At length the arm was set, and Shingle put to bed, and the whole crew dispersed themselves, each moving off as well as he could towards his own home.

But the cream of the jest was richest next day. Parson Charley, who, drunk as he had been overnight, still retained a confused recollection of the parties who had made the irruption, in the morning applied to Mr Smoothpate to have his bell restored, when the latter told him, with the utmost gravity, that Mr Onyx Steady was the culprit, who, by the by, had disappeared from Shingle's before the bell interlude, and, in fact, was wholly ignorant of the transaction. "Certainly," quod Smoothpate, with the greatest seriousness, "a most unlikely person, I will confess, Charley, as he is a grave, respectable man; still, you know, the most demure cats sometimes steal cream, Charley; so, parson, my good man, Mr Onyx Steady has your bell, and no one else.”

Whereupon, away trudged Charley to Mr Steady's warehouse, and pulling off his hat with a formal salaam, "Good Massa Onyxsweet Massa Teady-pray give me de bell." Here the sable clerigo gathered himself up, and leant composedly on his long staff, hat still in hand, and ear turned towards Mr Steady, awaiting his

answer.

"Bell!" ejaculated Steady, in great amazement," bell! what bell?"

"Oh, good, sweet Massa Onyx, dear Massa Onyx Teady, every body know you good person-quiet, wise somebody you is-all person sabe dat," whined Charley; then slipping near our friend, he whispered to him-" But de best of we lob bit of fon now and den-de best of we lef to himshef sometime."

"Confound the fellow!" quoth Onyx, rather pushed off his balance by such an unlooked-for attack before his clerks; “get out of my house, Sir—what the mischief do I know of you or your infernal bell? I wish the tongue of it was in your stomach-get out, Sir, away with you.'

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Charley could stand this no longer, and losing patience, “D—n me eye, you is de tief, Sir-so give me de bell, Massa Teady, or I sall pull you go before de Mayor, Massa Teady, and you sall be shame, Massa Teady; and it may be you sall be export to de Bay of Honduras, Massa Teady. Aha, how you will like dat, Massa Teady? you sall be export may be for break into chapel, during sarvice, and teal bell-aha, teal bell-who ever yeerie one crime equal to dat!"

My good man," quoth Onyx, who now felt the absurdity of the

affair, "I know nothing of all this-believe me, there is a mistake. Who sent you here?"

"Massa Smoothpate," roared Charley, "Massa Smoothpate, he who neber tell lie to nobody, Massa Smoothpate sent me, Sir, so de debil if you no give up de bell I sall ”——

"Mr Smoothpate-oh ho!" sung out Steady, "I see, I see”Finally the affair was cleared up, a little hush-money made all snug, and Charley having got back his instrument, bore no malice, so he and Steady resumed their former friendly footing—the “statu quo ante bellum.”

Another story, and I have done—

About a week after this, several of the same party again met at dinner, when my excellent friend Mr Nicodemus amused us exceedingly by the following story, which, for want of a better title, I shall relate under the head of

A SLIPPERY YOUTH.

"We all know," quoth old Nic, "that house robberies have been very rife of late, and on peril even of having the laugh against me, I will tell you how I suffered, no longer than three nights ago; so, Tom Cringle, will you and Bang have the charity to hold your tongues, and be instructed?

"Old Gelid, Longtram, Steady, and myself, had been eating ratoons, at the former's domicile, and it was about nine in the evening when I got home. We had taken next to no wine, a pint of Madeira a-piece during dinner, and six bottles of claret between us afterwards, so I went to bed as cool as a cucumber, and slept soundly for several hours, until awakened by my old gander—now do be quiet, Cringle-by my old watchman of a gander, cackling like a hero. I struck my repeater-half past one—so I turned myself, and was once more falling over into the arms of Morpheus, when I thought I saw some dark object flit silently across the open window that looks into the piazza, between me and the deep blue and as yet moonless sky. This somewhat startled me, but it might have been one of the servants. Still I got up and looked out, but I could see nothing. It did certainly strike me once or twice, that there was some dark object cowering in the deep gloom caused by the shade of the orange-tree at the end of the piazza, but I persuaded myself it was fancy, and once more slipped into my nest. However, the circumstance had put sleep to flight. Half an hour might have passed, and the deep dark purity of the eastern sky was rapidly quickening into a greenish azure, the forerunner of the

rising moon," ("oh, confound your poetry," said Rubiochico,) “which was fast swamping the sparkling stars, like a bright river flowing over diamonds, when the old gander again set up his gabblement and trumpeted more loudly than before. If you were not so tough, my noisy old cock-thought I-'next Michaelmas should be your last.' So I now resolutely shut my eyes, and tried to sleep perforce, in which usually fruitless attempt, I was actually beginning to succeed, do you know, when a strong odour of palm oil came through the window, and on opening my eyes, I saw by the increasing light a naked negro standing at it, with his head and shoulders in sharp relief against the pale broad disk of the moon, at that moment just peering over the dark summit of the Long Mountain.

"I rubbed my eyes, and looked again; the dark figure was still there, but as if aware that some one was on the watch, it gradually sank down, until nothing but the round bullet head appeared above the window sill. This was trying enough, but I made an effort, and lay still. The stratagem succeeded; the figure, deceived by my feigned snoring and quietude, slowly rose, and once more stood erect. Presently it slipt one foot into the room, and then another, but so noiselessly that when I saw the black figure standing before me on the floor, I had some misgivings as to its being really a being of this world. However, I had small space for speculation, when it slid past the foot of the bed towards my open bureau-I seized the opportunity-started up-turned the key of the door-and planted myself right between the thief and the open window. 'Now, you scoundrel, surrender, or I will murder you on the spot.' I had scarcely spoken the word, when with the speed of light, the fellow threw himself on me-we closed-I fell-when, clip, he slipped through my fingers like an eel-bolted through the window -cleared the balcony at a bound, and disappeared. The thief had stripped himself as naked as he was born, and soaped his woolly scull, and smeared his whole corpus with palm oil, so that in the struggle I was charmingly lubricated."

Nicodemus here lay back on his chair, evidently desirous of our considering this the whole of the story, but he was not to be let off so easily, for presently Longtram, with a wicked twinkle of his eye, chimed in

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'Ay, and what happened next, old Nic-did nothing follow, eh?" Nic's countenance assumed an irresolute expression; he saw he was jammed up in the wind, so at a venture he determined to sham deafness

"Take wine, Lucifer-a glass of Hermitage?'

"With great pleasure," said his Satanic majesty. The propitiatory libation, however, did not work, for no sooner had his glass touched the mahogany again, than he returned to the charge.

"Now, Mr Nicodemus, since you won't, I will tell the company the reason of so nice an old gentleman wearing Baltimore flour in his hair instead of perfumed Mareschale powder, and none of the freshest either, let me tell you; why, I have seen three weavels take flight from your august pate since we sat down to dinner."

Old Nic, seeing he was caught, met the attack with the greatest good humour

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Why, I will tell the whole truth, Lucifer, if you don't bother." --(“The devil thank you," said Longtram.)—" So you must know," continued Nicodemus, “that I immediately roused the servants, searched the premises in every direction without success-nothing could be seen; but, at the suggestion of my valet, I lit a small spirit lamp, and placed it on the table at my bed-side, on which it pleased him to place my brace of Mantons, loaded with slug, and my naked small sword, so that, thought I, if the thief ventures back, he shall not slip through my fingers again so easily. I do confess that these imposing preparations did appear to me somewhat preposterous, even at the time, as it was not, to say the least of it, very probable that my slippery gentleman would return the same night. However, my servant in his zeal was not to be denied, and I was not so fit to judge as usual, from having missed my customary quantity of wine after dinner the previous day; so seeing all right, I turned in, thus bristling like a porcupine, and slept soundly until daylight, when I bethought me of getting up. I then rose-slipt on my nightgown—and,”—here Nicodemus laughed more loudly than ever," as I am a gentleman, my spirit-lamp-naked sword— loaded pistols—my diamond breast-pin, and all my clothes, even unto my unmentionables, had disappeared; but what was the cruelest cut of all, my box of Mareschale powder, my patent puff, and all my pomade divine had also vanished; and true enough, as Lucifer says, it so happened that from the delay in the arrival of the running ships, there was not an ounce of either powder or pomatum to be had in the whole town, so I have been driven in my extremity-oh most horrible declension!—to keep my tail on hog's lard and Baltimore flour ever since."

"Well but"-persisted Lucifer-" who the deuce was the man in the moon? Come, tell us. And what has become of the queue

you so tenderly nourished, for you sport a crop, Master Nic, now, I perceive?"

Here Nicodemus was neither to hold nor to bind; he was absolutely suffocating with laughter, as he shrieked out, with long intervals between

"Why, the robber was my own favourite body-servant, Crabclaw, after all, and be d――d to him-the identical man who advised the warlike demonstrations; and as for the pigtail, why, on the very second night of the flour and grease, it was so cruelly damaged by a rat while I slept, that I had to amputate the whole affair, stoop and roop, this very morning." And so saying, the excellent creature fell back in his chair, like to choke from the uproariousness of his mirth, while the tears streamed down his cheeks and washed channels in the flour, as if he had been a tatooed Mandingo.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE LAST OF THE LOG.-TOM CRINGLE'S farewell.

"And whether we shall meet again, I know not."
Brutus to Cassius, in Julius Cæsar.

ONE fine morning about this time, we had just anchored on our return from a cruise, when I received, as I was dressing, a letter from the secretary, desiring me instantly to wait on the admiral, as I was promoted to the rank of commander, (how I did dance and sing, my eye!) and appointed to the Lotus-Leaf, of eighteen guns, then refitting at the dock-yard, and under orders for England.

I accordingly, after calling and making my bow, proceeded to the dock-yard to enter on my new command, and I was happy in being able to get Tailtackle and Reefpoint once more removed along with me.

The gunner of Lotus-Leaf having died, Timotheus got an acting warrant, which I rejoice to say was ultimately confirmed, and little Reefy, now a commander in the service, weathered it many a day with me afterwards, both as midshipman and lieutenant.