But Christy and Paul have been the most intimate friends from their school days; and if your son is appointed to an independent command, as I believe he ought to be, it would do something towards reconciling him to his appointment if his crony were in the same ship with him.

For this reason, and this alone, I am willing to sacrifice my own wishes to the good of the service.

I have talked with Paul about the matter, and he would be delighted to be the companion of Christy, even in a small steamer." "Captain Breaker is very kind and very considerate, as he always was; and I shall certainly feel more at home on board of the St.Regis with Paul Vapoor as her chief engineer," replied Christy; and the effect seemed to be what the commander of the Bellevite anticipated.

"Go on with the list, father." "Paul's first assistant engineer will be Charles Graines," continued Captain Passford.
"That is very good; but Charley is a sailor as well as a machinist, and I may borrow him of Paul on some special occasions, for he has what Captain Breaker calls ingenuity, as well as bravery and skill." "The second assistant is Amos Bolter, a brother of Leon, who has been first assistant of the Bellevite from the beginning of the war, and who has been promoted to chief at the suggestion of the commander in the letter from which I have just read.

The third assistant is John McLaughlin, whom Paul knows if you do not.