se remarks, looked at him, and remarked--

"When I 'board English ship I hear sailors whistle, whistle, whistle
when dere is calm. I ask why dey do dat? Dey say, `Whistle for a
wind.' Now, I tink Chinaman just as wise as English sailor. Anybody
whistle, cost nothing. Chinaman spend money, buy gold paper, make junk,
much trouble. Dat please Chinaman's lady-god more dan empty whistle can
Englishman's fetish, or whatever he whistle to."

"Excellent," exclaimed Murray. "The Malay has hit us very hard. That
whistling for a breeze is, in most cases, merely a foolish trick, but it
is too indicative of unsound principles to be witnessed without pain.
If we really considered the matter rightly, we should feel that every
time we whistle for a breeze, we are offering a senseless insult to the
Great Ruler of the universe. It is a remnant, I suppose, of some
superstition of our Scandinavian ancestors, who thought by whistling
they were addressing some demon or spirit of the elements."

"That is taking the matter seriously, Alick; but I suppose you are
right," said Jack.

"Nothing that leads to error, or that encourages superstition, or that
leads a person to rely on any other power or influence than that of
God's merciful providence, can be treated too seriously, my dear Jack,"
answered Murray. "Here have we, worthless fellows, had our lives
providentially preserved; and we ought to do our utmost in every way to
employ them in His service, and to do His will and to make known His
truth. Depend on it that it is a very useless sort of religion, or
seriousness, which a man adopts only when he is on the point of death or
feels himself too ill to enjoy life."

"Well, well, Alick, I will do my best to log that down in my memory and
stick to it," answered Jack, who always felt the force of Murray's
remarks, which had already had a very considerable influence on him for
good; more, probably, than Murray himself was aware of. However, he
went on in faith, speaking faithfully to his friend, assured that he was
doing his duty.

Jack and Murray did their best to make out in what direction they were
going, and from the very rough calculation they were able to form, they
conjectured that they had arrived at a group of islands within some
hundred and fifty miles of the latitude of Canton. They were not
allowed to go on shore, but were permitted occasionally to quit their
little cabin in the stern and to walk about the deck; but