_II.--The Commodore Takes Peregrine Under His Own Care_


Having no hopes of propagating his own name, the Commodore, through his
friendly intercourse with Mr. Gamaliel, contracted a liking for
Peregrine, who, by this time entered the third year of his age, was a
very handsome, healthy, and promising child, with a certain oddity of
disposition for which he had been remarkable even from his cradle.
Almost all his little childish satire was levelled against the
Commodore, but in this he might have been influenced by the example and
instruction of Mr. Hatchway, who delighted in superintending the first
essays of his genius.

One day when the Commodore had chastised the child by a gentle tap with
his cane, Peregrine fell flat on the floor as if he had been deprived of
all sense and motion, to the terror and amazement of the striker; and
having filled the whole house with confusion and dismay, opened his
eyes, and laughed heartily at the success of his own imposition.

A few years later, when Mrs. Pickle decided to send Peregrine to a
boarding-school, her husband not venturing to make the least objection,
the Commodore interested himself so much in behalf of his favourite, as
to fit him out at his own charge, and accompany him in person to the
place of his destination. In less than a twelvemonth the boy was
remarkable for the brightness of his parts, and the Commodore received
with transport an account of his proficiency, and forthwith communicated
the happy tidings to the parents.

Mr. Gamaliel Pickle heard them with a sort of phlegmatic satisfaction,
and the child's mother observed that the truth was always exaggerated by