the skipper taking the precaution to enclose them all in
his dispatch to his owners, lest Mr Bryce, in his indifference, might
neglect to post them. It may as well be mentioned here that the
_Umhloti_ arrived safely in England about a fortnight later than the
passengers and crew who had abandoned her; and that the letters she
carried duly reached their destination.

The changes rendered necessary by this drafting off of so large a
proportion of her crew involved certain promotions on board the _Flying
Cloud_, in which promotion Ned, to his intense gratification, was made a
sharer, he being appointed acting second-mate _vice_ Mr Willoughby, who
was promoted to the post of chief, whilst Williams was made boatswain's-
mate.

The ship being now once more close-hauled, with the south-east trade-
wind blowing steadily, and only a very moderate amount of sea running.
Miss Stanhope regarded the occasion as propitious for the perfecting of
herself in the art of steering; and she accordingly practised with great
assiduity. Ned, of course, by virtue of his promotion, was no longer
required to take his trick at the wheel--he was now the officer in
command of the starboard watch--but Sibylla did not allow that
circumstance to interfere in the least with her plans; on the contrary,
she rather made it subservient to them. For, whereas she had before
been obliged to wait for her lesson until Ned's trick came round, she
now simply watched her opportunity, and whenever she saw that the young
man had nothing very particular to do, she would go up to him and say,
"Mr Damerell, is it convenient for you to give me a steering-lesson?"
Whereupon Ned would make a suitable response, and, accompanying the
young lady aft, would say to the helmsman "Here, Dick, or Tom, or
Harry", as the case might be, "go forward and do so and so; Miss
Stanhope wishes to give you a spell. When she is tired I will let you
know, and you can come aft again and relieve her." Upon which the
seaman, with an inward chuckle and much carefully suppressed jocularity,
would shamble away for'ard, fully convinced by past experience that he
need think no more about the wheel until his trick should again come
round. By the time that the ship had run through the south-east trades,
Sibylla could steer her, when on a wind, as well as the best helmsman on
board; and, proud of her skill, she then began to long for the
opportunity to try her hand with the ship when going free.