"Well, I will give you no more lessons to-day," answered Captain Pinto; "you have had as much as you can bear at one time; for I fear that you are no very apt scholar. But to show you the advantage of not hoping and fretting yourself to death for what there is little chance of obtaining, here am I, upwards of fifty, a hale hearty fellow, though I have only just now got the command of this little toy of a nutshell, with which I am as contented as if I was captain of a line-of-battle ship, and think myself very fortunate to have her; for if that great man Sebastiao Joze de Carvalho had not become one of the King's ministers, I should still have been an humble second lieutenant, and might have continued so to the end of my days. How, indeed, could I expect to rise in times of peace, with no friends at Court, no money to bribe, and though I am noble," the old man drew himself up proudly as he spoke,--"for otherwise I should not presume to be on such intimate terms with you, Senhor Don Luis,--yet, I am not, I confess, of the Puritano families, who have hitherto monopolised everything, but Carvalho is biassed by no such considerations; he is no friend to the Puritanos; he selects men for their merit alone, and some of that he may, I flatter myself, have discovered in me; at all events, I may boast he knew I would serve my country faithfully." "Of that I have no doubt, my friend," answered Don Luis, who had been listening to the old officer's long speech with some impatience, which, however, he endeavoured to conceal. "But can you tell me _how_ soon we shall reach the Tagus?"