"And I am going to ride him again at the next meeting," said Jack. "The shekels of Job Seagrave go on to that horse," said the skipper, "and listen to me, young man, if he wins we'll lay in a nice little stock of dainties for the voyage. The 'Golden Land' is not over well provisioned, my inside feels like a salt mine sometimes before we touch land." "I am going to Brighton to-night," said Jack. "Will you come with me?" "You mean it, my son?" "I do, heartily welcome you will be, and you too, Harry." Harry Marton declined, he had no intention of draining his friend's slender purse, and, moreover, he had a little affair of his own with a bright eyed girl he wished to attend to. They parted at London Bridge, Jack and Captain Seagrave going by the Brighton train. "Glorious country this," said the captain, when they had passed Gatwick and got into the open. "I am proud of being a Sussex man. I have had some rare fun at Brighton and Shoreham in my young days. It was there I got my first taste of the sea, and I liked it so much I stuck to it, but I've done no good at it. You see I hadn't the chances some of these swell skippers had, but I made the most of what little I knew. I have been through the mill, I can tell you, right through the whole boiling lot, from cabin boy to skipper." "All the more credit to you," replied Jack. "That's as it may be, and as how folks think. It's not much to blow about being captain of a dodgasted old coffin like the 'Golden Land,' but it's a living and I like it. On land I feel lost, on board I am as right as a trivet. It strikes me as curious a smart young fellow like you wants to leave this country and go to such a hole as Freemantle. You'll soon be sick of it, take my advice and throw it up." Jack Redland laughed, he liked his bluff, hearty companion, and told him the reason he was going away. "That's it, is it?" said Captain Seagrave. "You want to make money and come back and give it your best girl. Mind you, I don't say that is not a laudable desire, but are you sure of the party in petticoats? I have never had much to do with 'em myself, except in a casual way, but what little I know about 'em makes me steer clear of such craft. They're dangerous and you never can tell when they 'bout ship and sail clear away from you. Mind you have her safely in dock before you go, and don't let her come out until you return." Jack laughed heartily as he replied-- "If she does not wait for my return I must find someone else to share my fortune, if I make one." The train pulled up with a jerk that threw Captain Seagrave forward. "Bad steering," he said. "I wish I had the engine driver in my stoke hole, he'd learn better manners down there." "Tickets, please," said the porter. "Tell the driver of this train he----" The porter banged the door to, and left the skipper fuming. Arriving at Brighton they walked to Jack Redland's lodgings, and after tea sat on the balcony.