was with him in the Dragon, two years ago, when with the Swanne
she came here. Last year I sailed with him in the Swanne, alone."

"You did not have any very stirring adventures?"

"No, we were mainly bent on exploring; but for all that we carried
off many prizes, and might, had we been pilgrims, have bought farms
in Devonshire, and settled down on our share of the prize money;
but there, that is not the way with sailors. Quick come, quick go,
and not one in a hundred that I have ever heard of, however much he
may have taken as his share of prizes, has ever kept it, or
prospered greatly therefrom."

It was now evening, and many of the men had betaken themselves to
the water, for a swim. The heat had been great all day, and as it
was their last, they had been pressed at work to get the stores,
which had been landed, again on board ship; and to finish all up,
ready for the division of the party, next day.

"I do not care for bathing here," Ned said, in reply to a sailor,
who asked him why he too did not join in the sport. "I confess that
I have a dread of those horrible sharks, of which we have heard so
much, and whose black fins we see from time to time."

"I should have thought," said the harsh, sneering voice of Giles
Taunton, "that an Otter would have been a match for a shark. The
swimmers of the South Isles, and indeed the natives here, attack
the sharks without fear. I should have thought that anyone who
prides himself, as you do, upon swimming, would have been equally
willing to encounter them."

"I do not know that I do pride myself on my swimming, Giles
Taunton," Ned said composedly; "at any rate, no one has ever heard
me speak of such abilities as I may have in that way. As to the
natives, they have seen each other fight with sharks, and know how
the matter is gone about. If I were to be present a few times, when
such strife takes place, it may be that I should not shirk from
joining in the sport; but knowing nothing whatever of the method
pursued, or of the manner of attack, I should be worse than a fool,
were I to propose to venture my life in such a sport."

Many sailors who were standing round approved of what Ned said.

"Aye, aye, lad," one said, "no one would think of making his first
jump across the spot where he might be dashed to pieces. Let a man
learn to jump on level ground; and then, when he knows his powers,
he may go across a deep chasm."

By this time a good many of the men were out o