id of the other fellow."

"That is a very negative sort of goodness," returned May, smiling.
"However, if you must go to see some one, Jamieson is better than
Smithers; but why not come home and consult with mother and me?"

"Pooh! what can women know about such matters? No, no, May, when a
fellow has to go into the pros and cons of Californian life it must be
with _men_."

"H'm! the men you associate with, having been at school and the desk all
their lives up till now, must be eminently fitted to advise on
Californian life! That did not occur to me at the first blush!" said
May demurely.

"Go home, you cynical baggage, and help mother to knit," retorted Shank,
with a laugh. "I intend to go and see Jamieson."

And he went. And the negatively good Jamieson, who never led people
into temptation, had no objection to be led into that region himself, so
they went together to make a passing call--a mere look in--on Smithers,
who easily induced them to remain. The result was that the unselfish
man with decision of character returned home in the early hours of
morning--"screwed."

CHAPTER TEN.

HOME-COMING AND UNEXPECTED SURPRISES.

Upwards of another year passed away, and at the end of that time a ship
might have been seen approaching one of the harbours on the eastern
seaboard of America. Her sails were worn and patched. Her spars were
broken and spliced. Her rigging was ragged and slack, and the state of
her hull can be best described by the word `battered.' Everything in
and about her bore evidence of a prolonged and hard struggle with the
elements, and though she had at last come off victorious, her
dilapidated appearance bore strong testimony to the deadly nature of the
fight.

Her crew presented similar evidence. Not only were their garments
ragged, threadbare, and patched, but the very persons of the men seemed
to have been riven and battered by the tear and wear of the conflict.
And no wonder; for the vessel was a South Sea whaler, returning home
after a three years' cruise.

At first she had been blown far out of her course; then she was very
successful in the fishing, and then she was stranded on the reef of a
coral island in such a position that, though protected from absolute
destruction by the fury of the waves, she could not be got off for many
months. At last the ingenuity and perseverance of one of her crew were
rewarded by success. She was hauled once more into deep water and
fina