Port after port they called at, once they got through the Bight, and Dave was filled with interest by the busy scenes of dock life. At some places the _Neptune_ was only tied up for a few hours while the chattering winches hauled several tons of cargo from her capacious hold: at others they spent several days. Tempest was familiar with most of these ports, and Dave found in him a most entertaining guide when they got the opportunity of stretching their legs ashore. While off Cape Otway, running towards Melbourne, the _Neptune_ encountered one of the great mail boats, with her engines stopped for some trifling repair. The _Neptune’s_ course took her close to the side of the big ship which towered like a mountain over the wallowing little tramp. Dave, having taken a message to the captain, happened to be on the bridge as they ran alongside. Hundreds of passengers leaned over the rail looking at the small steamer, which dipped her flag and received the same polite salutation. Captain Phelps, recognizing the grey-whiskered skipper of the liner, waved his hand. “Want a tow?” he called out laughingly. “Not to-day, thanks,” replied the skipper of the liner. “You’re a bit too fast for us. Where’re you bound?” “China to Japan with hot water,” replied Captain Phelps, as the little _Neptune_ waddled out of earshot. Dave and Tempest had only signed on the tramp for the trip as far as Sydney, and the boy was sorry when the run was drawing to a finish, for the _Neptune_ was a comfortable ship, as tramps go, and the weather had been almost perfect. “I suppose you’ll join a vessel bound from Sydney to New York,” Tempest said as they sat on the hatches, watching the coast of New South Wales slide past. “I was thinking of it,” Dave replied. “What about a run in one of those trading vessels through the South Sea Islands?” Tempest suggested. “There’s nothing like it in the wide world. They poke about buying that dried cocoanut stuff they call copra, and other things, from the natives, going from one island to the other till they get a full cargo. I know the skippers of two or three of the ships, and we could be almost certain of getting a berth. Like to come?” “I’d like to, of course,” Dave said. The romance of the South Sea Islands had always appealed to him greatly. “About how long should we be away?” “Between two and three months, I guess. It depends on what sort of luck the captain has in picking up a cargo.” “I might not get a chance again in years,” Dave said thoughtfully. “Perhaps Dad wouldn’t mind so much. I could be back in Brooklyn before Christmas, anyhow.” “Just as you say, sonny,” Tempest observed. “I don’t want to upset your plans, but there’s the chance staring you in the face, and there’s thousands of youngsters would give their ears for one like it.” “I’ll go,” Dave agreed, unconsciously taking yet another step in the direction Fate was drawing him. CHAPTER X