a boy than lots of medicine."

"Oh, but, captain, I couldn't have Bob beaten!"

"No, of course not, I was only joking. Not that it doesn't do a boy
good, though, once in a while, to have a good tanning. But I don't
recommend it for a steady diet."

"Bob's father has never whipped him since he was a small lad," went
on Mrs. Henderson. "Not that he doesn't seem to deserve it
sometimes even now, but Mr. Henderson believes in talking to him and
showing him how wrong he has acted."

"Yes, talk is good," admitted the mariner, "but if there's a rope's
end handy, it sometimes makes the talk a little more effective--just
a little bit."

"I suppose life aboard a sailing ship is very hard now-a-days,"
ventured Mrs. Henderson. Somehow she dwelt on the plan of having
the captain take Bob, though she felt she could not consent to it.

"No harder than it ever was. In fact, it's easier than when I was a
boy and ran away to sea. Those were hard days, and I've never
forgot 'em. That's why I try to treat all my sailors and cabin boys
as if they were human beings. Now you'd better think my plan over.
It would do Bob a world of good to go to sea. You'd hardly know him
when he got back."

"Oh, I don't know what to do," said Bob's mother. "No, I don't
think I can consent. He might be drowned, and I would never forgive
myself. I don't believe his father would consent either."

"Well, think it over," advised the captain. "I'm going to be in
this port for some time. We're loading for a trip around Cape Horn,
and it will take two weeks or more to get in shape. There's time
enough to decide between now and then."

"I don't believe I could ever consent," declared Mrs. Henderson. "I
think Bob will settle down pretty soon and give up playing pranks."

"I don't," said the captain to himself. "That boy is too full of
mischief. He needs a sea voyage to soak some of it out of him. But
that's the way with mothers. Well, I'll wait a while. I think
something may happen to make her change her mind before I sail."

The captain did not know what a good prophet he was.

When Bob came home from school that noon-time he was surprised to
see his mother and Captain Spark in earnest conversation. At first
Bob thought the mariner might be telling of the escapade of the
tic-tac, but when his mother made a warning gesture of silence to
Captain Spark on beholding Bob the boy was puzzled.

"They must have been talking about me," he d