aise much sea; the only
result, therefore, was a slight leisurely roll, which the passengers
found agreeable rather than the reverse, and everybody was consequently
in the most exuberant spirits, congratulating themselves and each other
on so auspicious a commencement to their voyage.

As for Bob, he was in the seventh heaven of delight. The noble
proportions of the beautiful craft which bore him so gallantly over the
summer sea, her spotless cleanliness, the perfect order and method with
which the various duties were performed, and the consideration with
which he was treated by his superiors, constituted for him a novel
experience, in strong contrast to the wet and dirt, the often severe
toil, and the rough-and-ready habits of the collier seamen on board the
_Betsy Jane_. From the moment that Bob had assumed duty on board the
_Galatea_ Captain Staunton had taken pains to make matters pleasant for
him; he had spoken freely of the heavy obligation under which he
considered that Bob had laid him, and had extolled in the most laudatory
terms the lad's behaviour during that terrible winter night upon the
Gunfleet; Bob, therefore, found himself the possessor of a reputation
which commanded universal admiration and respect in the little community
of which he was a member, with the result that he was quite
unconsciously accorded a distinction which under other circumstances it
would have been vain for him to hope. Thus, when our hero found
himself, as he frequently did, a guest at the saloon dinner-table
(Captain Staunton following the example of the commanders in the navy by
occasionally inviting his officers to dine with him), the passengers
almost unanimously received him into their midst with a friendly warmth
which they accorded to none of the other subordinates on board, agreeing
to regard in him as pleasant eccentricities those frequent lapses in
grammar and pronunciation which they would have resented in others as
the evidences of a decided inferiority, to be kept at a distance by the
coldest and most studied disdain.

Captain Staunton took an early opportunity to speak to Bob respecting
his unfortunate lack of education and culture. They were alone together
in the chart-room at the moment, whither the skipper had called Bob, in
order that their conversation might be strictly private.

"Robert," said he--he always addressed Bob as "Robert" when what he had
to say was unconnected with duty--"Robert, my boy, I wish