FINDING THE WAT AT SEA. 725 



which mistakes have arisen on this point : The hero, who, being a cler- 

 gyman and a university man, is, of course, a master of every branch 

 of science, is about to distinguish himself before the heroine by work- 

 ing out the position of the ship Proserpine, whose captain is senseless- 

 ly drunk. After ten days' murky weather, " the sky suddenly cleared, 

 and a rare opportunity occurred to take an observation. Hazel sug- 

 gested to Wylie, the mate, the propriety of taking advantage of the 

 moment, as the fog-bank out of which they had just emerged would 

 soon envelop them again, and they had not more than an hour or so 

 of such observation available. The man gave a shuffling answer. 

 So he sought the captain in his cabin. He found him in bed. He 

 was dead drunk. On a shelf lay the instruments. These Hazel 

 took, and then looked round for the chronometers. They were safely 

 locked in their cases. He carried the instruments on deck, together 

 with a book of tables, and quietly began to make preparations, at 

 which Wylie, arresting his walk, gazed with utter astonishment " (as 

 well he might). 



" ' Now, Mr. Wylie, I want the key of the chronometer-cases.' 



" ' Here is a chronometer, Mr. Hazel,' said Helen, very innocently, 

 ' if that is all you want.' 



" Hazel smiled, and explained that a ship's clock is made to keep 

 the most exact time ; that he did not require the time of the spot 

 where they wei - e, but Greenwich time. He took the watch, however. 

 It was a large one for a lady to carry ; but it was one of Frodsham's 

 masterpieces. 



" ' Why, Miss Rolleston,' said he, ' this watch must be two hours 

 slow. It marks ten o'clock ; it is now nearly mid-day. Ah, I see,' he 

 added, with a smile, ' you have wound it regularly every day, but you 

 have forgotten to set it daily. Indeed, you may be right ; it would be 

 a useless trouble, since we change our longitude hourly. Well, let us 

 suppose that this watch shows the exact time at Sydney, as I presume 

 it does, I can work the ship's reckoning from that meridian, instead of 

 that of Greenwich.' And he set about doing it." Wylie, after some 

 angry words with Hazel, brings the chronometers and the charts. 

 Hazel " verified Miss Rolleston's chronometer, and, allowing for differ- 

 ence of time, found it to be accurate. He returned it to her, and pro- 

 ceeded to work on the chart. The men looked on ; so did Wylie. 

 After a few moments, Hazel read as follows: 'West longitude 146 

 53' 18". South latitude 35 24'. The island of Oparo l and the Four 

 Crowns distant 420 miles on the N. N. E.,' " and so on. And, of course, 

 " Miss Rolleston fixed her large, soft eyes on the young clergyman 

 with the undisguised admiration a woman is apt to feel for what she 

 does not understand." 



1 The island fixes the longitude at about 147, otherwise I should have thought the 4 

 was a misprint for 7. In longitude 177 west, Sydney time would be about 2 hours slow, 

 but about 4 hours slow in longitude 147 west. 



