When Gerald returned on deck he found the mate giving orders to loose the topsails. As soon as this was done, the wind still decreasing, the foresail and mainsail were set, and before long the ship was bounding proudly over the seas with as much canvas as could be carried. At length, leaving the deck in charge of the boatswain, Owen repaired to the cabin and answered many questions put to him by the captain. He might well have been satisfied with the approbation he received from Norah, if not from her lips, from those bright blue eyes of hers--even the captain forgot to scold him as he had intended for his rashness. "We shall hear more about the man to-morrow, when he has recovered," he observed; "he'll need a long rest, for he must have pretty well given up all hope of his life when you saved him, till the ship hove in sight-- and even then he could scarcely expect to be picked up with the sea there was running at the time. Well, I trust that he'll be grateful." The captain then made inquiries about the sick men, of whom Owen was able to give a favourable report. "Thank God for that!" said the captain. "I feel myself quite another man to what I have been for many a day, and I hope to-morrow to be on deck again. If this stranger proves to be a seaman he may give you some relief by doing duty on board; you've had a trying time of it, Owen, and it is a mercy you've not knocked up." Owen now bade the captain and mistress Norah good night, and went on deck, when he desired the boatswain--the only person besides himself to whom the charge of the ship could be confided--to turn in, that he might relieve him in the next watch, should the weather continue to improve as he hoped it would do. He was not disappointed; when the morning broke, the ship was running on before a fair and moderate breeze. The rest of the usual canvas was set, and under all sail the _Ouzel Galley_ made good way towards her destination. With a thankful heart, soon after breakfast, Norah accompanied her father on deck. The other sick men were able to crawl up and enjoy the fresh air, their pallid faces showing, however, how near death's door they had been. It was evident that some time must elapse before they would be fit for duty. The stranger had not yet made his appearance; but Dan, who had dried his clothes, had taken them into the cabin, and reported that he was at length awake and expressed his intention of getting up. Norah was seated with her father under an awning stretched over the poop-deck, where both shade and air could be enjoyed. When the stranger came up the companion-hatch, the first person he saw was Owen. He put out his hand.