DINGO'S SAGACITY. 49 greatest satisfaction, and one day made a remark to that cffect in the présence of Captain HuU. " You are rîght, madam," said the captain cordîally ; "Dick is a capital fellow, and will be sure to be a first-rate sailor. He bas an instinct which is little short of a genius; it supplies ail deficiencies of theory. Considering how short an expérience and how little instruction he has had, it is quite wonderful how much he knows about a shîp." " Certainly for his âge," assented Mrs. Weldon, " he is singularly advanced. I can safely say that I hâve never had a fault to fînd with him. I believe that it is my husband's intention, after this voyage, to let him hâve S3^ematic training in navigation, so that he may be able ultimately to become a captain."
- • I hâve no misgivings, madam," replied the captain ;
"there is every reason to expect that he will be an honour to the service." " Poor orphan ! " said the lady ; " he has been trained in a bard school." " Its lessons hâve not been lost upon him," rejoîned Captain HuU ; " they hâve taught him the prime lesson that he has his own way to make in the world." The eyes of the two speakers turned as it were unwîttingly in the direction where Dick Sands happened to be standing. He was at the helm.
- Look at him now!" said the ciptain; "see how
steadily he keeps his eye upon the fore ; nothing distracts him from his duty ; he is as much to be depended on as the most experienced helmsman. It was a capital thing for him that he began his training as a cabin-boy. Nothing like it Begin at the beginning. It is the best of training for the merchant service." " But surely," interposed Mrs. Weldon, " you would not deny that in the navy there hâve been many good officers who hâve never had the training of which you are speaking ? " " True, madam ; but yet even some of the best of them hâve begun at the lowest step of the ladder. For instance, Lord Nelson."
