"'Yes, sir,' said I, smiling, and rubbing my hands behind my back.
"Well, we're pretty near the end of this yarn now, gentlemen. I watched that fire-balloon till it faded out of sight in the nor'west, and then I turned in and dreamed all night about ships picking up bottles with messages in them, and saving shipwrecked crews. And the next day I did nothing but go aloft and look for a sail, but not one hove in sight. The following day I did the same thing, and that night I think I cried a little because no vessel appeared. On the third day I didn't go aloft till after breakfast, and then I nearly burst my lungs screaming, 'Sail ho!' Sure enough, there was a vessel about twenty miles off to the nor'west. The Captain had a big fire started on the rocks, and sent a good column of smoke into the air. The vessel rose, and in a couple of hours we saw plainly that she was heading right for us. Maybe we didn't all dance for joy! In another hour she hove to abreast of the rocks and sent a boat. The officer in charge of it stepped out, and holding up my bottle with a tangled mass of wire and pulp, said,
"'How did you get this thing out there?'
"'Out where?' demanded our Captain.
"'We picked it up forty miles nor'west of you.'
"'Hurrah for my fire-balloon!' I cried. 'And was the message all right?'
"'Of course. Ain't we here?'
"And he handed my message to our Captain, who threw his arms around me, and exclaimed:
"'You little angel! You'll be a sailor yourself some day.'
"And sure enough," said Captain Elias Joyce, rising from the table, "he told the living truth."