"A sea-going tramp, I guess," said the sailor, laughing.

But he watched the coming sea bird quite as interestedly as did the two
children. The creature seemed to have selected the steamship as its
objective point, and it beat its good wing furiously so as to get into
the course of the _Kammerboy_.

"Can we have the bird if it gets aboard, Mr. Officer?" asked Russ
eagerly.

"If I can catch it without killing it--for they are very fierce
birds--it shall be yours," promised the man.

At once, therefore, the eagerness and interest of Russ and Rose Bunker
were vastly increased. They clung to the rail and watched the
approaching bird with anxious eyes. It was coming head on toward the bow
of the ship. Would the _Kammerboy_ get past so swiftly that the
sea-eagle could not reach it?

The uncertainty of this, and the evident effort of the great bird to fly
a little farther, greatly excited the two older of the six little
Bunkers.




CHAPTER VII

A SIGNAL OF DISTRESS