of the stranding of
the "Prudhomme," and of the safety of her passengers and cargo.

The several editors seemed to differ widely in their opinions relating
to the whole affair; but there must have been some twist in the mind of
the one who excused everybody on the ground that "no pilot, however
skilful, could work his compass correctly in so dense a fog as that."

None of them had any thing whatever to say of the performances of "The
Swallow." The yacht had been every bit as well handled as the great
steamship; but then, she had reached her port in safety, and she was
such a little thing, after all.

Whatever excitement there had been in the village died out as soon as it
was known that the boys were safe; and a good many people began to
wonder why they had been so much upset about it, anyhow.

Mrs. Lee herself, the very next morning, so far recovered her peace of
mind as to "wonder wot Dab Kinzer's goin' to do wid all de money he got
for dem bluefish."

"I isn't goin' to ask him," said Dick. "He's capt'in."

As for Dab himself, he did an immense amount of useful sleeping, that
first night; but when he awoke in the morning he shortly made a
discovery, and the other boys soon made another. Dab's was, that all the
long hours of daylight and darkness, while he held the tiller of "The
Swallow," he had been thinking as well as steering. He had therefore
been growing very fast, and would be sure to show it, sooner or later.

Ford and Frank found that Dab had forgotten nothing he had said about
learning how to box, and how to talk French; but he did not say a word
to them about another important thing. He talked enough, to be sure; but
a great, original idea was beginning to take form in his mind, and he
was not quite ready yet to mention it to any one.

"I guess," he muttered more than once, "I'd better wait till Ham comes
home, and talk to him about it."

As for Frank Harley, Mr. Foster had readily volunteered to visit the
steamship-office in the city, with him, that next day, and see that
every thing necessary was done with reference to the safe delivery of
his baggage. At the same time, of course, Mrs. Foster wrote to her
sister Mrs. Hart, giving a full account of all that had happened, but
saying that she meant to keep Frank as her own guest for a while, if
Mrs. Hart did not seriously object.

That letter made something of a sensation in the Hart family. Neither
Mrs. Hart nor her husband thought of making any