is faults, an ingenious fellow, not altogether
devoid of the inventive faculty, and possessed of a pretty turn for
adaptation; give him but the idea and he will generally find the means
to carry it out.

So while Leslie and Chips went the round of the deck immediately after
breakfast, inspecting their stock of spare spars, and the navy man
prepared a rough sketch illustrating his idea of the manner in which
those spars could be most effectively made use of, the rest of the crew
turned-to with a will to overhaul the boatswain's locker, the sail
locker, and the fore-peak, routing out therefrom and bringing up on deck
every article and thing that could conceivably be of use in the task
that lay before them. Then, when Leslie had completed his arrangements
with the carpenter, the latter brought his tools on deck; the spare
spars were cast loose and placed conveniently at hand for working upon;
and in a very short time everybody but Leslie, Miss Trevor, the cook,
and the steward, was busily engaged on the forecastle, measuring,
cutting, splicing and fitting rigging, while the carpenter trimmed the
spars and otherwise prepared them to go into their destined positions.

As for the others, the cook and steward had their usual duties to attend
to, and could not therefore be spared to lend a hand in re-rigging the
brig, even had they possessed the necessary knowledge--which they did
not; although later on, perhaps, when it came to mere pulling and
hauling, their strength would be found useful, and would be
unhesitatingly called for. Meanwhile the brig, although under her
fore-course only, and running before the wind, needed to be steered; and
this job Leslie undertook to personally attend to throughout the day,
thus sparing another man for the pressing work on the forecastle.

Luckily for everybody concerned, the half-hearted promise of finer
weather that the morning had given was more than fulfilled; for about
four bells the sky cleared, the sun shone brilliantly, and the air
became pleasantly mild, while although the wind still blew strongly from
the east, the sea grew more regular, so that the dismantled brig now
scudded quite comfortably, not shipping a drop of water, and forging
ahead, at the rate of about three knots per hour, on her proper course.

Miss Trevor had not made her appearance at the cabin table when Leslie
had been summoned below to breakfast by the steward, nor had she
responded when the former had gently