a sailing vessel, justified
her bad reputation of being the worst sailor in the whole fleet.
Moreover, alternate calms and sudden blows kept her much longer than
usually on the way. The oldest sailors said they had never seen a more
tedious voyage.

To add to the discomfort, "The Conquest" was so crammed full with
passengers, that sailors and officers had hardly half of the space
usually allotted to them on board ship. Besides the crew, there were on
board a half battalion of marines, and a hundred and sixty mechanics of
various trades, whom government sent out for the use of the colony. Some
of these artisans had their families with them, having determined to
become settlers in Cochin China; others, generally quite young yet,
only made the voyage in order to have an opportunity for seeing foreign
lands, and for earning, perhaps, a little money. They were occasionally
called upon to assist in handling the ship, and were, on the whole, good
men, with the exception of four or five, who were so unruly that they
had to be put in irons more than once.

The days passed, nevertheless; and "The Conquest" had been out three
months, when one afternoon, as Daniel was superintending a difficult
manoeuvre, he was suddenly seen to stagger, raise his arms on high, and
fall backwards on the deck.

They ran up to him, and raised him up; but he gave no sign of life; and
the blood poured forth from his mouth and nose in streams. Daniel had
won the hearts of the crew by his even temper, his strict attention to
duty, and his kindness, when off duty, to all who came in contact with
him. Hence, when the accident became known, in an instant sailors and
officers came hurrying up from one end of the frigate to the other, and
even from the lowest deck, to see what had happened to him.

What had happened? No one could tell; for no one had seen any thing.
Still it must be a very grave matter, to judge from the large pool of
blood which dyed the deck at the place where the young man had fallen
down so suddenly. They had carried him to the infirmary; and, as soon as
he recovered his senses, the surgeons discovered the cause of his fall
and his fainting.

He had an enormous contused wound on the back of his head, a little
behind the left ear,--a wound such as a heavy hammer in the hands of a
powerful man might have produced. Whence came this terrible blow, which
apparently a miracle alone had prevented from crushing the skull? No
one could expla