s friends on the voyage. But Eustace
only wanted to talk to the officers, especially the captain, of
whom he determined to ask hundreds of questions about the
machinery, how he knew his way, and the exact time the boat would
reach every port, just to be able to check it off, and see how far
he was right in his estimates.

The first day was a lovely one--a less likely one to be productive
of adventures could scarcely be imagined.

"Calm as a duck-pond, isn't it, sir?" said one of the seamen to
Eustace, who stood staring out to sea. "Yet I've seen some storms
here too. It's a nasty bit of coast, with some ugly reefs about."

"Are there many wrecks here?" asked Eustace with interest.

"A goodish few," said the seaman; "but one doesn't look for them
this kind of weather."

"No, of course not," said Eustace, with a great show of certainty,
for he did not want the man to imagine he was scaring him.

Peter had been fairly irrepressible all day. He was always a
fidget--made on springs, his father said--and the excitement
carried him away entirely. He talked to every one indiscriminately,
especially if they happened to be in uniform, and had no shyness in
asking questions. He had a dozen friends in a very few hours.
Afraid lest he should weary people, Mrs. Orban tried to keep him
with her, and towards evening she said,--

"You might play with poor Becky a little, Peter. She will have to
go to bed very soon, and I think it has been a duller day for her
than for any one else."

Which was probably true, as Becky was too tiny to have the
sustained interest in things the others had.

So Peter began a game of romps with Becky, which at first consisted
of careering round and round and in and out between their mother's
and aunt's chairs, Peter making the reiterated assertion, "I'll
catch you, I'll catch you," Becky retorting with delighted
chuckles, "Oo can't, oo can't!"

Mrs. Orban was just congratulating herself that Becky would be
delightfully sleepy after the exercise, when the child made a
sudden dive away from the chairs in her excitement, Peter behind
her. The next minute she was rolling head over heels down the
companion-ladder, down which it had evidently been her intention to
go right side up, for a joke.

The yells that proceeded from the passage below assured every one
that Becky was not killed; but when she was picked up it was
discovered that one poor little wrist was terribly sprained. She
must have fallen