g a lad of eighteen.
When in Sydney he got about among the boarding-houses, in sailor-town,
and one morning woke up on the forecastle of the _Reynard_ of Boston,
bound on a cruise for guano among the South Pacific Islands.

Renton had been crimped, and finding himself where he was, bothered no
more about it, but went cheerfully to work, not altogether displeased at
the prospect of new adventures, which would enable him to by and by go
back to the old folks with plenty of dollars, and a stock of startling
yarns to reel off. He was a steady, straightforward lad, though somewhat
thoughtless at times, and resolved to be a steady, straightforward man.
The vessel first called into the Sandwich Islands, and there shipped a
gang of Hawaiian natives to help load the guano, then she sailed away
to the southward for McKean's Island, one of the Phoenix Group, situated
about lat. 3? 35' S. and long. 174? 20' W.

On board the _Reynard_ was an old salt known to all hands as "Boston
Ned." He had been a whaler in his time, had deserted, and spent some
years beachcombing among the islands of the South Seas, and very soon,
through his specious tongue, he had all hands wishing themselves clear
of the "old hooker" and enjoying life in the islands instead of
cruising about, hazed here and there and everywhere by the mates of the
_Reynard_, whose main purpose in life was to knock a man down in order
to make him "sit up." Presently three or four of the hands became
infatuated with the idea of settling on an island, and old Ned, nothing
loth, undertook to take charge of the party if they would make an
attempt to clear from the ship. The old man had taken a fancy to young
Renton, and the youngster, when the idea was imparted to him, fell in
with it enthusiastically; for he was exasperated with the treatment he
had received on board the guanoman--the afterguard of an American guano
ship are usually a rough lot The ship was lying on and off the land,
there being no anchorage, and before the plan had been discussed more
than a few hours, the men, five in all, determined to put it into
execution.

A small whaleboat was towing astern of the vessel in case the wind
should fall light and the ship drift in too close to the shore. It was
a fine night, with a light breeze, and there was, they thought, a good
chance of getting to the southward, to one of the Samoan group, where
they could settle, or by shipping on board a trading schooner they might
lat