To recover himself, he took a spring forward, and landed full on the top of the junior ensign of the regiment, a mild youth with a very little voice, and for the next minute the two were rolling, one on the top of the other, over and over, along the wet deck, amid the laughter of everybody.
By the time Paddy had picked himself up, and helped the poor young ensign to his feet, his ardour was sufficiently damped.

He apologised with as good grace as he could to his late victim, and made very humble excuses to the sergeant in charge, who, fortunately for him, had witnessed that the affair was an accident.
Duck Downie, however, with his coat off and his sleeves tucked up, still awaited his man as if nothing had happened, and seemed surprised that Paddy was not as eager as before for the fray.

The latter, however, quite sobered by this time, merely cried out in the hearing of everybody,-- "Arrah! Downie, darlint, ye may put on your coat, because I forgive you this onst; but, man dear, don't do it again!" and was thereby considered by everybody to have had the best of the whole adventure.
Under such dignified circumstances did we set foot on Indian soil.
The reader will be surprised that I have never yet remembered that when I last heard of him, Charlie, my first master, was in India.

I did remember it often and often--during the voyage and after landing.

And yet I quite despised myself for imagining (as I did) that the next white face I saw would surely be his.