pointment of not going to China, and
the thinking over what my uncle Terence can want me home for, had more
to do with it than the climate, the hot sun, or anything else, and I
intend to ask the doctor to let me go on deck to-morrow, by which time I
shall have finished my book, and I want to have a look at any of the
islands we may happen to pass. There are some curious shaped ones, I am
told."

"Yes; we have sighted some. One seemed to rise three or four hundred
feet in a pointed peak, right out of the water, and it was not, I should
say, an eighth of a mile in circumference. It is marked on the chart as
Lot's wife. A solitary existence she must lead all by herself."

"Whereabouts are we?" asked Desmond.

"At noon, when we were passing that curious rock, our latitude was 29
degrees north, and our longitude 14 degrees east. We shall next sight
the Bonin Islands, or Rosario, which is another lofty island, little
more than a rock, standing up out of the sea."

"Do ask the doctor if I may get up, Tom; I should be sorry to pass these
places without having a look at them," exclaimed Desmond. "I can finish
my book by-and-by."

Just then the officer spoken of, Mr Hussey, came out from the gun-room.
He was a short, somewhat stout gentleman, with a good-natured
expression of countenance, and a merry twinkle in the eye, which showed
that he could enjoy a joke, and was likely to utter many a one himself.
His naturally florid complexion was deepened into a still more ruddy hue
by exposure to the hot suns of the tropics.

"Do, doctor, let me get up; your physic has done me an immense deal of
good, and I feel quite well already," said Desmond.

The doctor felt his pulse. "You get up!" he exclaimed. "What do you
think yourself made of?" trying to look grave.

"Arrah, shure, sugar and spice and all that's nice! that's what
midshipmen are made of. But shure, doctor dear, you will not keep me
here, stewing by myself, when I might be enjoying the pure air of
heaven?--for I really am well, doctor."

"You mean to say that you have finished your book, and have got tired of
lying in bed," was the reply. "Well, if you promise to be a good boy
and keep in the shade, you may dress and go on deck, but I cannot
undertake to scratch you off the sick-list yet."

"Thank you, sir," said Desmond; "I will do everything you tell me, and
take as much medicine as you think fit to prescribe. I do not want to
do duty yet, as I've got a