te's remark, for we believed that we could
steer as well as he could, and that there were several others who could
do so. A shout from the look-out aloft announced that a whale was
killed, and we bore down to meet the boats towing it towards us. The
captured whale was nearly eighty feet long, and worth a thousand pounds
at least. Our captain was, therefore, in very good humour, and
cordially greeted Captain Bland, promising to do all he could to help
him, but, of course, till the oil from the whale alongside was stowed
away he could spare no hands.

"But you will let my young friend, Jack Kemp, and your other apprentice,
Medley, go with me?" said Captain Bland. "They can best be spared at
present, and I can trust them to assist my mates in superintending the
work."

The captain demurred to this, as I was especially useful to him. I used
to work all his observations, make out his bills for the men, keep the
slop-locker in order, serve out the stores, and besides many other
duties, act as his barber. My kind friend, however, pressed the point,
and at length the captain consented to let us go, accompanied by two of
the Kroomen, promising shortly to follow the "Lady Alice" to Charles'
Island, one of the Galapagos.

Medley and I were not long in cleaning ourselves and putting on our
Sunday best, and with our working clothes in our bags we stepped into
Captain Bland's boat. By this time the two vessels were some way apart,
so that we had a long pull. As we got near the "Lady Alice" I saw Mrs
Bland and Mary looking over the side, but they made no signal of
recognition, so that it was evident they did not know me; they did not
do so even when I stepped on deck. Perhaps I might not have known Mary,
for she had grown from a little girl into almost a young woman, and very
bright and pleasant she looked, which is better to my mind than what
some people call beautiful. I saw her eyes as they turned towards me
brighten, while a smile rose on her lips.

"What! haven't you brought Jack Kemp with you?" asked Mrs Bland of her
husband.

"Yes, there he is; I knew him," cried Mary, springing forward and taking
my hand.

Mrs Bland embraced me, as if she were my mother. "I told her I would,
Jack," she said. "She often felt very anxious about you for fear you
should get into the rough ways of your shipmates, and be no longer what
you once were, a good, affectionate lad. You are not changed, Jack, I
hope, though you have gr