I laughed. "I am afraid, sir," I replied, "that too many of us would rather fudge than take the trouble to do our day's work properly. But I got out of that lazy trick some time ago; and now I will not turn my back upon any lad of my own age, whether midshipman, or master's-mate, where navigation is concerned." "Ah!" he remarked, "that sounds all right. Tell me, what can you do in navigation problems?" "I can do Plane, Traverse, Middle-Latitude, and Mercator's Sailing," I answered. "I can also do a Day's Work; I can use my quadrant with accuracy; can find the Latitude by a meridian altitude of the sun, moon, or a star; can find the error and rate of the chronometer, and also the longitude by it; can determine the variation of the compass; can find the longitude by a `lunar'; can do the Pole Star problem; and--well, I think that is about all, sir, thus far." "And a very creditable `all,' too," answered the Admiral, evidently well pleased. "And what about your seamanship?" he continued. "I believe I am pretty good at that too, sir," I said. "I was at Portsmouth, in the dockyard, every day during the fitting-out of the frigate, and watched the whole process of rigging her. When I first saw her she had nothing standing but her three lower-masts." "Well," remarked Sir Peter, "you ought to have picked up a little knowledge relative to the spars and rigging of a ship during that time. But _did_ you? That is the question. Come, I'll put you through your facings a bit, if you are not too sleepy. Supposing that it became necessary for you to get the maintop over the masthead, how would you go to work?" I considered a moment, recalled the operation as I had witnessed it, and then proceeded to describe what I had seen. "Yes; very good," commented my companion. "Now, get your lower rigging into place, and set it up." I described how I would do that; and also answered several other questions, apparently to his satisfaction. "Very well," he said, "that's all rigger's work; exceedingly important to know, of course, but still not exactly seamanship. Now, young gentleman, suppose yourself to be in command of a fine frigate--as I hope you will be some day, please God. You are turning to windward in a fresh breeze, under all plain sail, and it becomes necessary to tack. Describe the various evolutions." I did so; and then the old gentleman gradually took me, still aboard my suppositious frigate, through a rapidly freshening breeze into a regular hurricane, until I had got the ship hove-to under bare poles, with a tarpaulin lashed in the weather mizen rigging, and then he shook hands with me and dismissed me to my room.