"Faith, I'm grateful to you and my other messmates for giving it," I answered. "I'm not ashamed of the name, and I hope to have the opportunity of making it known far and wide some day or other; and now may I ask you what's your name, for I haven't had the pleasure of hearing it." "Thomas Pim," he answered. "Come, that's short enough, anyhow," I observed. "Yes; but when I first came aboard, the mess declared it was too long, so they cut off the `h' and the `as' and `m' and called me Tom Pi; but even then they were not content, for they further docked it of its fair proportions, and decided that I was to be named Topi, though generally I'm called simply Pi." "Do you mind it?" I asked. "Not a bit," he answered. "It suits my size, I confess; for, to tell you the truth, I'm older than I look, and have been three years at sea." "I thought you had only just joined," I remarked, for my companion was, as I have just said, a very little fellow, scarcely reaching up to my shoulder. On examining his countenance more minutely, I observed that it had a somewhat old look. "Though I'm little I'm good, and not ashamed of my size or my name either," he said. "When bigger men are knocked over, I've a chance of escaping. I can stow myself away where others can't get in their legs; and when I go aloft or take a run on shore, I've less weight to carry,-- so has the steed I ride. When I go with others to hire horses, I generally manage to get the best from the stable-keeper." "Yes, I see that you have many advantages over bigger fellows," I said. "I'm perfectly contented with myself now I've found that out, but I confess that at first I didn't like being laughed at and having remarks made about my name and my size. I have grown slightly since then, and no one observes now that I'm an especially little fellow." Tom spoke for some time on the same subject. "I say, Paddy Finn, I hope you and I will be friends," he continued. "I've heard that you Irishmen are frequently quarrelsome, but I hope you won't quarrel with me, or, for your own sake, with any of the rest of the mess. You'll gain nothing by it, as they would all turn against you to put you down." "No fear of that," I replied, "always provided that they say nothing insulting of Ireland, or of my family or friends, or of the opinions I may hold, or take liberties which I don't like, or do anything which I consider unbecoming gentlemen." "You leave a pretty wide door open," remarked Tom; "but, as I said before, if you don't keep the peace it will be the worse for you." We were all this time proceeding at a rapid rate up the stream, between its wooded and picturesque banks. On arriving at Cork, the captain wished the major good-bye, saying that I must be on board again within three days, which would allow me ample time to get a proper uniform made.