he nor'-east'ards below the Banks."

"The stream has done it, though, sure enough," said Mr Fosset; "that
and the gale, for the one has drifted us to the coast and the other
pressed us down southwards; and between the two we're just fetched where
we are, sir!"

"Well," replied the skipper, shrugging his shoulders, "you were right,
Fosset, and I was wrong this morning. Let me see, though, how we have
fetched here, if we can trace our course so far, from when we last took
the sun."

"Sure, an' that was Friday, that baste of a day!" interposed Garry
O'Neil, pointing to a place on the chart. "I worked at the rickonin'
and I put it down meself, marking it with a red pencil."

"Yes; here it is, 42 deg. 35 minutes north latitude, and longitude 50 deg. 10
minutes west," said the skipper. "I worked it out also, on my own hook,
and you and I tallied, if you recollect?"

"Of course we did, the divvil doubt it, sir," answered the second mate
in his usual Irish fashion. "Thin, sor, we ran for five hours from that
p'int on a west by south course, going between ten and twelve knots;
for, though I didn't say it meself, Mister Fosset tould me the wind was
freshinin' all the toime, so that we must have travelled about sixty
miles, more or less."

"So that brings us to this blue mark here?"

"Yes, sor, to 42 deg. 28 minutes north, and 51 deg. 12 minutes west."

"Then we sailed right before the wind, due south?"

"Sure, an' we did that same afther Mister Haldane's will-o'-the-wisp for
three hours, bedad!"

"Oh, Mr O'Neil," I pleaded, "please leave me out of it. I'm sure I've
seen and heard enough of the ship already!"

"Be aisy, me darlint! It's only me fun, sure; and I mean ye no harrum,"
said he in his jocular way. "Arrah how can I lave ye out of the story
when ye're the howl h'id and tail of it, sure, and without ye there'd be
none to tile. Yes, cap'en, dear, sure, an' as I was a-saying when
Haldane broke in upon me yarn, thray hours on this southerly course
brought us here right where ye see me little finger, now!"

"About 51 deg. 5 minutes west longitude and 41 deg. 40 minutes north latitude.
How did you get this, eh?"

"Faith, sor, the ould moon looked so moighty plisint that night that I
took a lunar or two, jist to divart mesilf with, when Spokeshave wint
below and there was nobody lift to poke fun at, sure!"

"A very useful sort of amusement," said the skipper drily. "And I see,
too, you've put in the dis