THE QUEEN'S CUP: A STORY OF LOVE AND ADVENTURE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10755, 20 March 1897, Page 3

THE QUEEN'S CUP: A STORY OF LOVE AND ADVENTURE.

By G. A. JffiNTY, \ Author of "The Curse of Carne's Hold," "A i Hidden Foe," " With Clive in India," j "BujabtheJuggler," "AWoman j vf the Oommnije," <S:c. ! ■CO PY RIGHT.) j CHATTER XIX. i As Frank stood gazing at the scene j Gsorge Lechmere touched him. Frank, look- I ing round, saw that be wished to speak to him i privately. j " What is"lt, Geoi|;e 1" he asked, when he had stepped a few paces from Bertha. .i " Look there, major," George said, handing him a field glass; " I thought I had settled old scores with him, but the devil has looked after his own." " You don's mean to say, George, that it is Cartbew again ? " " li: is-liini, sura enough, sir. I would have sworn tbat 1 had done for him. If I bad thought there hadbeen the slightest doubt about it I would have put a pistol ball through his head." ■ Frank raised the.'glass to his eyes, and jvt&t where the torches were thickest he could make oat a figure raised above the heads of the rest. He was supported on a litter; his bead was swathed with bandages. - He bad raised himself into a sitting position, supported by one arm, while he waved the other passionately. He was evidently hsrangning the crowd. * As Frank looked he saw the figure sink down.. Then there was a deep roll of the dram, and a fantastic-looking figure, daubsd as it seemed with paint and wearing a huge.mask, appeared in his place. The drum and the horns were silent, and the Bhoutjng of the negroes .was at once hushed. This' man, too, harangued the crowd, and when he-stopped there was a loud yell and a general movement among the throng. At the moment Hawkins camajup. " The chain is up and down, sir. Shall I . make sail? The wind is very light, but I think it is enough to take her out." "Yes, make sail, Hawkins, as quickly as you can. lam afraid that those fellows are coming out to attack us, and I don't want to kill any of the poor devils. There is a small boat coming out from the shore towards that craft. The white sailors are on board, and we shall have them on us, too." "Up with the anchor," Hawkins shouted ; " make sail at once; look sharp, my hearties, work with a, will,' or we shall have those niggeTs on tis again." . Never was sail njade on the Osprey more quickly, and by toe time the anchor was speak all the lower sails were set. " Shall I tell the blacks to tow their boats behind us ? " Hawkins asked Frank, as the yacht began to steal tnrough the water. "No, let them tow alongside, Hawkins ; I ' don't suppose the people ashore know that we have a native with us. If they did, they would be snfe that it came from Nipes, and it might sA up a feud and cost them their lives, especially as that Obi sconndrel is concerned in theaffair." ; Then he move,d away to George Lechmere. "Don't say a! word about that fellow Carthew," he said. " Miss Greendale thinks he is killed; andthough I hope his power of mischief is at an end, it is just as well that she should continue to think that she is safe from him in tha future." "As far as shs is concerned, I think that jhe is; but I Would not answer for you. Major. You have ruined bis plans and \ burned his jachti, and as long as he lives'' he will never forgiva- you." "That I am siire he won't, George; I have reason to know that he is as vindictive a scoundrel as evet lived, and I don't mind saying that I wonid' give a good deal if that sword o£ yours 'had finished him. It must have glanced ofi his skull instead of cutting through it." | ■ ' • ■ " I suppose, sc, sir, though I thought that I hit him square; It-is a bad job, major—a very bad job." ;■ "Well, it is of no use worrying about it s now, George; but I expect that we shall hear more about him some day." "What are they doing, Frank?" Bertha asked, "as he rejoined her. " I think that they are getting into the boats again." "Yes; I fancy they are going to ; try to take us.but they have no more chance of doing so than they have of flyingi; The Obi man has worked them up to a state of frenzy, but it will evaporate pretty quickly as soon as they get within range of our muskets." "Bat we have got-, the cannon, ,6a board, have we not ?" i. ~' '!..-. . "Yes; but we did not; bring off any ammunition with us. It was the men's idea to bring them as a trophy. ' However, I have plenty of powder and can load them with bullets; but I certainly won't use them if it can be possibly, avoided. p have no grndge against the poor fellows who have been told that we are desperate'pirates, and who are only doing what tbey believe to be a meritorious action in trying to capture us." In a few minuted sir boats put out from the shore. The Osprey was not going through the water more' than two miles an hour, though she bad'every stitch of canvas spread. Frank bad the guns taken aft and loaded. As the boats came within the circle of the light of the burning yacht, it could be seen that thay were crowded with men who encouraged themselves with defiant yells'and shouts, which excited the derision of the Osprey's. ( crew. When they got within a quarter of a mile they opened a fusilade of musKetry, but the balls dropped in the water some distance astern of the yacht. As the boats came nearer, however, they began to drop round her. - "Sit down behind the bulwarks," Frank said; " they are not good shots, but a stray ball might come on board, and there is no uae running risks." By this tine he had persuaded Bertha to go below. The boats rowed on until some 70 or 80 yards off. the Osprey. The shouting had gradually died away, for the silence on board the jacht oppressed them. There was something unnatural about it, and their superstitious fear of the Obi man disappeared before their dread of the unknown. As if affected simultaneously by the disquietude of 'their companions, the rowers stopped wotk simultaneously. Domirjiqae had already received instructions, and at onca hailed them in French. "If you value your lives turn back. We haTe the guns of the brigantine; they are crammed with bullets and are pointed at yon. The owner has but to give the word and you will all be blown to pieces. He is a good man, and wishes you no harm. We have come here not to quarrel with you poor „. ignorant black fellows, but to rescue two ladies tiie villain that ship belongs to had carrisd off. Therefore, go away back to your wires and families while you are able tc, for if you come bat one foot nearer not one of you will live to return." . The news that the Osprey had the cannoa from the brigantine on board came like s thanderbolt upon the negroes. The prospect of a fight with the men who had so easily captured the brigantius wag unpleasant econgh, but that they were also to encountar cannon was altogether too much for them, and a general shout cf " Don't fire; we go back," rose from the boats. For a minute or two they lay mofcioaiesa, afraid even to dip an oar in the water lest it should bring down a storm upon them, but as the Oaprey glided sjowly away the. rearmost boat began to turn round, tbe others followed her example, and they w*ro aoon rowing back even more rapidly than they had come. "You can cast ofi tbat boat,.Hawkins, as soon as we are out iv.So the bay," Frank said, and then went down beloy^ " Oar troubles are ail over at last, dear, and we can bave a quieft talk," he said. "As I eipectad, the negroes lost heart as soon as tbey came near, and the threat of a round o! grape from the guns finally settled them. They are off home, and we shall hear nc more or them. Now, you had best be off to bed at once; you have had a terrible day ol it, and it is just 2 o'clock. Ah! that if right," he broke off, as the steward entered carrying a tray with tea things. "I had forgotten all aboat tbat necessity. You had better call Anna in;. she must want a cup too, poor girl." " Yes, I should like a cup of tea," Berths said, as she sat down to the tray, " but ] really don't feel so tired as you would think." " You will feel it al) the more afterwards I am afraid," Frank replied. " The excitement has kept you up." "Yes, we felt dreadfully tired, didn't we Anna, before we give up? But the twt hours' row in the boat and all this excite mßut here has made me almost forget it. II seems to me now quite impossible that it car be only about nine hours sines you rushec out ie suddenly with yonr men. It seems tc me quite far off; farther than many thing! go that happened a week ago. And pleas:

to remember that your advice to go to bed 1 is quite as seasonable in your case as in | mine." ! " I have been accustomed to do with little > ftleep—but I won't let you talk any more, and if you won't take another cup of tea I •will sar ' Good night.' " When he had teen them leave the saloon, Frank went on deck for a last look round. " I .don't think that there is a chance of anytbinghappeningbefore morning, Hawkins, bat you will, of course, keep a sharp lookout and let me know^' " I will look out, sir. I have seat the four hands who wore with you down to their berths as soon as the niggers turned back. Lechmere has turned in, too." " Is the wind freshening at all ? " " Not yet, sir. I don't suppose that we shall get more than we have now till day begins to break. Still we are crawling on, and shall be out in the bay in another quarter 01 an hour.', When Frank got cp at sunrise he found that the yacht was just rounding- the point of the bay. He looked behind, no boat was in view. " Nothing moving. I see," he said, as the fir3t mate, who was in charge, came up. " We have not seen a thing on the water, sir." "I hardly expected that there would be. It is probable that as soon as the boat« got back Carthew sent his skipper or mate off with a couple of the men to Port an Prince to lay a complaint of piracy against me. But even if they sot horses it would take them a couple of days to get there; that is if they are not much better riders. than the majority of sailors are. Then it ia likely there would be some time lost in formalities, and even if thßre was a Government steamer lying in the port it would take her a locg time to get up steam. Moreover, I am by no means sare* that even Carthew would venture on such an impudent thing as that. It is certain that we shonld get into a bad scrape for boarding and burning a vessel in Haytian waters, but that is all tl\e harm he could do us. The British Consul would certainly be more likely to believe the story of the owner of a Royal Squadron yacht, backed by that of her captain, mates, and crew, and by Mi3s Greendale and her maid, than the tale of the owner of a vessel that could give no satisfactory explanation for being here. Besides, he will know that before a steamer could start in chase we should l>e certainly two, or pehaps three, days away, and whether we should make for Jamaica or Bermuda, or round the northwestern point; of the bay, and then for England, he could have no clue whatever." " How shall I lay her course, sir 1 The wind has freshened already, and we are slipping through the water at a good four knots now." " We will keep along this side as far as the point at any rate. If Carthew has ssnt for a steamer he ia likely to have ordered a man down to this headland to see which course we are taking. When we have got so far that we cannot be made out, from there we will sail north for Cape la Mole, j I think it would be safe enough to lay our course at once, but I do not wish to run the slightest risk that can be avoided." The wind continued to freshen, and to Frank's satisfaction they were, when Bertha came on deck at 8 o'clock, running along the coast at seven knots an boar. " Have you slept well ? " he asked, as he took her hand. " Tes. 1 thought when I lay down it would be impossible for me to sleep at all—it had been such, a wonderful day, it was all so strange, so sadden, and. so happy—and jast as I was thinking so, I suppose I dropped ofE and slept till Anna woke me about "threequarters of an hour ago,.and told me what time it was. Frank, I did not say anything yesterday, not even a- single word of thanks, for all that you have done for me ; but you know very well that it was not because I did not feel it, buc because if I had said anything at all I should have broken down, and that was the very thing that I knew I ought not to do. But you know, don't you, that I shall have all my life to prove how thankful I am." " I know, dear, and between us surely nothing need be said. lam as thankful that«l have been the means of saving you as you can be that I was almost miraculously enabled to follow your track so successfully." "Breakfast is ready, sir," the steward announced frons the companion. "Coming, steward. I have told them, Bertha, to lay for three. I thought It would be pleasanter for you to have, Anna with you at meals, as I suppose she has taken them Vfltb. you since you were carried off." "Thank you," she said gratefully: "in won't be quite so nice for you, I know, but perhaps it will be better." " Well, Anna, you are looking very well," Frank 'said, as he sat dowp. " You mugt officiate with the coffee, Bertha; I will sea after the eatables.1' . . " Tes, Anna does look well," Bertha Xsaid. " She has borne up capitally ever since the first two days. We have had all our meals together in our cabin." "Migs Greendale has been a great deal braver than I have, sir," Anna said quietly: " she has been wonderfully brave, and though she is very good to say that I have borne up well, I know very well that I have not been aB brave as I ought, and I could not help breaking down and crying sometimes, for I did think that we should never get home again." " Except carrying you away, Carthew did not behave altogether so badly. Bertha ? " " No, the first day that we got on board he told me that I was to stay there until I consented to marry hire. I told him that in that case I should become a permanent resident on board, but that sooner or later I should be rescued. He only said that than he hoped that I should change my mind in time. He admitted that his conduct had been inexcusable, but that his Jove for me had driven him to it, and that he had ~only won me as many a kuight had won a bride before now. "At first I made sure that when we put into a port I should be able somehow to make my condition known; but I realised for the first time what it was going to be when I saw as stand off the Lizard and lay her head for the gouth. Up to that time 1 had scarcely exchanged a word with him. I had said at onca that unless I had my mea'a in my own cabin with Anna I would eat nothing at all, and he said, quite courteously, I must confess, that I should in all respects do as I plsased, consistent with safety. "From that time he said,' Good morning,' gravely, when I came no on deck with Anna and made a remark about the weather. I made no reply, and did not speak until be came to me in the mor.-ing and said quietly, ' That is the Lizard asterD of us, Miss Greendale. We are bound for the West Indies, the finest cruising grocud in the world, full of quiet little bays where we can anchor for weeks.' ' It is monstrous,' I said desperately, for I own that for the first time I was realty frightened. ' Some day you will be punished for thiß.' * I must risk tuat,' he said quietly. ' Of course at present you are angry; it is natural that you should be so, but in time jou will forgive me and will make allowance for the length to which my affection for yon. has driven me. It may be six months, iG may be 10 years, but however long it may be I can promise you that save for this initial offence you will have no cause to complain of me. 1 am possessed jr boundless patience, and can wait for an indefinite time. In the end I feal sure that yonr heart will soften towards me.' "That was his tone all along. He was perfectly respectfol, perfectly polite. Sometimes for days not a word would bs exchanged between us; sometimes he would come up and talk, or rather try to talk, for it was seldom thai; he got answer from me. As a rule, I sat in my rteck-chair, with Anna beside me, and he sat on the other side of the deck or walked up and down smoking or talking with the man who was with liiin. So it went on till the afternoon when we saw you. As I told you, he made u« go down at once. I could see that he was furiously angry and excited. The steward came to our cabin early in the morning and »aid that Mr Carthew requested that we would dresn and come up at once. A«s I was aoxious to know what was going on I did so, and he said when we came on deck, ' I am very 3orry, Miss Greendale, but I have to ask you to go on shore with us at once.' " I had no idea where we were, save that it. was somewhere in the island of San Domingo; but I was ready enough to go ashore, thinking that I might see some white people that I couid appeal to. " I did speak to some negroes as we landed, bat he said, ' It is of no use your speaking to them, Miss Greeadale, for none of them understand any language but their own.' I saw that they did not understand me, at any rate. I was frightened when I saw that four of the sailors were going with us, and that a dozen of the blacks, armed with muskets, also formed round us. I said that I would not go a-foot, but Carthew answered, ' It would pain me greatly were I obliged to take

such a step; bnt if you will not go there is no course open to me but to have you carried. I am sorry that it should be so, but for various | reasons it is imperative that you shoald take up your abode on shore for the present.' " Seeing that, it was useless to resist, I started with him. A short distance on, two blacks came up with the horses, which had ! evidently been sent for. We mounted, and were taken up among the hilts to the place whera you found us. Every mile that we went I grew more frightened, for it seemed to me that it was infinitely worse being in his ! power up in those hills than on board his I yacht, where something might happen by I which I might be released from him. Those ) huts yon saw bad been built beforehand, so j that he had evidently been preparing to take ! us there if there should be any reason for leaving the yacht. There was bedding and a couple of chairs and a table in ours. "la the morning, while still speaking I politely, he made it evident to me that ha considered he could take a stronger tons than before. ' I assure you, Miss Greendale,' he said, * that although this poor hut is but a temporary affair, I will shortly have a more comfortable one erected for you. You see your renidenca here is lively to be a long one, unless you change your mind. Pray do not nourish any idea that yon can some day ! escape me, it is out of the question; and certainly no wbite man is ever likely to ooine to this valley-,-nor is any negro, except those who live in this village. Its head is an Obi man, whose will is law to the negroes; their belief in his power is unlimited, and I believe ihat they imagine that he could slay thorn. with the look of his eye, or turn them into frogs or toads by his magic power. I pray you to think the matter over seriously. Why should you waste your life here 1 You did not always regard me so hateful; and the lcve that I bora you "is unchangeable. Even could you, months or years hence, make your escape, which I regard as impossible, what would your position, be if you returned to England ? What story would yon have to tell 1 It might be a true one, but would it be believed 1' "' I have my maid, sir,11 said passionately, ' who would confirm my report of what I have suffered.' 'No doubt she would,'he said ! quietly, ' but a maid's testimony as to her mistress's doings does not go for very much. I endeavoured to make thu voyage, which I foresaw might be a long one, a pleasant one to you by requesting you to bring her with you, and I believe that lidies who elope not unfrequently take their maids with them. But we need not discuss that. This valley will be your home, Miss Greendale, until you consent to leave it as my wife. Ido not say that I shall always share your solitude here. I shall cruise about, and may even for a time return to England, but that will in no way alter your position. I have been in communication with the Obi gentleman since I first put into the bay, and be has arranged tc take charge of your safety while I am away, Ho is not a pleasant man to look at, and ] have no doubt that he is an unmitigated scoundrel—bat bis powers are unlimited. If he ordered bis followers to ofier you and yoai maid as sacrifices to his fej,i3h they would carry out his orders, not only willingly but joyfully. He is a gentleman who, like hia class, has a keen eye to the main chance, and will, I doubt not, take every precaution to prevent a source of considerable income escaping him.' " 'You understand,' he went on, in a different manner, ' I do not wish to threaten you—very far from it. I have endeavoured from the time that you set foot on board to make you as comfortable as possible, and to abstain from thrusting myself upon yen in the .slightest degree, and I shall aiways pursue the same course. But please under- ] stand that nothing will shake my resolution, j It will pain me deeply to have to keep you in a place like this, but keep you I must until you consent to be mine. You must see, yourself, the hopelessnees as well as the folly of holding out. On the one side ia a life wasted here, on the other you will be the wife of a man who loves you above all things; who has risked everything by the step that he has taken, and who when you consent will devote his life to your happinesa. You will be restored to your friends and to your position, and „ nought will be known, except that we made a runaw^r match, as many have done before us. Do not answer now, At any rate I will remain here for a couple of months, and by the end of that time you may see that the alternative is not so terriole a one, and that your position t.s my wife, ! restored to home and to all that you valued j before, will at least be far more endurable I than years of captivity here." !'• " Then without another word he turned • and walked axvay, and nothing further 1 passed between us until in the afternoon when you so suddenly arrived." " Thank God, he behaved better than I should hare given him credit for," Frank ) said, when she had finished. ""He must j have felt absolutely certain that there wa3 j no chance whatever of your rescue, and that j in time you would be forced to accept him j or he would hardly have refrained from j pushing his suit more urgently. His calcuI lations were well made, and if we had not ! noticed that brigantine at Cowes, and I had 5 not had the luck to come upon some of his i crew and pick up hia track, and so have been < able to set out in pursuit at once, be might 1 have been successful." I " You don'c think that I should ever have [consented to have married him ?" Bertha said, indignantly. " I am sure that such a thought never entered your head, Bertha, but you cannot tell what the effect of* a hooeless captivity would have had upoa you. Fancy months oi years spent in that; vailey, watched over and guarded by those negroes till all hope bad utterly faded away—till your spirit had been crushed. I, for one, could not have blamed, you for yielding under such circumstances. The fellow had judged you well, and he saw the attitude of respect he adopted would afford him a far better chance of winning you than roughness or threats would do. But he might have resorted to them afterwards, and you were so wholly and absolutely in his power, that you would almost have been driven to accept the alternative to become his wife." She shook her head decidedly. I " I would have killed him first," she said. I " I suppose some giris would say, ' I would I have killed myself'; but I should not have ! thought of that—at any rate fiot until I bad \ failed to kill him. Every woman has the I same right to defend herself that a man has, i and I should have no more felt that I was to | blame if I had killed him, than you would dc when you killed a man who had done you no individual harm in bsttle. What is r,h:s difference 1" " I don't £now," Frank laughed, " but at any rate I am very glad that you were not driven to killing bias." " Bat you were cot a bit shocked, Frank, I when George Lechmere killed him." i " Not in the least; quite the contrary. I i don't say that I should have blamed you had • you done it; it would have served the villain I right. Still I may be permitted to be glad I that you were not driven to do it. Now, i suppose We go up on deck ?" ■ " We only want mamma here," she said '■ as she took her seat on a deck-chair, "to i complete the illusion that we are Bailing j along somewhere on the Devonshire coast. . The hills are higher and more wooded but ! 'he general idea is the same. I suppose I ought | to feel it very shocking cruising about with ! you without anyone but Anna with me; but : somehow it does not feel so." "No wonder, dear. You see, we have been ■ looking forward to doing exactly the same \ thing in the 3pfing." | " I think we had better not talk about that ! now," she said, flushing. " I intend to make | believe, till we get to England, that mamma I is down below, and that 1 may be called at j any moment. How long shall wa be befors ! we are thare ? " | " I cannot say, Bertha ; I shall have a talk j with Hawkins presently as to what course we j had better take. At any rate we shall be i right in pissing through the channel between j Hayti and Cuba, whichever way we go aiiter- | wards. Wv> had the wind dead aft all ths I way from Maieira, and if it is blowing in the j same direction no?/ I don'c know whether it won't be better to sail north through the I Bahamas to Bermmlt before we strike across ! the Atlantic, and if we find a mail steamer j about to start from theva we might go home I in it and get there a fortnight earlier than ■ we should do- in the yacht, perhaps more. \ However, that we can talii over. I can see | there may be difficulties, but undoubtedly i the sooner you are home tha batter. You i sse we are well in November now. What | day is it?" he reflected. " I have lose all count, Frank." ' He consulted a pocket-book. | " To-day is the 21st of November. I should think that if we get favourable winds wo might make Bermuda in a week—lo days at the outside; and if we could catch a : steamer a day or two after getting there you J might be able to spend your Christmas at ; Greendale." ' " That would b8 very nice. The difficulty would be that I might afterwarda meet some

of the people who were with us on the steamer." " It would not be likely," he said ; " still, we can talk ifc over. At any rate from the Bermudas we can send a latter to yonr mother and set her mind at re3t." The captain and Purvis, consulting the book of sailing directions, came to the conclusion that the passage via the Bermudas would be distinctly the best and shortest. Accordingly, when they reached Point Salee they laid her head north, and in the aftsrnoon or the next day passed Cape Maize, on the eastern point of Cuba. Then they bora a point to the west, and pas3iog through the passage between Long Island and Cooked Island, laid her course for Bermuda. The wind was a-beam and steady, and with all sail set the Osprey maintained a speed of cine knots an hour until Bermuda was in sight. They were still undecided as to whether they had better go home by the mail, but it was settled for them by their finding on entering the port that tha | steamer had touched there the day before ! and gone on the same evening, and that it I was not probable that any other steamsr would be sailing for England for another 10 days. ■- • They stopped only long enough to lay in a store of fresh provisions and water, oc which the supply was now beginning to m» very short; indeed, had not the wind been so steady, all hands wonld have been placed on half rations of water. Bertha did not land; she was nervously afraid of meeting anyone who might recognise her afterwards. And six hours after entering the port tha Osprey was again under way. The wind, as is nausl at Barbadoes, was blowing from the S.W., and it held with them the whole way home, and aftsr a remarkably I quick run they dropped anchor oil Southampton on the 15th December. Frank had already made all arrangements with the captain to' lay up the Osprey at once. • " I shall want her out again in the first =week in April; so that she will not be long in winter quarters." On landing Frank despatched » telegram to Lady Greendale: " Returned all safe and ! woll; just starting for town; shall be with j you about 6 o'clock." v j The train was punctual, and just about five j minutes before 6 Frank arrived with Bertha, i at Lady Greendalc's. He had already told Bertha that he should not come in. " It is much better that you should be alone with her for a time. She will have j innumerable questions to ask, and would, of course, prefer to have yon to herself.'. I will come round to-morrow morniDg after breakfast." Anna had been instructed very careEully by her miatreas not to say anything of what had happened, and in order that she might avoid questions, George Lechmere scan her into a cab for Liverpool street* in order that she might go down to Chelmsford, where she had some friends, for a week, and^frota there she was to join Sertha at Greendale. Frank treat to his chambers, wnere George Lechmere had driven with tha luggage. The next morning he went early to Lady Greecdale's, bo early that he found her and Bertha at breakfast. " My dear Franc," the former said, embracing him warmly, " how can I ever thank you for all that yon have done for us ! B9rtha has been telling me all about how you rescued her. I hear that yon were wounded, too." " The wound was of ro great; importance, and, as you see, I havu thrown aside my gling this morning. Ye?, we went through some ezcitiog adventures, which will furnish as with a store of memories all our Jives. How have you been Lady Greendale ? lam glad to see that at any rate you are looking well." " I have had a terribly anxious time of it, as you may suppose; but your letters wera always so bright and hopeful that they helped me wonderfully. Tha tirst fortnight !was the worst. Your letter from Gibraltar was a great relief, and of course the next, saying that you had heard that the yacht really did touch at Madeira showed that you were on the right track. Then whea I heard from Porto Rico that you had news of the.m there, it really did seem to me that you would be successful; and your last letter from San Domingo raised my hopes still more. After that there was a, long pause, but I knew that you were in a wild country and that you might not have a chanca of. getting a letter, and that if you "did it might lie for some time before the mail came. When you wrote from Madeira, I sent to Wild's for tbe largest map of the WestIndies that they had, and thus when I got your letters, I was able to follow your course and understand all about it. You are looking better than when I saw you last." "You should have seen him when I first met him, mamma. I hardly knew him, he looked so thin and worn; but during the last three weeks he has filled out again, and | he seems to me to be looking quite himself." " And Bertha is looking well, too." "So I ought to do, mamma. I don't think I ever iooked very bad, in spite of my troubles, and the splendid voyage we have had would have set anyone up." " It has beea a woodertKl comfort to ms," Lady Greendale said, " thati I have hardly met anyone that I know. The last three weeks or so I have met two or three people, but I only said that I was ap in town for a short tima. Of course they ask after yon, and I said that you were not with me, as you were spending a short time with some people whom you knew. We intend to go down home to-morrow." " The beat thing that you can do, Lady Greendale. I shall be down for Christmas, and the first week in April, you know, I am to carry hsr off. So you sea this excursion of our<; has not altered auy of our plans." "Well, Frank, you know how gladly I shall give bar to you. I had some silly notions beforo as to hec making a. great match, aad, much as I liked you, was a little disappointed when she told me how matters stood between you; but now I feel more than thankEul that it has been so. IE it had not bes»o for you, I dare not think of what might have happased. It seems to me as if there was s special providence in the matter, and there is no one in the world to whom I would so gladly entrust her." (To cc concluded.)