" added Peaks.

"Ole is my son; I must have him," growled the skipper.

"I have nothing to do with Ole; he may go where he pleases," said the
boatswain.

Olaf spoke to his step-son in his own language, and for a few moments
the dialogue between them was very violent.

"Cast off, forward, there; give them the Swedish of that, Ole,"
shouted Peaks.

"Must I go on board of the Rensdyr?" asked the trembling waif.

"Do just as you please."

"Then I shall stay, and go to the ship."

"No, he shall not; he shall come with me," said Olaf, making a spring
at Ole.

But Peaks, who had promised to see fair play, interfered, and with no
more force than was necessary, compelled the skipper to return to the
schooner. The steamer shoved off, and amid the fierce yells of Olaf,
steamed towards Stockholm. As she went on her way, Ole told his story.
At the death of his father, who was the master of a small vessel, he
had gone to England with a gentleman who had taken a fancy to him, and
worked there a year. The next summer he had accompanied his employer
in an excursion through Norway, and found his mother had married Olaf
Petersen. She prevailed upon him to leave his master, and he went to
sea with her husband. Then his mother died, and the skipper abused
him to such a degree, that he determined to leave the vessel. Olaf had
twice brought him back, and then watched him so closely, that he could
find no opportunity to repeat the attempt when the Rensdyr was in
port.

On the day before the ship had picked him up, Olaf had thrashed him
soundly, and had refused to let him have his supper. Olaf and his man
drank too much finkel that night, and left Ole at the helm. Early in
the evening, he lashed the tiller, and taking to the boat, with the
north star for his guide, pulled towards the coast of Norway. Before
morning he was exhausted with hunger and fatigue. He had lost one oar
while asleep, and the other was a broken one. At daylight he saw
nothing of the Rensdyr, and feeling tolerably safe, had gone to sleep
again, when he was awakened by the hail from the ship.

"But why did you leave the ship?" asked Peaks.

"Because I was afraid of the pilot. I thought he and other people
would make me go back to Olaf."

"Olaf has no claim upon you. He is neither your father nor your
guardian."

"I was afraid."

"Where was your vessel bound?"

"To Bremen, where she expected to get a cargo for Copenhagen. I
suppose she found another car