Just about that time Jack cast his eyes aft and saw that Edward was standing by the cabin hatch with one of Sir John's serge jackets in his left and a clothes-brush in his right hand, for though the clothes on ship-board seemed as if they could not by any possibility gather dust-- they did get some flue in the corners of the pockets--Edward gave them all a thorough-going turn every morning before he rubbed over the shoes with paste, the blacking bottle remaining unopened and the brushes unused. Jack went quickly up to him, and Edward began rubbing his head with the back of the clothes-brush; but before the lad could speak the man began. "Beg pardon, sir," he said, "but you didn't happen to see me on deck in the middle of the night, did you?" "No, Ned," said Jack, staring. "Of course you didn't, sir," said the man, speaking as if relieved. "Made me feel as if my head was getting a bit soft." "No wonder, if you keep on tapping it with the clothes-brush." "Oh, that won't hurt it, sir, my head's hard as wood. I'm a bit late this morning--over-slept myself. Had the rummiest dream I ever knowed of." "What did you dream?" "Dreamt as I come up in the middle of the night, just when it was thinking about getting to morning, and we'd sailed to about the horridest place as ever was, and then I looked round and saw you like a black shadow going about the deck without making a sound." "I had no shoes on," said Jack. "Then it wasn't a dream, and it was only that the place looked so dismal drear in the dusk." "Of course it was, Ned." The man gave his head a rap with the clothes-brush. "Then that's a lesson for a man never to be in too much of a hurry. 'Pon my word, Mr Jack, sir, when I came just now and had a look, I felt as if I must have been dreaming, for as soon as I went below I lay down for a snooze, and went off like a top." "The light has made a wonderful change, Ned," said Jack. "Well, what do you think of it now?" "It's beyond thinking, sir, it's wonderful. We've seen some tidy places as we come along, but this beats everything I ever saw. Seems to me that we'd better stop here altogether. They say `there's no place like home,' but I say there's no place like this." "It really is beautiful, Ned. You should have stopped on deck and seen the wonderful transformation as the sun rose."