AN IMAGINARY SHIPWRECK. 3

his work nor his studies, and the natural result was that
on this day, thirty months after having begun the battle
of life, he was fully competent to fill the position of first
officer on board the Sportsman, or even to have navigated
her himself.

The mates, however, showed greater leniency toward
this young member of the crew when the captain was
below than they would have done but for the relationship,
and, thanks to them, Ben received many hints which
enabled him to advance more rapidly in his studies than
otherwise might have been the case.

On this particular day, however, the young sailor was
looking forward to a visit on shore, rather than speculating
as to his present duties or future prospects, and when, at
noon, the Sfortsman was off Macclesfield Bank, with a
favouring wind and only three hundred knots more to be
made, Ben hoped most earnestly that nothing would occur
to prevent the ship’s coming to anchor in port in the
shortest possible space of time.

He was fully alive to everything going on about him,
and when one of the lookout men hailed the quarter-deck
with the information that a boat was in sight about four
points off the starboard bow, having every appearance of
being a ship’s long-boat with a wrecked crew, it is just
possible he was a trifle impatient, because the Sportsman's
course was changed to intercept this waif upon the
Chinese Ocean.

Running down to investigate matters might not delay
the craft many hours; but even though only two were