"No; I'm travelling, for pleasure, for
information, for pastime, as one might say."

"In the general do-nothing and careless line
of business? That ain't mine. No, by jingo!
I don't eat my fish without catching, ay, and
salting them, too, I ain't ashamed to say. I'm
captain, supercargo, and pilot of my own craft;
take every lunar that is taken aboard; I've writ
every line that ever is writ in the log-book, and
I vaccinated every man and boy aboard for the
natural small-pox with these fingers and this
tool that you see here!" And he produced an
old and very rusty instrument of veterinary
surgery from his vest-pocket, where it lay with
copper money, tobacco quids, and lucifer matches.

I quickly remembered the character for
inordinant boastfulness his brother had given me,
and of which he thus, without any provocation
on my part, afforded me a slight specimen. Now
perhaps at this last stage of my narrative, I
might never have alluded to him at all, if it
were not for the opportunity it gives me of
recording how nobly and how resolutely I resisted
what may be called the most trying temptation
of human nature. An inveterate dram-drinker
has been known to turn away from the proffered
glass; an incurable gambler has been seen to
decline the invitation to " cut in;" dignitaries of
the Church have begged off being made bishops;
but is there any mention in history of an
anecdote-monger suffering himself to be patiently
vanquished, and retiring from the field without
firing off at least an " incident that occurred to
himself?" If ever a man was sorely tried, I was.
Here was this coarsely-minded vulgar dog, with
nothing pictorial nor imaginative in his nature,
heaping story upon story of his own feats and
achievements, in which not one solitary situation
ever suggested an interest or awakened an
anxiety; and I, who could have shot my
tigers, crippled my leopards, hamstrung
lionesses, rescued men from drowning, and
women from fire—with little life touches to
thrill the heart and force tears from the eyes of
a stockbroker—I, I say, had to stand there and
listen in silence! Watching a creature banging
away at a target that he never hit, with an old
flint musket, while you held in your hand a
short Enfleld that would have driven the ball
through the bull's-eye is nothing to this; and
to tell the truth, it nearly choked me. Twice I
had to cough down the words,. " Now let me
mention a personal fact." But I did succeed,
and I am proud to say I only grew very red
in the face, and felt that singing in the cars and
general state of muddle that forebodes a fit. But
I rallied, and said in a voice slow, from the
dignity of a self-conquest,

"Can you take me as a passenger to
Constantinople?"

"To Constantinople? Ay, to the Persian
Gulf, to Point de Galle, to Cochin China, to
Ross River; don't think to puzzle me with
navigation, my lad."

"Are there many other passengers?"

"I could have flive hundred, if I'd take 'em!
Put Bob Rogers on a placard, and see what'll
happen! If I said, ' I'm agoing to sea on a plank
to-morrow,' there's men would rather come along
with me than go in the Queen, or the Hannibal.
I don't say they're right, mind ye; but I won't
say they're wrong, neither."

"Oh, why didn't I meet this wretch when I
was a child? Why didn't my father find a Helot
like this, to tell lies before me, and frighten
me wilh their horrid ugliness?" This was the
thought that flashed through me as I listened.
I felt, besides, that such stupid, purposeless
inventions, corrupted and blunted the taste for
graceful narrative, just in the same way that an
undeserving recipient of charity offends the
pleasure of real benevolence.

"May I ask, Captain Rogers, what is the
fare?" said I, with a bland courtesy.

"That depends upon the man, sir. If you
was Ram-sam Can-tanker-abad, I'd say five
hundred gold pagodas. If you was a Cockney
stripling, with a fresh-water face and a
spun-yarn whisker, I'd call it a matter of seven or
eight pound."

"And you sail at eight?"

"To the minute. When Bob Rogers says
eight o'clock, the first turn of the paddles will
be with the first stroke of the hour."

"Then book me, pray, for a berth; and, for
surety's sake, I'll go aboard to-night."

"Meet me, then, here at ten o clock, and I'll
take you off in my gig, an honour to be proud
on, my lad; but as Joe's friend, I'll do it."

I bowed my acknowledgments and went off,
neither delighted with my new acquaintance,
nor myself for the patience I had shown him.
After all, I had secured an early passage, and
thus was able to show Kate Herbert that I was
not going to let the grass grow under my feet
this time, and that she might reckon on my zeal
to serve her in future. As I retraced my road
to the cottage, I forgot all about Captain liogers,
and only thought of Kate, and the interests that
were hers. It was next to a certainty that her
father was yet alive; but how to find him in a
strange land, with a feigned name, and most
probably with every aid and appliance to
complete his disguisement! It was, doubtless, a
noble enterprise to devote oneself for such as
she was, but not very hopeful withal; and then
I went over various plans for my future guidance:
what I should do if I fell sick? what if my
money failed me?  what if I were waylaid by
Arabs, or carried away to some fearful region
in the mountains, and made to feed a pet alligator
or a domestic boa-constrictor? I hoped
sincerely that I was over-estimating my possible
perils, but it was wise to give a large margin
to the unknown; and so I did not curb myself
in the least.

As I entered the grounds, the night was falling,
and I could see that the lamps were already
lighted in the drawing-room. What surprised
me, however, was to see a very smart groom,
well mounted, and leading another horse up and
down before the door. There was evidently a
visitor within, and I felt indisposed to enter
till he had gone away. My curiosity, however,