"Will you allow me to make a request, Mrs. Becker?"
"Listen to Willis," said Jack, "he has an idea."
"The request I have to urge is, that you will permit me to encamp on Shark's Island, and there establish a lighthouse for the guidance of the Nelson, in case she should return."
"What! the commander-in-chief of cavalry on an island?"
"No, not of the cavalry, but of the fleet; it is only necessary for Mr. Becker to change my position into that of an admiral, which will not give him much extra trouble."
"I shall do so with pleasure, Willis."
"In that case, since I am an admiral, the first thing I shall do, is to pardon myself for the faults I committed whilst I was a pilot."
"Capital!" said Ernest, "that puts me in mind of Louis XII., who, on ascending the throne, said that it was not for the King of France to revenge the wrongs of the Duke of Orleans."
"What, then, is to become of the boys? I intended to make you their compass—on land, of course."
"The boys," cried the latter, "are willing to enlist as seamen, and accompany the admiral on his cruise."