to listen to the account Charley had to give him of
his expedition, and the way it had been brought about. Then, of course,
he also wanted to hear of the doings at Stormount Tower, and how Margery
had been carried off by the smugglers, and how Charley and Tom had
recovered her. "Tom, dear old Tom, how I shall like to wring his horny
fist again; it's as honest a palm as any in England!" cried Jack. "And
you, Charley, what a fine fellow you are; I don't like to talk of giving
Margery to any one, but I would rather give her to you, when the time
comes, than to anybody else in the world; and I suspect that she
wouldn't say nay if she was asked."

Charley said that he hoped so, and turned the conversation.

And now Jack was asked to narrate his own adventures, for hitherto the
subject had been avoided, and he seemed in no way inclined to allude to
it.

"It has been a terrible time indeed, as you may guess," he observed;
"but now that it is over, I ought to think of it with gratitude to the
good God who has preserved me safe through all my dangers. You know how
I sailed in the _Truelove_ with Captain Summers, and how, after touching
at Callao, we steered westward, to visit various islands on our way to
Japan. We were in high spirits, for we thought nothing of the dangers
of the voyage, and only of seeing so many beautiful and strange islands
and their inhabitants. A good look-out was always supposed to be kept
ahead, and we were running one night, in the first watch, believing that
the whole of our voyage would be as prosperous as the commencement, when
the cry arose, `Breakers ahead! Breakers on the starboard bow!'
followed by `Breakers on the port bow!' The helm was put down, the
sheets hauled flat, but before the ship could by any possibility come
about, she struck--then forged ahead, to strike again more heavily.

"Directly every one on board knew that there was not the slightest hope
of saving the ship, scarcely of escaping with our lives. We had a long
night before us, and the wind was increasing. The order was given to
lower the boats, but two were swamped and the hands in them carried
away. We heard their shrieks, but could not help them; besides, we knew
that their fate would soon probably be ours. Then the sea began to beat
over the ship, and soon made a clean breach across the waist, washing
away the captain and the first mate and several more of the men. Just
then a bright light burst forth to the