vy. Removing his cap, he
politely bowed to the two ladies; and any one who was looking might have
seen that Miss Florry blushed a little when she saw him; and very likely
if Major Pierson had witnessed the roses on her fair cheek, he might
possibly have concluded that it would have been useless to postpone the
capture of the Bellevite to enable him to fortify his position near her.

"I beg your pardon, ladies, for calling so late," said Mr. Vapoor, as he
drew a long envelope from his pocket. "But I thought Christy might wish
to see what is in this envelope before he retired."

"Why, what is in it?" asked Mrs. Passford.

"Christy's commission as a midshipman in the navy."

"But Christy is not at home, and we are somewhat anxious about him,"
added the mother, stating the facts in regard to her son.

Paul Vapoor volunteered to go in search of him, and left the house.

CHAPTER VI

THE CABIN OF THE FLORENCE

If Captain Carboneer had felt any especial interest in the Florence as
a sailing yacht, he might have desired to see the cabin of the craft,
which had always been the delight of Christy Passford. He had expended
a great deal of his pocket-money upon the arrangement and furnishing of
the cabin of his yacht, not only because he spent a considerable portion
of his vacation hours in it, but because it had been a perpetual study
with him to enlarge and improve it.

It is very difficult to get three pints of liquid into a quart measure,
and it was a conundrum of this sort that Christy was studying upon
when he tried to make a parlor, bedroom, and dining-saloon of the very
limited space in the forward part of the Florence. Though he could
hardly get the three pints into the quart measure, he had done the best
he could, and succeeded to a rather remarkable degree. But spite of the
miracle which had been wrought in the cabin, Captain Carboneer did not
even try the door of the apartment when he and his companions went on
board of the yacht. He was so absorbed in the enterprise in which he was
engaged, that his indifference to the miracle of the cabin may be
excused.

Even the double doors of the cabin were of handsome wood, elaborately
polished; and they were not secured with the usual appliance of a
padlock, but were provided with an expensive mortise-lock, which could
be operated upon either side. If Captain Carboneer had tried to open
that door, he would have found that it was fastened; but perhaps he
could