`Gyp,' however, would not leave me; and, as he insisted on joining company with me in my hammock, I made him go shares with the brandy-and- water as well, though I can't say that he took his portion with as much satisfaction. His master, on coming to hear of the occurrence when he returned from leave, was, I need hardly say, delighted that `Gyp' had been saved from a watery grave. He extolled, indeed, my really unpremeditated action in much higher terms than it actually deserved; for, really, I did it, as I have said before, without thinking. However, be that as it may, the captain, commending me on my good conduct generally since I had been attached to the training-ship under his command, passed over in the most honourable way that unfortunate smoking episode of mine, and promised to `keep his eye on me.' This, I may add, he did in a much more satisfactory manner than that smart chap, ship's corporal Smithers; but, of this, you will learn anon. My days in the _Saint Vincent_, you must know, were now drawing to a close. Nine months of second-class boy instruction and four months as a first- class boy had pretty well taken me through the ordinary routine of the training-ship; the last two months of my stay on board being mainly devoted to a _resume_ of the various studies constituting seamanship which I had already gone through, as well as a grand rehearsal of gun practice and rifle drill and of the sword exercise. In this latter all the boys took the keenest delight, cutting and slashing at one another with a go and gusto worthy of all admiration. We pointed, guarded, and parried, with a nimbleness and correctness that excited the praise of our instructor; but when we got to what was called `general practice,' and learnt cuts `One' and `Two,' with an extra `Point,' before our teacher sang out `Guard!' our enthusiasm knew no bounds, and all of us would fancy ourselves to be bluejackets in action, boarding a pirate or leading a storming-party and killing hecatombs of enemies on the war-path, our weapons mowing them down with every sweep! Sometimes our sword-play got us into scrapes, when two boys matched against each other by the instructor allowed their zeal to overcome their discretion; for, occasionally, they would lose their tempers when over the single-sticks and give one another such spiteful blows that the instructor would have to interfere and separate them by force of arms. In the majority of cases, however, the scratches we received were more the result of accident than of malice intent; and the little embroilments that happened when sword-play degenerated into horseplay were not, as a rule, worth mentioning. On one occasion, though, my chum Mick nearly had his nose carved off in an encounter with a comrade, though luckily his opponent did not succeed in spoiling Mick's beauty.