sagreeable to them as he would be to himself.

"Old Reed's quite right, after all," he said, "though I don't like it a
bit. I must make the best of my position. But only let me get half a
chance, and I shall be off."

The boy then, as he rapidly recovered his strength, went about the deck
amongst the men, and became what he termed extremely thick with Poole.
There were times when he felt that they were becoming great friends, for
Poole was a thoroughly intelligent lad who had had a good deal of
experience for one of his years; but in these early stages of his
recovery, so sure as there was a little change in the weather, with the
damp or wind, twinges of pain and depression of spirits attacked the
midshipman; the physical suffering introduced the mental, and for a few
hours perhaps Fitz would feel, to use his own words, as disagreeable as
could be.

It was during one of these attacks that the idea came back very strongly
that he was not doing his duty as an officer. He worked himself up into
the feeling that he was behaving in a cowardly way now that he had great
opportunities, and that if he did not seize one of these it would be to
his disgrace.

"I ought to do it," he said, "and I will. It only wants pluck, for I
have got right on my side. It is almost as good as having the gunboat
and her crew at my back. It's one of those chances such as we read of
in history, where one fellow steps out to the front and carries all
before him. I did not see it so clearly before as I do now. That's
what I ought to do, and I am going to do it. Poole will think it
abominably ungrateful, and his father will be horribly wild; but I have
got my duty to do, and it must be done, so here goes."

But "here" did not go, for on second thoughts matters did not seem quite
so clear; but a day or two after, when the notion had been steadily
simmering in his mind it seemed at last to be quite done, and shutting
his eyes to all suggestions regarding impossibility or madness, he made
his plunge.

Fitz was not well. The weather had grown intensely hot, and
unconsciously he was suffering from a slight touch of fever, which he
complained about to Poole, who explained to him what it was, after
reference to his father, and came back to him with a tiny packet of
white crystals in some blue paper, and instructions that he was to take
the powder at once.

"Fever, is it?" said Fitz, rather sourly. "One couldn't be catching
fever out here i