ageable, had received little attention during the
voyage and now was as wild and rough as that of a savage. It would have
required a long second glance for one to see the fine qualities of grit
and self-reliance in the boy's keen face.

The sloop was making great speed down the middle channel of the Bay, her
canvas straining in a fine west breeze, and her deck canted far to
leeward. No boy could long withstand the pleasure of sailing on such a
day, and before noon the young stranger had given in to a consuming
desire to know the names of things. Jeremy now had the whole ship by
heart and was filled with joy at the opportunity of talking about her to
one more ignorant than himself. Of course, he was as proud of the _Royal
James_ as if he owned her. How he glowed over his account of the battle
with the brig! Nothing on the coast could outsail the sloop, he was
sure. Indeed, it was with some regret that he admitted a hope of her
being overtaken by the Delaware boy's friends, and he was divided
between pride and despair as the day went on and no sail appeared to the
north. By noon his new acquaintance was ravenously hungry, as was to be
expected, and over their pannikins of soup the last reserve between them
went by the board.

[Illustration: Bob]

"Are you his son?" asked the dark-haired lad, nodding toward Herriot.
Jeremy laughed and described his adventure from the beginning while the
other marveled open-mouthed. "Are they holding you for ransom, too?"
asked he, as the story ended. "No," replied Jeremy, "I reckon they knew
as soon as they saw me that there wasn't much money to be gotten in my
case. As I figure it, they didn't dare leave me on the island for fear
I'ld have those three ships-of-war after them." Both boys laughed as
they thought of the head-long flight of Stede Bonnet's company from a
garrison of fifteen sheep.

"Well," said the Delaware boy, still chuckling, "you know most of my
story already. My father is Clarke Curtis of New Castle. My own name is
Bob. Father owns some ships in the East India trade and has a plantation
up on the Brandywine creek. Last night I was at our warehouse by the
wharves. Father was inside talking to one of his captains who had just
come to port. I wanted to see the ship--she's a full-rigger, three or
four times as big as this, and fast too for her burden. Well, I went
down on the dock where she was moored. There was nobody around and no
lights and she stood up above the wharf