tomed to sailing, rowing, and steering as
long as I can remember."

"That is something gained at any rate. Do you know the names of the
various ropes and sheets?"

"I do in a vessel of ordinary size, sir. I was so often on board craft
that were in my father's hands for repair that I learned a good deal
about them, and at any rate can trust myself to go aloft."

"Well, Mr. Wilkinson is in your watch, and as I put you in his charge to
start with, I will tell him to act as your instructor in these matters.
Please ask him to step here.

"Mr. Wilkinson," he went on, as the midshipman came up, "I shall be
obliged if you will do what you can to assist Mr. Blagrove in learning
his duties. He has been knocking about among boats and merchant craft
since his childhood, and already knows a good deal about them; but
naturally there is much to learn in a ship like this. You will, of
course, keep your watches as usual at night, but I shall request Mr.
Bonnor to release you from all other duties for the present, in order
that you may assist Mr. Blagrove in learning the names and uses of all
the ropes, and the ordinary routine of his duty. He will, of course,
attend the master's class in navigation. There will be no occasion for
him to go through the whole routine of a freshly-joined lad in other
respects; but he must learn cutlass and musketry drill from the
master-at-arms, and to splice and make ordinary knots from the
boatswain's mate. Thank you, that will do for the present."

Lieutenant Bonnor came up to Wilkinson a few minutes later, and told him
that he was to consider himself relieved from all general duties at
present.

"I hope you won't find this a nuisance, Wilkinson," Edgar said.

"Not at all," the other laughed; "quite the contrary. It gets one off of
all sorts of disagreeable routine work, and as you know something about
it to begin with, I have no doubt that you will soon pick up your work.
A lot of the things that one has to learn when one first joins are not
of much use afterwards, and may not have to be done once a year.
However, I can lend you books, and if you really want to pick up all the
words of command you can study them when you have nothing else to do;
and I can tell you there are plenty of times when one is rather glad to
have something to amuse one; when one is running with a light wind aft,
like this, for instance, we may go on for days without having to touch a
sail. Well, we will begin at once. We