"Regular volcanic cinder heap, Jack," was Sir John's not new opinion of sun-scorched Aden, where, while the coal-bunkers were filled up again, the lad had amused himself by inspecting the place with his glass as he sat contentedly under the awning, preferring to submit to the infliction of the flying coal-dust to a hot walk through the arid place. Then he leaned over the side and half-contemptuously threw threepenny-bits and sixpences into the clear water in response to the clamouring young rascals who wanted to scramble for them far below and show their swimming and diving powers. "Come on board," cried the doctor, blowing his nose hard and coughing to get rid of the black dust. "Sacks counted, iron stopper put back in the pavement, and the wagon's gone, Jack." The lad looked up at him as if wondering whether he had gone out of his senses. "What are you staring at, sober-sides?" cried the doctor. "I know it's poor joking, but I'd have done better if I could. Hallo! what's the matter?" he continued, as, in what seemed to be a motiveless way, the boy threw sixpence over the side. "Got too much money?" "No: look!" said Jack. The doctor glanced over the rail to where the bright piece of silver was sinking fast and flashing as it turned over, while two merry little young scamps were diving down after it, racing to see which would get first to the coin. This soon disappeared in the disturbed water, while the figures of the boys grew more and more shadowy and distorted by the varying refraction. "My word!" cried the doctor, "how the little niggers can dive! Look: here they come again." It was curious to see them rising with the water growing more still as their frantic struggles ceased, and their forms grew plain as they rose quickly, one dark head suddenly shooting up like a cork on a pike line after the fish had rejected the bait, and its owner showing a brilliantly white set of teeth as he shouted, "Nurrer! nurrer!" The next moment a second head shot into the brilliant sunshine, the boy's lips opening into a wide grin of delight as he showed his white clenched teeth with the captured sixpence held between them. "Tell him to put it in his pocket, Jack," cried the doctor. "Puzzle him, eh? Hold your noise, you chattering young ruffians," he shouted. "Come, a dozen of you. Here, Jack, I'm going to waste a shilling, for it won't do the young vagabonds any good. It's only encouraging them to run risks of asphyxiating themselves or getting caught some day by the sharks." He held up a shilling as he spoke, and quite a dozen boys of all sizes splashed in out of canoes, and left the pieces of wood and one old boat to which they clung. They came swimming about near where the doctor and Jack looked over, shouting, splashing each other, and generally clamouring for the piece of money to be thrown in. "Ah! we must have a race for this," said the doctor, and he drew himself up and made a feint of throwing the shilling.