row any cold water on the matter either, when it
was brought before him.

"By thunder! it's a durned good plan, it air, mister," said he to Fritz,
"thet it air, fur a young scaramouch like thet youngster thaar! I seed
him palaverin' with one o' them islanders at Tristan--they're a sort of
half-caste tan colour there, like mulattoes in the States. I rec'lect
one of the men who wer oncest on a whaler with me a v'y'ge or two to
Kerguelen Land an' back, tellin' me 'bout the lot of seals thet were on
Inaccessible Island, now I come to think of it; but I've never been
thaar myself. Its name's good enough fur me, since most of us thet go
by thaar gives it a pretty wide berth, you bet; fur it air inaccessible,
with a vengeance--a rocky coast plungin' down abruptly into the sea,
with a terrible surf breakin' ag'in the cliffs, an' no anchorage ground
anywheres nigh thet's safe!"

"And how could we land then?" asked Fritz.

"Oh, it ken be done, mister, fur the Tristaners go over thaar, as the
b'y told you, every year fur a week or so; an' they hev to git ashore
somehow or other. Yes, we'll manage to land you, safe enough, in a
whale-boat when the time comes. What I meant to say was, thet the ship
couldn't stay any while lyin' off, so as to see whether you liked the
place or not. If you land, thaar you'll hev to stay till we come back
fur you next v'y'ge!"

"All right, I shan't mind that, with Eric. If I were alone, of course
it would be another matter."

"Jest so," replied the Yankee skipper; and he then proceeded to advise
the brothers what would be best to take with them, Fritz wishing to lay
out his small remaining stock of money to advantage.

He also told them, good-naturedly, that he would convey them to their
contemplated destination for nothing, so that they would have no passage
to pay. Eric, indeed, would work his, being considered as attached to
the ship, his name besides being retained on the list of the crew while
sealing on shore; and, as for Fritz, Captain Brown said, he would "grub
him and give him a bunk into the barg'in."

Then, again, in respect of the provisions they would need for their
maintenance during their stay on the island, the skipper promised to
supply them from the ship's stores, on their arrival there, at cost
price; so that, not only would they thus get them much cheaper than they
would have been able to purchase them in open market, but they would
likewise save the cost of their fr