268 THE BOY CAPTAIN.

those?”? Miss Dunham asked, as Ben began arranging
the signals.

«Three or four hours at the latest.”

« Are you certain we shall overhaul her before dark?”

«Yes; unless we do those flags will be useless.”

« Are you going below again soon?”

“No, indeed; I’ve had sleep enough to last me twenty-
four hours. But why did you ask?”

« Because, unless you want more rest, suppose you ex-
plain to me the meaning of the signals. I have often in-
tended to ask father; but forgot it when he had leisure to
talk with me. There’s nothing to be done for the brig
just now, and surely the chief mate should understand the
mystery of signaling.”

“Tt is very simple,’ Ben replied, “for with the code
one who had never seen them could, after some little
study, work them as well as an old hand. Now, to begin
with, there are eighteen in the International code, which
are these,’ and Ben laid out successively a burgee, four
pennants and thirteen square flags.

« But it would take a person very long to study that
code,” Miss Dunham said, as she looked at the large book
with its many printed pages, which Ben opened.

« There’s no necessity of having it all at one’s finger
ends, for you can find, by the same method as in a dic-
tionary, the ordinary sentences you wish to use. In addi-
tion to the International code, there is a pennant code,
and nearly all the nations of the globe use the two to-
gether as set down here.”