“To be sure I will, father; I would not refuse a line-of-battle ship.  Why should I? the tides are the same, and the sands have not shifted.  Would you not trust me?”

“Ay, that I would, Tom, and perhaps better that myself; for my eyes are not so good as they were.  Well, then, you had better be off.”

I got my bundle ready, and was about to start, when I perceived my telescope lying down where Bramble had placed it on the table.  “They are not very fond of letting pilots have their glasses on board of a King’s ship,” said I, “so I will take mine this time.”

“You’re right, Tom; you can’t take the spy-glass out of the captain’s hand, as you do in a merchant vessel.”

“Well good-by, father; I shall come down again as soon as I can—­there’s another gun, the captain of the frigate is in a hurry.”

“They always are on board of a man-of-war, if no attention is paid to their orders or their signals.  Come, start away.”  I went down to the beach, the men launched the galley, and I was soon on board.  As I gained the quarter-deck I was met by the captain and first lieutenant, who were standing there.

“Well,” said the captain, “where’s the pilot?”

“I am, sir,” replied I, taking off my hat.

“Where’s your warrant?”

“There, sir,” replied I, offering him the tin case in which I carried it.

“Well, all is right, my good fellow; but you seem but a young hand.”

“Not so young as to lose so fine a vessel as this, I trust, sir,” replied I.

“I hope not, too; and I dare say you are as good as many with gray hairs.  At all events, your warrant is sufficient for me, and the frigate is now under your charge.  Will you weigh directly?”

“If you please; the wind will probably fail as the sun goes down, and, if so, we may just as well lie off the Foreland to-night.”

[Illustration:  I WENT DOWN TO THE BEACH....  AND I WAS SOON ON BOARD.—­Marryat, Vol.  X., p. 453.]

The frigate was soon under way; she was evidently well manned, and as well commanded.  The wind fell, as I expected, and after dark we barely stemmed the ebb tide.  Of course I was up all night, as was my duty, and occasionally entered into conversation with the officer of the watch and midshipmen.  From them I learned that the frigate, which was called the “Euphrosyne,” had just returned from the West India station; that they had been out four years, during which they had two single-handed encounters, and captured two French frigates, besides assisting at many combined expeditions; that they were commanded by Sir James O’Connor, who had distinguished himself very much, and was considered one of the best officers in the service; that the frigate had suffered so from the conflicts in which they had been engaged that she had been sent home to be surveyed; it was found that she must be docked, and undergo a thorough repair, and consequently they had been ordered to Sheerness,