his companion. The scuffle now became general; the press-gang drew their cutlasses, beat off their assailants, and succeeded in carrying both the lads to their boat-the commander of the party saying that he would make two landsmen supply the place of the seaman he had lost; for the latter had made his escape during the struggle.

Drysdale and Cochran were now immediately rowed on board the tender, which was at that moment under-weigh in the roads; and in a few days after they found themselves at Spithead. Here they were put on board the ship of the admiral of the Channel fleet, which was then waiting for a fair wind; and in a few days more they were at sea. The lieutenant, who accompanied them, after having brought them on the quarter-deck, addressing himself to the captain, said: "These are two young Scotch lads, whom I was in a manner forced to bring along with me, in consequence of their very improper conduct in opposing me in the execution of my duty. I know not who they are, but I know that they are spirited young fellows, and as stout as they are brave. As to that young man,' said he, pointing to Tom, 'I don't know whether he will make a good seaman or not, but I will answer for him that he will not flinch from his gun. Had he not lost me a good seaman, whom I wished to have got, I would have let him off for having come manfully forward to rescue his companion there, who brought everything on by his own folly, in meddling with what he had no business with.'

All eyes were turned on our two unfortunate heroes, who, with their heads bound up and bloody, made a rueful appearance, and excited the sympathy of the bystanders; but, as they had been guilty of opposing a king's officer in the execution of his duty, they were committed to the care and tuition of the boatswain, after a caution and gentle reprimand from the captain.

The boatswain, who was naturally a humane man, and, as far as was consistent with his duty, kind and indulgent to the seamen, had the two lads berthed and messed; and telling them to be of good cheer, and not cast down with their misfortune, assured them that, if they conducted themselves properly, and minded their business, they should be taken care of. 'You have had a hard brush, I find, my lads,' said he, 'at the commencement of your service; but that's nothing at all against you, but rather in your favour. We seamen must lay our account with meeting with these things every day in our lives, and the sooner we meet with them the better. All you have to do is, to attend to your duty, obey your orders, and do everything as well as you can, and there is no fear of your coming on. We have no idlers, no skulkers here; every one must be active and alert.' So saying, he left them.

Sadly at variance as his new situation was with all his former habits and pursuits, Drysdale wisely resolved, since no better could now be done, not only to get reconciled to it as fast as possible, but

to endeavour to make himself useful, and to acquire, as speedily as he could, a knowledge of the profession which he had thus been compelled to adopt; and so diligent and successful was he in this laudable pursuit, that he soon promised to be one of the best seamen on board, and, as such, was soon distinguished by little marks of kindness and favour from his superiors, who, pleased with the zeal he displayed, and with the cheerfulness and good-will with which he became reconciled to and discharged the duties of his new profession, gave him every encouragement to hope for better fortune than he might have expected to arise from the accident which had so strangely changed his apparent destiny.

Cochran's conduct and situation were very different. No persuasions of his friend, neither encouragement nor threats on the part of the subordinate officers who had immediate command over him, could induce him to bestir himself, or to take any interest in the new duties which he was now called upon to perform. He gave himself entirely up to despondency, and sat weeping in his berth, reading a copy of Horace, which he happened to have with him, for nearly a fortnight after the ship had put to sea. The boatswain, however, becoming at length tired of what he called his skulking and shamming of Abraham, compelled him, by threats of punishment, to take to the deck, and to begin to make himself useful. All he did, however, was done negligently and reluctantly, and of course done ill. He became the laughing-stock of his shipmates, from the awkward and unseamanlike manner in which he performed the tasks allotted him, and lived under a continual threat of the cat-o'nine-tails from his superiors. In short, it soon became evident that he never would be a sailor. The poor lad's own feelings on the subject and they were in some measure the result of his education -were, that it was a disgusting employment, unfitted for and degrading to a person of refined tastes and classical acquirements. He therefore continued to read his Horace, and to treat with great contempt and indifference the duties which he was now compelled to perform. On one occasion, he with difficulty escaped a severe chastisement, for having had the silly impertinence to write a letter in Latin to the admiral, complaining of his situation; and though pardoned the offence, he sunk still lower in the esteem of his messmates and officers.

II.

SERVICE ON SHIPBOARD.

The ship in which were the two lads-the one active and attentive to his new duties, the other sullen and indifferent-had been now at sea some time, when a serious accident occurred. The large spar called the mainyard of the ship having broken in two during a violent storm, it became a matter of painful consideration how it

was to be repaired, as it could not be done without, and there was no spare stick on board of sufficient size to supply its place. It had always been a matter of great difficulty, nay, it had hitherto been deemed an impossibility, to unite the broken beam, when such accidents occurred, so securely as to enable it to resist a repetition or continuance of the violence to which it had already yielded. The accident was a frequent one in the navy, and a remedy for it, when it occurred, was long considered a most serious desideratum. All that ingenuity had hitherto been able to devise towards repairing the broken spar was to fish or to splice it; and when done by the former process, no dependence could be placed on it; and when by the latter, it was necessarily so much shortened as to be rendered all but useless. The great object desired, therefore, was to keep the spar to its original length, and to restore it to its original strength, and both of these points Drysdale thought he could undertake to accomplish. He accordingly took occasion to open his mind on the subject to his friends the carpenter and boatswain; but both at first seemed sceptical of his project. Taking a model of the yard in several pieces from his pocket, he demonstrated how the operation of uniting them was to be performed.

'You observe, sir,' said Tom, addressing the carpenter, 'here are the two broken pieces of the mainyard sawn asunder, two parts of the one four feet longer than the other two.'

'Well, we see that very plainly,' said the carpenter, winking to the boatswain.

'I first take one of the long pieces,' said Tom (laying it on the table with the plain side uppermost), 'to the broken part of which I join one of the short pieces, which you know, sir, is the half of the whole yard sawed in two.'

'It is so, Tom,' said the carpenter, again winking to the boatswain. "I then, sir, take the other long piece, and, by reversing it thus, it covers the short piece and part of the long one below, which you see makes two splices; and by joining the remaining short piece, which you likewise see covers the remaining part of the long one under it, it makes another splice, without the yard being one inch shorter.' 'Well, there's something in this,' said the boatswain seriously.

Here,' continued Tom, taking up the pieces thus joined neatly between his fingers; 'there is the yard, you see, complete, with three splices, each piece supporting and strengthening the other, by which I conceive that the yard is not only mended, but rendered fully as strong, if not stronger than it was before, and not the least shortened.'

The carpenter, who had hitherto been silently attentive, exchanged looks with the boatswain, very different from what they expressed formerly, and taking the pieces out of Tom's hand, began replacing them in the same manner he had done; and after having carefully examined every part and purchase of the whole when put together,

said: 'I protest I am astonished! This certainly must be Sir Charles Douglas's grand secret.'

'I don't care whether it is or not,' said the boatswain, 'but it is one that will do our business, if as how you can secure the pieces strongly together.'

That can be easily done,' rejoined the carpenter; 'for, in addition to good pinning, we can serve the whole yard round with strong cordage, well tarred, which I am convinced, with you, will render the yard stronger than ever it was.'

'Don't you likewise think, sir,' said Tom, 'that it will be much less liable to snap than if it was all of one solid piece?'

'Certainly, Tom,' said the carpenter; 'for the different pieces, supporting and yielding to each other, the yard must bend like a bow before it breaks.'

'That's a great point,' said the boatswain; 'for it warns us of our danger before it comes !'

'I'll go this instant,' said the carpenter, putting the pieces in his pocket, and shew it to the captain and the admiral.'

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When the carpenter had gone, the boatswain turned round to Tom with his usual archness, and said: 'Tom, how did you think of all this? It is a matter that has puzzled the brains of all the carpenters in the fleet for these six weeks to no manner of purpose.'

'I owe it all to my father,' said Tom impressively.

'Your father?' rejoined the boatswain; 'what! is he a ship's carpenter ?'

'No,' answered Tom; 'but he gave me an education which enabled me to know something of mechanics, and if I could live to repay him for all his kindness and attention to me, by being placed in some situation to insure independence, and afford him pleasure, it is all I wish for.'

The boatswain, who was himself a father, and a warm-hearted man, was sensibly touched with Tom's observation; and taking him by the hand, while he turned his head aside to conceal his emotion, said: 'You are a good fellow, Tom, as well as a clever one, and if you are not rewarded, why, we live in an ungrateful world, I say!'

By this time the carpenter had returned, and acquainting Tom that the captain and the admiral were not only satisfied, but delighted with the ingenuity of the invention, desired him to go to breakfast, and hasten up, as they were to set about the reparation of the yard immediately, and that he appointed him to perform the sawing of the pieces asunder, as he was convinced none on board could execute it so correctly.

Tom, delighted with the duty imposed on him, in three days had the accident completely repaired, a new mainsail bent, and everything replaced as formerly. No sooner was the double-reefed sheet let go and secured, the yard properly bound, and the ship scudding away before a stiff gale, than the men gave three cheers, while all

eyes were fixed on the happy contriver of their present goodfortune.

After two days and three nights of very tempestuous weather, the carpenter and boatswain went aloft, and having very minutely examined the mainyard, found it in every part as strong and secure as when it was put up. The old admiral was so delighted with this intelligence, that he determined to give a public mark of his approbation to Tom, and as the gale had now moderated, he desired that the signal should be made for all captains. On their coming on board, among whom was Sir Charles Douglas, the admiral was anxious to ascertain whether the method adopted was the same as Sir Charles's; and when the latter observed that we had had a severe time of it for the last fortnight, the admiral answered: 'Ay, that we have indeed, Sir Charles; and in addition to our other trials, we have had our mainyard broken.'

'That is a serious matter indeed,' said Sir Charles: 'I hope it has not snapped in the slings?'

'No,' said the other; about four feet from it.'

'That's lucky, that's lucky!' said Sir Charles; 'for in that case we can mend it; and now, since none of the carpenters in the fleet know anything about the matter, it would be unpardonable in me to conceal my secret any longer; and I assure you it affords me infinite pleasure to discover it on the present occasion.'

'Thank you, Sir Charles,' said the old gentleman; 'we are much obliged to you, but we have had our mainyard repaired already.' Repaired!' said the other contemptuously; but in what manner?-fished, I suppose, which is not worth one farthing?' 'It is not fished,' rejoined the admiral.

'Then it must be shortened,' said the other, which is still worse?'

'Not an inch, or the twentieth part of an inch,' said the admiral. 'Where is it?' resumed the other eagerly.

'It is performing its duty,' said the old gentleman smiling; 'and it has done so these last three days and nights-which you must allow, Sir Charles, was no trifling trial-and is at this moment as sound as when it was put up.'

'If this is the case,' said the other, a good deal discomposed, 'your carpenter is the cleverest fellow in the British navy.'

Our carpenter certainly is a very good man,' said the old admiral, and understands his profession, I believe, as well as any in the fleet; but it was not he that mended our mainyard, Sir Charles.'

'Not he?' said the other with astonishment.

'No,' rejoined the admiral; and it will perhaps surprise you still more, when you are informed that this has been contrived and executed by a young countryman of your own, who has not yet attained his nineteenth year.'

No. 47.

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