No doubt the colonel has spoken to the general.

Tell the lad apart, and let him make his way aft here to the gangway quietly, so that he won't be noticed.

If any of the men happen to see him going off in the boat, they may suppose that the colonel has only sent for some man who can write; and naturally if the captain had ordered me to choose a man, I should have picked him out." On reaching the deck of the flagship Jack was conducted to the admiral's cabin.

At the head of the table was seated a man whom Jack recognized at once, from the description he had heard of him, as the Earl of Peterborough.

He was small and very spare in person, his features were pleasant, his nose somewhat prominent, his eye lively and penetrating.
He had laid aside the immense wig which, in accordance with the custom, he wore when abroad or at court in England; and Jack saw his hair, which was light brown and somewhat scanty.