***




Produced by Al Haines.




[Illustration: Cover art]




[Illustration: HE WILDLY TORE AT EVERYTHING AND HURLED IT DOWN
ON HIS PURSUERS  _Page_ 86 _Frontispiece_]




                      Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N.

                   A Tale of the Royal Navy of To-day


                                   BY

                          SURGEON REAR-ADMIRAL
                       T. T. JEANS, C.M.G., R.N.

             Author of "John Graham, Sub-Lieutenant, R.N."
                         "A Naval Venture" &c.



                   _Illustrated by Edward S. Hodgson_



                         BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
                           LONDON AND GLASGOW
                                  1908




                                   By
                          Surgeon Rear-Admiral
                              T. T. Jeans


                            The Gun-runners.
                   John Graham, Sub-Lieutenant, R.N.
                            A Naval Venture.
                        Gunboat and Gun-runner.
                       Ford of H.M.S. "Vigilant".
                          On Foreign Service.
                      Mr. Midshipman Glover, R.N.



       _Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow_




                               *Preface*


In this story of the modern Royal Navy I have endeavoured, whilst
narrating many adventures both ashore and afloat, to portray the habits
of thought and speech of various types of officers and men of the Senior
Service who live and serve under the White Ensign to-day.

To do this the more graphically I have made some of the leading
characters take up, from each other, the threads of the story and
continue the description of incidents from their own points of view; the
remainder of the tale is written in the third person as by an outside
narrator.

I hope that this method will be found to lend additional interest to the
book.

I have had great assistance from several Gunnery, Torpedo, and Engineer
Lieutenants, who have read the manuscripts as they were written,
corrected many errors of detail, and made many useful suggestions.

The story may therefore claim to be technically correct.

T. T. JEANS,

SURGEON REAR-ADMIRAL, ROYAL NAVY




                               *Contents*

CHAP.

      I. The Luck of Midshipman Glover
     II. Helston receives a Strange Letter
    III. The Fitting Out of a Squadron
     IV. The Pirates are not Idle
      V. The Squadron leaves hurriedly
     VI. The Voyage East
    VII. The Pursuit of the Patagonian
   VIII. Mr. Ping Sang is Outwitted
     IX. Captain Helston Wounded
      X. Destroyer "No. 1" Meets her Fate
     XI. The Action off Sin Ling
    XII. A Council of War
   XIII. The Avenging of Destroyer "No. 1"
    XIV. Night Operations
     XV. Mr. Midshipman Glover Tells how he was Wounded
    XVI. Captain Helston's Indecision
   XVII. Spying Out the Pirates
  XVIII. The Escape from the Island
    XIX. Cummins Captures One Gun Hill
     XX. The Fight for One Gun Hill
    XXI. On One Gun Hill
   XXII. The Final Attack on the Hill
  XXIII. The Attack on the Forts
   XXIV. The Capture of the Island
    XXV. The Fruits of Victory
   XXVI. Home Again




                            *Illustrations*

He wildly tore at everything and hurled it down on his pursuers...
_Frontispiece_

I struck at him with my heavy malacca stick

The sinking of the Pirate Torpedo-Boat

The Commander and Jones overpower the Two Sentries


Map Illustrating the Operations Against the Pirates




[Illustration: MAP ILLUSTRATING THE OPERATIONS AGAINST THE PIRATES]




                              *CHAPTER I*

                    *The Luck of Midshipman Glover*


    Ordered Abroad.  Hurrah!


           _Midshipman Glover explains how Luck came to him_


It all started absolutely unexpectedly whilst we were on leave and
staying with Mellins in the country.

When I say "we", I mean Tommy Toddles and myself. His real name was
Foote, but nobody ever called him anything but "Toddles", and I do
believe that he would almost have forgotten what his real name actually
was if it had not been engraved on the brass plate on the lid of his sea
chest, and if he had not been obliged to have it marked very plainly on
his washing.

We had passed out of the _Britannia_ a fortnight before--passed out as
full-blown midshipmen, too, which was all due to luck--and were both
staying with Christie at his pater's place in Somerset.

It was Christie whom we called Mellins, because he was so tremendously
fat; and though he did not mind us doing so in the least, it was rather
awkward whilst we were staying in his house, for we could hardly help
calling his pater "Colonel Mellins".

You see, he was even fatter than Mellins himself, and the very first
night we were there--we were both just a little nervous--Toddles did
call him Colonel Mellins when we wished him "Good-night", and he glared
at us so fiercely, that we slunk up to our room and really thought we'd
better run away.

We even opened the window and looked out, feeling very miserable, to see
if it was possible to scramble down the ivy or the rusty old water-spout
without waking everybody, when Mellins suddenly burst in with a pillow
he had screwed up jolly hard, and nearly banged us out of the window. By
the time we had driven him back to his room at the other end of the
corridor, and flattened him out, we had forgotten all about it, and we
crept back like mice, and went to sleep.

It was just at this time that the papers came out with those
extraordinary yarns about the increase of piracy on the Chinese coast,
and how some Chinese merchants had clubbed together to buy ships in
England and fit out an expedition to clear the sea again.

You can imagine how interested we three were, especially as fifty years
ago Toddles's father had taken part in a great number of scraps with the
Cantonese pirates, and Toddles rattled off the most exciting yarns which
his father had told him.

We saw in the papers that the Admiralty was about to lend naval officers
to take command, but it never struck us that we might possibly get a
look in, till one morning a letter came for me from Cousin Milly, whose
father is an old admiral and lives at Fareham, and isn't particularly
pleasant when I go to see him.

My aunt! weren't we excited!  Why, she actually wrote that if I wanted
to go she thought she could get me appointed to the squadron, as the
captain who was going in charge was a great friend of hers.

You can imagine what I wrote, and how I buttered her up and called her a
brick, and said she was a "perfect ripper".  I ended up by saying that
"Mr. Arthur Bouchier Christie, midshipman, and Mr. Thomas Algernon
Foote, midshipman, chums of mine, would like to go too".

I was very careful to give their full names to prevent mistakes, and put
"midshipman" after their names just to show that they had also passed
out of the _Britannia_. near the top of the list, and so must be pretty
good at chasing "X and Y", which, of course, is a great "leg up" in the
navy.

Two mornings after this Milly sent me a postcard: "Hope to manage it for
the three of you".

We were so excited after that, that we did nothing but wait about for
the postman, and even went down to the village post-office and hung
about there, almost expecting a telegram.

Well, you would hardly believe it!  The very next morning our
appointments were in the papers.

I have the list somewhere stowed away even now, and it began:

"The under-mentioned officers of the Royal Navy have been placed on
half-pay and lent to the Imperial Chinese Government for special
services".

Down at the bottom of the list was "Midshipmen", and we nearly tore
Colonel Christie's paper in our excitement as we read, in very small
print and among a lot of other names, Arthur B. Christie, Harold S.
Glover (that was myself--hurrah!), and Thomas A. Foote.

Well, I can't tell you much of what happened after that, for we were
simply mad with delight; but I do remember that when I rushed off home
my father and mother rather threw a damper over it all.

And when my gear had been packed and driven down to the station, I felt
rather a brute because everyone cried, and even my father was a little
husky when I wished him good-bye.  I think something must have got into
my eye too, a fly, probably, but it wasn't there when the train ran into
Portsmouth Harbour station, and Mellins and Toddles met me and dragged
me to the end of the pier to get our first view of our new ship, which
was lying at Spithead.

Now you will have to read how all these things came about, or you will
never properly understand them.




                              *CHAPTER II*

                  *Helston receives a Strange Letter*


    Helston's Bad Luck--Ping Sang tells of Pirates--Ping Sang makes
    an Offer--Helston Jubilant


In the year 1896 two naval officers were living a somewhat humdrum,
monotonous existence in the quiet little Hampshire village of Fareham,
which nestles under the fort-crowned Portsdown Hills, and is almost
within earshot of the ceaseless clatter of riveting and hammering in the
mighty dockyards of Portsmouth.

These two men had both served many years before in the small gun-boat
_Porcupine_ out in China, and their many escapades and adventures had
frequently drawn down on their heads the wrath of the Admiral commanding
that station.  Wherever the _Porcupine_ went, trouble of some sort or
another was sure to follow.  At one place an indignant Taotai[#]
complained that all the guns--obsolete old muzzle-loaders--in his fort
had been tumbled into the ditch one night; at another they only just
escaped with their lives from an infuriated mob whilst actually carrying
from the temple a highly grotesque, but still more highly revered, joss,
at which desecration they had cajoled and bribed the local priests to
wink.


[#] Taotai = military magistrate.


Comrades in every adventure, and mess-mates during these four exciting
years, they had ultimately drifted together on half-pay, and, with their
old marine servant Jenkins, a taciturn old man, to look after them, had
settled down in this village.

Both men were below the age of forty, though a more accurate estimate
would have been difficult, for the shorter of the two bore himself with
the vigour and alertness of thirty, yet his face was old with the lines
and furrows of care and sadness, whilst the tall, gaunt figure of the
second was not held so erect, nor were his actions so vigorous, yet the
youthful fire in his eyes gave to his sea-tanned face and his thin,
tight-drawn lips and prominent jaw the appearance of a man who had not
yet reached the zenith of his manhood.

The shorter man was named Fox, a doctor, who had left the service when
he married, only to lose his wife a year later, and with her his whole
joy of existence.  Settling down in this village, near her grave, he had
worked up a small practice, which occupied but little of his time, and
lived a life from which his great grief seemed to have removed any trace
of his former ambition.

Not so the taller man, Helston, a commander, who had been invalided and
placed on half-pay, suffering from the effects of fevers picked up
whilst cruising off the West Coast of Africa, in China, and in the
Mediterranean. Though his body was weakened by disease, he was for ever
buoyant at the prospects of being restored to health and full-pay, and
dreamed eagerly of the time when once more he could go afloat and
eventually command his own ship.

He, however, generally found a most unsympathetic audience in the
Doctor, who listened, with ill-concealed boredom, to his rose-
plans, and cynically would say, "Who goes to sea for enjoyment would go
to jail for a pastime.  Take my advice and get a snug billet in the
coast-guard, and don't bother the sea any more.  It's not done you much
good."

"It's all my bad luck, Doc, old chap," Helston would answer; "no fault
of the sea.  I played the idiot when I was a youngster, was always in
disgrace up at the Admiralty, and now, with this rotten fever in me,
they won't employ me again."

But he would always finish with, "Well, I've waited patiently enough for
the last three years, and luck must turn soon".

On one such occasion, when the warmth and brightness of a May day had
made Helston more than usually enthusiastic as to his chances of
full-pay service, Dr. Fox, knocking the ashes out of his pipe, growled,
"Next ship, indeed!  You talk of nothing but ships and sea, sea and
ships, when you ought to be buying a Bath chair to be wheeled about in."

"Never mind, old chap, I'm not as bad as that, and I'll bet you that
they give me a ship in less than six months!"

"If they do, I will come with you," jeered the Doctor, as he stalked
moodily to bed.

"That's a bargain," shouted Helston cheerfully after him.

Now one reason why Helston had settled down here with the Doctor, and
the great source of his ambitious dreams, was a certain lady named
Milly, who, with her father--his name is not necessary, for he was
always spoken of as "the Admiral", or "Miss Milly's father"--lived close
to the village.  He had wooed her constantly for many years, and had
known her since she was born, but the somewhat disdainful little lady
had refused him many times, though not without giving him some slight
hope of better success if ever he were promoted to the rank of captain.
However, as Mistress Milly never personally enters this story, nothing
more need be said of her than that she was one of the most bewitching
little flirts who ever tyrannized over an old father, or played havoc
with the heart of every man she met.

A few weeks after this incident, and whilst the two were at breakfast,
the old village postman stumbled up the path leading to their house, and
Jenkins, a sombre, morose man of few words, brought in a big official
envelope.

"What did I say, old chap?" cried Helston excitedly, tearing it open.
"Didn't I say my luck would change? Hullo! this isn't an ordinary
appointment.  Whatever is it?"  A large number of papers fell on the
table, and, the Doctor showing some signs of interest, the two men
hurriedly examined them, Jenkins standing behind at attention in order
to learn the news.

The first one was from the Admiralty, informing Helston that the
enclosures had been received through the Chinese Embassy, and ordering
him to report himself at Whitehall immediately.  These enclosures were
lists of ships supposed to be wrecked on the Chinese coast during the
last few years, lists of Chinese men-of-war supposed to have been
destroyed during the Chino-Japanese war, and papers showing the gradual
rise in insurance rates for the Chinese coasting trade.

"Where's your appointment?" sneered the Doctor. "I'm off to see my
patients."

"I've got it, Doc; look here!  Do you remember that old mandarin we got
out of a scrape at Cheefoo once? Well, here's a letter from him.
Listen!"  Saying which, Helston sat on the table and read it aloud,
whilst the Doctor filled his pipe impatiently:--


"DEAR COMMANDER HELSTON,--Perhaps you remember saving my life at Cheefoo
many years ago?  Now perhaps I can do you a good turn.

"For the last three or four years there has been a very large number of
steamers, ships, and junks employed on the coast trade which have left
port under favourable circumstances and apparently in good condition,
yet have never been heard of since.  The number has rapidly become so
great, that myself and several friends interested in the shipping trade
have suspected that these disappearances were not due to natural causes.
This year, for instance, three of our newest steamers have left Nagasaki
full of valuable cargo, and, though none of them could have experienced
bad weather, yet none have been heard of since.  All three, strangely
enough, carried a large quantity of military stores for Pekin, which had
been transhipped from German steamers, and all three left within three
weeks.  The captains were Englishmen--very good men, too--and what adds
to the peculiarity of their disappearance is, that the captain of the
English mail-steamer which followed the last out of harbour, and should
have passed her eight hours later if she had been on her proper course,
never sighted her.  We searched the coast ineffectually for any trace of
wreckage, and it is only within the last two months that we have
obtained a clue.

"One of our large junks from Formosa, being short of water, made for an
island, previously reported as being only occasionally inhabited by
Korean fishermen.  A few men went ashore to fill the casks, found the
fishing-nets deserted and no water, so followed a path leading inland
and winding up a hill.  When nearly at the top they came across four
dead Chinamen hanging from trees, and although very frightened, they
still pushed on until they came in sight of the natural harbour on the
other side of the island.  They swear solemnly that, lying at anchor,
they saw twenty or thirty steamers and several men-of-war, and that on
shore there were many storehouses (go-downs) and huts, and a very large
number of natives. They were just going down for water when one of these
men, who fortunately had formerly been one of the crew of the
_Tslai-ming_, our crack steamer, recognized her lying there.  He is a
cute fellow, and at once jumped to the conclusion that these were
pirates (you remember how terribly frightened they are of 'pilons'?),
and ran back with his fellows to their boat.

"They brought this news to us.

"Four years ago, when this island was last visited, it was reported as
uninhabited.  Personally I did not doubt the men's tale.  In fact, they
are so frightened, and have spread their story so freely, that it is
difficult to get a crew together for any port south of Amoy.

"I have made very careful enquiries to account for the presence of the
men-of-war, and have discovered that many of the war-ships, and nearly
all the torpedo-boats which were run ashore to escape capture during the
late war, had disappeared.

"The local mandarins and officials of course know nothing, but from the
natives living near I find that large ships came and stayed near the
stranded ships for some weeks, and finally towed them away.  There is no
doubt that two, if not three, cruisers in bad plight have been sold to a
couple of Europeans, and have disappeared, where, no one knows.  A
couple of the Yangtze corvettes have also mysteriously vanished.

"I memorialized the throne, but they would do nothing, and made fun of
my report.  The mandarins got hold of my informants, tortured them till
they denied the truth of their story, and then of course laughed at me.

"Trade was practically at a stand-still, so we decided to send one of
our best captains, an Englishman, to see if the men's story was correct.
He landed at night from a junk, disguised as a native, and spent a day
on the island, running great risks of detection, and being taken off
next night.  He reports that there are certainly three cruisers and
seven torpedo-boats anchored there, and at least twenty coasting
steamers, among them being the three that disappeared when laden with
military stores.  Great numbers of coolies were working at the narrow
entrance to the harbour, and, as far as he could see, they were mounting
guns behind earthworks.  He thought he could distinguish some Europeans,
but is not certain.  He brought a rough plan of the harbour, marking the
positions of ships, buildings, and guns.

"I decided to take him next day to some of the ministers whom I knew
personally, thinking that they would pay more attention to the word of
an Englishman.  I must tell you that the three natives who first brought
the news and were tortured to deny it, have disappeared, and as they
were very honest, faithful men, I suspected some underhanded dealing,
and, thinking to keep the Englishman safe made him sleep in my _yamen_
that night.  Next morning he had disappeared, and his body was found two
days later in a low quarter of the town, stripped of all valuables
including the plan, which he had in his pocket-book, although this
itself was not taken.  The gatekeeper saw him go out, and there is no
doubt his habits were unsteady, but for all that his death is very
suspicious.

"Naturally I had no proof good enough for the Government, but my friends
and myself subscribed ten million dollars, and asked the Government for
another five millions, to fit out an expedition and destroy these
pirates, offering to hand over to them the men-of-war we intended
buying, and also a percentage of our recaptures.  They refused at first,
but thinking money was to be made out of it, promised us four millions,
the protection of the Imperial flag, and the use of their dockyards.

"We had thought of applying to some European power to take the matter
up; but you know the great tension of affairs out here at the present,
and the acute international jealousies; we therefore came to the
conclusion that it would take years to bring this about through the
ordinary diplomatic channels, and as every year's trade is worth from
L10,000,000 to L20,000,000 for us, we cannot afford to wait.

"I, therefore, as President of the China Trading Defence Committee, am
authorized to offer you the control of this money if you will accept the
responsibility of organizing a small expedition with the greatest
possible speed to rid us of this unbearable piracy which is destroying
our trade.

"You will get this letter and the enclosed lists and tables from our
Ambassador in London, who will give you every facility for granting
Imperial commissions for your ships and officers, and every information
he can.

"I know enough of your service to think that if you take command of this
expedition you will advance your prospects, and the opportunity of doing
this I have very great pleasure in giving you.

"Wire me your decision and plans; don't worry about money--haste is the
great thing.--Your sincere friend,

"PING SANG.

"TIENTSIN, _17th March._

"_P.S._--If you do not accept the command it will be offered to
Lieutenant Albrecht of the Imperial German Navy.

"I hope the Doctor with the broad shoulders and terrible fists is well.
Give him my 'chin chin', and bring him with you if you can."


Helston finished reading, and both men stared at each other in blank
amazement, whilst Jenkins commenced stealthily to remove the breakfast
things.

"Well, of all the hare-brained, foolish schemes I ever heard of!" gasped
the Doctor.

"There's something in it, old chap.  Ping Sang was one of the richest
mandarins in China when we were out there many years ago.  A splendid
chap, as you remember, and practically an Englishman in his ideas--he
went to Charterhouse when he was a boy--and besides, his Government has
taken it up, and I have to report myself to the Admiralty; so they
believe in it, evidently.  Why, old man," continued Helston, "if this is
all true I shall get promotion out of it, and that means--you know as
well as I do--that means Milly."  And he danced about the room as if he
never had had fever in his rheumatic legs.

"Stop that tomfoolery, and go off to London and find out whether it's
all a mare's nest or not," said the Doctor. "Jenkins, go and get the
Commander's things ready at once."

"For China, sir?"

"No.  For London, you fool!"

"Very good, sir," and off went Jenkins.

"Well, good-bye, Helston, I'm off round the practice. Don't make an ass
of yourself, and let me know the result."

By the time the Doctor returned Helston had disappeared, and it was late
that evening when a telegram brought news of him.  The Doctor hurriedly
opened it: "Job genuine--accepted command.  Send all clothes--cannot
return--too busy."

Three days later he received a long letter.  In it Helston wrote that he
had been backwards and forwards from the Admiralty, the Foreign Office,
and the Chinese Embassy the whole of the last few days settling
preliminary details. "The Bank of England has one and a half million to
my credit, on the advice of the Ambassador and Ping Sang, so the money
is safe enough, and I am trying to get hold of any ship which will be
ready in the next three months. Our Admiralty did not at first wish me
to take command, and wanted to give me some captains, just as advisers,
but I knew what that meant.  They would get all the kudos; I should get
none.  So I told them that if I did not take command, absolutely and
entirely, I would throw it up, and, of course, that meant that the
Germans would get a look in.  That stuck in their gizzards, so they
piped down, and I am to be my own boss and have any officers I want, and
a large proportion of men, from the navy.  They have given me an office
and a couple of clerks, and already I'm terribly busy.

"From what I can gather, their idea seems to be that a couple of
cruisers of the _Apollo_ type and two or three destroyers will be
sufficient for my purpose and well within my means; that if I find
myself unable to destroy the pirates, whose existence they still doubt,
I shall at least be able to blockade the island till the present tension
of political affairs is somewhat relaxed, when they hope to be able to
detach some ships from our fleet to help me, more especially if I prove
conclusively the existence of these pirates.  You may bet your boots,"
Helston concluded, "if I can get away from England and past Hong-Kong
without interference, I sha'n't wait for other help. My luck is at the
top now, and if only it will remain there for eighteen months or so, I
shall be a made man.  Will it? that is the question."

"Silly fool!" thought the Doctor; "he's always brooding on his ill-luck.
If people would only look more on the bright side of things, we should
hear less about this fatal ill-luck which they always fancy follows
them."

When he returned from the round of his very limited practice and opened
the London paper waiting for him, he swore angrily when he saw that two
columns were devoted to the proposed expedition.  "Silly fool! giving
himself away to these interviewers.  It may make him notorious, but the
Admiralty won't like it; and if there _are_ pirates, they will learn his
schemes and plans almost as soon as he knows them himself."




                             *CHAPTER III*

                    *The Fitting Out of a Squadron*


    Helston Tricks the Doctor--Valuable Information--The Doctor
    makes a Bargain--The Squadron Assembles


A month had passed by, during which time the Doctor saw by the papers
that Helston had acquired a cruiser at Elswick, built on "spec", an
armoured cruiser being built by Laird's, for a South American republic
which had waived its claim to her, and three destroyers which were being
completed at Yarrow's, Thorneycroft's, and Laird's works respectively.
At the end of the month he ran up to London, in response to a telegram,
and met Helston at Waterloo.

"I should hardly have known you," he said, grasping his hand; "you look
twice the man you did six weeks ago. What fool's errand have you brought
me here for?"

"Going to show you round my little fleet, old chap. How's Milly and her
old father?"

"She's all right.  Asked after her Don Quixote the last time I saw her;
but confound you, I'm hungry, I don't want to see your ships.  I've seen
enough in my lifetime; you ought to have known that."

"Come along then, old chap, we'll have some grub and put you in a better
temper," answered Helston, smiling, and took him to his hotel.

They visited Yarrow's yard that afternoon, and next day went up the
river to Chiswick, where Thorneycroft's destroyer lay almost ready for
launching, with her engines and boilers on board.  "Funny state of
affairs, Doc, old boy," began Helston, as he patted her smooth sides,
"for me to be buying ships.  Fancy imagining six weeks ago that I should
ever be signing cheques to the value of three-quarters of a million and
thinking nothing of it!"

"How much did this one cost you?" asked the Doctor grimly.

"Just over L40,000--a mere fleabite," laughed Helston; "and she's to do
her trials next week--a guaranteed thirty knots.  That would shake up
your wretched liver, Doc, rushing along at more than thirty-five miles
an hour!  It's a funny thing, but they have had several bids for her
during the last few days, so I wrote out a cheque on the spot and got
her.  The others were a little doubtful about cash."

"Some of these smaller republics always are," laughed the manager, who
was standing near them.

"It was Patagonia, too, of all others," continued Helston. "She tried to
get all my ships, and, strangely enough, has never been in the market
before, and doesn't possess such a thing as a ship."

"I expect she wants to become as civilized as some of her neighbours,
and get up a rebellion against the army," added the manager.

After dinner that night Helston showed the Doctor a list of officers he
had chosen, among whom there were several they had known in the old
days.  The Admiralty had put them all on half-pay and lent them to the
Chinese Government for eighteen months directly Helston had made out
their temporary commissions for the squadron he was fitting out.  The
Chinese ambassador had been empowered to sign their commissions, and the
ships were to fly the Yellow Dragon.

"I see you have no doctors yet," said the Doctor.  "I suppose no one has
been such a fool as to volunteer."

Helston opened a drawer in his desk.

"There you are, nearly five hundred of them, men in the navy, army, and
from every corner of the world."

"I didn't know there were so many fools on earth," growled the Doctor.
"To whom are you going to give the opportunity of being drowned or blown
up?"

"Oh, I'm not going to select them.  I leave that job to my principal
medical officer."

"What idiot have you managed to get hold of to do that?"

"You, old chap," replied Helston, slapping him on the shoulder; "you
were the very first to volunteer."

"I!" said the Doctor angrily.  "Why, I'd as soon think of volunteering
for a trip to the moon!"

"Can't help that, Doc; you told me that night at Fareham, when you were
in such a bad temper, that you would come with me if I got a ship, and
here's your commission made out--'all belong ploper, savez'.  Come on,
old fellow, don't leave me in the lurch; come and have another look at
China.  We will look in at our old places in Japan and fancy ourselves
young again.  I'll make you as comfortable as you possibly can be on
board a ship."

"Well, you have played a trick on me," answered the Doctor, after he had
stamped and fumed about the room, "and if you were not steeped in fever
and ague, I would see you at Jericho first; but I'll see you safely
through this foolery--more for Milly's sake, though, than for yours, you
sly brute."

"I knew you'd come, Doc; you aren't doing yourself any good moping down
at Fareham, and the practice can manage itself pretty well, can't it?
You'll get fleet