discipline, obeyed by me as a boy and remembered as a man, I
should never--no, never--have won the Ticket-of-Leave which you
behold!"

In something of the same spirit I bring you this small volume.
The child of encouragement is given to staggering its parent;
and I make no doubt that as you turn the following pages, you
will more than once exclaim, with the old lady in the ballad--

"O, deary me! this is none of I!"

Nevertheless, it would be strange indeed if this story bore no
marks of you; for a hundred kindly instances have taught me to
come with sure reliance for your reproof and praise. Few, I
imagine, have the good fortune of a critic so friendly and
inexorable; and if the critic has been unsparing, he has been
used unsparingly.
Wargrave, Henley-on-Thames,
June 7, 1888


CONTENTS.

Chapter.

I. IN WHICH THE READER IS MADE ACQUAINTED WITH A STATE OF
INNOCENCE; AND THE MEANING OF THE WORD "CUMEELFO"

II. HOW AN ADMIRAL TOOK ONE GENTLEMAN FOR ANOTHER, AND WAS TOLD
THE DAY OF THE MONTH.