Without another word the young officer followed his kind friend, and having been shown the leaf beneath which the root was to be found, set to work and dug away diligently till he had collected as many as he could carry. The doctor sent him back to the village with them, and told him to return without delay. All day long he worked away, and seemed very proud of the pile of roots he had dug up. That evening, by the doctor's invitation, he attended the meeting in the men's hut, and listened with great attention while Mrs Morley read the Bible. She afterwards spoke a few kind words to him, expressing her pleasure at seeing him so much improved in health. He burst into tears. "I have been a good-for-nothing foolish fellow," he said at length. "But oh, Mrs Morley, if you would but take me in hand, I think there might be a chance of my improvement." "If you seek for strength and guidance whence alone it can come, you may be very certain there will be an improvement, dear Mr Holt," said Mrs Morley, kindly. "The trials you have gone through, and may yet have to endure, will then prove a blessing to you. I will gladly give you counsel and advice, but more I cannot do. Let me remind you only of God's promise, `that if you seek you will find; if you knock, it shall be opened unto you.'" From that day forward a great change was perceptible in the young ensign. He laboured as hard as any one; and whenever he could borrow Mrs Morley's Bible, he would sit up for hours together at night reading it diligently. This had occurred some days before Harry went on his expedition to the harbour. The doctor reminded Captain Twopenny of their intention of burying the body of the unfortunate seaman they had found on the beach. He invited Ensign Holt to accompany him, taking also two men, with spades, who also carried their clubs in case they should fall in with seals. He had his gun, and proposed that Holt should take one also. "No," answered the ensign. "I am but a poor shot, and should only throw away powder. I will carry your game. I am not of use for much else." Formerly, how indignant he would have been had such an idea been suggested to him. They started at daybreak, hoping to get back at night, and to find Shafto and his companions had returned. The journey was a very fatiguing one. Though the captain knew the way tolerably well, it was noon before they reached the little bay where the dead seaman lay. The ensign seemed greatly struck when he saw it. "Poor fellow," he said, contemplating the body. "I thought my fate a very hard one, and yet how infinitely worse was that poor fellow's, cast on this inhospitable shore, perhaps deserted by his companions, and left to die in all the agonies of starvation, without a human voice to soothe his last hours."