wn with all hands, explaining that
the skipper had invited me to dine with him that day, and that they
would learn all particulars then, as I gathered that it was his
intention to invite them all to meet me. Then, having had a
satisfactory interview with the tailor and the purser, I went ashore and
laid in a stock of linen, etcetera, together with a chest, all of which
I brought off with me.

As I had quite anticipated, the captain invited everybody to meet me at
dinner that day, even to Copplestone and Parkinson, who were now the
sole occupants of the midshipmen's berth. And very attentively
everybody listened to the story, as I told it in detail, of how, after
parting from the _Eros_, we had carried on in the hope of overtaking the
_Virginia_; of how we had been caught in and overwhelmed by the
hurricane; of how I came to go adrift, alone, in the longboat; of how I
had been run down by _La Mouette_, and of my treatment on board her; of
my adventures in King Banda's town, and my escape therefrom with the aid
of poor Ama; of the death of the latter--at which all hands expressed
their sincere regret; and, finally, of how I had reached _L'Esperance_,
and the extraordinary story I had heard while aboard her. It is not to
be supposed that I was allowed to spin my yarn without interruption; on
the contrary, I was bombarded with a continuous fire of questions for
the elucidation of points that I had failed to make quite clear; and
when I had finished the captain was pleased to express himself as
perfectly satisfied with all that I had done, and that the loss of the
_Dolphin_ was due to causes entirely beyond my control. Regret was
expressed for the loss of Tasker and Keene, both of whom were highly
esteemed by all their shipmates; and then the conversation diverged to
the topic of the audacious _Virginia-Preciosa_, which, protected by the
very ingenious fraud of the double sets of papers and the double crews,
was still merrily pursuing her way and bidding defiance to everybody.

"Ah!" ejaculated the skipper, with a deep sigh of satisfaction; "thanks
to your friend Red Hand's garrulity in his cups, Mr Fortescue, we shall
now know how to deal with that precious craft. We go to sea to-morrow,
and it shall be our business, gentlemen, to bring her to book; and a
fine feather in our caps it will be if we should be successful."

The first thing after breakfast, on the following morning, Captain Perry
went ashore, remaining th