W. H. G. Kingston 
Three Midshipmen 

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Our school and schoolfellows. – First meeting of Jack Rogers, Alick Murray, and Paddy Adair. – School adventures. – Paddy Adair gets into a scrape. – Discussion as to their future career. – All three resolve to go to sea. – Last half at Eagle House. – Jack Rogers at home, and preparations for sea. – Paddy Adair makes the acquaintance of an admiral, and orders him to carry his portmanteau. – Admiral Triton, and his advice to the midshipmen. – Sail for the Mediterranean.<br><br>Ours was a capital school, though it was not a public one. It was not far from London, so that a coach could carry us down there in little more than an hour from the White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly. On the top of the posts, at each side of the gates, were two eagles; fine large birds I thought them. They looked out on a green, fringed with tall elms, beyond which was our cricket-field. A very magnificent red-brick old house rose behind the eagles, full of windows belonging to our sleeping-rooms. The play-ground was at the back of the house, with a grand old tulip-tree in the centre, a tectum for rainy weather on one side, and the large school-room on the other. Beyond was a good-sized garden, full of apple and pear trees, but, as we very seldom went into it, I do not remember its appearance. Perhaps, were I to see the place again, I might find its dimensions somewhat altered. The master was a first-rate schoolmaster. What his attainments were, I cannot say but he understood managing boys admirably. He kept us all in very good order, had us fairly taught, fed us with wholesome, if not luxurious, food, and though he used his cane freely, treated us justly. We held him in awe, and yet we liked him.