o you get in there for?"

"My education has been neglected, and I have to do a great deal of
thinking to make up for it. I don't like to be disturbed when I'm
thinking; so I got into the boat, and covered myself with the sail."

"Tell that to the fishes," snuffed Wilde.

"You can, if you wish; I don't speak their language," laughed Ole.

"But really, Norway, what did you get into the second cutter for?"
said Sanford.

"The pilot was a first cousin of mine, and I was afraid he would whip
me for making faces at him when I was a baby. He never forgets
anything."

"Nonsense!"

"Well, if you know better than I, don't ask me any more about it."

Ole was no more inclined to explain how he came in the second cutter
than he had been to solve the mystery of being in a water-logged
bateau, out of sight of land. It only appeared that while the students
covered the rail and crowded the rigging to see the land, he had put
himself into the boat. When the hands were called to man the braces,
he, having no duty to perform, had not answered the call, and was left
alone in the cutter. At sea, every precaution was taken to provide for
the safety of the crew in case of any calamity. Each boat was provided
with a sail, a mast, a compass, and several breakers of water, and a
quantity of provisions was ready to be put in when needed. Ole stowed
himself beneath the sail, which lay under the middle board, extending
fore and aft. Before De Forrest took his place in the stern-sheets,
Stockwell had discovered the absentee, and communicated the fact of
his presence to those near him. The crew of the second cutter were
entirely willing to keep his secret, as they were that of any one who
needed their help. Among such boys it was regarded as dishonorable in
the highest degree to betray any one; and, indeed, the principal
discountenanced anything like "tale-bearing," to which the students
gave a very liberal construction. Sanford had proposed that De Forrest
should take a walk on shore, in order to give Ole an opportunity to
escape from his confinement, which, on account of the singular
obstinacy and suspicion of that officer, had threatened to be
indefinitely continued, till the collision came to his aid.

"How's this?" said Stockwell, as he seated himself by the side of the
coxswain, on one of the settees on the quarter-deck of the steamer.

"How's what?" asked Sanford.

"It seems to me that we are clear of the ship, and without running