figures than me, and going uncommon keen into the notion. Meanwhile, we made ourselves out to be about forty degrees of longitude, or a little more, and as near as possible to the same degree of latitude; whereas by the mate's account there was somewhere about five hundred miles of difference in our favour for making the American coast. English Bill had been looking over the side carefully, whilst Abe had the log hove various ways, by Bill's advice, to try our rate of speed in that breeze. "Anyhow, we're in the draught of the Stream," said Bill after a little, "and setting fast east'ard with it-it runs a couple o' knots to the hour in the Double Forties, if so be we're really there away."

"Nor there ain't no Stream whatever, where yew fix us, Squire?" says Abe to the mate, settling an eye sharp upon him, "air there, now?"

The fellow was forced to own it was the case; Bill also saying openly, that one might have seen with half an eye we were fairly in the Stream, by the weeds and the current, to say nothing of the colour of the water, the fish that were astir, and the albicore and gulls that were after them. In regard to all that, I was as ignorant as a child by comparison, and so was the big American by his own acknowledgment; consequently, we put the more reliance on the calculation we had come to. The nearest land by far in that case was the Azores or Western Isles, for which it was accordingly resolved

to bear up and run, trusting to it. Tappan argued the contrary to no purpose, after which he fell sulky, refusing to have a hand in the matter. The rest followed his suit for a time, with the exception of the cook, black Neb, a good-humoured, willing sort of chap, who would not have called the nose on his face his own, if Long Abe had said the opposite.

The short and the long of it was, we packed on everything that would show, and stood direct eastby-south, on what you might call the chance to see the Peak of Pico. Bill assured us it could be seen, in that weather, more than eight leagues off from aloft; so if any way right, we were in no danger to miss it. Meanwhile we did our best to rig up spars on the Priscilla, bringing her more shipshape, without condescending to ask more from the three sculkers than the worth of their grub. The shortness of water was our worst fear, being little more than the third part of a cask, with the ice besides, that I had happened to pack round my fresh meat—by no means pleasant-looking, though wholesome enough. I must tell you it was a trying time, those three or four days we bore to southeast'ard, allowing for the current, to make the Western Isles. Every noon I brought the quadrant and took the sun with big Abe's help, then checked it by chronometer computation; still finding they bore out each other, with dead-reckoning to help. The weather luckily favoured us, till the

He

squally sort of change began to come on, which Bill said was the best proof we were right. kept aloft himself for the last day or so, being a first-rate look-out, well used to the thing before; but for all my faith in him, I cannot say I felt the same trust in my first spell at navigation. Every time he came down without success, my heart sank lower, and I felt Abe's gimlet eye on me, screwing harder as he began to consider what was to be done.

Bill was up aloft forward one afternoon, using all his eyes, when something in his manner caused me to go up anxiously to him. All round on every side was as bare as a knife-edge to my view; ahead it was as clear as if we were running for the coast of Africa; the only exception was a whiff of cloud low down on our lee beam, with the horizon, as it seemed to me, pure along below it. However, Bill was up on the yard above me, and he had his eye fixed on the streak like an eagle. He saw a twinkle over it, and lifted his finger at last, with a whisper to me. "It's the Peak," he said, "and we'd have passed it to loo'ard in another hour!" I jumped up beside him, made it out, and gave the word, "Land O! The Peak of Pico, hurrah!" I sung out, and was down in a moment, rousing up Long Abe; with three cheers from all hands, even Tappan not excepted.

The American held cautious for a little, but our course being altered, it was not long before we saw