noon
The old gentleman , I was afterwards told , was so excited at the good news that he would not wait to dress , but descended to the parlour , where the skipper awaited him , in his dressing-gown . The old boy was almost overwhelmed at the news of his good fortune ; insisted that Captain Winter should stay to breakfast with him ; and afterwards , despite the cold weather , came off to the roadstead and visited each of the prizes in turn . It was as well , perhaps , that he did so , as there was a considerable amount of business to be transacted in connection with the recapture of the _ Hoogly _ , the captain of which was anxious to resume his voyage up channel as soon as possible . This important matter was arranged by noon ; and about two o'clock , the wind having hauled round from the southward , the Indiaman weighed and proceeded , the passengers on board having meanwhile subscribed a purse of two hundred and thirty guineas for the officers and crew of the _ Dolphin _ , in recognition of what they were complimentary enough to term our `` gallantry '' in the recapture of the ship . This nice little sum was , however , only the first instalment of what was to come ; there was the salvage of the ship to follow : and over and above that I may mention that the underwriters voted a sum of five hundred guineas to us ; while the Patriotic Fund Committee awarded the skipper a sword of the value of one hundred guineas , and to me a sword of half that value , for our fight with and capture of the two privateers , poor Lovell being left out in the cold in consequence of his having been prize-master of the _ Hoogly _ , and having therefore taken no part in either of the engagements . He got his reward , however , in another way ; for the _ Etoile du Nord _ turned out to be such a very fine vessel , quite new and wonderfully fast , that Mr White purchased her on his own account , rechristening her the _ North Star _ , and put Lovell in command . He was fairly successful in her , I afterwards heard , but not nearly to such an extent as he ought to have been with so fine a vessel under him .