hundred pages more of `Tom Cringle's Log' to
read, and I cannot gallop over a book as some people do."

"Well, well, possibly the ship may manage to take care of itself without
you," said the doctor, as he passed on.

Whereupon Desmond began to put on his clothes, a task which he
accomplished with Tom's assistance. He felt himself, however, much
weaker than he had expected, as he made his way upon deck, though he
tried hard to show that he was himself again. He received a friendly
greeting from his messmates, and Mr Mildmay congratulated him on being
able once more to make his appearance.

There was plenty to amuse those who had a taste for natural history even
when no land was in sight, and the doctor, who was a great naturalist,
was constantly on the _qui vive_, for the sea teemed with squid,
medusae, polypi, and flying-fish. Several of the latter came through
the ports, when there was a general scramble for them, the midshipmen,
who were on the watch and the most active, coming in for the largest
share. A short time afterwards the unhappy fish made an appearance,
well fried, on their mess-table. Whales, too, were sporting in all
directions, tempted to the locality by the abundance of food which the
before-named creatures afforded. Several old whalers among the crew
could scarcely restrain their impatience, and, could they have obtained
leave, would have gone off with such gear as they could have prepared to
attack the monsters of the deep.

Since the _Dragon_ had left Japan, the weather had been remarkably fine,
with calms and light winds. But the calms lasted scarcely long enough
to have the fires lighted before the ship was again under sail. That
evening, however, a long heavy swell began to come from the north-east;
the undulations rapidly increasing in size, making the ship roll from
side to side, until her chains touched the water. Desmond, in common
with two or three of his messmates, and most of the ship's boys and
marines, began to feel very uncomfortable.

"What's going to happen?" he asked; "I'm mighty quare about the region
of the stomach."

"I suppose we are going to have a gale of wind, as a change," answered
Tom, who had never been ill since he first came to sea. "We shall have
to shorten sail, I've a notion, before long, to be prepared for
blustering Boreas, when he thinks fit to visit us."

The whole appearance of the sky and sea quickly changed. The wildfowl,
which had been hoveri