Besides having his thoughts bent upon the loss he had thus incurred, with a very serious feeling, they also rested upon Mabel Arden. Hitherto he had only remembered her as an endearing child—as a sister. She was now, he was assured, a fair and beautiful girl; would she be so changed by the lapse of five years, as to baffle his memory of her features? Then it occurred to him that, from untoward circumstances, years might elapse before his foot would again rest on England’s soil. CHAPTER XXI. “Bill,” said Lieutenant Thornton, one morning after breakfast, as, habited in a very unpretending shooting-dress of dark green cloth, which fitted him well, “Bill, did you ever go out trout-fishing?” “Trout-fishing, sir,” repeated Bill, who was also equipped in a somewhat similar dress, and whose whiskers and moustachios had grown into formidable dimensions; “no, sir, I can’t say as how I ever seed a trout. I’ve speared and harpooned many a shark; if he’s anything like one of them ere beggars, I’m blowed, your honour, but we’ll have some fun with him.” “Well, I confess, Bill, a trout is not exactly a shark; but there’s some sport in catching him, and he makes a capital fry; so strap that basket on you,” taking down, as he spoke, a trout rod, several of which were suspended on hooks, in a chamber devoted to articles for the chase, and various other amusements that men call sport. “At all events, Bill,” continued our hero, preparing to sally forth, “if we catch no fish, we shall have air and exercise, and that’s something. If we meet any one, do not speak a word; and, above all things, leave off kissing the girls; it’s a bad habit.” Bill rubbed his left ear, with a very comical expression of countenance, and turned a very doubtful look at his master. “Your honour can parley vous with the women,” said Bill, “but, lord, sir, I’m high and dry, brought up on a sand-bank; but, howsomever, I will do my best, and steer clear; hope your honour will give ’em a wide berth also, seeing that they are a kind of craft that loves hugging; which is somewhat dangerous, when the wind’s right on the shore.” “I will set you a good example, Bill, depend upon it; for if we expect to get out of this country, we must make sail without a craft in tow.” Bill smiled, and commenced practising silence, though his thoughts were busy.