YARNS 77 



At the captain's and ward-room officer's 

 tables I listened with eager attention 

 when the conversation turned on naval 

 tactics or engagements, in which some one 

 of them may have participated, and have 

 often induced the men in the night watches 

 to repeat some act of individual bravery, 

 either before the enemy or in rescuing a 

 shipmate from a watery grave. All these 

 things, small as they may be reckoned, had 

 entered into my system, and helped to ele- 

 vate my mind far beyond my years and the 

 sphere in which I was born. How blind 

 are we mortals to our destiny ! Who could 

 tell that an unseen, unlooked-for agent 

 was at work to baffle all the fond an- 

 ticipations in which my boyish fancy in- 

 dulged. , 



Though the voyage had been long, and 

 both officers and men had suffered those 

 privations consequent upon it, the ship was 

 generally healthy. On the morning we 

 dropped anchor at Kedgeree, a port on the 



