such a confounded hurry! When you come to my time of life, you will know

better. What is it this time? The Channel fleet again?"

"No, no; Billy Blue keeps that, thank God! I hate looking after a school

of herring-boats. The Mediterranean for me, my friend. I received the

order yesterday, and shall be at sea by the twentieth."

"I am very glad to hear it, for your sake. If ever there was a restless

fellow--in the good old times we were not like that. Come up to the

house and talk about it; at least they must take the horses out. They

are not like you; they can't work forever."

"And they don't get knocked about like me; though one of them has lost

his starboard eye, and he sails and steers all the better for it. Let

them go up to the stable, Darling, while you come down to the beach with

me. I want to show you something."

"What crotchet is in his too active brain now?" the elder and stronger

man asked himself, as he found himself hooked by the right arm, and led

down a track through the trees scarcely known to himself, and quite

out of sight from the village. "Why, this is not the way to the beach!

However, it is never any good to oppose him. He gets his own way so

because of his fame. Or perhaps that's the way he got his fame. But to

show me about over my own land! But let him go on, let him go on."

"You are wondering, I dare say, what I am about," cried Nelson, stopping

suddenly, and fixing his sound eye--which was wonderfully keen, though

he was always in a fright about it--upon the large and peaceful blinkers

of his ancient commander; "but now I shall be able to convince you,

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