WILD CATS. 251 



soon became accustomed to, and slept till eight o'clock, 

 as sound as watchmen. 



Long before we turned out, the Colonel and Priest 

 were afoot, and we heard a prayer and supplication from 

 the commander to old John for a cup of strong coffee, 

 while an idler was despatched to the next well by the 

 churchman for a jug of cold spring water. Pattigo, 

 who had rambled up the hills with a basket of fish and 

 scallops, remarked, " that the gentleman's coppers^ he 

 guessed, were rather hot this morning, and," as he eyed 

 the empty bottles <which were being removed, "to judge 

 from the number of the marines^ it was little wonder." 



From Pattigo 's parlance, I suspected that he had seen 

 more of the world than usually falls to the lot of an 

 ordinary skipper of a fishing-boat — nor was I wrong. 

 I learned from his master that for some good conduct, 

 no doubt, he had been accommodated with board and 

 lodging in a king's ship for upwards of two years, and 

 that his sojourn there would have been much longer, 

 had he not managed to abridge the visit, by slipping 

 one dark night over the vessel's side, and swimming 

 to the shore, a distance of two miles. On this Byronian 

 feat, however, the honest navigator seldom plumes 

 himself, and it is only when he is " a bit by the head," 

 that this exploit is mentioned. 



We found the household fully occupied in the cabin ; 

 John in regulating the chamber of state, which, not- 

 withstanding open doors and windows, still retained 

 the miasma of tobacco-smoke, and Hennessey in skinning 

 and breaking up the deer. If I had been yesterday 

 delighted with his superior execution with the rifle, 

 I was now surprised at the masterly manner in which 

 he dressed and dismembered the venison. He is 



