asked.

"With all my heart," answered Roger promptly. "It has been the earnest
desire of my heart ever since you came into our bay; and long before
that I wished to go to sea, though it mattered but little to me with
whom I should sail. Now I know you, I shall never wish to serve under
another commander."

Captain Benbow smiled at Roger's enthusiasm. "I may hope to keep afloat
for many a year to come, and I am always glad to have those with me who
serve from affection rather than from interest, so you may depend on
having a berth on board whatever ship I may command, and I will never
let the grass grow under the keel if I can help it. And, Master
Battiscombe, what do you say to following sea life?"

"I have not made up my mind for doing so," answered Stephen. "I had no
intention of going afloat till I was appointed supercargo of the
_Dolphin_, and the experience I have had does not tempt me to go again,
though I thank you, sir, for the offer, and am bound to confess that I
would rather serve under you than any other commander."

"Well, well, each man to his taste," said the Captain. "I conclude that
as you have been so long absent from home, and your friends must have
been in great anxiety for your fate, that you would like to land as soon
as possible. Should the weather permit, I will put you on shore either
at the Start or the Bill of Portland. I cannot promise to run in to
West Bay, lest I should be delayed in my passage up channel; may be,
however, we shall fall in with a Torbay fisherman, or some craft bound
to Lyme, which will land you still nearer home."

Roger, on hearing this, was strongly tempted to ask leave to accompany
Stephen, for he longed once more to see his father and uncle, and sweet
Alice and Madam Pauline, but he restrained his feelings; he feared that
should he once leave Captain Benbow it might not be again so easy to
join him. He therefore said nothing on the subject, but applied himself
as diligently as before to improving his knowledge of seamanship and
navigation.

Nothing has been said of Jumbo since he was employed in carrying the
Moors' heads on shore. He had devoted himself to Captain Benbow, and
fully expected to continue in his service. Sam Stokes also had entered
as a seaman on board the _Benbow_ frigate, but he was greatly changed;
he had never been quite himself since they sailed from Cadiz.

"I cannot help thinking of those Moors' heads," he said one day to
Roger,