desire will not be disregarded at a moment like this." "I am Sir Wycherly Wychecombe's next of kin," said Tom in a lightly bullying tone; " and no one has the same right as a relative, and, I may say, his heir, to be at his bed- side." "That depends on the pleasure of Sir Wycherly Wyche- combe himself, sir. He is master here; and, having done me the honor to invite me under his roof as a guest, and, now having requested to see me alone, with others he has expressly named — one of whom you are not — I shall con- ceive it my duty to see his wishes obeyed." This was said in the firm, quiet way that the habit of command had imparted to Sir Gervaise's manner j and Tom THE TWO ADMIRALS. I55 began to see it might be dangerous to resist. It was im- portant, too, that one of the vice-admiral's character and station should have naught to say against him in the event of any future controversy ; and, making a few professions of respect, and of his desire to please his uncle, Tom quitted the room. A gleam of satisfaction shot over the sick man's counte- nance as his nephew disappeared; and then his eye turned slowly toward the faces of those who remained. " Bluewater," he said, the thickness of his speech and the general difficulty of utterance seeming to increase ; " the rear-admiral — I want all — respectable — witnesses in the house." " My friend has left us, I understand," returned Sir Ger- vaise, " insisting on his habit of never sleeping out of his ship; but Atwood must soon be back; I hope he will answer!" A sign of assent was given ; and then there was the pause of a minute or two ere the secretary made his appearance. As soon, however, as he had returned, the three collected around the baronet's bed, not without some of the weakness which men are supposed to have inherited from their com- mon mother Eve, in connection with the motive for this singular proceeding of the baronet. " Sir Gervaise — Rotherham — Mr. Atwood," slowly re- peated the patient, his eye passing from the face of one to that of another, as he uttered the name of each; "three witnesses — that will do — Thomas said — must have three — three good names." "What can we do to serve you, Sir Wycherly?" inquired the admiral with real interest, " You have only to name your requests to have them faithfully attended to." "Old Sir Michael Wychecombe, Kt. — two wives — Mar- gery and Joan. Two wives — two sons — half-blood — Thom- as, James, Charles, and Gregory, whole — Sir Reginald Wychecombe, half. Understand — hope — gentlemen?" 156 THE TWO ADMIRALS. " This is not being very clear, certainly," whispered Sir Gervaise ; " but, perhaps by getting hold of the other end of the rope, we may underrun it, as we sailors say, and come at the meaning — we will let the poor man proceed therefore. Quite plain, my dear sir, and what have you next to tell us? You left off, without saying only /i a// about Sir Reginald." " Half-blood ; only /la//— Tom and the rest whole. Sir Reginald, no nullius — young Tom, a mdlius.'' "A nullius, Mr. Rotherham! You understand Latin, sir; what can a nullius mean ? No such rope in the ship, hey, Atwood?" ''Nullius or nulttus, as it ought sometimes to be pro- nounced, is the genitive case, singular, of the pronoun nul- lus ; ftullus, nulla, nullum; which means 'no man,' 'no wo- man,' 'no thing.' Nullius means 'of no man,' 'of no woman,' 'of no thing.' " The vicar gave this explanation much in the way a peda- gogue would have explained the matter to a class. " Ay-ay — any school-boy could have told that, which is the first form learning. But what the devil can 'Nom. 7iul- lus, 7iulla, nullum; Gen. nullius, 7iullius, nullius^ have to do with Mr. Thomas Wychecombe, the nephew and heir of the present baronet?" "That is more than I can inform you. Sir Gervaise," an- swered the vicar stiffly; "but for the Latin I will take upon myself to answer that it is good." Sir Gervaise was too well-bred to laugh, but he found it difficult to suppress a smile. "Well, Sir Wycherly," resumed the vice-admiral, "this is quite plain — Sir Reginald is only half, while your nephew Tom and the rest are whole — Margery and Joan, and all that. Anything more to tell us, my dear sir?" "Tom not whole — fiullus, I wish to say. Sir Reginald half — no melius. ^^ "This is like being at sea a week without getting a sight of the sun! I am all adrift now, gentlemen." THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 57 " Sir Wycherly does not attend to his cases," put in At- wood drily. " At one time he is in the genitive^ and then he gets back to the nominative ; which is leaving us in the vocative r " Come — come — Atwood, none of your gun-room wit on an occasion so solemn as this. My dear Sir Wycherly, have you anything more to tell us? I believe we perfectly under- stand you now. Tom is not tvhole — you wish to say nidlus^ and not to say nuUiics. Sir Reginald is only half^ but he is no milliis.'''' " Yes, sir — that is it," returned the old man, smiling. JF/a/f, but no nullus. Change my mind — seen too much of the other lately — Tom, my nephew — want to make him my heir." " This is getting clearer, out of all question. You wish to make your nephew, Tom, your heir. But the law does that already, does it not, my dear sir? Mr. Baron Wyche- combe was the next brother of the baronet; was he not, Mr. Rotherham?" "So I have always understood, sir; and Mr. Thomas Wychecombe must be the heir at law." " No — no — nidlus — nulbcs^^ repeated Sir Wycherly, with so much eagerness as to make his voice nearly indistinct; " Sir Reginald — Sir Reginald — Sir Reginald." "And pray, Mr. Rotherham, who may this Sir Reginald be? Some old baronet of the family, I presume." "Not at all, sir; it is Sir Reginald Wychecombe of Wychecombe-Regis, Herts ; a baronet of Queen Anne's time, and a descendant from a cadet of this family, I am told." "This is getting on soundings — I had taken it into my head this Sir Reginald was some old fellow of the reign of one of the Plantagenets. Well, Sir Wycherly, do you wish us to send an express into Hertfordshire, in quest of Sir Reginald Wychecombe, who is quite likely your executor? Do not give yourself the pain to speak; a sign will answer." Sir Wycherly seemed struck with the suggestion, which 158 THE TWO ADMIRALS. the reader will readily understand was far from being his real meaning; and then he smiled, and nodded his head in approbation. Sir Gervaise, with the promptitude of a man of business, turned to the table where the vicar had written notes to the medical men, and dictated a short letter to his secretary. This letter he signed, and in five minutes Atwood left the room to order it to be immediately forwarded by express. When this was done the admiral rubbed his hands in satis- faction, like a man who felt he had got himself cleverly out of a knotty difficulty. " I don't see, after all, Mr. Rotherham," he observed to the vicar, as they stood together in a corner of the room, waiting the return of the secretary; "what he lugged in that schoolboy Latin for — nulliis, millay nullum! Can you possibly explain thatV^ •' Not unless it was Sir Wycherly's desire to say that Sir Reginald, being descended from a younger son, was nobody — as yet, had no woman— and I believe he is not married — and was poor, or had 'no ihing.^ " " And is Sir Wycherly such a desperate scholar that he would express himself in this hieroglyphical manner on what I fear will prove to be his death-bed?" "Why, Sir Gervaise, Sir Wycherly was educated like all other young gentlemen, but has forgotten most of his clas. sics in the course of a long life of ease and affluence. Is it not" probable now that his recollection has returned to him suddenly, in consequence of this affection of the head? I think I have read of some curious instances of these reviv- ing memories, on a death-bed or after a fit of sickness." " Ay, that you may have done!" exclaimed Sir Gervaise, smiling; "and poor, good Sir Wycherly must have begun afresh, at the very place where he left off. But here is Atwood again." After a short consultation the three chosen witnesses returned to the bedside, the admiral being spokesman. THE TWO ADMIRALS. 1 59 "The express will be off in ten minutes, Sir Wycherly," he said ; " and you may hope to see your relative in the course of the next two or three days." " Too late — too late," murmured the patient, who had an inward consciousness of his true situation; "too late — turn the will round — Sir Reginald, Tom; — Tom, Sir Reginald. Turn the will round." "Turn the will round! — this is very explicit, gentlemen, to those who can understand it. Sir Reginald, Tom ; — Tom, Sir Reginald. At all events it is clear that his mind is dwelling on the disposition of his property, since he speaks of wills. Atwood, make a note of these words, that there need be no mistake. I wonder he has said nothing of our brave young lieutenant, his namesake. There can be no harm, Mr. Rotherham, in just mentioning that fine fellow to him, in a moment like this?" " I see none, sir. It is our duty to remind the sick of their duties." " Do you not wish to see your young namesake, Lieuten- ant ^jr-^