as the _Empress_, which Jack Rogers was destined to
command. There were several vacancies, and Tom, Desmond, and Billy
Blueblazes accompanied her captain, who intended to get them appointed
to her. Bird, Nolan, and Casey were also entered on her books, and
Peter, from having been well treated on board the _Bellona_, expressed
his wish also to join; Jack, at Tom's recommendation, took him as his
steward. Dr Locock, expressing his gratitude for the kindness he had
received, went on shore, intending to remain until he could join an
American ship, either a man-of-war or a merchantman.

No sooner was the anchor dropped than the ship was surrounded by Chinese
boats with all sorts of provisions. Murray had not forgotten Captain
Jull and his wife. Before Captain Rogers left the ship, he sent Tom to
summon the man, intending to question him again to ascertain where he
was going. Tom in a short time returned saying that Jull and his wife,
with their chest, had disappeared, and no one could tell what had become
of them, he must have managed, while the officers and men were busily
engaged, to slip his chest through a port into a native boat alongside.
No one had, however, seen him; his Chinese dress and the cloak his wife
wore would have prevented them in the confusion from being observed.

"There is something not altogether right about that fellow, depend upon
it," said Jack. "He had good reason for not wishing the junk to be
brought into harbour, and he would have taken good care to destroy her
even if we had had her in tow. We might have brought him to a trial for
her loss, when very possibly he might have been recognised."

On mentioning the subject afterwards on shore, Murray learned that a
large fleet of piratical junks were said to be commanded by an
Englishman, but little was known about them, except from the
depredations they committed on the Chinese merchant shipping, and
occasionally on that of other nations, although they had hitherto
avoided the risk of interfering with English vessels.

The first inquiry Murray and Rogers made, on coming on shore, was for
the _Dragon_; but as neither she nor any of her crew had been heard of,
their fears that she was the vessel they had discovered on the reef were
confirmed.

The _Empress_ had been some time on the coast, and the members of the
midshipmen's berth were full of what they had seen and ready to impart
the information to Tom and Desmond, who had heard little or