"Yes," said Sir John with a sigh, "the rent has grown very large, and I don't see how we are to sew it up." "Neither do I," said the doctor; "it's past mending. We must have a new coat, Jack." "You mean a new boy, Doctor Instow," said the lad, smiling sadly. "Had you not better let me be?" "No," cried Sir John, bringing his fist down heavily upon he table. "That won't do, Jack. We've done wrong, taken the wrong turning, and we must go back and start afresh--eh, Instow?" "Of course," said the doctor testily, "and give me time. I've got plenty of ideas, but I want to select the right one. Ah! I have it." "Yes," cried Sir John eagerly, and his son looked at him in dismay. "That's the very thing. Right away from books and the ordinary routine of life--fresh air of the best, fresh people, fresh scenes, constant change; everything fresh but the water, and that salt." "Some country place at the seaside," said Sir John eagerly. "No, no; bore the boy to death; make him miserable. Seaside! No, sir, the whole sea, and get away from the side as soon as possible." "A sea voyage!" cried Sir John; and his son's face contracted with horror. "That's the thing, sir. You have always been grumbling about the narrowness of your sphere, and envying men abroad who send and bring such fine collections home. Be off together, and make a big collection for yourselves of everything you come across worth saving." "Yes; but where?" "Anywhere--North Pole; South Pole; tropics. Start free from all trammels, open new ground away from the regular beaten tracks. You don't want to go by line steamers to regular ports. Get a big ocean-going yacht, and sail round the world. Here, what are you grinning at, patient?" "At your idea, sir. It is so wild." "Wild to you, sir, because you are so tame. It may have seemed a little wild for Captain Cook and Bougainville and the old Dutch navigators, with their poor appliances and ignorance of what there was beyond the seas. Wild too for Columbus; but wild now! Bah! I'm ashamed of you." "You must recollect that Jack is no sailor," said Sir John, interposing. "He was very ill when we crossed to Calais." "Ill! A bit sea-sick. That's nothing." "I am not sailor enough to manage a yacht." "What of that? Charter a good vessel, and get a clever captain and mate, and the best crew that can be picked. You can afford it, and to do it well, and relieve yourself of all anxieties, so as to be free both of you to enjoy your cruise." "Enjoy!" said Jack piteously. "But the responsibility?" said Sir John thoughtfully. "I should like it vastly. But to take a sick lad to sea? Suppose he were taken worse?" "Couldn't be." "Don't exaggerate, doctor. Fancy us away from all civilised help, and Jack growing far weaker--no medical advice."