“There is depth for this ship in the harbor you refer to?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you can pilot her in with the boats ahead, if we can get there before the storm breaks?”
“It was there, sir, I took General Peyton’s yacht, the Midshipman, sir, when the Secretary of the Navy and Commodore Lucien were on board.”
“Ah, indeed! I have been told of that bold piloting by the commodore himself; and it got you your appointment?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then I will order the boats out ahead, and——”
“Pardon me, Captain De Long, but as the gale is coming from seaward, I can run in, sir, if you will order topmasts housed and set only lower sails, to save the sprung mainmast,” said Mark modestly.
“Mr. Merrill, you are a born sailor, sir, and I give the ship over to you as pilot,” said Captain De Long, with frank acknowledgment of the youth’s skill and nerve.