Before he had finished giving his father a detailed account of all that had happened to him since he left the _West Wind_, Sidney came to believe that Captain Eph was not far wrong when he proposed that the task be begun early in the day. The lad had the satisfaction of knowing, however, that he told a straightforward, connected story, even though the greater portion of the forenoon had been spent in writing it down. Captain Eph did not finish his work very much sooner than had Sidney, and when the two went down into the kitchen, they found the rescued men discussing with Mr. Peters and Uncle Zenas the incidents of the disaster. The details of the disastrous voyage were related by each of the survivors in turn, and then came the question as to whether it might be possible to save anything from the wreck. Captain Nutter was of the opinion that the _Nautilus_ had already gone to pieces; but the crew of the light felt certain the forward portion of the vessel was yet held by the rocks, and Mr. Peters said decidedly: "When we come back from the shore I'm goin' to make a try for it, an' if I bring away half a dory-load of canvas, I'll count the time well spent." "I sincerely hope you may get enough to pay you for your trouble, and only wish I might be able to reward you for what you have done in our behalf; but with the _Nautilus_ a wreck, I'm the same as penniless," and the deep sigh which escaped Captain Nutter's lips told of the sorrow in his heart. "We wouldn't take the value of a cent if you had all the money in the land," Captain Eph cried emphatically. "This 'ere crew tries to do its duty by the Government, an' when that's been done, if we can work in a little overtime, like takin' you off the wreck, we feel as if we could look ourselves in the face knowin' we'd lent a hand when it was needed." The serious tone which the conversation had taken did not please Uncle Zenas, and in order to change the subject he held up the coat on which he had been working, saying as he did so: "Come here, Sonny, an' let me see how it fits. I don't claim to be any great shakes of a tailor; but I hope there's gimp enough in me yet to do a job like this in a decent manner. Of course Cap'n Eph will buy you what's needed, when he goes ashore to-morrow, but even then this won't go amiss to knock around on the ledge in." Uncle Zenas had no reason to be ashamed of his work; he had made a sailorly looking garment out of Captain Eph's second-best uniform coat, and it fitted Sidney quite as well, if not better, than any which could have been purchased ready made. "I allers said you was a master hand with a needle, Uncle Zenas," Mr. Peters cried as he surveyed Sidney in his new coat, with the eye of a critic, "an' here's the proof that I knew what I was talkin' about. Captain Eph may buy clothes for Sonny till the day of his death, an' he won't get anything that'll match this one for all-around goodness."