"Begorrah, Tom," said he, as he watched me tucking into the stuff with great complacency, while the rest of the fellows were cleaning up the mess-table and generally making things snug, "it's as good as aitin' onesilf fur to say how ye git outside that pay-soup. An ould play- acting chap I onst sayd a-swallerin' knoives an' sich loike onnatural stuff, worn't a patch on ye, me hearty!" I had, however, to make short work of my meal, for the `assembly' just then sounded; and, after our usual parade again on deck, according to the routine, a part of our division went ashore to a large field between Blockhouse Fort and Haslar on the Gosport side of the water, belonging to the _Saint Vincent_, and which is used for drilling the boys in marching and small-arm instruction. Some of the remainder of us were put to signalling on the upper deck, carrying on highly interesting dialogues with small flags that were waved to and fro between the bows and stern of the ship; but the major part of the division--I, much to my delight, being one of the number-- practised all the afternoon at boat-pulling. In this my experience with father's wherry during the last three or four years stood me in good stead; though I had some little difficulty at first in mastering the usual man-o'-war stroke with the long ash oars in the heavy launch which we pulled, the boat being double-banked. The next day was the most exciting I had passed since I had been on board the ship, now over a week. To begin with, it was `pay-day,' the whole ship's company marching up to the paymaster in turn at the temporary office he had rigged up _al fresco_, as Mick's `Oitalian' friends would say, on the upper deck, and receiving each his weekly pay; the boys being allowed, those of the first-class a shilling, and those of the second sixpence, for pocket- money, the balance being saved up to their account or else forwarded to their parents. Much amusement was caused amongst us as we received the respective coins to which we were entitled, each holding out his cap for them; for a sailor, you know, puts everything in his cap. Pocketing our coin as we went below, Mick created the greatest fun of all as he spit on his and spun it in the air. "Hooray!" he cried out, against the regulations, though, fortunately for himself, not too loud, as he skated down the hatchway. "Begorrah, it's the foorst money Oi iver arnt in me loif! Faith, Tom mabouchal, we'll spind it togither an' hev a rig'ler jollification ashore!" The bugle sounded `cooks to their messes' as Mick was saying this; and so off he hurried to the galley on the fore part of the middle deck when we had got down the hatchway, I following after him. On passing the entry-port, however, my old friend the master-at-arms hailed me. "Hi, Tom Bowling!" he called out, beckoning me into the office; "I hope you haven't been getting into any row?" "Not that I know of, sir," said I, flabbergasted by his question. "Why, sir?"