ones stood beside him.

"So you managed the insurance, did you?" said Jim in a careless way, as
though he put the question more for the sake of saying something than
for any interest he had in the matter.

Mr Jones, whose eyes and manner betrayed the fact that even at that
early hour he had made application to the demon-spirit which led him
captive at its will, looked suspiciously at his questioner, and
replied--

"Well, yes, I've managed it."

"For how much?" inquired Jim.

"For 300 pounds."

Jim looked surprised. "D'ye think the herring are worth that?" he
asked.

"No, they ain't, but there's some general cargo besides as'll make it up
to that, includin' the value o' the sloop, which I've put down at 100
pounds. Moreover, Jim, I have named you as the skipper. They required
his name, d'ye see, and as I'm not exactly a seafarin' man myself, an'
wanted to appear only as the owner, I named you."

"But that was wrong," said Jim, "for I'm _not_ the master."

"Yes, you are," replied Morley, with a laugh. "I make you master now.
So, pray, Captain Welton, attend to your duty, and be civil to your
employer. There's a breeze coming that will send you foul o' the Maplin
light if you don't look out."

"What's the name o' the passenger that came aboard at Gravesend, and
what makes him take a fancy to such a craft as this?" inquired Jim.

"I can answer these questions for myself," said the passenger referred
to, who happened at that moment to come on deck. "My name is Stanley
Hall, and I have taken a fancy to the Nora chiefly because she somewhat
resembles in size and rig a yacht which belonged to my father, and in
which I have had many a pleasant cruise. I am fond of the sea, and
prefer going to Ramsgate in this way rather than by rail. I suppose you
will approve my preference of the sea?" he added, with a smile.

"I do, indeed," responded Jim. "The sea is my native element. I could
swim in it as soon a'most as I could walk, and I believe that--one way
or other, in or on it--I have had more to do with it than with the
land."

"You are a good swimmer, then, I doubt not?" said Stanley.

"Pretty fair," replied Jim, modestly.

"Pretty fair!" echoed Morley Jones, "why, he's the best swimmer, I'll be
bound, in Norfolk--ay, if he were brought to the test I do b'lieve he'd
turn out to be the best in the kingdom."

On the strength of this subject the two young men struck up an
acquaintance, which, before they