ing any of the hapless crew. The ship had been loaded
with arms and gunpowder, bound for South America, I heard some one say.

"Cheer up, my lad!" said the officer; "you must come aboard the
_Lapwing_, and we'll then send you into Portsmouth, as we must have this
poor fellow looked to by our surgeon before he is taken to the
hospital."

The name of the _Lapwing_ aroused me; she was the brig in which my
brother Jack had gone to sea. For a moment I forgot my heavy loss with
the thoughts that I might presently see dear Jack again. But it was
only for a moment. As I sat steering the wherry towed by the
man-of-war's boat my eyes filled with tears. What sad news I had to
give to Jack! What would become of Mary and Nancy? For myself I did
not care, as I knew that I could obtain employment at home, or could go
to sea; but then I could not hope for a long time to come to make enough
to support them. My chief feeling, however, was grief at the loss of my
true-hearted old friend.

Soon after we got alongside the brig of war the master's mate told me to
come up on deck, while one of the men took charge of the wherry. He at
once led me aft to the commander, who questioned me as to how I came to
be in the wherry by myself. I described to him all that had happened.

"You acted a brave part in trying to save the man from the ship which
blew up. Indeed, had you not held on to him he would have been lost,"
he observed. "I must see that you are rewarded. What is your name?"

"Peter Trawl, sir," I answered, and, eager to see Jack, for whom I had
been looking out since I got out of the boat, thinking that we should
know each other, I added, "I have a brother, sir, who went to sea aboard
this brig, and we have been looking out for him ever so long to come
home. Please, sir, can I go and find him?"

The commander's countenance assumed a look of concern. "Poor fellow! I
wish that he was on board for his sake and yours, my lad," he answered.
"I cannot say positively that he is dead, but I have too much reason to
believe that he is. While we were cruising among the islands of the
East Indian Archipelago he formed one of a boat's crew which was, while
at a distance from the ship, attacked by a large body of Malay pirates.
When we got up we found only on man, mortally wounded, in the bottom of
the boat, who before he died said that, to the best of his belief, the
officer in charge and the rest of the men had been killed, as h