scene.
It was a little out in drawing, naturally as she had had no lessons, and
it was difficult to determine whether the ships were sailing up Table
Mountain, or the houses taking short voyages across the bay; but she was
so thoroughly happy and satisfied with her performance that it would
have been almost cruel to have found any fault with it; and, as Rupert
said, there was the fun of finding out whether any particular object
stood for a ship, a warehouse, or a clump of trees, the fun being
increased when the artist herself was not sure on the subject.

When they were a week out from Cape Town the weather changed and became
wet and stormy. The rolling was dreadful, and great was the groaning and
the lamentation when they were not allowed on deck for three whole days
in succession.

The fourth day broke without wind, although the sea was still very
rough. But, having gained permission to go on deck, the three younger
boys were out, steadying themselves by anything which came handy, and
vastly enjoying the fun of seeing other people lurching about in all
sorts of funny antics, all involuntary ones of course.

Then suddenly something happened which might easily have been a tragedy.
Rumple and Billykins were rounding the curve of one of the lower decks,
when a heavy sea struck the vessel as she pitched nose first down into a
deep valley of foam, and a stout old lady, who had been rashly trying
to ascend the stairs to the upper deck, was hit by the shower of spray
and knocked off the stairs. She must have fallen with great violence,
and would probably have been very badly hurt, had it not been for
Rumple, who ran in to her, as if she had been an extra big cricket ball
which he was trying to catch. Of course she descended upon him with an
awful smash, and nearly knocked the wind out of him, and equally of
course they both rolled over together, and were drenched by the showers
of spray. But he had broken her fall, and although she was badly shaken
there were no limbs broken, as there must have been had she fallen with
full force on to the slippery boards. A steward who was passing ran to
pick up the old lady, while a passenger sorted Rumple out from under the
old lady's skirts, and, draining some of the water out of him, held him
up so that the air might revive him.

Meanwhile Billykins, who had been a horrified spectator of his brother's
rash heroism, and had remained speechless until Rumple was picked up,
burst into t