"Why, is it really you, Don Estevan? We had all given you up for lost. We
are glad indeed to see you again."

The other officers all came round and heartily greeted Stephen, all asking
questions together about his long absence and the wonderful prize of which
the admiral had spoken.

"I will answer as many questions as I can presently," Stephen protested;
"but, in the first place, I must have a bath, and change my clothes, and
have my hair cut. Are my things still on board, and is anyone else in my
cabin?"

He learned to his great satisfaction that his cabin was as he had left it.

"For weeks the admiral hoped that you would return. There was, indeed,
much anxiety about the boat when we saw the storm coming on. Whether you
had gained the brig before it burst, of course none of us knew. We could
only hope that you had done so. The storm was a terrible one here. While
some thought that the brig might have foundered at once when it struck
her, it was certain that if she weathered the first blow she would have to
run for it. It was one of the worst storms, people here say, that has been
experienced on the coast for many years, alike in its fury and in its
duration, and all agreed that she would have been blown at least a
thousand miles off the land before the gale spent its force. As the wind
continued in the same quarter for a long time it would have taken the brig
weeks to beat back against it, but when two months passed without your
return, all concluded that you had either sunk before gaining the ship, or
that she had gone down in the gale, or been wrecked among some of the
islands into whose neighbourhood she must have been blown. However, the
admiral continued to hope long after the rest of us had given you up. At
the end of two months he appointed me his flag-midshipman to fill your
place, as he especially said, until your return. This being the case, I
have not shifted my berth, and your cabin has remained unoccupied."

One of the officers gave orders that a tub should be at once taken to
Stephen's cabin filled with water, and that the ship's barber should hold
himself in readiness when called upon.

When Stephen came out, an hour later, dressed in uniform, and with his
hair a reasonable length, he was told that the admiral had requested his
presence in his cabin as soon as he was dressed, but had ordered the
message not to be given to him until he came on deck.

"Now, lad, let me hear the whole story," he sai