ad taken passage, "catch me going in one of those
excursion craft again! Of all the clumsy lubbers I have ever had the
misfortune to be shipmate with, that skipper is about the biggest and
most lubberly. You can take the word of an old sailor for that!"

"Why, sure, what could the poor man have done, when the steamer was
sinking?" said Mrs Gilmour, as he assisted her also carefully to land.
"It's none of his fault that I can see."

"What could he have done, eh?" retorted the Captain warmly. "Why,
anything else but what he did do. When he saw his fore compartment was
full of water, he should have backed the vessel; and then he could have
taken her stern-end foremost up to the pier, and landed us comfortably
without any bother half an hour ago. Instead of that, what does he do
but go backing and filling, first with his engines full speed ahead, and
then ditto astern, ending by sticking hard and fast at the same spot
where he first struck. While now, to clench the matter, he's going to
run the steamer ashore and beach her, he tells me, as soon as the tide
floats her; the upshot of which will be that she'll break her back and
probably become a total wreck."

"Why didn't you advise him?" she asked. "Eh, my old friend?"

"The foolish fellow! I pitied him at first, but I can't say I do so any
longer. He wouldn't listen to me. He's just like the intelligent Isle
of Wight farmer I've heard of, one of whose calves having got its head
entangled in a wooden fence, in lieu of cutting the palings, thought the
only way to release the calf was by cutting its head off!"

"Sure, nobody could have been so stupid!" cried Mrs Gilmour laughing.
"What, cut off the poor thing's head in order to extricate it?"

"Sure an' they did, ma'am," said he, mimicking her; "and, I'm sorry to
say, our friend the skipper is one of the same kidney!"

While the two were thus talking, Bob and Nell remained down on the
beach, awaiting the arrival of Dick and Hellyer, who through want of
room in their wherry had to come ashore in another boat.

Rover, such was his strict sense of duty, strange to say, instead of
accompanying his young master and mistress, was still intent on keeping
in sight of the hamper.

Accordingly, he stopped on board the steamer till Hellyer, the hamper's
custodian, left her; when after seeing him and Dick embarked along with
the hamper, the retriever jumped over the side of the stranded vessel
and swam ashore in company