“Why, Jack, you bear malice like a marine.” “There you go again. Good bye. Do you remember when we were yard arm to yard arm with those two Yankee frigates, and took ’em both? You didn’t call me a marine then, when the scuppers were running with blood. Was I a seaman then?” “You were, Jack—you were; and you saved my life.” “I didn’t.” “You did.” “I say I didn’t—it was a marlin-spike.” “But I say you did, you rascally scoundrel.—I say you did, and I won’t be contradicted in my own ship.” “Call this your ship?” “No, d—n it—I——” “Mr. Crinkles,” said the landlord, flinging the door wide open, and so at once putting an end to the discussion which always apparently had a tendency to wax exceedingly warm. “The shark, by G—d!” said Jack. A little, neatly dressed man made his appearance, and advanced rather timidly into the room. Perhaps he had heard from the landlord that the parties who had sent for him were of rather a violent sort. “So you are Crinkles, are you?” cried the admiral. “Sit down, though you are a lawyer.” “Thank you, sir. I am an attorney, certainly, and my name as certainly is Crinkles.” “Look at that.” The admiral placed the letter in the little lawyer’s hands, who said,— “Am I to read it?” “Yes, to be sure.” “Aloud?” “Read it to the devil, if you like, in a pig’s whisper, or a West India hurricane.” “Oh, very good, sir. I—I am willing to be agreeable, so I’ll read it aloud, if it’s all the same to you.” He then opened the letter, and read as follows:— “To Admiral Bell. “Admiral,—Being, from various circumstances, aware that you take a warm and a praiseworthy interest in your nephew, Charles Holland, I venture to write to you concerning a matter in which your immediate and active co-operation with others may rescue him from a condition which will prove, if allowed to continue, very much to his detriment, and ultimate unhappiness. “You are, then, hereby informed, that he, Charles Holland, has, much earlier than he ought to have done, returned to England, and that the object of his return is to contract a marriage into a family in every way objectionable, and with a girl who is highly objectionable. “You, admiral, are his nearest and almost his only relative in the world; you are the guardian of his property, and, therefore, it becomes a duty on your part to interfere to save him from the ruinous consequences of a marriage, which is sure to bring ruin and distress upon himself and all who take an interest in his welfare. “The family he wishes to marry into is named Bannerworth, and the young lady’s name is Flora Bannerworth. When, however, I inform you that a _vampyre_ is in that family, and that if he marries into it, he marries a vampyre, and will have vampyres for children, I trust I have said enough to warn you upon the subject, and to induce you to lose no time in repairing to the spot.