The Guardian-Mother did not come into the bay, and I was afraid
you had all gone to the bottom in the gale."

"Don't you call me 'grandma' again, Felix," protested the worthy woman
quite warmly; for the Milesian had twice applied the opprobrious
appellation to her. "If you ever do it again, I will never hug you
another time!"

"Then I will call you so till my dying day!" Felix declared, to the
great amusement of all those within hearing.

"I am not your grandma! I am only thirty-six years old, and I am not
far enough into years to be the grandmother of a great strapping boy
like you."

"It is only a pet name. But you didn't go to the bottom of the sea after
all, grandma."

"There it is again!"

"Of course it is, grandma. But I will make a fair trade with you. If you
will promise never to hug me any more, I will agree never to call you
grandma again."

"That is fair," said Mrs. Belgrave.

They retired to the boudoir to talk over the matter; but the agreement
was ratified between them. The "Big Four" were cordially greeted by all
the passengers and by all the officers of the ship; but they were
careful not to drop any hint of what had transpired in Khrysoko Bay.
Before the exchange of salutations was finished the gong rang for
dinner.

"For a reason to be given later on, Captain Ringgold, I must ask you to
give the engineers and cook of the Maud their supper to-night," said
Captain Scott at a favorable moment.

The commander sent for Baldy Bickling, the second cook, and ordered him
to provide for them; and Mr. Boulong to send an engineer and a couple of
hands on board of the Maud while the party came on board to supper. The
company in the cabin were in a very jovial state of feeling, and it
would take a chapter to record all the jokes of Dr. Hawkes and Uncle
Moses. It was an excellent dinner even for the Guardian-Mother; for both
the chief steward and the chief cook were artists in their line, and it
was heartily enjoyed by all at the table.

The commander was impatient to hear the report of Captain Scott on his
expedition, and the commander of the Maud was almost as impatient to
learn what had delayed the ship; but fully an hour was spent at the
table, for no one wished to break in upon the agreeable occasion. How he
knew it he could not have told in detail; but the commander was
satisfied, that something important had occurred in the experience of
the young navigators, though not a word had yet been spoke