Meanwhile Trunnion treated the young soldier with uncommon marks
of respect, being prepossessed in his favour by this adventure,
which he had so gallantly achieved, as well as by the encomiums
that Peregrine bestowed upon his valour and generosity. He liked
his countenance, which was bold and hardy, admired his Herculean
limbs, and delighted in asking questions concerning the service he
had seen. The day after his arrival, while the conversation turned
on this last subject, the commodore, taking the pipe out of his
month, "I'll tell ye what, brother," said he; "five-and-forty years
ago, when I was third lieutenant of the Warwick man-of-war, there
was a very stout young fellow on board, a subaltern officer of
marines; his name was not unlike your own, d'ye see, being Guntlet,
with a G. I remember he and I could not abide one another at
first, because, d'ye see, I was a sailor and he a landsman; till
we fell in with a Frenchman, whom we engaged for eight glasses, and
at length boarded and took. I was the first man that stood on the
enemy's deck, and should have come scurvily off, d'ye see, if Guntlet
had not jumped to my assistance; but we soon cleared ship, and
drove them to close quarters, so that they were obliged to strike;
and from that day Guntlet and I were sworn brothers as long as he
remained on board.
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