red him that she feared the bottle more than the fever. He
was infatuated by the demon of the cup, and seemed to have no moral
power left.

The Roebuck was approaching the thick clusters of islands that stud the
Pacific; and it was important that the vessel should be skilfully
navigated. Mr. Lincoln was a good seaman, but he was not a navigator;
that is, he was not competent to find the latitude and longitude, and
lay down the ship's position on the chart. The captain was seldom in
condition to make an observation, and the schooner was in peril of being
dashed to pieces on the rocks. The mate was fully alive to the
difficulties of his position; and he told Mollie what must be the
consequences of her father's continued neglect. The sea in which they
were then sailing was full of islands and coral reefs. There were
indications of a storm, and he could not save the vessel without knowing
where she was.

"Noddy," said the troubled maiden, after Mr. Lincoln had explained the
situation to her, "I want you to help me."

"I'm ready," replied he, with his usual promptness.

"We are going to ruin. My poor father is in a terrible state, and I am
going to do something."

"What can you do?"

"You shall help me, but I will bear all the blame."

"You would not do anything wrong, and I am willing to bear the blame
with you."

"Never mind that; we are going to do what's right, and we will not say a
word about the blame. Now come with me," she continued, leading the way
to the cabin.

"I am willing to do anything that is right, wherever the blame falls."

"We must save the vessel, for the mate says she is in great danger.
There is a storm coming, and Mr. Lincoln don't know where we are. Father
hasn't taken an observation for four days."

"Well, are you going to take one?" asked Noddy, who was rather
bewildered by Mollie's statement of the perils of the vessel.

"No; but I intend that father shall to-morrow."

"What are you going to do?"

She opened the pantry door, and took from the shelf a bottle of gin.

"Take this, Noddy, and throw it overboard," said she, handing him the
bottle.

"I'll do that;" and he went to the bull's eye, in Molli's state-room,
and dropped it into the sea.

"That's only a part of the work," said she, as she opened one of the
lockers in the cabin, which was stowed full of liquors.

She passed them out, two at a time, and Noddy dropped them all into the
ocean. Captain McClintock was lying in