ndly as if on his
straw mattress at home, and woke up in the morning with an appetite
that many a millionaire might envy.

Awaking at dawn next morning, he hastened on deck to find the powerful
_Minnesota_ steaming at full speed southward, with the coast hardly
visible on the right. His heart sank as he realized that every minute
was taking him further from home, and nearer the indefinite dangers
which he must share so long as he remained on board the war-ship.

He had gone up to the bow, and was leaning over the bulwarks lost in
perplexing thought, when a voice behind him said tauntingly,--

"Well, young 'un, have you been thinkin' over what I said about taking
service with us?"

And Terry turned round to face the sailor who had overheard his
interrupted utterance the night before.

He did not at all like the look of the man. He had a crafty, cruel
face, and apparently relished the prospect of having a good chance to
tease the Bluenose boy who had been thrown in his way. The North was
well aware how strongly sympathy with the South ran in Halifax; and as
Terry came from that city, the Yankee sailor would have taken it for
granted that the boy sided with the enemy, even though he had had no
other ground for the belief.

Not knowing what reply to make, Terry discreetly kept silence, and his
questioner continued,--

"You're kinder bashful, I reckon, and don't like to say how glad you'd
be of the chance."

Now this, of course, was far from being Terry's state of mind, as the
sailor well knew; yet the boy shrank from admitting it. Had the place
been Long Wharf, he would not have hesitated for a moment to give a
Roland for the other's Oliver, and then trusted to his legs to carry
him out of danger. But on the deck of the sailor's own ship it was an
altogether different matter.

His position was certainly calculated to teach him a fine lesson in
self-control. But it is very doubtful if he would have been equal to
the strain. Happily, before he was tempted overmuch, Captain Afleck
appeared upon the scene, and taking in the situation at a glance,
called him to him, as though he had something to communicate of
importance.

Glad of this diversion, Terry turned his back upon the sailor, and
joined the captain, who, when they had moved apart a little, proceeded
to say,--

"You mustn't be talkin' with the sailors, my boy, any more than you can
help, or you'll be puttin' your foot in it for sure. They're a migh