"I once served under a captain in that respect like Jerry Hawthorne," said Higson. "Not that he was in general severe, I must own; but he used to come down pretty sharply on us midshipmen occasionally. We were in the Mediterranean, and brought up in Malta harbour. I and two other youngsters were greatly addicted to fishing. This the captain did not approve of, as he said that the bait and lines dirtied the ship's side, and so he issued an order against it. Still fish we would, whenever we had a chance, and we three, knowing that the captain had gone on shore, were thus engaged one day, when he unexpectedly returned on board, and found us hauling up fish after fish, which left their scales sticking to the frigate's polished sides. He sent for us aft. "`I will show you, my lads, how to fish,' he said, with a bland smile, and thereon he ordered three boarding-pikes to be brought, to each of which he had about four feet of rope yarn secured, with a hand-lead at the end. `Now, come along, lads, and you shall begin your fishing,' he said, with a quiet chuckle, and he then made each of us hold a boarding-pike straight out over the taffrail, at arm's length, during the whole of the watch, telling the first lieutenant to keep an eye on us. You may be sure our arms ached; and when the lieutenant turned another way, we took the liberty of letting the pikes rest on the rail. Every now and then the captain would come up, and with that bland smile of his ask us in a cheerful voice-- "`Have you caught any fish, my lads?' and when we said `No, sir,' he would answer-- "`Try a little longer; you will have better luck by-and-by.' "I can tell you, it was about as aggravating a punishment as I ever endured. It cured us, for the time at least, of our love of fishing." "You must have seen some wonderful things in the course of your career, Mr Higson," observed Tom. "I have indeed, youngster," answered the lieutenant. "One of the most wonderful was in that brig we were speaking of, and Snatchblock was the man who played the most important part in the drama. It was a very short one, though. "We were shortening sail when a young midshipman, very small for his age, fell from the fore-topgallant-yard. You must have thought that he must, to a certainty, have been dashed to pieces: so he would have been, but Snatchblock, who was on the fore-topsail-yard caught him as he fell in a vice-like grasp, and placed him on the yard, thus saving his life." "I cannot tell you how I did it, sir," said Snatchblock. "All I can fancy is, I heard him coming, for it was but a moment after he let go his hold that I had him tight enough."