"haul out" of dock. In half an hour we had
hauled out and were going down the river.

That was rather a dismal first meeting of all
the passengers in the saloon. There was
an air of trouble on most faces, and every
one was coming in and out uneasily of the
little cellars, which were called state-rooms,
"blocking" their hats as they did so. The
lamps were lighted, and looked yellow and
sickly enough, and were already swinging and
"turning" as the vessel moved. I looked
round and saw a good many of the passengers.
There was a Spanish-looking actress, a wife or
two of a consul, two or three commercial
travellers, a couple of officers and their wives,
some Frenchmen, some Germans -- with, in fact,
the almost unvarying elements which make up
the complement of a packet bound on a long
voyage. One gentleman I particularly noticed,
who was taking supper with great relish by
himself. He had come on board early, had
established himself early in one of the best cabins,
and had put everything he wanted in its
"proper place." When nearly every one was
like a moody and troubled spirit, going up
on deck and coming down again, and poking
into wrong cabins, and lurching over unseen
trunks and packages, he was perfectly and
calmly at home. By eleven o'clock he had
finished his supper, had read the evening paper
through by a wax-candle, as he would have
done at his club, and had gone comfortably to
bed. This gentleman's name I was curious
enough to inquire, and found it was Colter, a
Chancery barrister in fair practice, who had
been ordered a long sea voyage to strengthen
his chest, and enable him the better to direct
his voice at their "L'dships."

I was a fair sailor too, and had done many long
voyages; but was not so much at home as the
Chancery barrister. I was painfully sensible of
the discomforts of this way of travelling from the
first, and awoke several times; once, indeed, by
the vessel's stopping, and by that pattering of
feet which follows on a vessel stopping, and
with some shouting. After a few minutes, how-
ever, we moved on again, and I fell asleep.

In the morning we were tossing about in the
Channel. The sea was like melted aluminium,
dull and angry, and the " barque-rigged liner"
rode heaving and lurching. Already the bulk of
the passengers were in their misery, to the
music of the "hish" of the waters, and the
straining and creaking of the inside timbers.
It was a dark day too, was raining on deck,
and only a bare half dozen appeared at
breakfast. Captain Robert Magregor came down
himself, and sat at the head. "Stiff bit of
weather to begin with," he said, cheerfully;
"always the better, though, for my passengers;
they get into it at once, and have it all over.
I wish we had a good storm at once, to try this
vessel. She'd stand anything, sir. Go
anywhere. Built under my own eye."

The Chancery barrister was of course there,
picking out the best bits of broiled ham and
eggs with his fork. I saw him well. Tall,
thin, with a yellowish face, and "thin hair
besprinkled spare." "Captain," he said, abruptly,
"what was the stoppage last night? It awoke
me. Somewhere off Gravesend, eh?"

"Yes," said the captain, "off Gravesend it
was -- a small hooker came alongside with two
passengers. We nearly ran 'em down; serve
'em right, too. Pretty thing, stopping a vessel
in her course! And only the agent would have
been making a row, and talking of the company,
and perhaps stop the passage-money out of my
salary, I'd have let 'em shout till they were
hoarse."

"And now, captain," said the barrister,
buttering toast, with a rasping, crackling sound,
"what were they like -- men, women, or
children?"

"A woman, sir -- a lady, I suppose, we must
call her," the captain said, with disgust. "Nice
thing, isn't it, ladies coming out in hookers to
stop mail-packets on the high seas?"

"And where is she now?" said the barrister,
eating a fresh egg. "Breakfast in berth, eh?"

"I suppose so," said Captain Magregor,
angrily. "Of course, she's sick. By Jove,
the wind's freshening again," he said, rising;
"this is the style of thing. It looks like a good
storm before night."

I was left witn Mr. Colter, who said: "What
we would call, in an address to a jury, a rude
son of Neptune, a hardy son of Ocean, eh, sir?"

"That man," I said, "doesn't care for a single
thing else in the world but his profession -- a
true mariner."

"I don't know that at all. I want him to
contradict me. I should say he is undeveloped --
that he has not had opportunity. For he
is surprisingly young, you remark, though built
upon old lines. The fact is, we can't say that
he might not break out in any new direction, if
the opening came. Now, for a cigar upon
deck."

All that day the weather freshened; by
dinner-time it was almost a storm, and we had
less company at the table than even at breakfast.
Captain Magregor was in great delight. His
eye kindled: "After all," he said, "what is
there in the world to the sea! It is everything
to me: father, mother, wife, and lover. Here's
her health, gentlemen! Would you say as
much for your professions?"

"Certainly not," said Mr. Colter, shortly.
"Even if I felt it, I would not."

This all went on for a couple of days, when
things began to mend. The storm abated
altogether; and one morning we arose to the
smoothest and most lovely weather that could
be conceived. The sea was as blue and smooth
as the Mediterranean at Genoa. The passengers
came crawling out of their burrows, with
miserable faces, but with some hope. They plucked
up wonderfully, as some one remarked. In
fact, at the breakfast-table, all but some children
were assembled. The captain was at the
lead, a little down at the loss of his stormy
weather, and I and Mr. Colter near him.

"We are all here?" said the barrister; "a