"Oh, it is heavenly!" cried Creggan; "but will we all be alive this time to-morrow?"
"Who can tell, my lad? No one dies till his day comes.
"But," he added with some hesitation, "you're not afraid, are you?"
"Oh, no indeed, doctor; just a little anxious, that is all. This will be my first fight, you know. But I am seventeen now—"
"Yes, and hard and strong, Creggan."
"So, doctor, if I get a chance to hit a nigger, I mean to hit him just as hard as I know how to."
"Very good. So shall I; but let me give you a word of good advice, because I'm older than you. Don't get carried away by excitement. He fights best who fights as calmly as possible. Keep to the fighting line or square, as the case may be, and you'll do well.
"And now I think I'll turn in, and may God in his mercy preserve us both to-morrow, and our Captain Flint as well."
"Amen!" said Creggan.
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