unaccustomed to that sort of work, wound it up until only a few fathoms
remained. It then stopped, and the mischief was not discovered until
the skipper had called the engineer everything that he and the mate and
three men and a boy could think of. The skipper did the interpreting
through the tube which afforded the sole means of communication between
the wheel and the engine-room, and the indignant engineer did the
listening.

The Gem was just off Limehouse at the time, and it was evident she was
going to stay there. The skipper ran her ashore and made her fast to a
roomy old schooner which was lying alongside a wharf. He was then able
to give a little attention to the real offender, and the unfortunate
mate, who had been the most inventive of them all, realised to the
full the old saying of curses coming home to roost. They brought some
strangers with them, too.

"I'm going ashore," said the skipper at last. "We won't get off till
next tide now. When it's low water you'll have to get down and cut the
line away. A new line too! I'm ashamed o' you, Harry."

"I'm not surprised," said the engineer, who was a vindictive man.

"What do you mean by that?" demanded the mate fiercely.

"We don't want any of your bad temper," interposed the skipper severely.
"NOR bad language. The men can go ashore, and the engineer too, provided
he keeps steam up. But be ready for a start about five. You'll have to
mind the ship."

He looked over the stern again, shook his head sadly, and, after a visit
to the cabin, clambered over the schooner's side and got ashore. The
men, after looking at the propeller and shaking their heads, went ashore
too, and the boy, after looking at the propeller and getting ready to
shake his, caught the mate's eye and omitted that part of the ceremony,
from a sudden conviction that it was unhealthy.

Left alone, the mate, who was of a sensitive disposition, after a curt
nod to Captain Jansell of the schooner Aquila, who had heard of the
disaster, and was disposed to be sympathetically inquisitive, lit his
pipe and began moodily to smoke.

When he next looked up the old man had disappeared, and a girl in a
print dress and a large straw hat sat in a wicker chair reading. She was
such a pretty girl that the mate forgot his troubles at once, and, after
carefully putting his cap on straight, strolled casually up and down the
deck.

To his mortification, the girl seemed unaware of his presence, and read
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