the fickle
wind for making a passage, and still more to know that we may pounce
down upon those rascally fast-sailing dhows whenever we can sight them
in a calm, and be sure of overtaking them."

"I agree with you," said Jack; "I only wish that I knew a little more
about a steamer. However, I shall pick up some knowledge of the matter
before long, and hope to make good use of it. My engineer appears to be
a sensible man, and I shall be glad to have Gordon and Desmond on board,
and to place them under his instruction. I will, of course, look after
them as carefully as I do my young brother Tom."

So it was arranged that Archie and Desmond should be lent to the
_Gauntlet_, she having only one other midshipman and two old mates on
board. They, of course, were highly delighted to hear the decision to
which their elders had come, not so much perhaps on account of the
advantage it was expected they would derive, as from the thoughts of the
fun they would have together. As the ship was not to sail till the next
day, they all three forthwith asked leave to go on shore for the purpose
of getting a ride into the country, in company with the master of the
_Opal_ and some of the midshipmen of the other vessels. As Jos Green
undertook to look after them, Jack gave them leave, charging them to be
on board before dark. A party of the men from each ship had likewise
obtained leave to go on shore to purchase curiosities for their
sweethearts and wives.

The Sultan had lately made it known that his stud, consisting of a
hundred horses and more, was at the disposal of the British naval
officers who might wish to take a ride into the country; and the
midshipmen were therefore directing their course to the palace, when
Desmond proposed that they should take a stroll first through the town.

"It isn't the sweetest of places, I'll allow, but we may come upon
something worth seeing, and have some fun or other," he exclaimed. All
hands agreed to the proposal, and two and two they made their way
through the narrow streets, not exactly knowing where they were going.
They agreed, however, that except the crowds of savage, dirty-looking
Arabs, and still more hideous blacks, tumbledown houses, and bazaars
full of trumpery goods, there was nothing to be seen in Zanzibar.
Suddenly they found themselves in a square, which Desmond recognised as
the slave-market. It was far more crowded than when Archie and he had
been there before. As the