CHAPTER III.
I am made to look very blue at the Blue Posts--Find wild spirits around, and, soon after, hot spirits within me; at length my spirits overcome me Call to pay my respects to the Captain, and find that I had had the pleasure of meeting him before--No sooner out of one scrape than into another.
When we stopped, I inquired of the coachman which was the best inn.

He answered "that it was the Blue Postesses, where the midshipmen leave their chestesses, call for tea and toastesses, and sometimes forget to pay for their breakfastesses." He laughed when he said it, and I thought that he was joking with me; but he pointed out two large blue posts at the door next the coach-office, and told me that all the midshipmen resorted to that hotel.

He then asked me to remember the coachman, which, by this time I had found out implied that I was not to forget to give him a shilling, which I did, and then went into the inn.

The coffee-room was full of midshipmen, and, as I was anxious about my chest, I inquired of one of them if he knew when the waggon would come in.
"Do you expect your mother by it ?" replied he.
"Oh no! but I expect my uniforms--I only wear these bottle-greens until they come." "And pray what ship are you going to join ?" "The _Die-a-maid_--Captain Thomas Kirkwall Savage." "The _Diomede_--I say, Robinson, a'n't that the frigate in which the midshipmen had four dozen apiece for not having pipe-clayed their weekly accounts on the Saturday ?" "To be sure it is," replied the other; "why the captain gave a youngster five dozen the other day for wearing a scarlet watch-riband." "He's the greatest Tartar in the service," continued the other; "he flogged the whole starboard watch the last time that he was on a cruise, because the ship would only sail nine knots upon a bowline." "Oh dear," said I, "then I'm very sorry that I am going to join him." "'Pon my soul I pity you: you'll be fagged to death: for there's only three midshipmen in the ship now--all the rest ran away.

Didn't they, Robinson ?" "There's only two left now; for poor Matthews died of fatigue.