officers on board. Who can they be?" exclaimed Gerald,
who was on the look-out at the gangway, to Tom. "I do believe! Can it
be possible? Yes, I am nearly certain! There's Archie Gordon, Mr Joy,
and there is Commander Rawson himself. Then the old _Dragon_ must have
escaped after all."

Tom sprang to the gangway, and waved his cap. This salute was replied
to by those in the boat, which in another minute was alongside, and
Commander Rawson, with the lieutenant and Archie, came on deck.

"We had given you up for lost," said Tom, as he shook hands with his
brother midshipman.

"And we, to say the truth, had very little expectation of seeing you
again," answered Archie. "How did you escape?"

"How did you find your way here?" asked Tom, without answering the
question.

Before Archie could reply, Captain Rogers came on deck and welcomed the
party. After exchanging a few words, the commander and lieutenant
accompanied him into the cabin, while Archie was led off by his old
shipmates into their berth. Before, however, he would give them an
account of his adventures, he insisted on hearing about theirs, which of
course occupied some time.

"And now," said Tom, "we want to hear your yarn. Was the _Dragon_ lost?
was it her we saw on the rocks, or was that some other unfortunate
vessel?"

"She was the _Dragon_, there can be no doubt," answered Archie. "You
remember the day at the Bonins when the hurricane suddenly sprang up.
We had just got on board and were looking out for you, when the
commander, considering that we should to a certainty be driven on shore
if we remained where we were, ordered the steam to be got up, intending
to run round and take you on board. We had not got far, however, when
one of our boilers burst, killing half a dozen men and committing other
damage. We had now to depend upon our canvas, while the hurricane was
every instant increasing in strength. The ship, however, behaved very
well. We ran on before the gale for four and twenty hours, when a lull
coming on, the commander, wishing to get back to the Bonins, hauled the
ship up. We had not, however, stood on long under close-reefed
topsails, when a furious blast suddenly struck her, and in one fell
swoop carried away all our masts. We managed, however, to get before
the wind again by hoisting a sail on the stump of our foremast, and ran
on, hoping to get under the lee of some island by the time the gale was
over, where we might r