t _his_ disbursement sheet."

"Ah! we shall soon have things on a better footing now," said the
governor, unfolding the paper, while the skipper gazed abstractedly
through the small, dirty panes of the office window at the bustle on the
quay below.

For a short space there was silence in the office, broken only by the
half-audible interjections of the reader. Then he spoke.

"Simmons!" he said sharply.

The old clerk slipped from his stool, and obeying the motions of his
employer, inspected, in great astonishment, the first disbursement sheet
which had ever entered the office. He read through every item in an
astonished whisper, and, having finished, followed the governor's
example and gazed at the heavy figure by the window.

"Captain Fazackerly," said his employer, at length, breaking a painful
silence.

"Sir," said the captain, turning his head a little.

"I've been talking with Simmons about these disbursement sheets," said
the owner, somewhat awkwardly; "Simmons is afraid they'll give him a lot
of extra trouble."

The captain turned his head a little more, and gazed stolidly at the
astonished Simmons.

"A man oughtn't to mind a little extra trouble if the firm wishes it,"
he said, somewhat severely.

"He's afraid it would throw his books out a bit," continued the owner,
deftly avoiding the gaze of the injured clerk. "You see, Simmons'
bookkeeping is of the old-fashioned kind, cap'n, starfishes and all
that kind of thing," he continued, incoherently, as the gaze of Simmons,
refusing to be longer avoided, broke the thread of his discourse. "So I
think we'll put the paper on the fire, cap'n, and do business in the old
way. Have you got the money with you?"

"I have, sir," said Fazackerly, feeling in his pocket, as he mournfully
watched his last night's work blazing up the chimney.

"Fire away, then," said the owner, almost cordially.

Captain Fazackerly advanced to the table, and clearing his throat, fixed
his eyes in a reflective stare on the opposite wall, and commenced:--

"Blown away fore lower topsail, fore-staysail, and carried away lifts to
staysail. To sailmaker for above, eleven pounds eighteen shillings and
tenpence," he said, with relish. "Tug out to the bar, three pounds. To
twenty-eight pounds black soot, I mean paint----"

RULE OF THREE

The long summer day had gone and twilight was just merging into night.
A ray of light from the lantern at the end of the quay went trembling
a