'Yes, indeed,' said Mrs. Woodward, sighing gently, 'we shall no
longer have a bed for you, Harry; that _is_ the worst of it.'

Harry of course assured her that if that was the worst of it
there was nothing very bad in it. He could have a bed at the inn
as well as Alaric and Charley. The amount of that evil would only
be half-a-crown a night.

And thus the advent of Captain Cuttwater was discussed.



CHAPTER IV

CAPTAIN CUTTWATER


Captain Cuttwater had not seen much service afloat; that is, he
had not been personally concerned in many of those sea-
engagements which in and about the time of Nelson gave so great a
halo of glory to the British Lion; nor had it even been permitted
to him to take a prominent part in such minor affairs as have
since occurred; he had not the opportunity of distinguishing
himself either at the battle of Navarino or the bombarding of
Acre; and, unfortunately for his ambition, the period of his
retirement came before that great Baltic campaign, in which, had
he been there, he would doubtless have distinguished himself as
did so many others. His earliest years were spent in cruising
among the West Indies; he then came home and spent some