ad, and he jumped down on to one of
the thwarts, and then, without assistance, took his place in the stern
sheets; his father and the captain followed, the latter gave a short,
sharp order, the boat was vigorously thrust away into the stream, and
the next minute the four men were sending her along with a regular
stroke which seemed to make the slightly-built boat throb and quiver.

For a few minutes the utterly foreign sensation was absolutely painful
to the boy; and as the land appeared to glide away from them, a
sensation of giddiness attacked him as he sat hearing conversation going
on, but understanding nothing, till, as he turned his eyes in the
captain's direction, he saw that this gentleman was watching him
curiously.

A pang shot through him, and the blood began to rise to his white
cheeks, as he made a tremendous effort to master the miserable sensation
of abject fear which troubled him, and succeeded so far that in a minute
or two he was able to give himself the appearance of looking about him,
as if examining the boats they passed.

"There, young gentleman," said the captain suddenly, "there's the
_Silver Star_. What do you say to her? Doesn't she sit the water like
a sea-bird?"

Jack looked at the graceful curve and taper spars of the vessel, and
began to wonder at the way in which she seemed to grow as they drew
nearer; or was it that the boat in which he was gliding onward was
shrinking?

He had not much more time for examination of the delicate lines traced
upon the sky by the yards and cordage, for the boat was cleverly run
close up, the oars tossed on high, and as the bowman hooked on to a
ring-bolt the boat was drawn beneath a side ladder.

Jack felt the tremor returning as he thought of the danger of such an
ascent, when his father said in a low voice--

"You did that very bravely, my boy; now make another effort."

Jack was on his feet in an instant. He stepped forward, seized the
lines on either side of the ladder, and climbed up very clumsily, but
managed to reach the deck without accepting the assistance of the mate
and one of the men, who stood in the gangway and made room for him to
step for the first time in his life upon the deck of a ship.

Sir John and the doctor followed, and the captain remained silent, while
his visitors stood gazing about the clean white deck, where everything
was in the most perfect order, ropes coiled down so that at a distance
they looked like pieces of