. The ship ran off
before the gale, while the Josephine lay to. If you had not sailed to
the southward after the tempest, we should not have lost sight of you
for more than a few hours. I acknowledge that I reproached myself
severely for intrusting the vessel to the sole care of students. But I
find that she has been as well handled as though she had been under
command of an old and experienced man. I wish to say to you that Captain
Kendall has acquitted himself remarkably well in the emergency. Though
he did not take in his light sails quite as soon as he should,
everything else was done with the skill and prudence of a veteran."

At this point the students on board, who knew very well why Paul had not
taken in the light sails sooner, looked at one another and smiled
significantly. The difficulty between the professor and the captain had
been fully discussed among them, and it hardly need be said that Paul
was fully justified by his shipmates.

"I want to add," continued the principal, "that the conduct of Captain
Kendall--with the exception I have mentioned--is fully and cordially
approved. I must say that his behavior, his skill and energy, seem fully
to justify the experiment undertaken in the Josephine. Your commander
has made a full report of the vessel, and it gives me great pleasure to
say that he awards the highest praise to his officers and crew for their
zeal and fidelity. He informs me that officers and seamen labored with
untiring energy to rescue the unfortunate persons on board of the
galiot, and also to save the vessel itself. These efforts have been
entirely successful.

"It is at all times the duty of the seaman to save life and property on
the high seas. No one knows how soon we may need the kind offices of
brother sailors of any nation; and what we expect to receive from others
we should at all times be prepared to render to them. You have done
nobly. I congratulate you upon your success; and I thank you for the
zeal with which you have discharged your several duties. Nothing so much
as the dependence of one seaman upon another, in the hour of shipwreck
and disaster, unites the seamen of all nations in one fraternity. Young
gentlemen, you have done something for your ship, and something for your
country; for every true American feels proud and happy when he learns
that an American vessel has saved even a single shipwrecked mariner. I
am sure your friends will be proud of you when they read your rec