Year: 1877

mock train 1t was perfectly desperate. With the blindness of infatuation we rnttled on unaware of what we were doing till we reached Port Glasgow, where an old yellow-faced gentleman, who had been playing The most flatter- ing attention to our talk, ., go. out After stepping upon lbe platform he turned, and putting his head back into the car. riHge, said with much compassion.

 Let me assure you, young gentlemen on the word of an old sailor, that the best remedy for sea-sickness is brandy and water Be sure to take plenty of it with you, for you'll need it"

 Then he closed the door with great soemnity.

 We tried to smile, but am sure we were neither so successful in the attempt as we'conld have wished nor as the other passengers were and we felt relieved when the train reached Greenock and we got away from the scene of our hum iliaii0n.

 The feeling of having been taken down soon wore off, however, under the influence of the sea and the hills, and by the time we had walked the length of Fort Matilda we had quite re- gained our usual'spirits

 And now as the yachts at anchor in Gourack Bay came into view the blno- cular and; .hc'0pera glass were brought into rcquisllion in the hope of making out the word Firt in gold lettering either on lhc.boW or stern of one of the fally crafts.

 Need say that it was only the finest looking ot the yachts that we examined thus anxiously; but il appeared to be rule among yachtsmen not to follow the vulgar pratice of merchantmen in plant ing the name npon lhLir vessels so we deslsted from our examination with the comforting reflection that our surprise would afford us all the greater pleasure when she Was pointed out to us.

 Jack proposed that we should each select d yacht and h.Vea sweepstake of half a crown d piece upon our selections and Tom jumped at ethe proposal .in moment picking out the finest looking vessel in the bay as his favorite Jack protested that he had stolen march up- on him, but at length made his choice selecting d cutter that a lord need not be ashamed of owning Believing it to be unlikely that amid such number of craft any of us would fix upon the right one, l, for the fun of the thing, chose dirty old boat that Was floating heavily far from the shore. with green sea weed clinging to the chain cable of her anchor and which looked as if she had e1er made the acquuil tanCe of d paint-bruzh l was rallied greatly upon my selection Jack declaring that she had been model ed on the lines of Noah's Ark, and that the head of the man who built her would never ache again while Toms merri- ment came near to throwing him into convulsions.

 It was not without some difficulty that we managed to hunt up the Ancient Mariner who was to.hand ttila Flirt over to our charge but at length, after being directed 10 various public houses which he was known to frequent, we found him comfortably seated behind some porter s.barrows on the quay playing ca oh the-ten with some boon compan- ions upon the round top of q pail.

 He did not realize our idea of the true old salt by pulling his forelock and nd- dressing us, as your honOrS" when We made our errand known 10 him but, throwing as much compassi n into his cOuntenance as She possession of only one eye and the management of pretty free consumption of spirits would admit of, he said

 And do you really mean to sail the Flirt, young gen'l'men.n

 We were stiIl young in experience, and, despite the damping effect of his manner, we assured him that we did mean to sail her, and that we would astonish him ny showing what the little hussey could do with proper handling. We seemed to have astonished him al ready, for he stood surveying us from head to foot for minute, and then without uttering single syllable he turned and walked down the quay, try ing to whistle a melancholy air

 Somehow his demeanor was not so in spring as we had expected it would be and Tom cheery voice was not in is best form when he inquired if the gig was ashOre, as it would be better to go on board in her than in hlied boat. The Ancient Mariner again paused tn take survey, ,pf us then ae removed his hat, and, taking handkerchief from il, wiped the precipitation from hls brow after which performance he replaced his hat. and with deep groan resumed his march. s.4 .--....-- .......

 We followed slowly in his Wake, gong back the road by which we had