ng; but his physician had insisted that he
should go to sea. He had been seven years a wanderer over the world,
having shipped before the mast, and reached his present position.

In the paint-shop he was quite at home. He was assisted by the two
seamen the most skilled with the brush, while he did the drawing
himself. The large atlas of the world, a very expensive work, belonging
to the commander, supplied accurate maps on a small scale, and these
were transferred to the canvas, eight feet square. During the voyage to
Cyprus three of these maps had been finished. One of them was the Delta
of Egypt, including the Suez Canal; and the commander declared that it
was handsome enough to adorn any schoolroom.

The Maud had made fast to the ship as usual when she came to anchor, and
the "Big Four" were to report on board as soon as they had put their
craft to rights. The party had mounted the promenade as soon as the low
shore was in sight, and were looking about them at the various objects
in view. Several large English steamers were in sight, including one of
the P. & O. Line, and the Ophir, the largest and finest of the Orient
Line, both bound to India and other countries of the Orient.

"How is your patient this afternoon, Dr. Hawkes?" asked the commander,
as he met the physician on his way to the promenade.

"He is doing very well. He has very little pain now; and I think he will
be as well as ever in a fortnight or three weeks, if he will only be
reasonable," replied the doctor.

"Reasonable? Doesn't he wish to get well?" asked the commander.

"He wants to talk, and evidently has something on his mind. He desires
an interview with you, Captain, and has asked me to obtain it for him;
but I refused to do anything of the kind, for he has some fever hanging
about him, and must be kept as quiet as possible."

"I don't know that I have any business with him, or he with me. I
consider him one of the most unmitigated villains that ever walked the
earth or sailed the seas," added Captain Ringgold. "The scoundrel does
not seem to have common-sense; for he puts forward the most absurd
claims that ever were invented, and it would not surprise me at all if
he advanced another against me or Louis, in spite of the overwhelming
defeat he has just sustained."

"He is the coolest and most impudent rascal I ever heard of. He asks
Louis for a vast sum of money, and then politely requests him to become
a prisoner in the cabin of the F