As soon as we had landed I wrote to the address which Captain Graham had given me, telling of our arrival, and naming the hotel where we were staying, which was one that had been suggested by our friend Waghorn, of The Blue Anchor, at Plymouth. I sent the letter by a boy who was attached to the hotel; and, two or three hours later, a note came from the captain, telling me he had spoken for lodgings for us at a house in Southsea, the southern suburb of Portsmouth, and advising me to go there at once. With the aid of the boy we moved to the lodgings, and found them very comfortable, as well as reasonable in price. Captain Graham was living in Southsea with his family, and the lodgings he had secured for us were less than ten minutes' walk from his house. He invited me to call there in the evening, and bring Haines with me. It was with much difficulty that I persuaded the honest fellow to accompany me, as he dreaded the tortures of sitting at table along with what he called "fashionable folks," and even shrank from an hour upon a chair in a parlor! We went, and were most cordially received. On my comrade's account I had agreed that the call should be a short one, and I took the opportunity to whisper as much to the captain, while Haines was engaged in conversation with Mrs. Graham and her daughters. Before we left the house the captain asked if we were in need of anything which he could supply. Happily I had all the money required for our present wants, and so told him; whereupon he said he wished me to inform him promptly whenever he could be of any service. Of course I promised to do so, and then the subject was dropped. I asked his advice as to our movements and conduct, now that we were out on parole. "I would advise" said he, "that you live here as quietly as you can, at least for the present. The indications are that the war will not last much longer; our government and people are getting tired of it, thanks to the depredations of your privateers upon our commerce. We have learned that American sailors can fight just as well as British ones; and no man of sense in England disparages your navy at the present time, as he was likely to do before the war broke out. The British loss of merchantmen, of all classes, is fully twenty-three hundred, while the American loss does not exceed five hundred. Fifty-six British war vessels have been captured, with eight hundred and eighty cannon; while twenty-five American war vessels with three hundred and fifty guns have been taken by us. The game is a losing one to the British side, and negotiations for peace are now going on!" "And the sooner we have it the better for all concerned," I replied. "No one will hail it more warmly than I shall." "For one, I shall be very glad of it," said Mrs. Graham, "as I don't like to be obliged to regard you and Mr. Haines as enemies."