was her name, my boy?"

"Her name, sir? why, her name's Bright, of course."

"Yes, yes, but I mean her maiden name."

Billy was puzzled. "If you mean the name my father used to call 'er,"
he said, "it was Nell."

"Ah! that's it--nearly, at least. Nellie she used to be known by. Yes,
yes, but that's not what I want to know. Can you tell me what her name
was before she was married?"

"Well now, that _is_ odd," answered Billy, "I've bin pumped somethink in
this way before, though nuffin' good came of it as I knows on. No, I
_don't_ know what she was called afore she was married."

"Did you ever hear of the name of Bream?" asked the captain anxiously.

"Oh yes, I've heerd o' that name," said the boy, promptly. "There's a
fish called bream, you know."

It soon became evident to poor Captain Bream that nothing of importance
was to be learned from Billy, he therefore made up his mind at once as
to how he should act. Feeling that, with such a possibility unsettled,
he would be utterly unfit for his duties with the fleet, he resolved to
go straight to Yarmouth.

"What is your mother's address?" he asked.

Billy gave it him.

"Now my boy, I happen to be much interested in your mother, so I'm goin'
to Yarmouth on purpose to see her."

"It's wery good o' you, sir, an' if you takes your turn ashore afore we
do, just give mother my respec's an' say I'm all alive and kickin'."

"I will, my boy," said the Captain, patting Billy on the head and
actually stooping to kiss his forehead affectionately, after which he
gave him leave to return on deck.

"I don' know how it is," said Billy to Zulu afterwards, "but I've took a
likin' for that old man, an' at the same time a queer sort o' fear of
'im; I can't git it out o' my noddle that he's goin' to Yarmouth to
inweigle my mother to marry him!"

Zulu showed all his teeth and gums, shut his eyes, gave way to a burst
of laughter, and said, "Nonsense!"

"It may be nonsense," retorted Billy, "but if I thought he really meant
it, I would run my head butt into his breadbasket, an' drive 'im
overboard."

Explaining to the surprised and rather disappointed skipper of the
mission vessel that an unexpected turn of affairs required his immediate
presence in Yarmouth, the captain asked what means there were of getting
to land.

"One of our fleet, the _Rainbow_, starts to-morrow morning, sir," was
the reply; "so you can go without loss of time. But I hope we shall see
you ag