“An accident has disabled the Master of the outward-bound ship called the ‘Royal Caroline!’ Her consignee is reluctant to intrust her to the officer next in rank; but sail she must.  I find she has credit for her speed.  If you have any credentials of character and competency, profit by the occasion, and earn the station you are finally destined to fill.  You have been named to some who are interested, and you have been sought diligently.  If this reach you in season, be on the alert, and be decided.  Show no surprise at any co-operation you may unexpectedly meet.  My agents are more numerous than you had believed.  The reason is obvious; gold is yellow, though I am

  “RED.”

The signature, the matter, and the style of this letter, left Wilder in no doubt as to its author.  Casting a glance around him, he sprang into a skiff; and, before the boat of the travellers had reached the ship, that of Wilder had skimmed the water over half the distance between her and the land.  As he plied his skulls with vigorous and skilful arms, he soon stood upon her decks.  Forcing his way among the crowd of attendants from the shore, that are apt to cumber a departing ship, he reached the part of the vessel where a circle of busy and anxious faces told him he should find those most concerned in her fate.  Until now, he had hardly breathed clearly, much less reflected on the character of his sudden enterprise.  It was too late, however, to retreat, had he been so disposed, or to abandon his purpose, without incurring the hazard of exciting dangerous suspicions A single instant served to recal his thoughts, ere he demanded,—­

“Do I see the owner of the ‘Caroline?’”

“The ship is consigned to our house,” returned a sedate, deliberate, and shrewd-looking individual, in the attire of a wealthy, but also of a thrifty, trader.

“I have heard that you have need of an experienced officer.”

“Experienced officers are comfortable things to an owner in a vessel of value,” returned the merchant.  “I hope the ‘Caroline’ is not without her portion.”

“But I had heard, one to supply her Commander’s place, for a time, was greatly needed?”

“If her Commander were incapable of doing his duty, such a thing might certainly come to pass.  Are you seeking a birth?”

“I have come to apply for the vacancy.”

“It would have been wiser, had you first ascertained there existed a vacancy to fill.  But you have not come to ask authority, in such a ship as this, without sufficient testimony of your ability and fitness?”

“I hope these documents may prove satisfactory,” said Wilder, placing in his hands a couple of unsealed letters.

During the time the other was reading the certificates for such they proved to be, his shrewd eye was looking over his spectacles at the subject of their contents, and returning to the paper, in alternate glances, in such a way as to render it very evident that he was endeavouring to assure himself of the fidelity of the words he read, by actual observation.