The tug remained at her own berth in Sydney until the following day, and during that time Tempest again made inquiries about the boat he and Dave were waiting for to take them into the South Seas. He discovered that the _Manihiki_ was due to leave in fifteen days. “Well, I don’t blame ye,” said Captain Grummitt, when he heard their plans. “I don’t know a trip that I’d enjoy much better myself. There’s something about the South Seas that gets you――a sort of mystery. By the way, Dave, I don’t want you to think I’ve forgotten that little thing you did for me when I toppled over into the dock.” His hand went towards his pocketbook, where he always kept a roll of bills, but a look of dismay came into the boy’s face. “That was nothing. Anybody would have done it,” Dave said. “It may have meant nothing to you, my boy,” Captain Grummitt replied with a grin, “but I still feel powerfully obliged, if it’s all the same to you, and I’d like you to keep something of mine as a souvenir.” Acting on a happy impulse, he drew from his pocket a plain silver watch and handed it to the boy. “It isn’t the value of the thing I want you to remember, lad, so much as the idea of the thing. It’s a mark of an old sailor’s gratitude.” The delicate spirit in which the gift was made pleased Dave even more than the watch. “Thanks, Cap’n,” he said. “I’ll always be proud of that watch.” “An’ if ever you come back to Sydney and want a job,” said the skipper, “don’t forget to look up Lightning Grummitt. If I haven’t got room on board for you, I’ll make room, see?” The captain of the _Manihiki_ was a middle-aged man named Peters, whom Tempest had met before, and neither Dave nor his friend had any difficulty in joining the ship. The _Manihiki_ was no flyer. She had been built for her own particular trade, and did not draw too much water, so that she could be navigated in places where the captain had to rely more on common sense and experience than charts, for those who engage in trading with the islands must pick their way gingerly between treacherous reefs, often gaging the depth of the water by its color only. Usually, the _Manihiki_ jogged along at a comfortable ten or eleven miles an hour, with a slight reserve of speed in hand in case of an emergency.