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 "Thirty-third, was it? Well, I know it just beat the record of the schooner Sierra Nevada by a day, and there was a lot of talk about it at the time, because it was reckoned that the Sierra Nevada's record could never be beaten by a sailing ship. The Bessie M. Dobbs nearly had her sticks torn out of her on the way. Captain Hallard only shortened sail once during the whole run across, and that was when she was poking her nose under water. Bless my soul, and here's his slip of a kid learning sailoring on the old Neptune! Well, Captain Hallard would n't remember me, though I was one of those who shook hands with him after he landed, but when you get back home tell him I say he's got a son who 'll make a sailor."

"Thank you, sir, I will," said Dave, immensely pleased. During their watch below, Tempest and Dave often had time for a yarn, and sometimes during the hot, moonlight nights they would spend hours