"Sheer off, men," he said, and as he did so the boatswain of the ship
gave the word, "Now, lads, three cheers for them boys; may they have
the luck they deserve."

Three thundering cheers burst from the whole crew, the men in the
boats tossing their oars in the naval fashion of acknowledgment of
the salute. Tom and Peter, astonished and affected, stood up, took
off their caps, and waved their hands in thanks to the crowd of faces
looking down upon them, and then sat down again and wiped their eyes.

"Row on," the lieutenant said, and the oars fell in the water with
a splash; one more cheer arose, and then the boats rowed for the
landing-place. The boys were too much affected to look up or speak,
until they reached the shore, nor did they notice a boat which rowed
past them upon its way to the vessel they had left, just after they
had started. It contained an officer in a general's uniform. The boat
steered to the ship's side, and the officer ascended the ladder. The
captain was on deck. "Ah, Craufurd," he said, "this is an unexpected
pleasure."

"I have just come back from my division for a few hours, Merivale;
there are a lot of stores which are essential, and some of my
artillery is not landed, so I thought I could hurry things up a bit.
My spare charger, and most of the chargers of my staff, are being
landed, too; the ship they came in was a day or two late; and as I had
to confer with the Portuguese Minister of War, I am killing a good
many birds with one stone. I heard you had just come in, and as I was
on board the "Clio" about my charger, I thought it would not be much
out of my way to run round and shake hands with you."