ch, ran the _Bandolier_ upon
a reef, and all hands perished but himself and six others. One boat was
saved, and then followed long days of hunger and thirst and bitter agony
upon the sea under a blazing sun, but Proctor brought the boat and
crew safely to the Queensland coast. A month later he was in Sydney
penniless, and again "looking for a ship." But no one would have him
now; his story was too well known.

And so for weeks past he had slept in the park at night, and wandered
down about the wharves during the day. Sometimes he earned a few
shillings, most of which went in cheap rum.

*****

Half an hour's walk through the long shady avenue of Moreton Bay figs,
and then he emerged suddenly into the noise and rattle of the city.
Four coppers was all the money he possessed, and unless he could earn a
shilling or two during the day on the wharves he would have to starve
on the morrow. He stopped outside the _Herald_ office presently, and
pushing his way through a number of half-starved outcasts like himself,
he read down the "Wanted" column of the paper. And suddenly hope sprang
up in his heart as he saw this--

WANTED, for the Solomon Islands Labour trade, four able
Seamen used to the work. High wages to competent men.
Apply to Harkniss & Co., George Street.

Ten minutes later he was at Harkness & Company's office waiting to see
the manager. Ten o'clock, the clerks said, would be time enough to
come. Proctor said he would wait. He feared that there would be other
applicants, and was determined to see the manager before any one else.
But he need not have been so anxious. Men such as Harkness & Company
wanted were hard to get, and the firm were not disposed to be particular
as to their character or antecedents, so long as they could do the
"work" and hold their tongues afterward. Ten o'clock came, and at
half-past ten Proctor and two other men went out of the office each
with a L1 note in his pocket, and with orders to proceed to Melbourne
by steamer, and there join the barque _Kate Rennie_. Before the steamer
left for Melbourne, Proctor had parted with half of his pound for
another man's discharge. He did not want to be known as Proctor of the
_Bandolier_ if he could help it. So he was now Peter Jensen; and Peter
Jensen, a hard-up Norwegian A.B., was promoted--on paper--to John
Proctor, master. At Melbourne they found the barque ready for sea, and
they were at once taken to the shipping office to