and thread from the landlady and mend up the holes. You really cannot walk
through the city in that state. I will see about getting you some more
clothes when we get back, for I cannot have you coming here in these in
broad daylight. Here are three guineas; get yourself a suit of pilot cloth
at some outfitter's at the East End. It will be useful to you anyhow,
whether you go with me or ship again here."

"There is a good deal in what you say, Harry," Mr. Barnett said when
Prendergast asked his opinion as to his taking his brother with him. "Two
years would not make any material difference in his career as a sailor; it
simply means that he will be so much older when he passes as mate. There
is no harm in that. Two or three and twenty is quite young enough for a
young fellow to become an officer, and I don't think that many captains
care about having lads who have just got their certificate. They have not
the same sense of responsibility or the same power of managing. Then, too,
Bertie will certainly have a good deal of knocking about if he spends a
couple of years in South America, and the knowledge he will gain of
Spanish will add to his value with any firm trading on that coast. As far
as you are concerned, I think it would be a great advantage to have him
with you. In a long expedition, such as you propose, it is a gain to have
a companion with you. It makes the work more pleasant, and two men can
laugh over hardships and disagreeables that one alone would grumble at;
but apart from this, it is very important in case of illness.

"A lonely man laid up with fever, or accidental injury, fares badly indeed
if he is at a distance from any town where he can obtain medical
attendance, and surrounded only by ignorant natives. I was myself at one
time down with fever for six weeks in a native hut, and during that time I
would have given pretty nearly all that I was worth for the sight of a
white face and the sound of an English voice. As to the fact that it is