e not only had plenty of pupils, but he got them on at a
rapid rate. Thus the "Crusader" sailed onwards. The weather was
getting hotter and hotter, and Jack Ivyleaf and several of his pupils
were found to be especially busily employed in the forepart of the ship,
with the assistance of the boatswain and some of the men; but what they
were about no one could discover. At length Captain Westerway announced
that the "Crusader" had reached the line. The sails were set, but there
was so little wind that they hung against the masts, every now and then
slowly bulging out, soon again to hang down in a discontented mood. The
carpenter's chips could be seen floating alongside sometimes for
half-an-hour together, and the pitch in the seams of the deck bubbled
and hissed, and the passengers, as they walked about, found their shoes
sticking to it. Suddenly a loud noise was heard ahead. "Ship ahoy!
What ship is that?"

"The `Crusader,' Captain Westerway," answered the master.

"Ay, ay, Captain Westerway, you are an old friend of mine, and I am sure
you will welcome me on board," sang out some one, apparently from
beneath the bows.

"Who are you?" asked the captain.

"Daddy Neptune, to be sure," answered the voice. "Don't you know that?
Your ship is just over my parlour windows, and shutting out the light,
so that my wife and children can scarcely see to eat their porridge."

"I beg your pardon, but that is not my fault, as your Majesty well
knows," answered Captain Westerway. "However, you are welcome on
board." As he spoke, some strange figures were seen coming over the
bows, one with a crown on his head, a trident in his hand, and a huge
nose and brownish beard, which flowed over his breast. He was evidently
Daddy Neptune himself. His companions were in sea-green dresses, with
conch shells in their hands, and among them were half-a-dozen
strange-looking fish, who came walloping about the deck as if they
supposed themselves still to be swimming in the water.

"Well, Captain Westerway, as you are an old friend, I will grant any
favour you like to ask; so just out with it, and don't stand on
ceremony," said Neptune, in a familiar, easy way.

The captain replied, "As my passengers here are leaving their native
shore, and are about to settle in a strange country, I must beg that,
after you have mustered all hands, your Majesty will allow them to pass
without the ceremonies which those who cross the line for the first