LITMIR.BIZ

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do you mean?” asked Guy, coloring, for he knew to what the deacon’s son referred.

      “Oh, I guess I’d better not tell,” replied Noah, in a tantalizing tone.

      “Just as you please,” said Guy, coolly.

      Noah was disappointed, for he wanted Guy to ask him a question which he was very ready to answer. Guy’s indifference piqued him.

      “You’ll know soon enough,” added Crane.

      “In that case I will be content to wait.”

      “I don’t know that I have any objection to tell, though. I mean your father.”

      “Take care how you talk about my father,” said Guy, angrily. “I won’t stand it.”

      “Oh, is your father so high and mighty that he can’t be spoken about?”

      “He can be spoken about—respectfully.”

      “I suppose you think he’s a great man because he’s a minister.”

      “I rank a minister higher than a deacon,” retorted Guy, quietly.

      “You do, hey? Why, my father could buy out your father two or three times over.”

      “That may be; but what does that prove?”

      “It proves that you’d better be careful how you talk. I heard my father say the other day that the people wanted a new minister—a young man that would make things lively. I shouldn’t wonder if your father’d have to take a walk before long.”

      “And I am certain that you’ll have to walk pretty fast if you don’t want to feel the force of my fists.”

      Guy advanced toward Noah so menacingly that the latter took counsel of prudence and retreated hastily.

      “Keep away from me, you bully!” he cried, “or I’ll tell my father!”

      Guy laughed, and walked away, not caring to have any difficulty with Noah. What the deacon’s son had said, however, furnished him food for reflection.

      Things began to look serious. There was evidently a movement on foot to get rid of his father, and this movement was headed by Deacon Crane, a man of influence in the parish and the town.

      “If I could only get hold of this treasure, say within a year,” thought Guy, “I would snap my fingers at the deacon. It would make me rich, and if I were rich my father would be rich, too, and independent of the parish.”

      The “if,” however, though a very short word, was a very important one. It seemed about as practicable to go in search of the treasure as to undertake a journey to the moon, and no more so.

      When Guy went home to dinner he found Captain Grover, an old schoolmate of his father, a guest at the parsonage.

      The captain and his family lived in New Bedford, and he was about to start on a voyage from there. Happening to be in Bayport on a little private business, he called on the minister. Unlike some shipmasters, he was a man of a kindly nature, and was a favorite with Guy.

      “So here is Guy,” he said, as the boy entered. “Bless my soul, Guy, I shouldn’t have known you if I had met you out of Bayport, you have grown so. What are you going to do with him, Brother Fenwick?”

      “I would like to send him to Harvard, John,” replied the minister, “but there doesn’t seem to be any chance of that,” he added, with a sigh.

      “Why not?”

      “Because I am not rich enough.”

      “Oh, well, college is all very well, but there are other things that are good for a boy. If I had a son, I don’t think I would send him to college.”

      “I agree with you, Captain Grover,” said Guy, promptly.

      “Your uncle George was a sailor?”

      “Yes, sir.”

      “Did you ever think you would like to go to sea?”

      “I don’t think I should like to be a sailor, but I should like to go to sea for a single voyage.”

      “It would do you good. You’d learn more in a year at sea than in double the time on land.”

      “So I think, sir. When do you start on your next voyage?”

      “Next week.”

      “In what direction shall you go?”

      “I shall go to India—probably stopping at Bombay.”

      “Will your course lie through the Indian Ocean?” asked Guy, eagerly.

      “Yes.”

      “I always wished I could sail over the Indian Ocean,” said Guy.

      “Yes, it is an interesting voyage. Are you through school?”

      “Yes; I finished last week.”

      “Then I’ll tell you what, Guy; if your father’ll let you go, I’ll take you.”

      “Oh, father, may I go?” asked Guy, in a tone of earnest appeal.

      “Go to India?” exclaimed the minister, bewildered by the suggestion.

      “Yes; it would make me very happy.”

      In the end, Guy, seconded by the captain, carried his point, and obtained his father’s consent. He had, as we know, his own reasons for wishing to make this voyage. It was something more than a boy’s love of adventure.

      The next week the Osprey sailed with Guy as a passenger. He quickly established himself as a favorite with the sailors. He was so bright, handsome, and intelligent, that he seemed like a gleam of sunshine, making the whole ship cheerful.

      He cultivated the acquaintance of the crew, plying them with questions, and often might be seen engaged in an animated discussion with veteran sailors who were always ready to spin a yarn for him.

      Captain Grover viewed all this with an indulgent smile.

      “I am afraid, Guy,” he said one day, with a laugh, “that you are picking up so much knowledge you will try to supersede me on the next voyage.”

      “It will take more than one voyage to qualify me for a captain,” returned Guy. “Still, if you need help, call on me.”

      CHAPTER IV

      IN THE INDIAN OCEAN

      Day followed day, and week succeeded week, and the good ship Osprey kept steadily on her way. Guy was not seasick, rather to his own surprise.

      “You seem to be cut out for a sailor. Guy,” said the captain.

      “I don’t know about that.”

      “You enjoy the sea, do you not?”

      “Yes, sir; but I don’t think I should care to be a sailor.”

      “You are picking up a good deal of seamanship. It won’t be long before you know every rope in the ship.”

      “Knowledge doesn’t come amiss, captain. I have an inquiring mind.”

      They rounded the Cape of Good Hope at length, and soon found themselves in the Indian Ocean. It would not be long before they would reach the neighborhood of the island which was the goal of Guy’s hopes and expectations.

      Till now he had not thought particularly what he would do when he got there. It would be small satisfaction to see the island, if perchance he should, and not be able to stop there. What could he do?

      Alone, he was quite aware that he could do nothing. It was absolutely necessary that he should make a confidant of someone, and of someone who could be of service in helping him carry out his cherished plan.

      Evidently there was no one on the Osprey who answered this description except the captain; but how would the captain look upon this plan?

      Captain Grover was a pleasant man, and a good friend, but how he would regard Guy’s project was something that could not be guessed.

      Guy

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