ompany, if not all of
them; for, depend upon it, they must be aware that he is no navigator,
and would not wish to trust the craft to him."

Tom, who was averse to this proceeding, replied, "It might turn out very
well if we were first to fall in with a British man-of-war; but suppose
we met an American, we might be accused of running away with the ship.
Rest assured that the boatswain and some of the men would be ready to
swear to anything which would suit their own purposes."

"I would risk that," said Desmond. "The doctor's word would be taken
before that of the boatswain, and any American officer would at once see
that our statement was the true one."

"Suppose we were to fail in our attempt to seize the boatswain, he would
murder us all, or at all events clap us in irons, and accuse us of
mutiny and an attempt to seize the ship."

"Arrah! now, what's come over you, Tom?" exclaimed Desmond. "You'll not
persuade me that you're afraid of carrying out my plan."

"No," answered Tom, smiling. "I only want to look at both sides of the
case, as Archie Gordon would have done if he were with us. I fully
agree with you, that if the fellow refuses to go to Hong-kong we must
compel him by some means or other; but, it would be wrong in us to seize
the ship unless we are assured of the incapacity of the boatswain, by
which her safety and the lives of all on board would be imperilled. In
that case we should be justified in acting as you propose."

"And isn't he incompetent?" exclaimed Desmond. "The doctor says so. If
he had been a good navigator he would not have been serving as
boatswain."

"If he will agree to go to Hong-kong or Sydney, or even to the Sandwich
Islands, and let us assist him in navigating the ship, well and good, as
we can leave her at any of those places, and he can obtain a fresh
crew."

Tom's remarks satisfied Desmond that they ought to wait and see how the
boatswain would act. A look-out was kept in every direction for the
boats, but hours went by and still they did not appear. As the day drew
on the wind began to abate, and the sea proportionately to go down. The
boatswain had turned into the captain's berth and gone to sleep, and no
one felt inclined to awaken him. Tom, Desmond, or Billy were constantly
going to the mast-head to look out for the missing boats, still hoping
that they might appear. Desmond had gone into the cabin, where he heard
the boatswain snoring loudly.

He returne