"I have a favor to ask you," said Vernon.
"Name it, and it is granted."
"Don't be too positive. I shall be in port a couple of weeks for repairs. I should like to send my first officer with you for that time. Land him at any port you are near. He shall have full directions how to find me."
"I should be delighted. What is his name?"
"John Tempest."
For a moment Captain Hull's face clouded, but a smile soon suffused itself over his countenance.
"He was on the Essex," said Vernon.
"I know it; he resigned. I shall be pleased to have him. He is a rattling good officer."
And so it came to pass that Lieutenant John Tempest was to spend a week or two on the U. S. frigate Constitution.
Vernon had a deep motive in this.